The Abnormal Guest List
(Part of a series about who Jesus is)
Luke 14:12-24
We ought to reach out to the outcasts, because that’s what God does.
Jr. High Service at Plainfield Christian Church
Rob Hoos
Introduction
A year or so ago, I was dating this girl named Jessica. There was a great difference between the two of us. I was raised in more of a down to earth family. We would do wood working, watch a bug zapper, sit outside for large amounts of time drinking iced tea, and other such things for enjoyment. She was used to doing more cultured type things. For fun, she would go to the opera, or listen to a symphony, or eat at a fancy restaurant. Believe it or not, these are not the kind of events that I frequent, and because of this I typically embarrassed her during these dinners that we went to. I am also really not used to dressing very fancy; typically I am wearing an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt. So before this big outing, she went out and bought me a dress shirt and a pair of dress pants to wear out for the evening. Seeing as I am always in favor of getting new clothes for free, I gladly accepted them. She, her mother, and dad then proceeded to take me out to listen to a chamber music symphony. For dinner, we went to this really fancy sea-food restaurant. There I saw more forks and spoons and knives than I would be able to use in five meals. It was utterly ridiculous to me. So many of those people there just carried themselves like they were so important because of where they were at, and how well they were dressed.
Jesus found himself in a similar situation in Luke 14. He was not a wealthy person, or someone who was a member of the in crowd. We find ourselves thinking a lot today about Jesus, and how awesome he is (and rightfully so), but back then they saw him as a homeless self made teacher from the hick part of the country. When they looked at him, they saw someone who didn’t look like what they expected. Yet, on this occasion that we are looking at today, Jesus is invited over to a Pharisee’s house to have the Sabbath meal. Who were the Pharisees? Was the Sabbath meal a big deal? Already, he has had to rebuke their cold hearts for not seeing the need to heal someone on the Sabbath, and then he had to rebuke their pride and arrogance since he had seen so many of them trying to get the best seats in the house for the meal, each thinking that they were more worthy than some of the other guests. Then, he turned his attention to the one who had invited him.
Scripture
To the Host
12And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.
13"But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
The religious leaders would have seen this statement to have been a pretty crazy thing. They viewed the pain, disease, and deformities that these people were experiencing as the result of their own bad actions and sins, or the sins of their parents. Not only were these people that society didn’t view highly because of their challenges, but they were also looked down on as being unclean and sinners. It’s like when your friend gets mono and you wonder, “Well what have they been doing?” These were the people that Jesus was calling these people to welcome into their homes!? That was unheard of. The people at the dinner must have been shocked.
A man speaks up
15When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"
One of them responds to what Jesus is saying. He says (as if trying to add to what Jesus is saying) that blessed is the man who invites others who cannot repay him to dinner so that God will invite such a person to eat bread with him in his kingdom. This fellow understands what Jesus is saying so far, but isn’t ready for what is coming.
Parable of the Dinner
16But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;
17and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ’Come; for everything is ready now.’
18"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ’I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’
19"Another one said, ’I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’
20"Another one said, ’I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’
21"And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ’Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
22"And the slave said, ’Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’
23"And the master said to the slave, ’Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.
24’For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’"
Jesus says something very powerful to these people who think they are hot stuff. He says that they are the same ones who will make excuses why they cannot come and will end up missing out on God’s great dinner. This man who spoke up earlier thinks that they (the group seated at the table dining with him) are the ones who are blessing the poor, and that they will then get rewarded in the end. They were proud, and though that they were better, more holy, and more worthy of God’s blessings; but their works effectively have made them lose their reservations.
Who Jesus Is, and Reached
See, when we think of Jesus there are some things that we just don’t see in our heads. One of these images is one of the Messiah of the whole earth typically ate, hung out with, and invested his time into normal people, sinners, and outcasts. Jesus’ disciples were fishermen, some of his followers were women (which wasn’t seen as a great thing back then), one of his disciples was a tax collector. Jesus embodied the message that he gave to these people today. His life was one that constantly welcomed the poor, the sick, the lame, the blind, and the sinner.
Who We Are
I don’t know if you all have picked up on this yet, but what Jesus says to us here is not necessarily one of the most complementary things possible. In this parable, Jesus goes some of the way in reminding us of who we are. We who have become Christians are not the guests that rejected the invitation. So that makes us the poor, the lame, the blind. That is not the best compliment in the world is it?
It reminds me a lot of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31:
26For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
28and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,
29so that no man may boast before God.
30But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
31so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."
God didn’t pick us because we were awesome. He didn’t choose us because we had life figured out. He chose us because we were dumb enough, weak enough, plain enough that he could use us to bring glory to his kingdom. We are partly those people that are listed in God’s guest list. The funny thing though is that while this sounds like an insult at first, realize that God uses us to shame the wisdom of the wise. The simplicity that is found in Christianity, our views on creation and life, and the resurrection of Christ continue be proven correct while science continues to have to re-invent itself.
What the Kingdom is Like
We find ourselves reading in the Parable what the kind of people God wants in his kingdom are. He first went to the religious, to the people that you’d think were wanting to dine at the banquet table of God, and yet they basically ignored his messenger. When Jesus came down, he was rejected by the Religious elite and leaders. He was the one that had come down to call them to God’s banquet. They refused, and so the messenger went to the poor and the lame and the blind. He went to the foreigners and strangers out on the highways. This is what the banquet of God, his kingdom, looks like. It is not made up of the popular (though there will undoubtedly be popular and influential people there). It is made up of common, every day people like you and I, it consists of the outcasts and rejects of society.
Application
• How much are we trying to be like Jesus in the people we befriend and interact with? How much does our friend group look like the kingdom of heaven? How is it like God’s banquet?
• Think of people that may not be cool, or popular. Think of people that you may not have ever considered hanging out with. How can you reach out and be Christ to them?
• Think about those people that you invite to church. Have you tried inviting someone that is not popular? What about someone who isn’t in your group of friends?
• If you aren’t very popular, or if you think that you aren’t very cool. Try reaching out and showing love to the popular and cool people. Try inviting them to church.
• How can you live out Jesus’ message from this story?
• Even if you don’t invite them to come to church with you.
o Be kind to people that aren’t in your click.
o Actually care for people.
o Realize that God cares about and loves everyone. We should follow his example.
