The Great Banquet: Spoiler You Are Invited
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever been invited to a really amazing party?
When I was in high school I remember my family got invited to a Christmas party at a person who I believe they were something like my Dad’s bosses, bosses bosses, boss type of thing,
And I have come to terms that this will probably be one of the coolest parties I will ever go to in my life.
Because we pull into to the house (thats right house) and hey have vallet parking, not just that but after the guys take the car, you walk up the heated driveway (that they actually rolled a carpet out onto) and walk into this house that is a mansion.
I mean it felt like I was walking into Bruce Waynes mansion from batman.
And inside the house they had multiple life size ice sculptures of snowman that were probably 6 feet tall,
And around the snowman was food that a cattering company brought in.
Obviously I do not drink, but they hired people to staff multiple bars in throughout the house
They had an indoor pool, that they somehow placed flooring over to create a dance floor
I mean I have come to the conclusion that I will never be invited to a party that will compare to this one.
But you know today the parable or story we are talking about is the story of a party and was a party that would have put the one I was at to shame and not just that, but everyone is invited. and a this is a little bit of a spoiler alert, but you are invited to this party.
So turn with me to Luke 14:12-24 and while you are turning their let me give you some context here, because Jesus is having a meal at the house of the ruler of the Pharisees, (basically the head of the religious teachers)
which is kind of weird, because we go they hated Jesus why would Jesus have dinner with them.
But Jesus is still having dinner with these people who couldn’t stand Him,
And so Jesus is having this meal and he is teaching them, and at some point during this meal Jesus begins to say this:
Look at verse 12-15 because it says this:
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” 15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
So the Bible doesn’t say this but from what we know about Pharisees they were very distinguished and elevated in this society.
And so you can picture the people around the table most likely being people who are distinguished and high up in society.
And this is where Jesus says when you are bringing people over for lunch or dinner, do not invite these people who are your family, or friends, or your rich neighbor,
But invite the poor, invite the crippled, invite the lame, the blind, basically he is saying invite the undesirables in this society.
And this is a big deal. Because to share a meal with someone in this society was an intimate act
It was essentially inviting someone to share life with and taking them in.
And Jesus is saying to do this with those people?!
That seems so extreme?
But Jesus calls us to surround people with His love.
You know when I was in college I attended a small church and in this church there was a family that every Sunday they would have all the college students over for lunch that came to church that Sunday.
And this was not a small group of college students because some Sunday’s there were 15 people that would come over.
And they had a small house,
but the beautiful thing was this family realized that a lot of the college students that attended this church were, from other areas or countries and had no family around.
And so they would take us in, they fed us, and they treated us like family.
Sometimes we would stay their until 4:00 or later.
And they had jobs!
Don’t you think they would want their Sunday to themselves?but every single week they did it.
And they never asked anything in return.
And really more than just them giving us food they reflected what Christ has done for us, which has welcomed us in despite us having nothing to offer.
And I want you to look at what happens next because it is in this context that Jesus tells a story about the party I was talking about earlier.
Look at verses 15-24. It says this this:
Luke 14:16–24 (NIV)
16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
22 “ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”
So Jesus tells a story of a man holding this great banquette, The Brendan shea version would be that he held a huge party.
And He invited a ton of people. And from what we can gather this party would have been a huge deal,
Because banquettes were extravagant. It would almost be like if I you got a letter in the mail and it was an invitation to get flown down to the white-house and be a part of a banquette they were having.
You would be packing your bags right?
and so you think every person would be in attendance at this banquette.
And what happens is around when this party is starting a servant gets sent to tell them the party is on, but whats amazing is the when the servant goes out to these people they have an excuse.
One says he has bought a field and needs to check it out
Another says he bought oxen and wanted to try them out in the field
Another says I got married.
And these are decent excuses, and actually they even have polite declines,
But ultimately this party was a bigger deal. And I know that sounds weird because in our culture saying no to a party is pretty easy, we can just click decline on Facebook,
but in this culture a rivalries or even wars could be started from a decline of an invitation to a banquette like this.
And so the issue is these peoples priorities are actually off.
And this parable speaks a lot of truth into our lives, because the banquette in this parable is referring the kingdom of heaven, and God has invited everyone to it.
You have been invited to this banquette,
Where God wants you to be a part of His kingdom. but to often we get distracted, by these other things happening in our life that we forget about this amazing invitation God has given us.
And whats so cool is in this story we are the people who have been invited to the party, but then once we accept the invitation, we become the servant.
Because the servant has this privilege of telling these people that they have been invited to this party!
I imagine the servant in this story feeling like the guy that delivers those giant checks to from publishing clearing house where people win 50,000 dollars every week for the rest of their life.
Because he is coming to these people say Guys!!! I have good news! you have been invited to this huge party!
And really this is our job, because once we have said yes to God, we get to tell others about this amazing life giving news about how their lives can be changed.
And this is exciting, but it is also nerve racking, because if you are inviting everyone to something their is a good chance there are going to be some people who reject your invitation right?
Liam is not at this stage yet, but I hear from friends who have kids are older that if you invite your kids entire class to a party their are a very small amount that come.
It doesn't matter if it is the coolest paw patrol party out there, and chase himself will be their, most likely not everyone will be there.
And you know we have an amazing invitation, and you think everyone would be excited, but there are people who will say I am sorry, but I am not interested, and their may be others who are not that polite.
But its not our job to force them to come, but to tell them about this amazing invitation that has been extended to them.
And what is amazing is the servant comes back to the master and says people are not accepting this invitation, and the master says go out to the streets and ally's, bring the poor, crippled and the lame.
You know these people were already invited, and we do not know why they haven’t come to the banquette yet, but its clear that Jesus does not want them to be forgotten.
Because so often we want to invite the people we like or people that have life together, but this story is saying do not forget those whose lives might not be put together the way we would like, but tell them they are invited to something amazing.
Can I just ask you what would occur if decided to go out on the streets, and told people about this Grace God has invited them into.
You know I thik probably the best way to end this message is by reading verse 15.
and this is actually right before Jesus tells this parable and there is a guy who says this to Jesus:
Luke 14:15 (NIV)
15 … “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
I want you to understand the significance of this phrase because in Jewish culture the believed that as the Messiah was coming (As this person who has come to save them came) He would actually have a feast that would mark His ministry.
And you can imagine in their minds they have built up that the best people would be at this feast,
And Jesus is the Messiah, and He actually has a feast, but I imagine it looked different then what people expected.
Because it took place the night He was betrayed, where he was in a room with his disciples and He broke bread saying this is my body broken for you and then at the end of the meal He raised a cup saying this is my blood shed for you.
And really what Jesus is doing in this moment is He is giving them an invitation to follow Him, because the bread represented His body hung on the cross
And the drink represented His blood that He would shed for each of us.
And he is giving us this invitation to step into His grace this morning.
And so we are going to end todays service receiving communion, and this is a way that we remember Christ sacrifice, but even deeper than that it is a way where we can respond to the grace Christ has extended our way.
When you receive these you are saying “yes… I am accepting this invitation that you have given me”
So during this last song I would invite you to take out juice and bread and just reflect on this invitation that Chrsit has extended your way
Have you said yes yet? If so after this song I would invite you to recieve these elements with me after the song,
And if you have accepted this invitation, can I just challenge you to ask “how can I be the servant that tells the good news about this invitation to someone else?
Will you pray with me?