Sent his Servant at Supper Time

Service Notes

There will not be a service tonight.

Review of last nights events.

VBS coming up. Video after the Offering Devo

Review

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus was either going to a meal, was at a meal, or coming from a meal. (Robert Karris, Eating Your Way Through Luke’s Gospel)

People who have experienced Jesus’ gracious hospitality should extend the same type of gracious hospitality.

This is the greatest foundation for ministry, wanting to give something to others because Jesus gave you everything.

We should show grace because of Jesus’ grace toward us. We were not deserving of His table!

.We were poor (Matt 5:3), maimed (powerless), blind (unable to see truth), lame (unable to come to God). You need to see that you identify with them. Don’t be self-righteous. Realize that you had nothing, and have been brought to the table.

Jesus has changed your moral life, but He wants my social life, too. Don’t live by the law of “pay-back.”

Reciprocation as a goal is about self, but the Kingdom isn’t about self.

“Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return.” (Paul Zahl)

Don’t always think of missions as extraordinary. Jesus didn’t start a program, a school, or have a crusade; He ate meals.

“Ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality” (Timmis)

John Newton, “Hospitality; One would think that this was not part of God’s Word because it is so neglected by God’s people.”

Jesus turns the values of the world on their head.

Transition v.15

This man breaks an awkward silence with an awkward statement.

This is a pious statement; a lead balloon.

The underlying assumption of his remarks is that the Pharisees will sit at the table.

Jesus takes this statement and follows it up with a parable. His message: “just because you talk about heaven doesn’t mean you’re going there.”

Simple Outline

The Enticement of a Great Supper

The Excuses Given

The Extended Guest List

The Exclusion Guaranteed

Luke 14:15–24 (KJV 1900)

15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then 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 hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

Pastoral Prayer

Mr. Junior in Florida

That I will not make what Jesus explained in simple terms a complicated manner.

Sermon Introduction

How would you complete this sentence:

The Son of Man Came…

1. “To serve, not to be served, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

2. “To seek and save the lost”

3. “Has come eating and drinking”

The first two describe why, the third describes how He came.

The Enticement of a Great Supper

Messiah Banquet

Luke 14:15 “15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”

They knew that a feast with the Messiah had been prophesied. Isaiah 25:6 “6 And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people A feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.”

You may not be familiar with this passage but remember these are the teachers of the law.

Jesus teaches that we are to use our houses and our wealth to make friends for the Kingdom. Luke 16:9 “9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”

Invitation Given

Luke 14:16 “16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:”

In an age before the clock, the date of the banquet was announced long before, but the exact time only was announced the very day.

The first invitation went out weeks ago, RSVP. Second, when it was time to come. To refuse was a massive insult.

This is a picture of the Jewish leaders who believed in the law and prophets, and the Kingdom, but rejected the second invitation, Jesus, the King Himself. This imagery pictures Israel’s and the leadership’s rejection of the invitation.

A man of great means

The Excuses Given

Luke 14:17-20 “17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”

One Consent

Luke 14:18 “18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.”

The Field - Land isn’t changing. [Today a Dollar General might pop-up but not then]

Oxen – He was a man of means and didn’t need to do this himself and not on this day. [“Go try them out” seems like a preoccupation with something new]

Marriage - Most excuses are financial or family. [Why not request a Plus One?]

Different but the same

Excuses were different but they were all the same.

Something else is more important to them than attending the Great Feast.

Death by a thousand little excuses

“Excuses are curses, and when you have no excuses left there will be hope for you.” (Spurgeon)

Only a fool first buys a piece of land, and then goes to check it. Only a fool buys ten oxen and is only interested in testing them after the purchase.

Something is more important than Jesus. What excuses have you given? Or heard?

THINK! An invitation has gone out to you to participate in this feast. What’s keeping you from the party?

Definitive Rejection

“In saying, ‘I cannot come,’ the man intended, as it were, to dismiss the matter. He wished to be understood as having made up his mind, and he was no longer open to argument. He did not parley; he did not talk; but he just said, off-hand, ‘I want no more persuading; I cannot come, and that settles it.’” (Spurgeon)

We see Jesus responding to the man in vs 15 “You admire the Messianic Banquet; yet are you ready to receive the invitation to come? Will you make excuses?”

The Extended Guest List

Luke 14:21-23 “21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then 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 hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

Compel Them

Jesus said compel to indicate God’s great desire to fill His house, and because these wanderers and outcasts needed to be convinced that they were welcome, compelled by love.

Why? Why do they need convincing?

Our message: v.17 “Come, for all things are now ready”

An Englishman by the name of Ebenezer Wooten had just concluded a preaching service in the village square. The crowd had dispersed, and he was busily engaged in loading the equipment. A young man approached him and asked, "Mr. Wooten, what must I do to be saved?" Sensing that the fellow was trusting his own righteousness, Wooten answered in a rather unconcerned way, "It's too late!" The inquirer was startled. "Oh don't say that, sir!" But the evangelist insisted, "It's too late!" Then, looking the young man in the eye, he continued, "You want to know what you must DO to be saved. I tell you it's too late now or any other time. The work of salvation is done, completed, finished! It was finished on the cross." Then he explained that our part is simply to acknowledge our sin and receive by faith the gift of forgiveness.

Are you faithfully inviting others not just to a feast at your house, but to the Ultimate Feast?

Are you worthy of this table?

Worthy may not be a term you feel comfortable with in a conversation about salvation.

This is a Biblical concept.

Jesus will soon say. Luke 14:26 “26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

Another way He says it. Matthew 10:37 “37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

Matthew 22:8 “8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.”

Paul used this word Acts 13:46 “46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.”

In all these passages, being worthy is expected and necessary in the Christian life.

How shall we understand our worthiness of Jesus in view of our sinfulness?

The Cenerion was honored for knowing his lack of worthiness. Luke 7:6 “6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:”

This is how John the Baptist felt John 1:27 “27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”

Our preference for his worth is our worth!

Worthiness of the wedding feast is not earning or deserving or meriting it.

Worthiness of the feast is preferring the feast over farm and family.

The worth of the guests is their embrace of the worth of the feast!

The Exclusion Guaranteed

Luke 14:24 “24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”

Jesus always sought to shatter false religious hope. 

He never put His arm around a Pharisee and said well we worship the same God, we're both going to be there, You're my brother.  He never put His arm around a scribe who was living in a delusion and said to Him well you are a student of the Old Testament and you are worshiping the God of Israel and we're going to be there.  You're my brother.

He never put His arms around a synagogue crowd and said what you're doing is really good, God's going to accept this religious effort in His name as enough.  He exploded every time the false religious security of the Jews at every level, at the level of the Pharisees, the scribes and at the level of the people in the synagogues.  Jesus always sought to shatter false religious hope.  This is critical in all evangelism. 

This is being honest.  This is being loving.

Anybody who lives under some kind of misguided assumption that they're headed for heaven needs to know that that is not true.

The Common Man has a place at the Table

Mark 12:37 “37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.”

Those others think are more likely to be at the table (religious) will not be at the table. And those who will be there, will come from surprising places.

James 2:5 “5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”

Master Angered at their Response

Luke 14:21 “21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then 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 hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.”

The story seemed, at first, to be ridiculous, but the very ones amused by it were the ones who now see themselves under the anger of God. 

John 3:36 “36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Conclusion

Go out and find the people who are spiritually destitute. 

Go out and find the people who are broken and hungry. 

Go out and find the sinners who know they're unworthy. 

Go out and find those who know they don't belong at the banquet of God because of their sinfulness.

Go find the beggars, the untouchables, those who are spiritually aware of their utter uselessness, hopelessness and unworthiness.