Sermon Brief
Date Written: August 27, 2008
Date Preached: August 27, 2008
Where Preached: OPBC (Wed PM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: A Study of the Parables
Sermon Title: The Parable of the Great Banquet
Sermon Text: Luke 14: 15-24 (NKJV)
15 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
16 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,
17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. 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 here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’
23 Then the master said to 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 to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’”
Introduction:
The parable of the Great Banquet or Great Supper is a 3-part parable… which is to say it reveals 3 main characters within the plot. First is the authority figure and main character which is the certain man giving the banquet. This man represents God in this parable!
The 2nd and 3rd characters are not as cut and dried as the 1st. It is a complex intertwining of both positive and negative and they are divided into groups of 2 and 3 respectively…
The imagery that Jesus was using as background for this parable is the Great Supper or Banquet which represents the great and wonderful celebration of reaching the Kingdom of Heaven… an end time celebration of sorts!
The servants, although part of the story, are merely an extension of the Banquet giver as they carry out his will and way and are natural props for his authoritative figure in this parable.
But we could actually place them as those who carry the word of God to this world… there are going to be those who accept the message of God and those who reject it… but regardless they are representatives of the authority figure…which in this case is the Banquet Giver.
Now as we look at the 2 separate sub-characters of this parable we find that they are categorized as both positive (2 groups) and negative (3 groups)
The members of this 1st group were the initial invitees to this Banquet, but what do we know about these who were the 1st to be invited. It is reasonable to observe they are likely to be friends, neighbors or relatives. However, we really do not know as Scripture does not tell us. We can tell that they are more interested in other affairs of the world. Let’s observe:
Like I mentioned before this sub-group reflected the negative response to the Banquet Giver’s invitation and it is divided into 3 groups:
The first said they had some land to inspect so they could not come…
The 2nd said he had purchased some oxen and need to give them a test run so he could not come…
The 3rd said that he had just gotten married and he couldn’t get a ‘kitchen pass’
Now what we need to understand is that Jesus is using absurdity here in His teaching to reveal the absurdity of those who decline God’s invitation to commune with Him… Let’s look at these excuses one by one and see just how lame they really are!
The 1st excuse raises some questions:
We can see that this first guy is tied up in a business transaction… So ask yourself, would a smart business man…would an intelligent Jewish man purchase land sight-unseen? And even if he had, how was he going to be able to inspect it in the dark? Could his inspection not have waited until the next morning?
Now more than likely, the man had seen the land before buying it, but this man was more concerned about his investment than this personal invitation to a wonderful supper prepared by a friend.
This man represents those whose possessions require all their attention. Here the obvious inference by Christ is that people like this allow their physical wealth and the business of obtaining that wealth robs them of the spiritual wealth God desires to bless them with… We find in Matt 6:21 Jesus teaching us that, “…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…”
How often do we find ourselves justifying our actions and ourselves because we feel we are so pressed by our business affairs that they cannot find time to serve God, cannot find time to pray, cannot find time to read the Bible, cannot find time to come to church and worship God… we place the business affairs of our lives ahead of our relationship with God… this is an insult to God!
Do you remember the parable of the soils? In that parable Jesus is giving us the ‘outcome’ of our actions when we allow the affairs of life to dominate our focus! In Matt 13:22 (NKJV) Jesus taught, “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful…”
This kind of action on the part of a believer reveals a spiritual immaturity and it is causes sort of a spiritual blind spot for the believer. When we live life like this we cannot ‘see’ what God wants us to see and we are not useful to Him. So we cannot live our lives with this sort of attitude…
But let’s take a look at the 2nd person in this negative response group… we find that he is tied up in work activities. And when we dig deeper we can find what this 2nd lame excuse exposes? 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’
This is another rather tired excuse that lacks real merit as we can see that this guest is simply finding a reason not to attend the banquet. However, unlike the first excuse, this excuse seems particularly lame as it seems to be a totally unnecessary act on the part of the invitee. However, the man’s tone is definite and final, and even unapologetic in refusing the invitation.
This man never reveals that he doubts his excuse, and we can see that he is definitely putting his work first! This man’s actions reveal that in his heart he has no responsibility to the host. But this attitude is contrary to a believer’s walk in Christ.
In I Cor 3:12-13 we can see where Paul says, “12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is…”
The oxen he wants to test could represent today’s technology, like doing things fast, cheaper, better, with advanced techniques and equipment. And today there are many who falsely believe that advancement in technology equals human improvement and progress. We have NO progress outside of God’s gift of knowledge and wisdom!
This man’s conduct shows his inclination to satisfy himself before accepting a friend’s invitation. He was selfish, He justified his own actions and refused to accept the invitation of the Banquet Giver.
This represents the refusal to accept God’s offer of salvation. This man represents all of those who are so absorbed in their work or hobbies that they set aside no time for prayer, meditation, or the weightier matters of life. And then what a catastrophe it is when our job, our finances, our entertainment, or just our plain old self-centeredness leave us no time for God and self-examination!
Now I want us take a look at the 3rd person in this negative response group…where he says, 20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ This third man is tied up in the affairs of life. We have to see this excuse for just what it truly is and that is LAME!
This man just got married… he is on his honeymoon, I believe it would be reasonable to expect that the guest reasonably knew of the invitation to this Great Banquet and he knew that it would have conflicted with his wedding/honeymoon. So this last minute decline is truly a slap in the face to the host who is giving the Banquet!
Now what does the third lame excuse expose? I truly believe that this is the most insignificant excuse of the bunch, however we see excuses such as this used all the time when it comes to service in church ministry!
It is amazing to me as a pastor that people who profess Christ as Savior can allow themselves to be excluded from blessings of God by such weak and insignificant reasons. This man’s abrupt and impolite excuse is void of any semblance of substance or thought.
This man’s response to his invitation represents all believers who feel that their domestic cares and responsibilities control so much of their time and interest that they neglect their relationship with God.
Now don’t misunderstand what I am saying here, I am NOT saying neglect the family to do busy work in the church! What I am saying is that we have a tendency to place a GREAT emphasis on a small thing.
Yes it is important to support your children in their activities, but supporting your children that leads to neglect in your own spiritual life… that is NOT smart and NOT what God desires from His children.
God desires good marriages, marriages that are balanced! And I tonight I am telling you that a marriage focused on Christ and family relationships built around Christ will never keep us from a right relationship with God.
Quite the contrary, they will enhance and promote it. So do not confuse, true family obligation and a right family relationship with personal choices to satisfy personal desires!
For instance, some excuse themselves from appearing before God on the Sabbath to worship Him because another family member cannot or does not want to attend. Scripture commands the believer to, “not forsake the assembling together of the saints or believers…”
Far too often many who profess Christ as Savior are not in church because of an excuse that one of their family members didn’t want to go. I can remember talking with a young mother a couple of years ago. I told her that we had been missing her family in church.
She told me that her husband works a lot of Sundays and that her son just didn’t like to go to church… I asked her who was in charge… who was the adult… him or her? She seemed a bit offended by this remark but the reality of the matter was that she was blaming her lack of attendance on her husband and her son, when in fact if she wanted to be in church…she had the control to be there!
Far too often we place our desires ahead of God’s plan and desires for our lives and we use the excuse of family to justify our decision. This is a lame excuse, just as it was in this parable! God doesn’t want our excuses but He desires our obedience and response to His call.
So we can see that the initial invitation list all rejected their invitation from the Banquet Giver, but I want us to now look at those who were not on the original list… Let’s look at the Secondary Invitation List…
First let’s look at some consequences that come about based on the rejection by those who were invited. There is now a new guest list and we find out that the original guests are no longer invited…
21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. 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 here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23 Then the master said to 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 to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’”
Let’s talk about these ‘new’ guests; they consist of those who are suffering and those who are poor, and we find that when invited they gladly come into the house of the Master for the Banquet...
This represents the spiritually hungry, and those who are just outside the ‘doors’ of the church… those who have seen the Master, but have never had the invitation to join him.
Even though the servants go out like the Master had told them, the banquet hall is still not full. So here we find that the master says for his servants to go out and compel those from the highways and hedges to come.
These on the hyways and byways of life are those who are on the fringe, who have not met the Master or don’t even know anything about the Master. They only know their own way of life, and so the servants have to ‘compel’ them to come into the Banquet.
It is like a missionary, compelling a foreign people group to leave what they have always known and trusted to come to Christ. He must compel them in his presentation of the Gospel… compel them to surrender to Christ! These people had to be compelled to come in and eat at this table they had NEVER even seen or heard of…
Let’s look at where the Master turns after he has been turned down by the initial guests. Let’s take notice of the list of those the master says to go and invite into his house for this banquet… He tells them:
The poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind. These people represent those who can never repay the gracious invitation to such a feast. And I find that this passage can be viewed two ways; physically or spiritually.
Is Scripture telling those who give a banquet to invite those who are physically poor, maimed, lame or blind? It is not a bad answer, helping those who are in pain or suffering is what being a Christian is all about!
What about when you are throwing a spiritual banquet… (i.e. a church worship service) Is Scripture here telling us that those who throw the banquet must invite those who are spiritually, poor, maimed, lame and blind? I believe that either aspect reveals a good answer.
With that in mind, one of the points to this parable is revealed in that our life cannot be so consumed by OUR OWN stuff that we neglect God OR neglect those in need! The point is don’t go through life and ignore everyone who is not in your family or clique. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ take every opportunity you can to reach out to others.
The old guests don’t even receive the smallest taste of what had been prepared for them! They clearly did not appreciate the invitation as they did not notify the master of conflicting activities. Their rejection is final and they in essence stuck him with the bill.
1. Moral of the Story:
a. Not everyone you think is good is.
b. Not everyone you think is worthy of your attention is.
c. Not everyone you think is going to heaven is.
d. Not everyone you think is really your friend is.
e. Not everyone you think is trustworthy is.
The great banquet giver has issued an invitation for all of humanity to come and commune with Him… come and taste the banquet of salvation, redemption and eternal life that He is offering!
As His servants we are called to go out into the world and compel those who don’t know Him to come and meet Him and accept His gift of salvation! There will always be those who will reject Him, but we cannot allow that to dampen our zeal in serving the God who saved our soul!
What are some lessons we can take from this teaching:
I believe we can know that from the gracious hand of God He generously invites all peoples into His Kingdom… but one day that invitation will be withdrawn and it will be too late to respond!
In looking at the total ineptitude and lameness of the excuses made by the negative responding group we can surmise that any and all excuses to not accept God’s invitation are inept and lame.
And finally from seeing the disenfranchisement of the 2nd group… the group that responded positively to the Banquet Giver’s invitation, this reveals that God’s generosity and love cannot be thwarted by rejection from who society believes to be important… but that God extends His invitation to even those the world casts aside as unworthy and unimportant!
Pray
Dispersed all throughout this sermon are quips and ideas found in several sources, of which I have not fully accredited, but the following sources were used:
Interpreting the Parables, Craig Bloomberg, IVP, 1990.
The Parable of the Great Banquet, Sermon, Rev. Phillip Wright, www.sermoncentral.com , 2008.
The True Gospel.org website, The Parable of the Great Banquet.
Next week we will be looking at the Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:30-35
