The Great Banquet: Inviting whoever

Invite The Outcasts

my name is Justin Furse, I am from Abbotsford BC, in the Fraser valley.

I’ve been youth pastoring for the last year at Mountain Park Community Church while I finished my degree at Summit Pacific College

Invite The Outcasts

There is a parable in Luke ch 14 which talks about a great banquet.

In this parable, Jesus has been invited to the house of a ruler of the Pharisees for a feast durring the Sabbath.

This particular parable about the great banquet is addressed to this man who has invited Jesus to dine with them.

Lets read a little bit together. Turn to

Luke 14:12–14 ESV

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.”

Wait wait wait just a minute here.... So I can’t invite my friends to a BBQ? But those are the people I want to hang out, converse with and do life with

Okay so we need to clarify something here. Jesus isn’t telling the host of the banquet that he can’t invite his friends and that a normal social life is wrong.

What he is saying is that anyone can invite their friends, but true generosity is inviting those who are in need. Those who have been neglected by society.

Jesus is presenting us with a mission to reach out to those who we would normally ignore or even think poorly of. Jesus loved everyone, not just those people who were his friends.

But those are the people I want to hang out with and do life with

How often do you invite people to something? It doesn’t have to be a big party or a BBQ, it could be as simple as lunch at a fast food restaurant.

It doesn’t have to be a big party or a BBQ, it could be as simple as lunch at a fast food restaurant.

And how often are the people you invite not part of your immediate circle of influence?

It doesn’t have to be a big party or a BBQ, it could be as simple as lunch at a fast food restaurant.

That’s a sobering question if I ask it of myself because I would have to say that I don’t remember the last time that I invited someone that I didn’t know to lunch. Acquaintances, sure, but someone who is in need for whatever reason or has been rejected by those around them? I don’t know if I’ve ever done that.

Now in this particular instance we are talking about a banquet or a social gathering of some sort. What if we applied that to a church setting? What if the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind are those who don’t know Jesus but are seeking and don’t even know it?

I would challenge you to think about how many people you could invite to church that aren’t in your immediate circle of friends. Don’t limit your invitations to those who you know, extend that invitation to those who need Jesus, who are desperate for more than just life

When Life “Gets in the way”

After Jesus talks about inviting the outcasts of society rather than friends, he begins to talk about a man who invited many people to a great banquet and their responses to his call that the banquet was ready. Let’s read

Luke 14:16–20 ESV

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.’

First of all, how many of you have been in this situation before? you do all this prep for a party or get together and then when it’s finally time for people to come, the people you have invited start to make excuses for why they can’t come.

At first glance these excuses may look justifiable, but when you really look at them and think about the time in which these people live, they are really statements saying that they don’t want to come, not that they just can’t come.

Think about it...

If you buy a field, you’re probably going to make sure you inspect it before you make the purchase, not after. Also the field will be there tomorrow, it’s not going anywhere.

Same thing with the five yoke of Oxen. he says, I’ve bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them.” The term “I go” should be understood as on “on my way” or “I am going.” The word “examine” should probably be understood as ‘to test them’ or ‘to prove them’. Who buys a yoke of oxen without testing them first.

The third guy says that he is now married and can’t come because of it. Okay sure, says that when a man marries a wife he should stay at home for the first year of marriage, but that is a regulation freeing him from military service, not one that is meant to isolate him from social contacts.

Morris, L. (1988). Luke: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 3, p. 251). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.When purchasing Oxen, one should really be inspecting them before the purchase to make sure that they are a good investment.

My mother was reflecting on this the other day after she had invited a bunch of people to celebrate my graduation. These people who she had invited made all sorts of excuses, non of them really that good. They were the kind of excuses that you know are exactly just that.

She was quite disappointed and began to think negatively about those people, she was upset that her party wasn’t quite what she wanted it to be.

What my mother later realized was that all the people who did come, they were like family. They were the people that really mattered and that care for our family but because she was wrapped up in her negativity towards those who didn’t come, she didn’t even notice that the people who did come were the one’s she most wanted to be there.

How do we respond when people upset us? How should we respond? Judgement certainly shouldn’t be our reactions but it often is our initial response.

I say this as a reminder for when we are disappointed in the people around us. Recognize what is good that you have, rather than focusing in on the little things that you don’t and judging those who have disappointed us. In this case, the people who actually came and not the one’s who didn’t.

What if our negative response is visible to those who turned down our invitation? Do you think that could change their opinion of you? what if that person is someone God want’s you to reach out to but you just made it that much more difficult because of your reaction and judgment of their excuses.

says

Colossians 3:16 ESV

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Who are we to judge, God is the ultimate judge. Lets give thanks and be happy for what is given and for those we love rather than focusing on those who have done wrong in our eyes. That just makes the party un-enjoyable.

Who knows, by choosing to respond in love and grace, we may just make enough of an impact on someone for them to ask about why we responded so graciously.

The second thing to think about is our own invitation. Have you ever been the person trying desperately to come up with a half baked excuse so that you don’t have to say you don’t want to go? I have.

We’ve all been on both sides of the coin. Now let me suggest to you that we do the same thing to God...

What if God is the master of the banquet and he’s invited us to feast with him but we start making excuses as to why we can’t dine with Him. Not all the time but I bet you could list at least five times in the last few months.

Why do you think that is?

i’m just going to let you guys think about that for yourselves

I have this friend who

Think of God as the master of this house, this church, and he’s invited all of you and asked you to extend that invitation to those who don’t know him.

Let’s continue reading

Luke 14:12 ESV

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.

Luke 14:21–24 ESV

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.’ ”

Headed for Whoever

when those people that were invited made up the excuses not to come, it hurt the master of the house. So he decided to send his servant to invite all those people who society had named outcasts. Those people who live in the streets, and under the trees because nobody wants them around. The poor, and crippled and blind and lame. When the servant said that he had done that already, the master of the house told him to go find more

Think of God as the master of this house, this church, and he’s invited all of us and asked us to extend that invitation to those who don’t know him. He says ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.

Notice that in the passage he says “compel people”, there is no condition on the word people, no descriptor to narrow down who he want’s to come. He’s inviting whoever his servant may see on the street.

The beautiful thing about this word “whoever” is that it includes everyone. It’s the lost, it’s the saved, it’s the married, it’s the single. It’s the one who looks like you and the one who doesn’t. It’s the one who is angry, it’s the one who is scared, it’s the one who can speak well and it’s the one who can’t.

This invitation includes all people! specifically the ones who we don’t personally know and have a relationship with! Not the people that sit to the right or left of you right now, not the people you know from the church down the road. They already have a place at the table! He’s asked us to invite those who aren’t occupying a seat at the table yet.

Here’s the thing, although these people don’t occupy a seat yet, they have one that says reserved just for them, and God has asked us to invite them to sit at the table with us. There’s still room at the table!

Here’s my challenge for us all this week. The next time you have a conversation with someone that goes longer than your casual “how’s it goin? good, you?” and you get talking a little, let them know that your church family would love to see them on Sunday morning.

These people don’t have to be perfect strangers, they could be acquaintances, they could even be your neighbor who doesn’t come to church.

Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is to Love your neighbor. The SECOND GREATEST EVER! That’s pretty high up on the scale! now if you’re like me, I bet that if you think about how well you know your neighbors, there’s at least one who you don’t know very well. Perhaps that person is the one to invite to lunch or church the next time you get talking.

If you know all your neighbors really well, GREAT! Then you can invite them for sure! No problemo!

Let’s be the family of Christ that invites and loves on everyone, no matter their circumstance or personality, who they love, what their preferences are and what they like and don’t like.

Let’s be headed for whoever! And let’s spread God’s invitation to the hungry.

You are a Kingdom people, May you be blessed and bless others as you leave today

You are a Kingdom people, May you be blessed and bless others as you leave today

Jesus came to seek the least and the lost