A Party for Jesus
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Seek First
Seek First
Evan’s Party for Jesus
Evan’s Party for Jesus
He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
Jesus is the most famous rabbi in Israel. He is a prophet and a miracle worker. Crowds are following Him and everyone wants to have Him over for dinner so that the can brag to their friends to the day they die, “Remember that one time I had Jesus over to my house?”
You can imagine the fights that would have started between people who wanted to have Jesus over for dinner. Then Jesus chooses a tax collector. The most hated man in town. Jesus bestows the honor of His presence on the least deserving. The dignity that Jesus brought to this man was a scandal to the entire community but the Kingdom of God came because of lunch.
Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
These are the eternal words of God from the lips of Jesus, Himself. They were recorded by Jesus’ disciples. Do you think Jesus is speaking about proper wedding etiquette? Do you think Matthew spilt ink (which was very expensive in the 1st century) on proper seating arrangements? No! Jesus was talking about the humility needed to be honored before God.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
This is the point of Jesus’ teaching on where to sit at weddings and it is vitally important when it comes to house church. Let me explain why.
He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Some people, by their presence, bestow honor. If you were to have the president over to your home, that would increase your status in the community. But as we saw with Zacchaeus, other people can have the opposite effect. There are some people that by having them in your home could cause the world to look down upon you. Whow do you think Jesus is calling?
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
A proper house church is not always filled with the important people. The people who are always a delight. Sure, those people are there too, but a proper house church that is really doing Kingdom work is filled with people who have problems. They can be self-centered, socially awkward, and have real problems. Some of them can have problems that are a heavy burden that seems too difficult to carry. Others, can just be annoying to be around. But we must care for the sheep that God gives us.
When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”
There are some who are too important or busy to enter the Kingdom of God. They have better things to do. The invitation then is extended to those who are humble and recognize they need a Savior.
Notice who is invited: the poor, crippled, blind, and lame are those who have no ability to give honor or dignity to the host of the banquet. The host of the banquet gets nothing in return for inviting these people. But then he extends the invitation even further: “go to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in.”
The people in the highways and hedges are robbers and thieves. But the master of the banquet is calling them so that his house may be full.
House church is not a club, filled with all of your friends and favorite people. It is a party for Jesus. We should expect to invite all of those whom Jesus would invite. It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
David Mansfield’s story
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