We are in a series looking at the Parables short stories Jesus told. He was always using common things situations or objects that the people listening to him would come across in their ordinary every day lives in order to teach uncommon truth about what God is like, and what God s Kingdom is like. Last week we heard about the Importunate, or persistent, Neighbour Which taught us about the importance of being persistent in prayer, Not in order to change God, not because we ll always get the exact thing we were asking for in prayer, but because through the practice Of persistent prayer, We draw closer to God, we begin to see the many gifts that God is giving us, we come to trust God more, and we experience the peace that comes from a vibrant relationship with our maker. We were MADE for that kind of close relationship with God. This week we turn to the parable of the Great Banquet. Jesus tells this story while he is at a banquet. Just before the passage we ve read begins, Jesus is addressing the guests and telling them not to take the best seat, Lest they be embarrassed if a more important guest comes and they have to give their seat up. Instead, Jesus encourages people to humble themselves To take the worst seat, Because then the host will be moved to generosity, And give them a better seat. Then Jesus says don t invite your friends and family to the feast, Invite the poor and crippled, For in doing so, God will be honored, And you will be blessed. 1
In response to these teaching, One of the guest makes this exclamation the best thing is to be at the banquet in God s Kingdom. And then, Jesus tells a story. As readers of the Bible, and followers of Jesus, we should always find that our ears perk up a little, that we lean a little closer, and pay attention when Jesus tells a story. Because his stories are told to help us learn more about God, and about God s Kingdom. He is not just re-stating in narrative form what he has already taught, He is continuing the act of teaching. The story Jesus tells goes like this: 15 After Jesus had finished speaking, one of the guests said, The greatest blessing of all is to be at the banquet in God s kingdom! 16 Jesus told him: A man once gave a great banquet and invited a lot of guests. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent a servant to tell the guests, Everything is ready! Please come. 18 One guest after another started making excuses. The first one said, I bought some land, and I ve got to look it over. Please excuse me. 19 Another guest said, I bought five teams of oxen, and I need to try them out. Please excuse me. 20 Still another guest said, I have just gotten married, and I can t be there. The thing that our CEV translation does well, is underline the idea that these are excuses. This are not legitimate reasons for being unable to go to the feast. These are the type of excuses one gives when one just doesn t want to : Doesn t want to go to the party, Doesn t want to do the thing, Just doesn t want to have to be bothered. And if we are honest with ourselves sometimes we feel that way about the things God calls us to do. Sometimes we allow the busy-ness of our lives to get in the way of things that God calls us to do. 2
It s not that we don t have the time to do the things It s just that we ve spent so much of our energy and effort elsewhere, That we ve burnt ourselves out and there s nothing left When it comes to that thing that would honour God, That would deepen our relationship with God, That would show love to others. In some ways, our culture in North America, in 2016 is addicted to busy-ness. Have you ever had that situation where you wanted to get together For a visit with a few friends, and by the time you all coordinated your schedules, you were going to be enjoying an hour-and-a-half lunch 4 months from now? I know I have it s a running joke with some of my buddies in ministry, Trying to find a few hours that we have free AT THE SAME TIME As each other. That s what happens when you re busy. And to a certain extent, that s ok. To a certain extent. The problem is when our busy-ness, when our allegiance to OTHER things gets in the way with our relationship with God. Because the Kingdom of God is like a Great Banquet. Don t you love that Jesus uses the image of a banquet a party, a feast to show us what Heaven is like, what God is like? I love that. It flies in the face of what a lot of people think God is like. A lot of people think that God is vengeful or mean or judgmental or just plain uninterested distant. But the image Jesus paints of God is vibrant and fun and passionate. The image Jesus paints is of a host, at a great party. And when the host s guests plead busy-ness, As their excuse for not coming to the party, The host does the most interesting thing: 3
21 The servant told his master what happened, and the master became so angry that he said, Go as fast as you can to every street and alley in town! Bring in everyone who is poor or crippled or blind or lame. The host becomes angry but his anger doesn t spur him to shut down the entire party. He isn t moved to say, If none of them want to come, I ll spend the time alone. I ll enjoy my own food, and my own company. No, the host s anger moves him to invite all those who would normally be excluded: The poor, the cripple, the lame. The outcasts, the people normally shunned by the party-throwing elite. The thing is when we let our busy-ness, our allegiance to other things, Get in the way of our relationship with God, We miss out. We miss out on the party because God doesn t shut the party down No, God is well aware that there are all kinds of other people out there Who wouldn t expect to be invited to a party like this, And God WILL invite them. Because the Kingdom of God is like a Great Banquet, and there WILL be guests Guests that are excited to be there, who long to be there, Who will leave all their busy-ness behind, and come the moment they are invited. Remember, Jesus is saying this in response to that man who made the exclamation that the greatest blessing is to be at the feast in the Kingdom of God. Jesus is saying to that man and to us here today You may be surprised by who is at that feast. It may be that the people aren t the ones initially invited. It is easy to make a statement that being at the feast is the greatest blessing, But you will only be there if you do not allow other things to get in your way, If you answer the invitation, If you leave your excuses behind. Now, the parables are not easy we know Jesus often told them to shake up his audience. And I see that in the end of this parable. I would love it if the parable had ended with the host inviting the poor, crippled and lame. 4
But the story continues 22 When the servant returned, he said, Master, I ve done what you told me, and there is still plenty of room for more people. 23 His master then told him, Go out along the back roads and fence rows and make people come in, so that my house will be full. 24 Not one of the guests I first invited will get even a bite of my food! Ouch, right? Not one of the guests I first invited will get even a bite of my food! It s a little frightening when Jesus speaks this way. He s forceful and he sounds absolute, and it might seem like this is it if you mess up once, you re out. But we know better than that. At least, I hope we do. I love what Ann Graham Lotz writes she says our God is the God of the second chance, the slim chance, the no chance and the fat chance. I am convinced absolutely convinced that a heart that honestly turns to God, Longing for a right relationship with God, No matter how often it may have wandered away, No matter how many invitations it may have missed, Will always be welcomed home. That s why Jesus died for us So that there would always be forgiveness, So that there would always be that bridge needed to cross the Wide gulf of our sin, So that we could come, with a simple Oh, God, I m so very sorry and be assured that God s Grace is big enough to embrace us. So friends, even though the end of this parable makes us feel a little unsettled, let s not live afraid worried that our failures might keep us out of the party. Let s live passionate, alive, longing to go to the party and longing to bring others with us. 5
That s what the host really wants that we would long to be with him, And that our longing would lead us to invite others who also long, So that the party will be big, and wide, Filled with all kinds of people, from all kinds of places, Most of whom couldn t imagine being invited in the first place. Let us pray. 6