LUKE 14:15-24 “GETTING OFF OUR BUTS!”
A) So lets talk tonight about “Buts.” * We all have them!
* They are usually pretty big, though some may be bigger than most, but we all have them.
* Some are so big that others try to hide behind them.
* Some of us use them more than others, however they always end up getting in the way.
* Preacher, you sure do have a lot of explaining to do!
B) OK, here goes! * But I can’t .. But I’m over 40 ... But I don’t have an education!
* But I don’t have any money ... But I’m in the wrong job ... But I’m in bad health!
* But I’ve been through so much ... But I don’t have anything to offer the church!
* But, but, but ... My what big buts we have! * Notice how they all start ... “But I ...”
C) God had a big but too, you know ... His all started with ... “But, God ...”
* This little phrase shows up 66 times in the Bible.
* Whereas, our buts are excuses, God’s buts are His response to Satan’s challenge!
* The world says no - “but God” says yes!
* The world says can’t - “but God” says can!
* The world says won’t - :but God” says will!
* The world says stop - “but God” says go!
* The world says don’t - “but God” says do!
* The world says defeat - “but God” says victory!
D) See the difference here ... Our but is an excuse! * An excuse not to do something!
* I heard a quote the other day that puts it into a little perspective .......
* The origin of every excuse is the failure to do something!
* Deion Sanders, baseball and football player, is the only athlete to have hit a Major League home
run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week!
* Sanders grew up on the mean streets of Fort Myers, Fla., where exposure to some would-be
athletes spurred him to make a success of himself.
E) He explains: “I call them Idas.” * “If I’da done this, I’d be making three million today!”
* “If I’da practiced a little harder, I’d be a superstar.”
* “They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they
chose drugs and a life on the street corners.”
* “When I was young, I had practice; my friends who didn’t, went straight to the streets and never
left. That moment after school is the moment we need to grab. We don’t need any more Idas!”
* Getting Off Our Buts ... So now that we all understand our buts, lets look at ways of getting off
them. * Luke 14:16-24 is ... The Parable Of The Great Supper!
F) Let me give you a little background here! * It was the custom then to send out 2 invitations!
* One to announce the event and the other to tell the invited guests that it was all ready.
* In this parable, the certain man that Jesus is referring to is God.
* God is preparing a huge festival, a feast for us and has sent out the invitations to us.
* Once God has it ready, he’ll send out the final invitation ... what will your response be?
G) Now we are going to get this down to a personal level!
* For months now, I’ve invited folk to church!
* The numbers that have responded to the invitation, is quite low, though I am sure the excuses are
quite high. * Or should I say, their buts have gotten bigger in the last few weeks!
* The excuses that these made here are the same excuses we use today.
H) The first one says, “I just bought a field and I need to go check it out, please excuse me.”
* God is offering what we are desperately seeking, and we confuse our priorities!
* We put the priority of business and work over the priority of God.
* The second said, “I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out.
Please excuse me.” * Our priorities are all upside down!
* We get enthusiastic over new experiences and things and we skip the celebration of Christ!
* The last one says, “I just got married, so I can’t come.”
* Here he is putting a human relationship over his heavenly one!
* How many times do we do the same thing?
I) Most people who don’t go to church come up with the same reasons!
* One person even took the top ten reasons and to show the weakness of those excuses, made a list
of them and instead of giving the ten reasons why I never go to church inserted the word wash
instead of the phrase “go to church.”
* “Ten Reasons Why I Never Wash.”
1. I was forced to wash as a child.
2. People who wash are hypocrites ... they think they’re cleaner than others.
3. There are so many kinds of soap, I could never decide which one was right.
4. I used to wash, but it got boring.
5. I wash only on Christmas or Easter.
6. None of my friends wash.
7. I’ll start washing when I’m older.
8. I really don’t have time to wash
9. The bathroom isn’t warm enough to wash.
10. People who make soap are only after your money.
J) Another reason that we don’t attend church is that we are too busy, or at least we want to
think we are! * We are busy with our families ... We are busy with our friends.
* We are busy with our work ... We are busy with sports ... We are busy volunteering.
* We are busy cleaning ... We are busy cooking ... We are busy with vacation.
* We are busy sleeping ... We are just busy.
* We are just too busy to be bothered by God.
* We are too busy to be faithful to His Church.
* We are too busy to bother with the ministry of Church.
K) But what if God was just too busy for us?
* What if He woke up one day and said, “I’m tired of it all and I want to do something else,” and
left us on our own?
* What if you found yourself in a desperate situation and needed the Lord’s comfort to rest upon,
and what if He was too busy to hear you?
* We can’t do God on our own terms and expect to come out on top! * Three things .......
(1) WHY GO TO CHURCH!
* A Churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense
to go to church every Sunday.
* “I’ve gone for 30 years now,” he wrote, “and in that time I have heard something like 3,000
sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them.”
* “So, I think I’m wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.”
* This started a real controversy in the “Letters to the Editor” column, much to the delight of the
editor! * It went on for weeks, until someone wrote this clincher:
A) “I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals.”
* “But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.”
* “But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.”
* “If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.”
* “Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”
B) Lets look at what the Bible says about why we should go! * Hebrews 10:24-25 .......
* “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking .......”
* Notice here that it doesn’t say “consider ourselves,” but says to “consider one another.”
* This is important, as it says that not only do we need to assemble (go to church) for ourselves,
but more importantly, for others there. * To encourage others towards love and good works!
* In a sense, he is saying that, not going to church, is a really selfish thing to do!
C) This encouragement is a necessity! * Others will encourage us to stay on the correct path!
* You can’t do it on your own ... Church is a safety mechanism for us!
* Let me demonstrate ... The ice storm Dec.4, 2002 ... Trees down at Village Green Golf Course.0
* A fireplace with wood burning ... Together burning, glowing ... Move away from it, it’ll cool ...!
* Satan tries to keep people away from church and they’re not around their brothers or sisters in
Christ, and they cool off and the fire goes out! * Or they’re like the trees ... no support ... fall!
* And then Satan snatches him up and does what he wants with him!
* You need the encouragement of others, you need to assemble together.
* Go it alone, and Satan will have you where he wants you ... Cold and away from God!
(2) WHO IS INVITED! * Let’s turn back to our party in Luke and see what happened!
A) Jesus was still at the feast of the chief Pharisee - v.1!
* When Jesus mentioned the resurrection (v.14), all of a sudden one of the Pharisees broke forth
in joyful praise, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” (v.15)
* What the Pharisee meant was the Jewish picture of the great feast for the coming Messiah!
* The feast was to given by God for His people when He set up His kingdom on earth!
* The Pharisee saw himself and the Jewish nation only as being invited to God’s Great Supper!
B) They believed that ... No outsider, no Gentile or sinner, would ever be an invited guest!
* Jesus knew what was in the mind of the Pharisee, so He sets out to correct his misconception
of the Great Supper of God!
* Jesus said that the Great Supper will be held, so the Pharisee was right in his saying!
* But what he did not know was, the Great Supper of God will include guests from the highways
and hedges of the world, not just Jews!
* It doesn’t matter who you are, God’s club doesn’t exclude anyone!
C) I believe this parable has a very strong personal message to all men everywhere!
* And i.e. Men are saved by responding to God’s invitation, and they are lost by making excuses!
* Once the guest list is filled, time will be no more ... All things will end!
* The doors to His banquet hall will be closed forever!
* Let’s shrink our buts a little today ... Let’s make next Sunday a “no excuse Sunday!”
D) Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, “Sunday is my only day to sleep in.”
* There will be a special section with lounge chairs for those who feel that our pews are too hard!
* Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night!
* We will have steel helmets for those who say, “The roof would cave in if I ever came to church.”
* Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say
it is too hot.
E) Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present!
* Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can’t go to church and cook dinner, too.
* We will distribute “Stamp Out Stewardship” buttons for those that feel the church is always
asking for money!
* One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature!
* Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on that day!
* The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who
never have seen the church without them!
* We will provide hearing aids for those who can’t hear the preacher and cotton for those who can!
* Whatever your excuse is, we will provide the solution for “no excuse Sunday!”
(3) EXCUSES HAVE A PRICE!
* So the poor, blind and lame are having the time of their lives at the party!
A) What happened to the original invitees? * Look at v.24 .......
* The excuses will finally take their toll on God!
* Skip out too many times on His invitation, and you won’t be invited anymore!
* That’s living dangerously for some of you that think there will always be time ... There will
always be a tomorrow! * Prov.27:1 “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not ...”
* Jesus said in our text that none of those who made excuses shall go to the Supper!
CLOSE
A) Matt.25:10 “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready
went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.”
* One day Jesus is coming and the door of grace will be shut!
* Right now you have an invitation to come to the party ... What will you do with it?
* Lets quit letting our buts get between us and our Lord!
