Beating the Bushes

Introduction

Good morning!

It is such a blessing to be here this morning and to worship together.

And it is such an honor to be able to come and bring the Word today and I thank you all for having me.

This morning, I’d like to take a deeper look at a passage from Luke 14.

If you have a Bible with headings and subheadings, in many of them this is labeled the Parable of the Great Supper, and it’s found in verses 15-24.

And in this Passage Jesus is actually addressing a group that has come together to eat in one of the houses of a high ranking Pharisee.

And the whole reason that Jesus was even invited was so that the Pharisee’s could trap him into doing or saying something that they could use to discredit Jesus.

In fact, the very first thing that they do is bring a guy in who, as the Bible describes, has “dropsy,” which was a condition where excess fluid built up in the tissues from kidney or liver problems, that they think even could have been a type of cancer.

Well they bring this guy in and ask Jesus if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath.

And we know how it goes, Jesus heals the man and turns it back on them asking them about pulling their donkeys and oxen out of ditches on the Sabbath.

And there is a whole sermon just in that about the “rules” of religion, verses the “relationship” with Jesus Christ.

The 3-minute sermon point is Jesus don’t care about religions rules as much as He cares about the salvation of souls with TRUE RELATIONSHIP with Him through faith.

And that’s because religious rules are tied up in things like denominationalism, rituals, the old “that’s the way we’ve always done it,” mentality.

And when we get stuck in that type of mentality then we lose focus on what is important.

And what tends to happen is the Holy Spirit is choked out because we try to put God in our nice little proper boxes.

And that doesn’t work.

It never has, and never will.

And one more point before I move on—the whole reason why a lot of these rituals, rules, and traditions, and are rooted in religion and not in the Word of God is because when the Holy Spirit departed from churches somewhere down the line, they had to find a substitute to replace Him.

But a substitute is just a cheap knock off of the original.

And I don’t know about y’all but I don’t want a cheap knock of the Holy Ghost—I want the real deal, and all of Him!

But anyway, Jesus heals the man, calls them out on their hypocrisy and since he had their attention already he decides to teach them a few things through a few parables.

The first one about a wedding feast and how everybody wanted to sit at the head of the table—the seat of honor.

But instead, we should strive to be humble.

Don’t exalt ourselves, but let God be exalted through your humility and love for others.

And not just be humble by taking the lowest seat at the table, be kind and generous, invite others who otherwise would be completely left out.

Pour into others, who by wordly standards have nothing that they could offer in return.

Be blessed by being a blessing to others, basically.

Again, calling out their hypocrisy and religious elitism.

And since he had them good a riled up at this point Jesus takes it step further, which is where our passage this morning is going to pick up.

So, if you are able to, I’d invite you to stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Again, I’m in Luke 14, starting in verse 15.

Luke writes . . .

Scripture Focus

Luke 14:15–24 NKJV

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”

Making Excuses

Now this passage is one of many that is used in the Church to teach and preach about witnessing and particularly about inviting people to church.

And there’s nothing wrong with that in itself, but what tends to happen is what happens in many different instances.

We will take the “Golden Nuggets” of a passage and use them over and over and over and never dig deeper and get under the surface.

The takeaway is always, “yeah, I should invite people to church—I’ll take that under advisement.”

However, we rarely ask the question, why don’t we do it?

And when we do, who do we invite and why do we choose them and not others?

And Jesus addresses all of this in this passage.

And I really believe that this is a timely word for this occasion because in my spirit I feel God saying that He is preparing this place and these people for something.

And in order to receive it, we have to be prepared.

And I’m not talking so much about things like facilities—yes, prepare this building. It’s coming and you will need it.

But WE need to be prepared.

We need to be willing vessels.

Willing to both receive instruction from the Lord and to give instruction to others.

Because it is going to take more than one or two or ten people to do all of the work.

But also know this—most people are not just going to wander in off the street.

Now, that will happen some, but those who are here are going to have to give back in the form of testimony and witness and service to God and the Church in order to demonstrate the work that God has done in our lives in order to spark interest from others seeking that same kind of work in their lives.

And I hope that I’m making sense, but if I’m not, hang with me because by the time we are through the passage I believe it will.

So, let’s break this passage down in chunks.

Going back to verses 15-17 and set things up . . .

Luke 14:15–17 NKJV

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’

So, verse 15 here is actually a transition from the earlier passage about the place of honor to this new direction that Jesus is taking these people in.

And remember, Jesus is talking to Pharisees, the religious folk.

Those who had all the answers.

But all their answers were written in their rules and laws and not in the Son of God that was sitting right in front of them.

And that blinded them to the truth.

But he tells them that this “certain man” was going to throw this great banquet and sends all of these invitations out telling them come for all things are now ready!

And in this there is a lot here for the Church as a whole and one specifically for us here today.

And the underlying foundation is Jesus is saying—I have prepared the way.

I have made all the arrangements.

I have all the tools you need in place.

The table is set and everything is ready.

All you have to do is come.

All you have to do is gather your people and bring them to the banquet.

Just have a little faith and trust that it’s all going to work out.

And that is true regardless if we are talking about all churches or just this church.

This is the Gathering Place—where we are to gather the people and bring them into the Lord’s banqueting table.

BUT and I always say there is a but in there somewhere, something will inevitably go sideways to prevent this from happening all the time.

And that something is usually people.

You and me—Usin’s.

And it is usually because of excuses, and I love these excuses . . .

Luke 14:18–20 NKJV

But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’

The first one—I bought some land down in McKinney and I got to go see what I bought—EXCUSE. Who buys land, sight unseen?

The second one—I bought 5 yoke of oxen and I got to see if they are any good—EXCUSE. Wouldn’t you want to know that before you pay?

And my all time absolute favorite—I got a wife and I’m not allowed to come.

Now, this one depending on your wife—WELL....

Seriously though, it is just another EXCUSE!

And if we are going to be honest, what makes them funny is because we all use excuses all the time for why we “can’t” do, why we “can’t serve” why we “can’t” give.

But is it “can’t” or won’t?

Because my experience is it’s about 90% won’t and 10% can’t.

And before you take the microphone away from me the vast majority of the won’t is NOT because of laziness—now there are just some lazy people who won’t do anything.

But the majority of the won’t is because people are afraid.

And people are afraid because they feel unequipped and before you start pointing fingers at teachers and leaders, how many hours a week are we gathered here?

And how many hours do you spend away from here on your own time?

So the equipping goes both ways.

But the first thing we have to do is to stop making excuses and start allowing the Holy Spirit to prepare us for the Work God has given us.

Who Do We Bring In?

So, let’s assume that we have all decided that from this moment on we are going be prepared and start doing the work.

Now what?

Where do we go from here?

Let’s look at the Scripture. Starting in verse 21 . . .

Luke 14:21–24 NKJV

So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”

And this part of the passage is key so I don’t want us to miss it.

The master was angry—why?

Well obviously because His invitation was rejected.

What do you think happens when we reject God’s invitation?

After all God has given out of nothing but pure love—and we reject Him.

What do you expect—and again, WHO IS JESUS TALKING TO—the Pharisees—the religious people.

The ones who were supposed to be the example to everyone else.

Because they were supposed to know Him and love Him.

But they only loved themselves, their status, their power, and their control.

They had religion down pat, but had absolutely NO RELATIONSHIP with the Father.

And if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times—RELIGION IS SENDING PEOPLE TO HELL LEFT AND RIGHT.

It is not about a religion

It is not about a denomination.

IT IS ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

It is all about relationship.

And the very last verse, what’s he say . . .

Luke 14:24 NKJV

For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”

No one tied up in religion will EVER eat from the Lord’s banquet table.

But He wants the house full.

He wants the table full—so who do we get?

Again, verse 21 . . .

Luke 14:21–23 NKJV

So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

This place needs to be a place ready to receive:

The Poor

The Maimed

The Lame

The Blind

The Outcast

The Lost

The Broken

The Addict

The Abused

The Neglected

The Rejected

The Lonely

Anyone who desires a relationship with God.

Regardless of anything else.

He wants His house full—and wants US TO FILL IT.

Not just this house—but THE house.

There is always room for one more.

Altar/Challenge

So, what will it be?

Maybe you are here and you have realized that you need to enter into that relationship with Jesus.

All you have to do is come and I am more than confident that someone will pray with you.

Or if you need to pray but are afraid to come, take your neighbor’s hand and ask them to come with you—they will.

Or maybe you need to take that next step in being equipped for the work God has.

God gave you the talents and abilities that He did for a reason.

And you need to be using them.

Come and pray to be able to take that next step.

Maybe you need to be filled with the Holy Ghost so that you have the power and the courage to take that next step.

There are so many things we could and should be praying about.

And if the Lord has laid anything on your heart, big or small in your mind—because it’s all big if God put it on your heart— come and give it to Him.

Don’t question and don’t delay—step out in faith.