Rsvp Series

God will never be pleased by that type of a church. And the reason I know God wouldn’t be pleased by that is because that’s the type of attitude Jesus rebuked at the Banquet.

Do you know why everybody wanted the best seats in at the Table? BECAUSE they felt they were more important that the others there. What made these seats so desirable? The people towards the head of the table was taken care of first. They had 1st choice of the food that was passed. AND perhaps most importantly, they’d be closest to the host - and in this case closest to Jesus - and thus stand to receive His full attention. Which of course they deserved. They wanted the chief seats at the banquet, because that was what met their needs at the moment.

God’s not impressed with that type of a person. In fact, in His kingdom that type of individual will NOT BE THERE.

Look again at Luke 14:15-20. The 1st people invited to the banquet turned the host down… But why? BECAUSE…

a. One man had bought a field

b. Another had purchased 5 yoke of oxen

c. And a 3rd had just gotten married.

In other words, each one of them was more interested in their own needs (repeat this) than they were in the wishes and the desires of the host of the banquet.

Now, notice what Jesus says in Luke 14:21 "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.’

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

I fear for that church that my friend turned down. They had a wrong attitude. A sinful attitude. They had forgotten why they existed as a church. They believed the reason they had a church was so that their needs would be met - not God’s.

You know, everybody at this banquet knew that there was only one reason they got an invitation. They were there because they were the movers and shakers in the community… they were the desirable people to have at parties. Not so, the poor… nor the crippled… nor the blind… nor the lame.

That was the attitude that Jesus saw on display at the banquet that day.

BUT that wasn’t the attitude that the host of the heavenly banquet was going to have…

Note what Luke 14:23 tells us "Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, (WHY?) so that my house will be full.’"

That’s why we have events like “Bring A Friend Day.” To fill God’s house with as many people as we can bring in. To bring in so many that we have to go to 2 services and eventually need to build a sanctuary large enough to house them all.

Distribute packets (filled with 3*5 cards to use to invite people to church, posters to hang around town, 3*5 cards to put down the names of those who are invited so that the office can send out an additional invitation, and a cover letter explaining all that’s involved.)

CLOSE:

We need to realize that our Jesus took every opportunity to tell people about the Kingdom.