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The Great Banquet

Luke 14v16-24

7th August 2020

While Jesus was at a dinner party at a Pharisee's house, a man remarked:

Luke 14v15b
"Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God."

We talked about that last time. Jesus responded with a parable:

Luke 14v16-17
Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'"

In a sense, of course, Jesus is talking about that great day when He returns to earth for the wedding supper of the Lamb. But the invitations are going out today. They've been going out for 2,000 years. Jesus is also talking about the church.

If you're already a Christian, or if you sense that God is calling you to become His disciple, they you have been invited to His great feast, and to the many celebrations which we call worship meetings, and at which He is present.

Every day, God calls to Christians and non-Christians, "come, come to my banquet". Every time the church meets, we celebrate the Lamb of God. He is always the guest of honour, and God the Father is always the host. A church worship meeting should feel like a celebration. There should be joy as we worship our King.

The responsibility for that lies with us all. Our leaders should help us to enter into celebration, and we should all take that opportunity to rejoice with Jesus our Saviour. Jesus deserves to be celebrated. And we often share the Lord's Supper, which we also call the Breaking of Bread or Holy Communion, which is a memorial of why we celebrate the Lamb of God, sacrificed for us, and it's also a foretaste of the wedding supper of the Lamb.

But of all the people who know - or at least sense - that God is inviting them to share His table, some people come, and some people don't:

Luke 14v18-20
"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.' Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'"

Both Christians and non-Christians find reasons not to come to church, not to get involved. But God has invited you! Surely you should be here! Let us not take lightly the call of God on our lives. And let me say this: Christianity is a corporate religion, not a private one. God is calling you to live a holy and loving life, and He is also calling you to celebrate with Him, and with His people, regularly. He said "where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20).

Also, some come to church but find reasons not to rejoice with the Lamb, not to sing, not even to give the "amen" after somebody has offered a prayer. It's like they're arrived at God's party but they won't talk to the other guests, or taste the food, or drink the wine, let alone dance.

And just like the people in this parable, many of our reasons for not coming to church are very weak:

When we make excuses for not coming to church, what we're really doing is saying that church, worship, corporate prayer, Bible teaching and the Lord's Supper are not very important. Actually, we're saying that Jesus the Lamb of God is not very important. Why bother celebrating His victory over sin and death when I can try out some new oxen, or a new car, or a new set of golf clubs? What's important?

Luke 14v21
"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.'

Some people have been invited to get involved in the work of the kingdom of God. They know God has called them to be involved in their church - and to actually turn up regularly on Sundays, and probably at other times during the week. They know they've received an invitation to pray and the study the Bible, to tell others about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to work to ensure the life of the church and the work of evangelism run smoothly. They've been invited to celebrate the Lamb of God, sacrificed on the Cross and gloriously, triumphantly raised from the dead, the conqueror over sin and death. They've been invited to sing and dance for joy because they're forgiven, and adopted as God's children. There is a collective name for these people. They're called "Christians".

May I remind you of Question 1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism?

Q1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

May we never lose our zeal. May we never lose our joy.

Some Christians refuse to give themselves to the worship of God and to the work of His kingdom. What's God's response? He tells his servants to "Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town" and bring in some more people. If some people have been invited, but they think they've got more important things to do than serve God and enjoy His banquet, then God will send us out to find other people.

Since the wealthy, healthy, seeing and hearing people can't be bothered to enjoy God's banquet, God sends out invitations to the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.

Obviously, we should see this in spiritual terms. Some Christians are spiritually wealthy - they've been baptised in the Holy Spirit, they've been well taught. They have free access to the Bible and other spiritual books, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. If such people can't be bothered to take their place in God's church, then God will find other people.

The new people may not be very spiritual at first. They may not have been well taught. They might not know their Bibles. They may never have heard of commentaries or testimonies. They might not know how to behave in Christian company. They might be blind to vitally important spiritual and ethical truths. The might be deaf to our requests that they dress differently, or speak differently, or act differently. They might not fit into our idea of what makes a good church member. But God invites people whom we find uncomfortable. And this is His party, not ours. We must never tell the party host who he can and cannot invite.

Luke 14v22
"'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'"

Every true church has been seeking the lost since it was first formed. Some people have understood the Gospel, and have found Jesus Christ, and acknowledged Him as Lord and Saviour. They've been born again. But the job isn't finished. There's definitely room for more.

Maybe we've only asked the people who are a bit like us. It's time we invited anybody, anywhere, to God's party. They might misbehave a bit when they first come, but God will teach them how to live, how to behave.

Luke 14v23
"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.'"

"Make them come in" doesn't mean "lasso them, tie them to the back of your truck and drag them here". It means be persistent with them. Be persuasive. Give then reasons to seek Jesus for themselves. Keep on loving them until they agree to come to God's banquet.

God will complete his mission to bring into His church all the people that He has predestined to be saved. He knows exactly how many people He wants to be present at the marriage supper of the lamb. Not one will be missing. Some of them might not be the sort of people we would have chosen as our brothers and sisters. But it's God who gets to choose, not us.

Luke 14v 24
"I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"

Those who ultimately refuse God's invitation will not be present at the marriage supper of the lamb.

In Jesus's time, the most obvious candidates for entry into the church were the Jews. They had the Old Testament. They had the synagogues. They had the very presence of Jesus on their streets, teaching and healing. They were invited. In Matthew 15:24, Jesus makes it very clear that His earthly ministry was to "the lost sheep of Israel". In His preaching and healing, the Jews were Jesus's sole focus. Yet most of them refused to come to His party - refused to repent of their sins and believe in His atoning sacrifice. To this day, most Jewish people deny that Jesus is Lord and Saviour. So God sent his servants to the Gentiles. Some Jews have been saved, but most have not. Many Gentiles have been saved, but more have not. There's still room at God's banquet for more people, Jewish and Gentile.

We're called to go into this world, into the streets and alleys of the town, and into the roads and country lanes. We'll find people who are not like us, who are emotionally damaged, who have some very weird ideas, who don't know how to behave in church. We're called to welcome them all, love them all, and include them all. Some of us were like them once. I was.

If we will love them, welcome them and include them, many of them will gradually grow into fine, happy, loving, serving, mature Christians. And if we don't love them, welcome them and include them, how will they find Jesus? How will they ever grow into the fullness of God, as He intends?

May we never make the mistake of thinking that the church is ours. Every church is God's church. And He will invite whomever He chooses. We'd better welcome them, because He does. And if we will, then a few years down the line, we'll be so very glad we did, because they'll be leading worship, teaching, training as pastors and missionaries, and reaching back out into the streets and lanes, and finding more damaged, unhappy people that God wants to fill with His joy, His love, and His Holy Spirit.

If a bunch of people 47 years ago hadn't been willing to love and include damaged, troubled, difficult people, I wouldn't be a pastor now.