This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.
Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Today in our Gospel reading, Jesus tells a parable about a great banquet. This reading is in Luke 14, and before we read this reading, we have a few things that happen which give us some insights into how we understand the parable. At the beginning of the chapter we read: One Sabbath, when [Jesus] went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. The Pharisees were known as the religious rulers and experts of Jesus’ time, and yet, when Jesus began to teach and do all kinds of things, they were upset about it, because all of a sudden, here was a man who taught in such a way which completely overshadowed them. And not only was Jesus’ teaching powerful, but many people would go and listen to him. Great crowds were following him, the kinds of crowds that the Pharisees would never have seen for themselves. And so, they became jealous of Jesus, and were often looking to catch Jesus out in something that he had done or said, and then they would be able to say: “Aha! We’ve got you!” And then they could discredit him.
Anyway, while Jesus was at this Pharisee’s house, we read: there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.
So, we read about Jesus actually caught them out, and they were unable to say anything. Twice in this section, it says: But they remained silent. They could not reply to these things.
And so, Jesus tells a parable about a wedding feast, where a person who sits at the lower place is encouraged to come and sit in a higher place. And also, Jesus tells the Pharisee who had invited him that he shouldn’t invite his wealthy and rich relatives and neighbours, but invite the poor and needy when he has a banquet.
And so, we come to our reading for today, which begins with these words: When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
Here we read about this man, who is sitting there, and listening to Jesus. At first, it seems as though this man has something devout and pious and significant to say, but in actual fact, probably not. After all, he has been there with these Pharisees, watching Jesus carefully, to catch him out in something that he said. After a while, Jesus starts to preach, and then this man thinks: I can preach too! I’d like to say something!
When Jesus preaches the parable, it’s as if he’s addressing it against this man. The man says: Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. At the end of the parable, Jesus says: For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. So, it’s as if to say, that Jesus is saying to to the man, “Yes, blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God, but watch out, and make sure that you are there! You’re invited to my banquet, but will you make an excuse and not come?”
So, let’s read the parable that Jesus tells. He says: 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.” So the servant came and reported these things to the master. So, we can see so far in the parable, that no one whom the man invited at first came, and this happened because they all made their own excuses. Then we read: 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.”
So on one hand, we have the first people who were invited all refusing to come. And then the servant brings in the poor, crippled, blind and lame, and then he goes out and compels people to come in, so that the house may be filled.
Now, this parable has many layers, as many of the parables do. Now, there’s an obvious interpretation in this parable, which first of all is talking about the Jews and the Gentiles. We see how Jesus was sitting there eating in the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, with the lawyers, and all kinds of religious experts there. Jesus was their Messiah, and yet instead of receiving them, they watched him carefully, making all kinds of excuses as to why they shouldn’t receive him. And so, they are unable to enter the heavenly banquet. Instead, Jesus sends out his words and gathers in all kinds of needy people, from all nations, including the Gentiles, into his kingdom.
Now, we, who are Gentiles, are also recipients of this wonderful invitation from Jesus, and we have been gathered into the kingdom of God. In the Book of Acts, we see how Paul and Barnabas were being heckled and contradicted by the Jews in a certain place. We read: And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”
Now, of course, there were many people in those early centuries, who were from the Jewish people, who converted to Jesus. And many Jewish people all throughout history, including in our modern times, have also converted to Jesus. However, there are many Jewish people, who have the Old Testament, they have Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, and yet they don’t receive the Messiah which is prophesied there.
Now, also, today, there are many people in all kinds of other cultures, and countries, and nationalities, who also have heard the Gospel, and yet they don’t receive Jesus. Even, we might say, there are many churches and congregations all throughout the world, who call themselves Christians, and yet don’t receive Jesus.
Now, what we have described in this parable is the wonderful way in which Jesus himself, the man who gives a great banquet, sending out his servant to invite people to his banquet. Notice that Jesus doesn’t speak about the man sending out multiple servants or many servants, but only one servant. Actually, we read that on the day of Pentecost, that Jesus anointed with the Holy Spirit his apostles, and sent them out throughout all the world, and then all throughout history there have been many, many pastors and missionaries who have gone forth to bring the message of invitation to come to Jesus, and to his banquet.
But Jesus only speaks about one servant, which shows us that there is only one message. Even though we know that throughout history there have been many, many messengers, all of those messengers have only one thing to say. There is only one Jesus, there is only one banquet, there is only faith, there is only one word of invitation. There is only one Saviour, there is only one Messiah, there is only one Redeemer, and he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And nobody comes to Father except through him.
Now, what is the banquet that we’re talking about? Now, some people take this to be the Lord’s Supper, but in a very crass kind of way. They say, here’s the Lord’s Supper, and we need to go out into the highways and byways, and just compel anyone and everyone to come into the church, as if we were just to go out on the street right now, and without explaining anything or instructing people, just have them all waltz up to the altar, and receive the Lord’s Supper.
But this is a complete misunderstanding of the Lord’s Supper, and the banquet, and salvation, and Jesus, and it’s a complete misunderstanding of where we fit in the story.
First of all, there are different people in this passage. There is the man who prepared the banquet. There is the servant. And there are the people who were invited who refused to come, and the people who were invited who did come.
Let’s go through each of these people. First of all, there is the man who prepared the banquet. This is Jesus. He is the true Son of God, who is equal to God the Father and the Holy Spirit, who created the world together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. At a particular time in history, around 2000 years ago, the Son of God entered into this world, descended from heaven, and took on human flesh from the womb of his mother, the Virgin Mary. This man, Jesus Christ, who is both true God and a true man, lived a perfect and sinless life on this earth, teaching and performing many miracles. Then, he endured such tremendous suffering and anguish, and was crucified and killed on a cross. Three days later he rose from dead on what we call Easter Sunday. Then he ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of God.
Now, there is a reason for all this. First of all, every member of the human race since the time of Adam and Eve fell into sin, has also been tainted, and completely corrupted and poisoned and diseased with sin, in such a way that all of our thoughts, words and actions are completely corrupted by sin. God has revealed his law in the 10 commandments, and we have broken them. And because we have broken the law of God, we deserve his wrath, his displeasure, his punishment, and condemnation.
However, Jesus came to earth and lived among us, and suffered and died, so that he could stand in our place. The justice that we deserved for our sin was put on him, in such a way that he took our sin upon himself and died for us. He poured out his blood and his life in such a way that it was a complete and perfect sacrifice and atonement for our sins, and so all of our sin and the guilt and punishment is completely atoned for. The debt that we owed is paid in full, and so we have everything we need, and we trust in Jesus as our only Saviour. We are free from condemnation, our sin has been forgiven, and we have been given the promise of eternal life.
When Jesus rose from the dead, he said to his disciples: Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
Here is the banquet, who is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the man who prepares the banquet, and he is also the banquet itself. He is the Passover Lamb of God who was slain. And now, what is it that Jesus sends out his servant to say: to proclaim the repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name. This is what is means to go out and preach: Come, for everything is now ready.
Come, for everything is now ready, which the servant sends, isn’t just a message to invite people to church. There is a difference between inviting people to church, and inviting people to meet Jesus. Now, of course, the two things are connected, because we actually really do meet Jesus in the church. Jesus actually baptises us with water and the word to make us living members of his kingdom. Jesus actually speaks to us the forgiveness of our sins through the absolution spoken through the pastor. Jesus actually speaks to us his word, and preaches his word, and encourages us with his word. He actually leads us as our High Priest in our prayers, because he lives to intercede for us, at the right hand of God. He prepares for us a wonderful banquet in the Lord’s Supper, and actually gives us to eat and to drink his true resurrected and glorified body and blood, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins.
So, when it comes to mission work, and evangelistic work, how do we invite people? What are we inviting people to? Well, as I said before, there’s a difference between inviting people to church, and inviting people to meet Jesus. For example, in recent years, I have seen some terrible things written on this topic. At worst, people think that the church is struggling in its finances, and so we need more people in, so that we will have more money on the plate, and we’ll be able to keep the institution alive. Some churches are so fixated on this, that they will do anything possible, just to get people in and sitting on the seats, and sacrifice everything good about the church service, even sometimes Jesus himself.
But people will come to church when they know what they are coming for, why they are coming, what it is that we are coming to. In Hebrews it says: You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word that the blood of Abel. We can’t even begin to imagine what it is that we participate in when we come to church, and enter into the heavenly sanctuary and throne room of God.
But in our parable, there were three people who refused to come to banquet, and made excuses. I have bought a field, I have bought five yoke of oxen, I have married a wife.
The simple reason why they didn’t come is that they didn’t know their need. Now, on a simple level, there are many people who are not Christians and don’t attend church, and they don’t come to Jesus and they don’t come to church because they don’t feel as though they need it. And how wrong they are!
But then also, all the excuses that these people made were all because of good things. There’s nothing wrong with buying a field, with buying some oxen, there’s nothing wrong with marrying a wife. They are all good things—but they can all be bad things when they stand in the way of us coming to Jesus.
Even, these Pharisees at the house where Jesus was didn’t come to him, because they thought they had everything they needed, and didn’t have a need to come to him. Can you imagine the irony of this? For centuries, they were all looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, and when he finally comes, they don’t notice him, because they don’t need him.
But then, there are also people who come to church, but have never really come to Jesus. They do all the outward things, they are part of the outward external fellowship of the church, and they think that this is all well and good, but their religious life actually makes them feel sufficiently self-righteous, that they don’t need a Saviour. Even sometimes we see this strange dichtonomy that Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship. But there’s good religion, and bad religion. There’s right relationships and wrong relationships. Either way, the Pharisees had both a religion and a relationship with God, but they still refused to come to Jesus and his banquet. And so, there are many people who have never brought their sin to Jesus, and never sought from him the forgiveness of sins.
And so, this is why Jesus sent out his disciples to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins. When we preach repentance, we are preaching the law. We are showing to people their sin, which is new and fresh for people every day. We do this because if we are to come to Jesus, we need be shown our need for him, otherwise we will make excuses as to why we don’t need him, and won’t come to him. We won’t come to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, if we don’t acknowledge our sin. We won’t come to our Saviour, if there’s nothing to be saved from, and we think we can save ourselves. We won’t thank Jesus for his atonement, and paying the price for of our sin with his blood, if we don’t think there was anything we needed to pay.
So, imagine going to someone and saying: “Why don’t you become a Christian! Jesus has died and risen for you.” But the person will say: “I don’t need someone to die and rise from the dead for me.” They think they don’t need a Saviour, that they are perfectly righteous by themselves, thank you very much. It’s like saying to them: “Good news! Someone has paid your speeding fine!” And then they say: “But I don’t have a speeding fine!” But then, you explain, they received a massive speeding fine, they were caught doing 100km in a 10km zone, out the front of the kindergarten at home-time, and didn’t realise it, and got caught. They realise they could have killed a child. Then we realise, but someone has paid my fine. Then we are so grateful for it! They we realise that someone has done something really wonderful for me.
This is how things are with Jesus! He invites those to his banquet like you who are needy. He brings in poor and crippled and blind and lame, and compels people to come in, the people who realise they have nothing to offer. He speaks the forgiveness of sins to those who know that they are sinners. He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. This is how he invites you to his banquet, and what a great banquet it is! Let’s thank God for our wonderful Saviour, for the wonderful banquet, and for his wonderful invitation! Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment