Second Sunday after Trinity

“A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent His slave at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ ” When a man gives a wedding feast for his son or his daughter, the invitations usually go out a few months in advance. But Jesus speaks here of a “great supper”, and it’s something of an understatement, for the invitations to this supper have been going out unceasingly from the beginning of the world. The man who gives the great supper is God the Father. The supper is the banquet of heaven, the marriage feast of the Lamb that has no end. And in order that heaven may be filled, God has been sending His slaves out to hand deliver the invitation to every people of every generation.

But there’s a problem. When the day of the feast finally comes, those who had first been invited are unwilling to come, and begin with one accord to make excuses. The first bought some land that he needs to see, the second bought some oxen that he needs to test, and the third simply says, “I have married a wife.” He seems to think that this is a self-evident reason. “Are you coming to heaven?” “Of course not, silly, I just got married.” In our depraved culture, which sets aside an entire month to celebrate perversions that are against nature, perhaps we should give this man just a bit of credit. At least he has married a woman! But what good will that do him in the end, for he too despises the invitation.

In the first instance, those who were invited but rejected the invitation when the time came are the Jewish nation. God invited them first. He chose Abraham and his seed out of all nations of the earth. He entrusted them with the oracles of God. He brought them out of Egypt, fed them with manna in the wilderness, and drove out their enemies on every hand. God was a father to them, and showed them more tender care than the most loving mother, yet they were stubborn and hard-hearted. And in the fullness of time, when our Lord Jesus was born among them, they rejected and crucified Him.

But the parable is not spoken only against the Jews. It is also a warning to you, lest you also trifle with the grace of God. Many within the church today, many who first heard the invitation years ago, have been busily preparing their excuses. As a pastor, I hear these excuses often, and those of the man who had just been married, the excuses hardly make sense. When I was on vicarage, we had a group of what we called the “mobile shut-ins.” They were too sick and feeble to come to church, but when the pastor tried to visit them with holy communion, they were never home—always out shopping or getting their hair done. Mobile shut-ins.

I have since learned that when people give an excuse there is always the fake reason which they say, and the real reason which they don’t say. “Pastor, I can’t come to church because I have to work on Sunday”—that’s the fake reason. But the real reason that they won’t say out loud is, “Pastor, I just don’t value the gifts of Christ.” You’ll notice in the text that none of the excuses are about inherently wicked things. It’s not as though people say, “I can’t come to the banquet. I’m too busy robbing banks, committing genocide, and engaging in a month long celebration of debauchery.” No, one man just bought some land, another bought oxen. Those are perfectly fine things to do. And a third man just got married. He is to be congratulated. He who finds a wife finds a good thing! But these good things become snares that rob them of eternal life. Take heed, lest you too be led astray by these good gifts and so spurn the invitation.

So the slave came and reported these things to his master. And the master of the house became angry! (Lk 14:21) We confessed this in the Alleluia Verse appointed for this day, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Psalm 7:11) And nothing makes God more angry than when people reject eternal life! Do you fear the wrath of God? You should! The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness. (Rom 1:18) But what does the wrath of God lead Him to do? 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 crippled and the lame and the blind.” (Lk 14:21). God is so angry with those who reject His invitation that He starts inviting cripples to His banquet.

Tell me, do you like the wrath of God? You should, because it’s the only reason you’re here. It’s hard for us to understand, but God’s wrath and His love are wrapped together. You got invited to the banquet. How did that happen? Was it because of God’s wrath or because of His love? Look at Jesus upon His cross, His arms stretched out in invitation to the whole world. Is this the revelation of God’s wrath or is it His love? God is angry with the wicked every day—so angry, that He invites his enemies to repentance and eternal life. He is so angry that He sends out His slaves to hand deliver the message of salvation to you.

Two kinds of people got the invite. The first group had means. They were out buying land, and oxen, and getting married. They had all the things that we would consider blessings: property, wealth, marriage, health. Yes, they even had legs and eyes. And for all these blessings they rejected the only blessing that matters. The second group had none of these things. Instead, they had poverty, hunger, sickness, lameness, and blindness. And then they received and welcomed the invitation to eternal life. So which group are you? We often pray for the things we consider to be blessings. “God, please give me all the things!” And God desires to give you every good thing. But because He loves you, He may send you sickness or poverty. Why? In order to lead you into eternal life. Apart from Christ, everything we might consider a great blessing—the new piece of land, the new oxen, even the new wife, or health, and wealth and success—these become curses that lead to the rejection of eternal life. But for those who have been joined to Christ through Holy Baptism, everything that you receive in this life—even sickness, poverty, and suffering—becomes a blessing that works for your salvation.

As I studied and translated this text with another pastor this week, we noticed something odd: The second set of invitations goes out to the poor, and the blind, and the crippled, and the lame. Poor people, blind people, and crippled people, and lame people. But crippled and lame are the same thing. Best we could figure is that some of us are doubly lame. There are the cripples who can’t walk, and then there are the extra cripples who really can’t walk. These are the ones who enter the banquet. But how do they get in? They are super cripples who can’t even hobble, but listen to what God does.

Here is the grace of God that has been shown to you, The master said to His slave, “Go and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled”(Lk 14:23) You are here because God, motivated by His love and His wrath, compelled you to come in. You didn’t choose Him. Most of you were carried to the font. This is the love of God compelling you. For anyone over thirty, it is certain that your life has not gone according to the plan you laid out for yourself. This is the love of God compelling you. Had everything gone the way you hoped, you would be busy buying property and oxen, pursuing wealth and power and pleasure, and living a life of rejection of Christ and His gifts. If your legs had worked, you would have walked away from Christ, but God has been merciful to you. He has instead, blessed you with the gifts of poverty, and blindness, and yes, even the gift of double lameness. God has used these things to keep you holding on to promises of Christ in your baptism. And everything that God has done in your life, from that moment until this, everything that He has allowed you to suffer, is the outworking of His love as He compels you to enter His banquet. Amen.