"You're Excused: Still There is Room"

Propositional Statement

We all find reasons to decline Jesus’ invitation to kingdom and fellowship because we prioritize external things above being in the presence of God. There will come a time when your excuses will create a closed door for you, while opening a door for those who really desire God’s presence.

“The Spiritual Sluggard”

300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon (The Spiritual Sluggard (Ecclesiastes 2:24; John 5:17; Colossians 3:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:10))

You have heard, perhaps, of the very pious man who entered a monastery in order that he might spend all his time in devotion. When the time came for the brothers to go into the fields to work, he did not leave his cell. He was too spiritual to handle a hoe or a spade, so he continued in communion with angels. He was very much surprised, however, when the time came for the brotherhood to assemble in the refectory, that he was not called. After waiting until the demands of hunger overcame the claims of his spiritual being, he went to the prior and asked why he had not been called to the meal, and he was informed that, as he was to not work, it was thought that he was probably so spiritual that he could not eat. At any rate, the laws of the monastery did not permit him to eat until he had earned what he needed.There was much common sense in that reply, and our Lord Jesus Christ was not one of your lackadaisical, goody-goody sort of people who have nothing at all to do.

Context of Luke 14

It is the Sabbath day, and Jesus chooses to dine at a ruler of the Pharisees and instead of enjoying his fellowship, they watched him suspiciously. A man with the dropsy comes, and knowing their watching, he asks them a question concerning the laws that govern the Sabbath. Their silence led to Jesus’ healing of the man…they still remained silent after he asked them about their oxen because people will create rules and standards they themselves cannot reach or maintain. Jesus uses a parabolic story to change the seating arrangement, and establish the order of the kingdom as far as importance is concerned....he provides the backdrop for one of his greatest parables by creating an acceptable guest list when giving a dinner or banquet. Leave your “type” of crowd at home and invite those without the ability to repay you, for your payment will come at the resurrection. Jesus declares blessing when we invite the “uninvitable” into our kingdom fellowship. Jesus lays out the cost of discipleship to the great crowds: discipleship costs your everything and Jesus calls the present crowd and the future church to be the flavor and the light of this world. Tenderly tucked away in verse 16-24, Jesus offers a life changing parable to the crowd about the great banquet and three excuses, an angry master that created an open invitation.

There are several different views on the main point of the parable. Should the title of the parable be (1) the parable of the replacement guests (the main point being the giving of God’s kingdom to the outcasts); (2) the parable of the disobedient guests (the main point being the rejection of God’s kingdom by official Judaism); (3) the parable of the irate master (the main point being God’s rejection of Israel); or (4) the parable of the great banquet (the main point being the arrival of God’s kingdom and its consequences)? In favor of the first suggestion is the twofold sending of the servant in 14:21–23. The concluding verse argues in favor of the second. However, the fourth suggestion seems best because the use of the metaphor “banquet” in 14:15–16 focuses attention on the coming of the messianic banquet (cf. Matt 22:2). The picture (and reality) parts of the parable flow as follows: a great banquet was given (the messianic banquet/God’s kingdom had now come); the invited guests refused to come (the Pharisees and religious elite of Israel rejected the Messiah and his teachings); the outcasts of society were brought in as guests to the banquet (the least in Israel entered God’s kingdom instead of the religious elite); and even more distant outcasts were brought in as guests (the Gentiles entered God’s kingdom instead of Israel). The two invitations (14:16–17) should not be allegorized (the first as the OT message; the second as Jesus’ message), for they simply were part of the local coloring (see comments on 14:16 and 14:17).

Excuses devalues the invitation

“God's plan for enlarging His kingdom is so simple - one person telling another about the Savior. Yet we're busy and full of excuses. Just remember, someone's eternal destiny is at stake. The joy you'll have when you meet that person in heaven will far exceed any discomfort you felt in sharing the gospel.” Charles Stanley

This banquet is a clear allusion to the Jewish hope for the time when the Messiah would come and share a great fest with Israel’s devout. Jewish custom is a double invitation, the first to “make reservations” and the second to announce that the banquet was beginning. Though there are many invited, Jesus chose to highlight two excuses and one rejection to join the banquet because they were not supposed to be the ones invited. The word excuse in the Greek is παραιτέομαι, to avert something by request or entreaty. The guest accepted the first invitation to attend the banquet, and after the host has made all these preparations, Jesus makes it quite clear that none of them wanted to attend and they all produced reasons why they should be released from their former acceptance of the invitations. The excuses were more of less valid, as all excuses for not following Christ usually seem to be... Whether the excuses were weak or not, the point is that in this parable the invitation was refused by all the guest. People would rather live in the ecstasy of their excuses instead of enjoying the freedom in accountability.

This excuse valued the creation over the creator

This excuse valued work over worship

The excuse valued his partner over the presence of God

Excuses devalues the “host”

The banquet didn’t sneak up on them, but their excuses showed what they felt about the host of the banquet. What they were in the presence of was more important than being in the presence of the host. Our excuses devalue our thoughts towards God, even after accepting God’s invitation. The invited guest had publicly insulted him by turning down his invitations after first accepting them. The invited guest had treated him with indifference, contempt, and deceitfulness....

Excuses create a new guest list