The American public is fascinated with weddings, especially the wedding rites of the rich and famous. Witness the buzz last March when Liza Minnelli, 56, tied the knot with David Gest, 48, in a bizarro-land ceremony in New York, and thereby reviving in one theatrical ceremony a career that hadn't sizzled since her performance in Arthur. More than 1,500 entertainment glitterati were invited to be their guests.

We tuned in a few years ago to see who, if anyone, would want to marry a millionaire. We were curious about the sketchy details of Madonna's marriage to Guy Ritchie. We sent helicopters to buzz over Elizabeth Taylor's estate whenever she decided to remarry.

A beautiful, romantic wedding is the dream of most American girls, and if you're the parents of a daughter or daughters, you're already sinking beaucoup bucks into mutual funds, stocks, bonds and CDs. You know that the day of reckoning is coming. Take Holly, for example.

Holly wanted a wedding at the seaside resort of Spruce Point Inn on the coast of Maine. The beauty is phenomenal. The wedding, she thought, would feature rock-bound seaside, white chop, August nights, cooling breeze, lobster boats steaming by, warm days, blue sky, bluer waters, navy blazers, linen pants, silk-draped bridesmaids' shoulders, beauty and elegance - all collectively creating an understated and highly cultured splendor.

"He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come" (Matthew 22:3, NIV).

So, her dad rented the entire resort for a three-day weekend of magical, memorable, matrimonial moments for a mere $45,000. This cost is, surprisingly, only slightly more than twice the price of an average American wedding. In the newly renovated and century-old inn, there were rooms provided for her 200 guests. Her guests strolled along the breathtaking shore in the evenings seeing stunning sunsets behind Burnt Island Lighthouse. They watched sailing yachts, with colorful spinnakers flying, racing home before the breezes. In the bright days, guests lolled about in the seaside warm-water saltwater pool, or fished off their exclusive dock. At each meal, dressed casually smart, naturally, they dined on award-winning fare while sipping exceptional wines. There was, of course, the traditional outdoor lobster bake, the boat rides around the bay and the islands, tennis on the private courts, 18 holes at the country club for the groomsmen, all in a quaint, quiet Maine town.

"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet'" (Matthew 22:4, NIV).

This wedding was the stuff brides dream of when they are little girls. There went heavenly Holly, strolling to the stings of a quartet as she swept stylishly barefoot down the long, green lawn in her windblown gown toward the shimmering afternoon sea. Her guests were dazzled. Her handsome groom and good-looking groomsmen were nattily dressed in linen suits and silk ties. Her bridesmaids, beauties each and all, all tanned and toned, smiled sweetly. It was an affair to remember. Like something out of The Great Gatsby.

Holly's nuptials - not counting clothes, limos, photographer, clergy (usually the cheapest fee of all), invitations, thank-you notes, the honeymoon and the band - cost her daddy $225 per guest.

But what if - what if after making all these arrangements, no one had shown up?

In the parable before us, a king gives a wedding banquet for his son. Since he is a king, naturally he shells out more than twice the kingdom wedding average of $95 per guest. This daddy puts up $225 per plate. Cooks cook for days. Jars and jars of wine are opened to breathe. Olive-oil-filled lamps are lit. The palace is cleaned, scrubbed and decorated ... and not one guest makes even an appearance. "Be my guest," he had pleaded. And no one showed.

The food is spoiling. The wine cannot be resealed. The king's good mood has turned to a foul one.

Enraged, he sends his shock troops to destroy the ungrateful guests. That'll teach them to accept an invitation and not show up. Miss Manners may not approve, but his point is made, and you can hardly blame the king.

"Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests" (Matthew 22:9-10, NIV).

Then he sends his slaves into the streets to gather a bunch of nobodies, commoners, town-folk, plain Janes and regular Joes, and so the wedding hall is filled. The blind, the lame, the beggars, the merchants, the widows, the orphans, the lonely, the mean, the abused, the abusers, the sickly, the strong, the poor, the hungry, the religious, the righteous, farmers, tax collectors, fishermen, homemakers and hookers, the good and the bad - all come and all have a merry time of it.

It is like heaven in there. Treats and sweets, fruit and meats, golden goblets and marble floors. There's fine, fine food aplenty, with brilliant and overflowing wine to wash it down. There's a dance band playing hot riffs. A stunning view out the palace windows. A sunset gloriously colored. And a cooling evening breeze. It's like heaven! What a joyous, grand wedding time for this prince! Even the king is pleased.

Except, suddenly and sadly, the king sees there's one underdressed, disrespectful, ill-mannered poor soul who came without his proper wedding robe. The king approaches him, and still in a merry mood, calls him "friend." "Friend, how did you get in here without proper clothes?" he asks. Think Robert de Niro and Ben Stiller in the movie" Meet the Parents".

If only the man had replied. If only he had apologized, asked forgiveness, mentioned his poverty or humbly pleaded, then maybe he might have stayed. Instead he was speechless. He had nothing to say. No response was given. So he was bound, hand and foot, then bounced into the dark night alley.

This poor bloke is like somebody showing up at a Spruce Point wedding banquet dressed in faded, torn and stinky jeans, covered with fish bait, just off the boat, wearing an old AC/DC tee shirt one size too small, a backward baseball cap jammed upon his head and sneakers on his feet. It just is not done. That's more than ignorance; that's disrespectful and irresponsible. It is rudeness to the groom; offensive to the bride; impolite to the father and mother and loutish behavior in front of the other invited guests, the good and the bad, who bothered to dress and behave appropriately with respect. At the wedding of a prince given by a king, every one of every class knows better than that.

The king in the story first invited the worthy, who proved themselves unworthy, and received worse treatment than the lout who was later tossed out.

Then the king called everyone to the wedding feast. Many came, thankful to be there and happy to uphold the necessary standards.

And one guy got tossed.

Lessons to be learned: First, all people have been invited to the table.
1 Timothy 2:3b "God our Savior, 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

God, the true king of heaven, invites us - the good and the bad and the in between - to his heavenly affair. We are all called, all invited and all urged to ready ourselves for the heavenly banquet.

This is usually interpreted in an eschatological sense. God intends no one to be excluded on the final Day of Reckoning, at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when Jesus comes again. We are all invited, by the grace of God, to experience the blessings of salvation now, and to share in God's eternal glory later.

1 Timothy 2:3b "God our Savior, 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Second, there is a dress code,
1 Thessalonians 5:8b "let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ"

and we better not forget it. The ticket is free, but we better know what to wear. This means donning the garments of salvation and the righteousness of Christ, because if we expect to attend this affair with the rags we have in our closets of self-importance, self-righteousness, self-conceit, we'll get bounced out of the event on our cans. God's invitation, as extravagant and as open as it is, carries responsibility. Woody Allen notwithstanding, showing up is not enough.

The Prodigal Son was welcome when he returned home and his dad threw a party for him, but he was not allowed, nor did he expect to bring his pigs with him.

Let us be clear dear brothers and sisters about trusting in Acts 4:11 "This Jesus is 'the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.' 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."

Finally, the church is not a club with closed membership. Too often, we take our model of what a church is from the culture around us. We think of the church as we would the YMCA. We join, pay our dues, and in return we expect a fresh towel, clean bathrooms, a hair dryer and scented soaps to be at our disposal. Such inwardness, such a view of the church leads to a closed church, not at all the kingdom model Jesus talks about.

The kingdom model is outward, inclusive, welcoming, beckoning, inviting and open. It is also about service, not about being served.

God is calling us to be his guest. We'd be wise to show up.