Untitled Sermon (11)

Greetings and welcome to Stanchfield Baptist Church online! I’m very thankful that you are joining us as we begin a New Series about each one of … “Us being Created for Significance!”

With all of the uncertainties that we face today concerning the Covid-19 virus, our priorities and purpose in life can get a little mixed up. Jesus came to help us bring clarity as to what is important and what is not.

Jesus was a humble and gentle man. An example of what we are encouraged to strive for. He kept company with the poor, the crippled, and the lame. He loved those who had been forgotten.

Often our purpose in life gets out of balance, we mix up our priorities.

So as we begin our message this morning let me ask you a question… Will you ask God to take over your life and align it with his purpose? That’s the question we face today.

In Luke's Gospel, chapter 14 Jesus talks about being in the house of a religious leader and whether it is lawful to heal a person on the Sabbath.

So worship on Sundays is not just about getting together and learning from Scripture how to best be like Jesus, It is celebrating that there is future hope that is found only in Jesus! It is meant to be shared with others!

In this Parable - a Story with a significant Spiritual meaning, Jesus simply points out that there are some things that are more important than just being a “Rule Follower” Don’t get me wrong, rules are essential - they help us establish necessary boundaries and set moral and ethical standards, by way of God’s law. But what Jesus says there are some things that you must take into consideration and ask yourself, “Is this important or isn’t it? What value does it have?”

Jesus asks a question in verse 5 “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?” In my opinion that is a no brainer question. Of course I’m going to pull my son out of the well. There is an immediate need!

What I think Jesus is trying to tell these religious people is that your priorities; your purpose for keeping the law is all messed up. Let’s take a look at what matters… He is saying “You think you’re important because of your position and what you call religious superiority. But the truth is, you better be careful. Then we read in Verse 11 “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” “You Matter” and so does “Everyone else!”

Jesus is saying, “Every person matters and I have created them, just like you with purpose.

The purpose of the religious people (Leaders) is to lead by example. But here is what was going on… They were looking for a way to discredit Jesus; to make him look bad… to make themselves look better… Let’s read our text this morning…

Jesus had been invited… “One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being ‘carefully watched.” STOP … By this time in Jesus ministry, he had already performed several ‘Miracles’ on the Sabbath. The Pharisees knew the Law and according to the law of the OT one was to honor the Sabbath; Honor God and to rest in God. It was unlawful to do any work on the Sabbath.

Why were they watching him so carefully? Because they had already determined that his teachings and popularity were surpassing their own in terms of honor, and they did not believe Jesus was the Son of God. Their intent was to try finding a reason to get rid of him.

Jesus heals on the Sabbath… “There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy.

(An old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water. In years gone by, a person might have been said to have dropsy. Today one would be more descriptive and specify the cause. Thus, the person might have edema due to congestive heart failure.)

“Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

[Though Sabbath issues are no longer with us as they were in the OT & NT the importance of ‘compassion is]. The readiness to meet needs at any moment!

So here is this man… how he ended up in front of Jesus is unknown. Some suggest he was planted there by the religious leaders to test Jesus and catch him in the act of “Doing Work ON the Sabbath.”

So after Jesus asked the question, “is it lawful??? And then heals this man… They said nothing. So Jesus asks the practical question: “if one of you has a son or ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?” And again they said nothing… Did they not get what he was saying or were they just obstinate in their attitude? So Jesus looks around the Table…

Let’s take a look around the table like Jesus did … in verses 7-14 (Read)

What does Jesus see? (vs. 7) How they sat… “How the quests picked the places of honor…”

History… In every line of work there is social posturing… In those days, just like today, people postured themselves as close to the lead person as possible. In a chicken coup they all know who the head rooster is. They call it the pecking order.

Well, Jesus notices how people sat in relation to the invitation that had been given, so he then goes into the parable of the great banquet… I like the way one pastor said it:

Jesus is thinking to himself, “While I’m on a roll, I might as well tell ‘em, not just where to sit at a party, but how to throw a party.” So he says, “When you throw a party, don’t just invite all the nice, safe, beautiful, cleaned-up people who are already part of your social circle. Instead, whenever you throw a party, use the opportunity to invite some not-so-cleaned-up people who don’t know how to throw parties. If you do that, God will be pleased, because that’s the kind of party he throws. He’s looking for people to bless who are willing to invite outsiders to his party.”

I think we’re all aware of verse 11 where Jesus says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus is saying to the ‘Religious People’ you do well to know how to invite one another, but you’re doing a terrible job of inviting those who need spiritual help. He is saying to them, you know how to position yourself, but you are forgetting that others are in need of having a place too.

There are two things Jesus is pointing out to these religious people. 1.) They lack humility. 2.) They lack compassion. Yes they care, but not for those who really need it. They care about themselves, but not for the necessity of those in real need.

This can happen all to easily and quickly in the Church. We start out wanting to be a church where people can come to know Jesus, but before we know it, all the activities we plan are for those how know Jesus already.

Billy Graham films…

You see God created the church to be part of his Kingdom. He has a banquet prepared for all who will accept his invitation to come to him. The church has been given the mandate to “Go and make disciples …” In verse 23 Jesus says, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in so that my house will be full.”

This comes at the conclusion of the Parable Jesus taught. After he had finished talking about humility and being repaid at the resurrection of the righteous in verse 14… for taking care of the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind... ! he talks to them about the banquet that will be held at the end of this age and the beginning of eternity.

Here is what he said, (READ) Verse 16

Having dealt with their teachings regarding the Sabbath and their desire for recognition, one of them spoke of the blessedness of having the privilege of eating bread within the Kingdom of God. Jesus seized this opportunity to deal with the eternal matters of salvation and the responsibilities associated with salvation.

First this phrase “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” relates to the words of the Prophet Isaiah 25:6-9 …

“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all people, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meals and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all people, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. On that day they will say, Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His Salvation.”

The Banquet Jesus is talking about is the great Wedding Supper of the Lamb we read about in Revelation 19:6-7 A feast that all have been invited to, but not everyone has come.

Revelation 19:6–7 NIV

6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

As we look at this parable we read… “A Certain Man…” The Master of the House… Could be Jesus is speaking of himself… Most likely he is…

Prepared a Great Banquet… and invited guests.

Remember the words of Jesus is John 14:2ff “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am.”

The INVITATION has been given for us to trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord; the Only Perfect Lamb sacrifice for our sins. He died and rose again so that all who are invited and come can have their sins forgiven and salvation for eternity. The purpose of the church is: ‘Invite’ others to know Jesus.

Keep in mind that in those days, there was a first invitation… that invitation was to see who would say yes. That way the meal could be prepared so there would be enough food for everyone.

Because the process of butchering and then roasting meat was so time-consuming, and because there was no refrigeration, a party-giver would only cook as much meat as could be eaten by his guests that evening. So the type of meat served at a banquet was actually chosen after the number of guests were known.

Here’s the formula, according to the ancient version of Julia Childs:

Number of guests:

2–4 = chicken

5–8 = duck

10–15 = goat

15–35 = lamb

35–75 = beef fdc vxx vcd dcv

If you accepted the invitation, you were coming, you gave your word… So the first invitation would come several days before the banquet, the host would total up the number of attendees and order up the appropriate meat. And then, just before the meal was actually served, the host would send out a second invitation. As the meat was being cooked, he’d send his servant around to your home to say, “Dinner’s almost ready. Time to come.”

Jesus is very careful in the words he chooses in this story. The servant says, “Come, for everything is now ready.”

Every person around the table the day Jesus told this story knew that what he was describing was the second invitation. The Second Coming of Jesus is at hand… And that everyone who was invited had already given their word that they would be there.

So then Jesus described the people who renege on the invitation. The first is a guy who says, “I have just bought a field and I must to go and see it. Please excuse me” (Luke 14:18).

One scholar commenting on this text says this,

The statement is a bold-faced lie and everyone knows it. No one buys a field in the Middle East without knowing every square foot of it like the palm of his hand. The springs, wells, stone walls, trees, paths, and anticipated rainfall are all well-known before a discussion of the purchase is even begun.

So what Jesus is describing in this story is that when the servant comes to say, “Supper’s on!” instead of saying, “We’ll be right there!” the land owner sends back an insult by saying, “What? Are you kidding? I have some dirt that is more important to me than you are!”

The servant goes to a second home. And at this home, the guy says, “Oh! I can’t come, either.” His response is, “I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me” (Luke 14:19).

Again, a blatant lie.

In effect, this guy was saying to the party thrower, “I know I said I’d come, but I just bought five used cars, sight unseen, and I have to take them all for test drives.”

This insult is even worse than the first because land was considered precious, whereas oxen were unclean animals. The guy is saying, “Unclean animals are more important to me than you are!”

The third excuse giver says this, “I just got married, so I can’t come” (Luke 14:20).

Whereas the first two pretend to be gracious by saying, “Please excuse me,” this one doesn’t even offer an apology. He just says, “I can’t come.”

Again, everyone at the dinner table with Jesus would know that this is a lie. Marriages were announced a year in advance, and no one would schedule a party for the same time as a wedding because weddings involved the whole village. If you scheduled a party during a wedding, no one would come.

In Jesus’ story, the great man who is in charge of the party says, “Fine, insult me if you want to, but I’m still holding my party.” And he sends his servant to find hurting and needy people to come to eat what he’s prepared.

So the servant rounds up all the street people and still there’s room for more.

“Sir, what you have ordered has been done, but there is still more room” (Luke 14:22).

So the master opens up the party to people outside the city, on country roads and such.

Here is what another author wrote…

When Jesus describes this part of the story, what his hearers heard was, “God rounded up the riffraff of Israel to invite to his party and there was still more room. And he also invited people outside of Israel, gentiles, into his party.”

What Jesus was saying to those religious leaders was, “Some of you are going to reject God’s offer of a banquet in heaven. You can do that if you want to. But know that it’s going to be very hurtful to him, because he will see through every excuse you offer.

And God will fill heaven with or without you. He is on mission to fill heaven and he is going to do it. That’s God’s purpose… to bring as many people to him as possible; for as many people as possible to hear the Good News of His love and that Salvation is found in Him.

When I first started to write this message, I was challenged with the question, “Who am I in this story?”

Am I like the religious people … who have all the right answers and live a good life. Ill be in heaven!

Or am I the man with dropsy… illness… physical and or spiritual?

What about the three people with excuses?

What Kind of excuses do I make in my life as a Christian?

Am I too busy doing my thing at home or at the lake that I don’t want to take time to talk about Jesus or even care about being with him?

Am I too interested in working so that I can get the next best vehicle?

Am I too involved with family outing for enjoyment that I don’t have time to hang out with Jesus?

The truth is, I have probably been all of these people at one time or another. But what this story has told me is that God has a wedding feast that he is preparing for his church, the Bride. For ALL who believe.

AS a believe in Jesus Christ, I know I’m part of his church. There is coming a day when I will be seated with him at that banquet. And the truth is, it doesn’t matter what I think I’ve accomplished or what others think. What matters is that I am saying yes to the invitation to follow Jesus. An in that yes, he is saying to me, His church… My banquet table is open to all who will come at my invitation to trust in me as their savior. Your part is to ‘Go and bring them in.’

The probleme with the church is that we like to think people will just come. They will come because we have great worship music or a great speaker or a great youth program. Or we might say that haven’t come because what we have is not so great. The truth is, it isn’t about us… It’s about Jesus. Its about Him hosting a wedding feast for all who will beleive and we, the church are significant in filling that banquet hall for Jesus, by living a Christ centered life; by praying for our family and friends, neighbors and coworkers who may not know Jesus and asking God to speak to them through us so they will want to accept his invitation.

During this time of pandemic, we have all been secluded. The doors are opening again. What will we look like as “the Church?” People who love Jesus? Will we say, “Hey, I found comfort and peace in knowing my church family. We hung out online during this time, but we will be gathering again and we would love to have you join us. We are a place where God keeps us in line with faith, trusting in him. He gives us guidance through his word and we learn every day how to maneuver thorough life with him at our side.

When things are tough, we are reminded, He is right beside us. In Hebrews 13:5 it says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with Confidence the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.”

So in these uncertain times God is still inviting us to be part of His significant mission to fill his banquet hall in heaven. He is saying, If you will trust me, I will take care of your every need and you will soon see just how much I love you.

For those of you who believe in Jesus as your savior, which person are you in this story? Are you willing to ask God to change you so that he can use you to invited people into his kingdom?

The prayer that I was given as a suggestion is this… “God, I’m sorry for living the way of a Pharisee. I don’t know what to do, but I want you to change me.”

Are you willing to let God change you so that you will do his work and be part of the significant banquet that he is preparing for all who will believe.

If you are uncertain as to your relationship with Jesus or have found yourself making excuses for not trusting in him, maybe today you are ready to say Yes Jesus, I realize that i am a person who has put you off, time and time again and now is the time for me to accept your invitation. I want to follow you. Forgive me for my sins and come into my life. I need you to help me stay faithful. I claim you as my refuge in time of trouble, my strength in time of weakness, my hope and peace in times of despair. I know you are here for me, help me to see you and hear you. In Jesus name Amen

If you have found yourself in this story and want to talk to anyone about this, go to our web page StanchfieldBaptist.com and send us an email. We would love to come along side of you and help you in your spiritual journey. You are significant to God; you matter. Invited him into your heart. Let him help you cope with your struggles and temptations.

to the Church … Take a step to invite people to be part of your life as “The Church” For those who have never said yes to Jesus, take a step of faith today.. Ask Him to come into your life. Repent of your sins and let the Living water of Jesus Christ flow over you.

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