The Great Banquet

THE GREAT BANQUET
LUKE 14:15-24

15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
In the name of Jesus:
It’s the Fourth of July Weekend, so let’s have a party! Imagine, if you will, that you have decided to throw a party for all of your closest friends, in honor of the 4th. You have spared no expense to make certain that all is in place. There are table decorations, party favors, a red white and blue theme, and the food, oh the food! You have purchased the finest of meats and the beverages are free flowing and will be unlimited! What a great time you are planning for your friends!
Everyone shows up. The food is all prepared, the barbeque and all of the fixings have been spread out, and the table service is set. You are ready to eat. Then one friend pipes up and says, “I am sorry, I have to leave. I just bought a house today and I need to go look at it so as to see what kind of house I bought and how many rooms it has!” Now, you being you, the perceptive person that you are, recognize that this is the Fourth of July. NO ONE sells homes on the 4th, NO ONE closes on a house on the 4th, in fact, you recognize that people just don’t buy homes THEN decide to look at them, the proper course of action is that the buyer looks at the house FIRST THEN decides to make a purchase or not. You see right through this person who you called a friend and realize the flimsiness of the excuse.
Soon, another person approaches you and says: “I need to go because I just purchased a car today and I need to look at it.” Immediately you wonder what is going on here, for the car dealerships are closed, no one buys a car on the 4th, no one can get financing on the 4th, and who in their right mind buys a car without first looking at it, knowing what they purchased and at least having a test drive! And so, this friend leaves with his excuse in tow but the excuse doesn’t hold water.
Immediately another friend says to you: “I need to go and be with my wife.” And you respond: “Your wife is here with you!” But that person winks and nods, and leaves. Soon, the banquet that you prepared for your friends has more than enough spaces at the table. What do you do? Probably you stew, your feelings are hurt, and you will write these so called friends off of your “friends” list.
Get the picture? Can you relate, even if this has not happened to you, anyone with feelings would feel incredulous at this type of thing happening to anyone. And yet, this situation is exactly what Jesus is describing in our text for today. Jesus is seated at a table, having a meal with the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day. The host would have gone to great expense to make certain all was in order at this meal, for Jesus was the guest. One who was eating with Jesus remarked: ““Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” And then Jesus responds by telling this parable.
In the Scriptures, a life with God is explained in terms of having a meal with God. One way to explain it would be table fellowship. In other words, just as you have Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas dinners, cookouts with family and friends which show your close relationship with your family and friends, so also those who of the family of God, who are God’s children, have friendship or fellowship with God in terms of having a feast or banquet with the Lord. This is an image, which is consistently used throughout the Scriptures. This is why one says in our text: “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” This one is remarking that whoever breaks bread with the Lord, whoever has a relationship with the Lord is truly blessed by God!
Listen to how Isaiah the prophet describes it in chapter 25 of his book: “6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, 
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Salvation is described in terms of a banquet. God prepares this banquet for ALL PEOPLES. On that day, God will dispose of sin, of death, and he will wipe away all tears and pain from His people so that God’s children will live with the Lord forever. On that day those who have been saved by God’s grace in Christ will sing praises to the Lord saying in effect: This is the day we have been waiting for! Praise God, let’s rejoice and celebrate God’s goodness to us forever!
Note, the Bible says that ALL ARE INVITED. But the point of Jesus’ parable is that even though all are invited, many refuse to come. Many find excuses as to why they cannot fellowship with the Lord. This is more than evident every Sunday where the Lord provides His banquet of the gifts of salvation in the Lord’s Supper, where Jesus gives us Himself, His very body to eat and blood to drink so that we might taste of God’s salvation. But how do those who are invited respond to God’s invitation to come to His house on a Sunday morning?
Sadly, with excuses such as I need my own time, it’s the only day off I have, I need to sleep in, it doesn’t interest me. What excuses have you heard, or used????
Dear friends, God has invited you to His Great Banquet. This relationship and feast has already been prepared. God’s only Son offered up Himself, giving His body and shedding His blood on the cross. God has invited and called you into a relationship with Him, not on the basis of your works, or excuses, but on account of His Son, Jesus. For you have been saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ, it is not of your own doing. He has called you by name in the waters of your Baptism. By the powerful working of the Spirit through water and the Word you possess a saving faith in Christ. Even though many today make excuses and reject God’s gracious invitation, know full well that God will not be mocked. His judgment is swift. For those who reject Christ, on the Last Day they will be rejected by Him, but those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be satisfied.
God invites all to the Banquet that He has prepared, but note that the Banquet is for only those who are hungry, who hunger and thirst after His righteousness. If you are righteous in your own eyes, don’t come to the Banquet. The Banquet is not for those who are full of themselves; it is not for those who don’t believe that they are sinners; it is not for those who don’t want what God has to offer; it is not for those who believe in Jesus; it is not for those who reject Christ; or who love the world more than God. God offers this Banquet to those who are truly hungry, who hunger for a relationship with God. God offers in this Banquet help for sinners who repent of their sins and turn to Him for salvation. God offers in this Banquet His Son who was sacrificed on the cross for your forgiveness. God offers in this Banquet the Lamb of God who takes away your sins and the sins of the world.
So God invites you and sinners who hunger for what God offers satisfaction for your hunger by giving you Jesus to be your Savior. Today in our Old Testament Lesson God issues an invitation to you: “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Prov. 9:5–6). The Lord calls you to repentance and faith. Repent of your sins, turn from the wisdom and the temptations of the world and trust in Christ for all things. Today He offers Himself to you in this Holy Supper, as a foretaste of what is to come. Even though many reject His offer, as did the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, His invitation to you is to come and taste and see that the Lord is good, that His mercy lasts forever.
His offer of salvation if for you this day, and His offer of salvation proclaimed through you as your live your life for Christ. For you have been reconciled to Christ, so that by the power of His Spirit you are empowered to love one another, in keeping with God’s will. For in Baptism you have been placed in Christ, and through His Word and Meal you have been fed at His Table so that you might be strengthened to live your life in His service. For this is the good and gracious will of God: “16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (I John 3: 16-18).”
Amen