The Deceptive Power Of A Good Excuse

Intro

We take as our text today Luke 14:15-24. Follow with me as we read that passage.

“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 [Jesus] 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.’”i

CONTEXT

The context in which Jesus told this story is recorded in the earlier part of the chapter. Luke 14:1 begins with the statement: “Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.” In that verse, we are provided two important facts about the context.

First, Jesus was at a feast much like the one in his story. This feast was hosted by “one of the rulers of the Pharisees.” This ruler may have been a member of the Sanhedrin. He was a prominent person of influence and was probably wealthy.ii

Jesus often ministered to outcasts in society. He ate with Matthew’s sinner friends (Matt. 9:9-12). He touched and healed lepers and the woman with the issue of blood.iii He ministered to a lame man at the Pool of Bethesda and brought salvation to the adulterous Samaritan woman at the well.iv He was often among the down and outers of society.

But he also ministered to the up and outers. This feast is one example of that. In our text, he is ministering to the upper echelon of society. God’s salvation is available to all people of all races, socioeconomic statuses, and backgrounds. Rich or poor, none should be excluded from the opportunity to receive God’s gift of eternal life. All have the same basic need for God’s gift of salvation.

In one city, we planted a church in the poor part of town. Other churches had moved from the area to the suburb, and it left a need in the area. It was where the drug dealers and prostitutes operated. God gave us some very dedicated leaders to help with the outreach. But in time, people from the affluent side of town began to drive to our services. To my surprise, some of those faithful leaders were upset that those people were coming to the church. They were upset that I was giving them opportunity for ministry. Out of their own insecurities, the leaders were rejecting people who were more educated and affluent than them.

Sometimes it is the other way around. Sometimes a congregation will reject the poor because they want their elite status as an affluent congregation. I remember mediating a conflict for a church that had been the premier church of the city. They had begun to lose that status in the community and were not responding well to the loss. Part of the reason for their conflict was disagreement about how to get that status back. As we investigated the conflict, we found that a meat packing plant had been established in the community, and a large influx of poor Hispanic people had moved into the area. Many had visited this church and were rejected by the congregation. That church wanted to grow, but they wanted that growth to be people just like them. It was not a pleasant task to confront those leaders about God’s displeasure over their attitude toward those poor people.

God loves all people, rich and poor. He gave his only Son so that WHOEVER “believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus ministered to all kinds of people. We must follow his example and open our hearts to anyone who will receive the Good News of Christ.