The Great Banquet

Connect:

Read: Luke 14:15-24

When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then he told him, “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ But without exception they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field , and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have bought 5 yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’ And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’

So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’

‘Master,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’ Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’”

Bottom Line: Followers of Jesus know how to say “use me” not “excuse me”

PRAY

Ask: How many of you have ever gotten excited to cancel a plan? How many of you with kids have ever used your kids as an excuse to get out of something?

There have been times in my marriage where we would have the longest day and we’d finally be able to sit down on the couch and put on the tv to just fester into sleep. And all of a sudden we’d get a 30 minute reminder about a plan we made a little while ago that we totally forgot about. I would look at my wife and rely on her to make a really good excuse for why we absolutely cannot make it to said event. And now because we have kids it makes making excuses so much easier. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve pulled the “my kid has a bad cough” excuse.

But the truth of the matter is, sometimes it can be really easy to make excuses, to cancel plans, and to do something else we would much rather do.

The thing is however, there is an event that is coming where the excuses we make will have no power. We will have to make an answer and how we live now and what we do makes all the difference.

And that invitation is to the Great Banquet.

So let’s get into our passage again, and understand the weight of this invitation.

Context: Literary Gospel Context: The Gospel of Luke is written by an early follower of Jesus, a physician named Luke, who took it upon Himself to collect the stories and narratives of Jesus’ disciples. Luke’s gospel was focused on a mainly gentile audience to help them understand that the kingdom of God was for the poor, the marginalized, and those who were looked down upon.

Immediate context: Luke 14:1-6 Jesus at a banquet at the house of a leading Pharisee on the Sabbath. At this house, a man whose body was swollen with fluid was in front of Jesus, and he healed him. Jesus challenges the Pharisees by saying that they would pull out their son or ox out of a well on the sabbath.

Immediate Context: Vs 7-14 - Jesus tells a parable about humility. That those who sit at the highest place can be moved to a lower place if someone else more important than them walks in. But we should seek the lowest place, for those who humble themselves will be exalted, but those who exalt themselves will be humbled.

Scripture

Vs. 15-17: When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then he told him, “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

Triggering the parable was a man who yelled out, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Jesus, at a temporary banquet, makes a parable about the eternal banquet.

During these times, there were usually two invitations. The first invitation acted like a save-the-date RSVP. You would confirm your attendance from this invitation. And the 2nd invitation is to let the people who confirm know that the banquet is ready, so it is time to go.

TRANSITION - However, if you accept the first invitation but reject the 2nd invitation, it is an insult to the host who prepared everything in advance for those people who accepted the first invitation. Which leads us to see the next few verses of disrespect.

Vs. 18 - 20 But without exception they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’ And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’

What’s your excuse?

This is the biggest tension of this parable. The second invitation to those who confirmed are now rejecting it.

What’s the purpose of their rejection? It is the excuses they make. And these excuses are actually really bad and show us the ridiculousness of the invited. The first and second one both imply that these people made purchases without testing the products. If you buy land, you usually want to go see the land first.

If you buy oxen, you usually know what they are capable of already. If you buy a car, you usually are able to test drive it first. Before you buy a house, you do a walk-through of the house and get it inspected.

The problem was that they were too attached to their new properties that they saw them as more important than the party they were being invited to.

Now at least these two guys were polite in their rejection which didn’t matter anyways compared to the third rejection which came from the man who just got married. His rejection was abrupt and rude. But it also was an unjustified rejection.

The only people who could reject anything because of marriage were soldiers who served in Israel’s army - Deuteronomy 24:5. But that doesn’t mean you get to stay home from a banquet.

So then all three of these people made unjustified excuses, rejecting their RSVP just because they were more focused on what they owned.

Illustration -

So imagine this: You invite people to your kids' bday party, you get 20 RSVPs, you prepare food for 20 people, you took the time to plan out a cute theme “I’m 5 guys” burger and fry theme. The time for the party has come, and everyone who rsvp’d doesn’t show up. As a parent, you get upset that the people who were invited to celebrate your kids' party aren’t going to show up, you're also upset because of the resources and energy you used to put on the party. And kids, imagine that instead of your friends showing up to your party, they sent you a Letter.

Illustration - Letter that says “busy” in the inside.

Instead of showing up, they send you their excuses. And if we are not careful, we can do the same thing in our faith.

How many excuses do we make for not making time for God in prayer or in the Word? How many excuses do we make that keep us from coming to church? How many excuses do we make for not joining a discipleship group or small group?

I believe that we make excuses, not because of inability, but because of unwillingness

It can become so easy for us to make excuses to stay home, to stay asleep, to not read the bible, to not pray, and to do just the bare minimum, if that.

Personal fault: I can tell you for sure, I make these excuses a lot. And honestly, I still make some of these excuses.

Yes it would be nicer to just sleep in until I have to get ready for work. It would be nice to just give my brain energy to social media to let my brain die after a long day. It would be nice to just put my energy into a lot of other things and tasks. But then what happens to my soul the more energy and effort I put into everything else and not to the one who gave me life?

Why do we make excuses? Because our attention and energy become placed on everything else that we prioritize over God. And these things become idols. It’s not that we are unable to put our attention on God over everything, it is because we are unwilling to do so.

So we have to ask ourselves: What have I become more willing to focus on than God?

What is your excuse to keep you from getting closer to Jesus?

What is your excuse that keeps us away from living into a thriving relationship with Jesus?

We have a God who is consistently offering us his presence. And there is an urgency to respond. We can respond to Him daily to be with Him, to know Him, to celebrate with Him. Our time to respond is in the present moment. It is now.

Ask the Lord to give you a heart like the Psalmist of chapter 119

Psalm 119:10-11

10 I have sought you with all my heart; don’t let me wander from your commands. 11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.

Rather than excuses, let’s continue to make ourselves available to the Lord and ask the Lord to give us a willing heart to be with Him.

TRANSITION TO NEXT POINT - So now, let’s see what the response of the master is to these excuses.

Vs. 21-24 So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’

“‘Master,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’ Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’”

Everyone is invited

Biblical orchestration of God revealing Himself to the world

Jews were the ones invited, but rejected the Messiah. Their rejection will ultimately lead them to being rejected at the great banquet. God sent prophets, and finally sent Christ. They rejected both prophets and Jesus, the messiah. The high status Jews rejected him, and therefore will experience the Anger of the Lord. However, His anger is not the main idea here as he turns against those who willingly rejected Him, his grace is the main idea of the parable as we see the overlooked ones of Israel found their hope in Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.

They were the ones in the streets and alleys. The streets and alleys are typically where you find the poor people. Beggars, defected people who were blind, lame, injured, outcast, and so on. And these were those whom Christ brought in first. (Jesus heals the broken in the kingdom and they have a place with Him even if they don’t have a place in the world).

Then the invitation went to the highways and hedges; these are the Gentiles, the people of other nations outside of Israel.

This parable fulfills the promise that the Messiah would come and make way for people from every nation to become a part of the family of God.

Isaiah 45:22-23

22 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn; truth has gone from my mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow to me, every tongue will swear allegiance.

The evidence of this passage is clear; God invites all of the ends of the earth, that is all people from every tribe tongue and nation, to belong to Him. There is no one who will be overlooked, it doesn’t matter your status, your past, your ethnicity or age, God’s invitation to be His own is for you and for me.

We are invited to His Banquet:

The picture of a banquet was not something unique, it was an image described by the prophets:

Isaiah 25:6-8

On this mountain, the Lord of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, fine vintage wine. On this mountain he will swallow up the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, When he has swallowed up death once and for all, the Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove his people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah speaks of this banquet occurring at the final purification of the world which occurs when Christ returns which is also spoken about in Revelation 19:9

Revelation 19:9

Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”

This is the final banquet known as the marriage feast of the Lamb. Reserved for the faithful followers of the Lord who have overcome the world. Those who learned how to be used by God rather than make excuses to God.

There will come a time when Jesus returns to make all things new, and when He does He will take up His people who have accepted this invitation, and He will reject those who rejected the invitation.

Those who reject him are everyone who has broken God’s commands. If you’ve ever stolen something, if you’ve ever lied, if you’ve ever dishonored and disrespected your parents.

Especially those who claim to be followers of Jesus but show absolutely no evidence of transformation or evidence that you are a follower of Jesus.

These people will be thrown into what is called the second death into the lake of fire which is described to be a place with weeping and gnashing of teeth (Revelation 20:10-15)

But the people who will be a part of the great banquet ironically are also people who have broken all of God’s commands. However, those who accept the invitation are those who trust that the wonderful work of Jesus Christ in their life to makes a way for them to have eternal life forever.

Gospel: How did Jesus make this way possible? Jesus came down from heaven to take on our likeness, he bore our sins and transgressions although he himself did not sin. He became the perfect and spotless lamb, who saw us who were far away from Him, and was punished for what we deserved. There is nothing we can do to earn this grace, nothing we can do to earn God’s favor, there is no system to climb up. But all that is required to be joined to the master is to receive the person of Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Master.

However, in receiving him, we are to commit to His way, which is expressed perfectly in the next few verses:

Luke 14:25-27

Now great crowds were traveling with him, So he turned and said to them, “if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, and even his own life – he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

A master requires commitment from his servants. But think about our master. He made a place for us to enjoy a seat at his table. He took the position of a servant and died for His servants. He gave you and I a purpose, he gave us privilege to be identified with Him and with His great kingdom. And He extends precious love for you.

I am willing to commit to a master like that. I am willing to stop making excuses and justifying why I can’t be close to Him. I am willing because one day, I will sit with Him at His table and experience a feast with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and He will look at me, and I will look at Him, and everything about my life leading to this moment would be fulfilled. And I do not want to miss out on that. And my hope is that you will not want to miss out on that.

So you need to know today: You are invited

RSVP TICKET handout to everyone - “you’re invited”

3 boxes

[] - I’ll be there

[] - not this time

[] - I’d like to learn more

Reflection to the invitation - How will you respond today to the invitation of God?

Transition “great banquet to communion”

Concise Liturgy INTRODUCTION

We have a great opportunity today, church, to have communion with Jesus Christ today at the table that He has set for us. This is a foreshadow of the great banquet to come and still in this meal, the force and strength of Christ nourishes us to live faithfully to Him.

We come to this table in remembrance that Jesus Christ was sent from the Father, to take our flesh and blood and to fulfill all obedience to the law, even to death on the cross. By His death, resurrection, and ascension He established a new and eternal covenant that we might be accepted by God and never be forsaken by Him.

Since by His death, resurrection, and ascension Christ has obtained for us the life-giving Spirit who unites us all in one body, so are we to receive this Supper in true love, mindful of the Communion and fellowship of the saints.

Who is welcome at the table - those in relationship with Christ, able to discern their life, ask for forgiveness. Scripture warns us not to take these elements in an unworthy manner which is why we have to engage in reflection, confession, and receive the forgiveness of Christ prior to partaking. Therefore, if you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ or have an unwillingness to repent and confess and receive forgiveness, please do not partake the elements.

THE SUPPER INTRODUCTION

(Pick up bread) The Lord Jesus, the same night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it (break bread) and gave it to them, saying “take, eat; this is my body which is given for you: do this in remembrance of me.” (Put down bread)

(Pick up cup)After the same manner also, he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (Put cup down)

In the breaking of the bread He makes Himself known to us as the true heavenly Bread that strengthens us for eternal life that was broken for our transgressions.

In the cup of blessings he comes to us as the Vine in whom we must abide if we are to be fruitful and prove to be His disciples, and in it, His blood was poured out for our sin.

REFLECTION MOMENT

Take a moment now to reflect on these truths, confess your sins to God, and make your heart and mind still in preparation to take the elements.

Assurance of Pardon (read together):

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, or repay us according to our rebellion.

So far as the east is from the west,

So far he removes our transgressions from us.

Partaking of Communion

The Lamb of God is apportioned and distributed; apportioned, but not divided, ever eaten, yet never consumed; but sanctifying those who partake.

TAKE AND EAT: The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ please take and eat.

The cup of blessing which we bless is the communion of the blood of Christ, please take and drink.

Pray

Most Holy and Righteous God, we remember in this Supper the perfect sacrifice offered for us on the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ for the sin of the whole world. In joyful expectation of His return we offer ourselves to you as holy and living sacrifices. Send us your all good and life giving Spirit to dwell in us that the bread which we break and the cup which we bless may be to us the body and blood of Christ that by taking it we might be empowered in righteousness and united to you and to our brothers and sisters in the faith. We look forward to the day when you will gather us together and allow us to take part in the great feast in the new heavens and new earth that you will establish. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.