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*A Tale of Three Tables*
*Sunday, May 9, 2010*
Luke 14:12-24
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Subject: Open your heart
Theme: Open your heart to friends and strangers
Proposition:
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*INTRO:* We have just celebrated what is typically called the “Lord’s Supper” or the “Lord’s Table.”
It was a meal Jesus shared with his disciples the night before he was crucified.
It was around this table that Jesus shared the most intimate conversation we have recorded in the Bible.
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* *
*Context:* This morning we will look at another mealtime conversation, one that took place as Jesus was en route to Jerusalem where he would soon be betrayed, tried and crucified.
The Jewish religious leaders, jealous of Jesus’ popularity, have been trying to trap Jesus in his words and find grounds to arrest him for violating God’s law.
Today is Saturday, and Jesus has been invited to a Sabbath meal in the house of a leading Pharisee.
Again the religious leaders are watching Jesus closely, hoping he will stumble.
Our text today, Luke 14:12-24, picks up in the middle of this meal.
Jesus, never afraid of controversy, uses the mealtime motif as a backdrop to challenge those present.
He does this with a series of confrontations, correcting their misunderstandings about God, themselves, and about the kingdom of God.
.
First, Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees on their legalism.
He does this by healing a man on the Sabbath.
(v.1-6)
Then, He confronts the guests who are trying to look important by taking the seats of honor at the table (v.7-11), warning that /“everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”/
These first two confrontations help set the scene for the verses we’ll consider.
As the meal continues Jesus continues to challenge those present.
The confrontations that follow are what I call a /Tale of Three Tables.
/
Let’s pick up the story in verse 12.
*Luke 14:12-14*
/ 12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid./
/ 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,/
/ 14 and you will be blessed.
Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."/
/ /
(TRANS) Here we are shown the first of our three tables.
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*The Pharisee’s Table*
* *
When I read this, I thought “Isn’t it rude not to invite your relatives and friends to your banquet?”
But when we take this in light of the whole counsel of Scripture we see it is not a strict prohibition.
In the book of Acts and Corinthians we consistently see table fellowship among the people of the early church.
These meals spanned economic classes.
Paul even gives instruction to embrace every person w~/o discrimination, whether rich or poor
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The question here is one of the heart: /Why are you inviting them?
/Jesus is challenging his host about his motive for generosity.
Are you inviting people with the expectation that they will repay you later?
Earlier in Luke’s gospel Jesus shared that there is nothing special or honorable about giving to those who will repay you.
*Luke 6:32-35*
/ 32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
Even 'sinners' love those who love them./
/ 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?
Even 'sinners' do that./
/ 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?
Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full./
/ 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.
Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked./
(ILL) This
Repayment can take many forms.
It could be an invitation to a party.
It might be something tangible like money or a gift.
But it could also be recognition and praise from others.
The point is not what form the repayment takes but rather from whom it comes.
If it comes from men, it won’t come from God.
If men don’t reward you now, God will reward you later.
But *you don’t get rewarded twice!*
How much better to delay your repayment and receive it from God instead of men!
You don’t get to choose your reward, but you do get to choose when you and from whom you get it.
Be rewarded now by men, or be rewarded later by God.
This reward from God will be given to us at the Bema judgment we discussed a few weeks ago, after Christ returns and we are raised from the dead.
We will be part of the new kingdom he will establish here on earth.
Part of the Jewish picture of this kingdom included a great banquet where they would dine with Abraham and other great people from the OT.
(TRANS) When Jesus mentioned the resurrection of the righteous, a man at the table, thinking of this banquet, pipes up with some commentary.
This is in v.15.
*Luke 14:15*
15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God."
I am not sure why he decided to say this.
Jesus had just confronted the religious leaders, some guests, and the host of the meal, so maybe it to lighten a socially awkward moment.
It seems this man expects he will be one of those eating at the feast.
And certainly the religious leaders expect to be there too.
Anyone at this feast is certainly a blessed individual.
TRANS: But Jesus replies to the man’s exclamation with a parable about our second table – The Father’s.
*The Father’s Table*
As we read v.16-24, be looking for how Jesus confronts those present.
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*Luke 14:16-24*
/16 Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests./
/ 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'/
/ 18 "But they all alike began to make excuses.
The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it.
Please excuse me.'/
/ 19 "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out.
Please excuse me.'/
/ 20 "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'/
/ 21 "The servant came back and reported this to his master.
Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'/
/ 22 "'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'/
/ 23 "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full./
/ 24 I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"/
* *
You know how much work and planning it takes to put together a thanksgiving meal now.
Imagine it without temperature regulated ovens, refrigerators and microwaves.
You have to kill your own meat, grind your own flour, and then cook it all over a fire?
Back in Jesus’ day when planning a party you would invite people ahead of time just as you do today.
Then on the day of the party you would have to send out a messenger again to notify people when the meal was ready.
We see in the parable that the man invited MANY guests.
We are only told three of the specific excuses, but verse 18 makes it clear that ALL of the invited guests made excuses.
And their excuses were very lame.
The man in v.18 asks to be excused because he bought a field and want to go see it?
Who would buy a field w~/o first looking at it?
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