"No Excuses" - Luke 14:15-24

Introduction

Imagine a man won the opportunity of a lifetime to go on a vacation trip to Hawaii with all expenses paid for (airfare, food, lodging, travel, etc.) All he had to do was to claim it!

Now suppose this man then said, “that sounds fun and all, but I’m so busy these days and I’m tired....and I don’t think I’m going to go.”

How would you view this man? Foolish right?! Who wouldn’t take advantage of that opportunity??

Transition: Just as it would be foolish for a person to make petty excuses for not taking advantage of the opportunity of the lifetime, how much more foolish is it that people make excuses all the time why they will not accept Jesus’ free gift of eternal life!

I. The Occasion for the Parable (14:15-16)

Read Luke 14:15-24

Explain: background of Jesus being invited to Pharisees’ house in which healed and taught on humility and charity. Then a man shouts out “Blessed are those who will [feast] in the Kingdom of God!” (c.f. Isaiah 25:6)

Isaiah 25:6-9 (ESV)

Isaiah 25:6–9 ESV

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Point 1: We should not assume we naturally deserve eternal life.

Proof: The man evidently counted himself as worthy to be at the Messianic Banquet.

Picture: Almost no one will say that they believe they are going to hell. The problem is that it’s optimism without a foundation. (Stack of cards analogy: stacking good works like a stack of cards)

Q: How does this mirror our culture today?

A: discussion

Practice: It’s not enough to just assume you’re in right standing before God, but to know the basis of it - by faith in Christ.

Transition: This interjection by this man prompts Jesus to tell this parable, the Parable of the Great Banquet

II. The rejection of the Banquet Invitation (14:17-20)

Explain: In those days an invitation to a banquet was sent out to people well in advance by the host, then the servant / messenger would be sent out to notify everyone when it was prepared.

Q: Who does the people who made the excuses represent?

A: the nation Israel

Q: What kinds of excuses did they make?

A: Field, Oxen, Wife

Q: What kinds of excuses to people make today?

A: discussion

Point 2: We have no excuse for rejecting Christ’s invitation to us

Proof: These excuses didn’t even make sense!

The first two said they had check their property after buying them. (like buying a car without a test drive, or a house without a walk through)

The third tried to excuse himself based on Deuteronomy where it says that a newly married man doesn’t have to join the army right away.

Similarly, the Pharisees and the majority of Israel made excuses why they wouldn’t accept the banquet.

The Messianic Banquet was already underway!

Picture: Pastor Roger and the man on his death bed who kept telling him that he would accept Christ “tomorrow”. But it never came.

Practice: Don’t make silly excuses! The invitation to Jesus’ banquet is still in effect! It’s up to us to simply put our pride aside, and humbly accept it by faith.

Transition: So the first set of people represented Israel. In response to the man’s declaration about the Banquet, he is in effect saying, “the invitations have already gone out and you are not accepting them!”. In this parable, Jesus is already bursting their pride bubble. Jesus continues on with the parable....

III. The Invitation Redirected (14:21-23)

Explain: The servant, in the parable, gets back with all this news. As you can imagine, the master of the house was not happy about this!

Q: Where does he tell the servant to go and what kind of people to invite instead?

A: First the city streets and lanes to invite the poor, crippled, blind, and lame. Then the highways and hedges.

Q: What kinds of people is the host telling to invite?

A: Those who are humble, who are not likely to accept such an invitation from such a wealthy person.

Q: How does he tell the servant to bring them in (v.23)?

A: To compel them; persuade them

*****The purpose is: “so that my house may be filled”.

Point 3: We have no excuse for not extending the invitation to others near and far

Proof: Already demonstrated, the city was referencing Jerusalem / Israel, the highways and hedges referencing he Gentile world.

Picture:

Practice: So ask yourself this: Are you a city street person or a highway and hedge person? Are you someone God is calling you to minister locally, or do you think he might use you outside your own cultural context?

Transition: The invitation to join Christ at His banquet was first rejected by God’s own prideful chosen people, but then accepted by the “poor in spirit” the social outcasts and the pagan Gentiles. Once we accept, then we must extend. We become those servants! If we do not accept, then we are no better off then the hardened citizens of Israel. Which is why....

IV. No Hope for Rejecting the Invitation (24)

Point #4: There is no future hope to those who ultimately reject the invitation

Proof: v. 24 - “For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.

Picture: Dennis Prager, a Jewish conservative radio host, indicated that even though he rejects Jesus as Messiah that he would still go to heaven because he helped so many Christians with their faith.

Practice: Consider the ultimate price for rejecting, that is the message we must get across as well.

V. Conclusion:

Jesus was saying to this man and everyone else, “Don’t assume that you’re automatically ok before God that you can attend the great Messianic Banquet. His parable communicated that the Banquet was ready!

The Banquet IS ready! The invitations are already going out and it is up to us to get the out there by means of the Gospel.

Accept, then extend the invitation!!!