THE CRUCIAL INVITATION

Second Sunday after TRINITY

21 June, AD 2009

TEXT:  St. Luke 14: (15) 16-24.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

“Then the angel said to me, “Write:  Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”  And he added, “These are the true words of God.”  (Rev. 19:9)

I want to begin this morning by asking you a question.  It’s not one that you have to answer outloud, but I want you to think about it when you have your quiet time with God or, perhaps, as you lie in bed tonight just before you drop off to sleep.  And the question is this, “What is the most important aspect of your life?  OR What is it about your life that is the most important to you?  Keep that thought in the back of your mind as we explore together Our Lord’s teaching in the parable of the Great Banquet.

In Jewish society, the idea of giving a banquet was nothing new.  It’s a part of human life – a part of us being social beings.  So Jesus begins to tell a story about a man giving a party.  But before we can delve directly into that parable, we have to understand the context into which it is placed and to which we have been transported.  

Jesus is dining in the house of a ruler of the Pharisees.  Ah, the scribes and the Pharisees!  They are judiciously watching Jesus to see if He will heal on the Sabbath, which constituted “work” which was not allowed, so they could charge Him with breaking the Mosaic law.  Jesus healed the man and sent him on his way and silenced His critics with His teaching.  Next, Jesus told the parable about the wedding feast and those who vied for the best seats.  At the end, when one of those present understood Our Lord’s message in that parable, he said, “Blessed are those who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God!”  That verse, verse 15, serves as a bridge to the parable of the wedding feast and the parable which is the subject of our Gospel lesson this morning – the Parable of the Great Banquet.  We won’t re-tell the parable here, but there are some elements that bear repeating as we listen for God’s Word to us today.      

From the outset, to the Jewish mind, when God’s Messiah would come, all the faithful would be gathered and taken to a Great Messianic Banquet held to celebrate the arrival of the Messiah and the establishment of the Kingdom of God upon earth.  All good Jews expected it, then, and still do expect it, today.  In those days two invitations were sent out when one was invited to come to a great feast.  The first invitation told everyone that there was going to be a feast, a sort of reservation, as it were, for you, then, later, another, which bade the guests to come because all was in readiness.  In our parable, all the guests had, heretofore, accepted the kind invitation of the first kind, but when the hour came for the banquet to be held, they all began to make excuses why they could not attend.  The excuses, themselves, aren’t really important, except to show us that it was the changes and chances of everyday life – work, family, and finances, that kept those who had previously accepted the invitation away from the banquet.  This made the giver of the banquet wroth and he then told his servant to go out into the city, first, and find all that he could to come and be guests at the banquet.  This the servant did, but there was still more room in the great hall, so, this time the master told his servant, “Go now into the highways and the hedges, which signifies those outside of the city, and compel those to come in, for my banquet will be full!”  And the servant complied with his lord’s request.  And the banquet was full and the last word we hear from the lord of the feast is, “For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.”  

By now, you and I both know that Jesus isn’t talking about some soire or pig-pickin’.  He is talking about life, never-ending life, in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Those of us here and now have received the first invitation.  We are they who enjoy, now, the initial taste of the joyful fellowship with God that will be fully realized in the coming age – when Jesus comes again in His Glory!  It is extremely important for each of us to realize and understand that the Kingdom of God is now here among us, maybe not yet in its fullness, perhaps, but nevertheless, it is here and we have been invited by God to share in it with Him!  God has given us a glimpse at His Altar of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, spoken of in Revelation – a pale, inadequate, but authentic reflection of life in the Kingdom of Heaven as it is lived before God, Himself.  Jesus, St. Paul, and St. John all tell us about this kind of heavenly worship and life.  Our worship here on earth reflects it!  And it behooves everyone of us to answer that invitation to that Life and come with hearts and hands and eyes wide open to the throne of Grace, for we are believers who belong to God’s beloved Bride, the Church, and who have been called to that Feast through the Gospel of Grace.  

For those who were invited and then made excuse, the timing of God’s second invitation seems to have been just too INCONVENIENT FOR THEM.  They accepted the first invitation, that of Moses and the Prophets, to believe in God, but when the second invitation arrived in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Himself, they were too inconvenienced to accept it and enter into the Kingdom of God.  They put the business of everyday life OVER and AHEAD of the claims of God, who created them, and His Kingdom.  Their work duties, family responsibilities, or financial needs kept them from being a part of salvation in the Kingdom of God.  Theirs wills were not in conformity to God’s will.  And so, BY THEIR OWN ACTIONS, they were made now unworthy to enter into the Great Banquet.  How sad.  It doesn’t have to be so.  Because we know, when we work at making God’s will our own, all of those other earthly, social, or personal needs come under the influence of God’s Love and Grace and life becomes meaningful and more fulfilling in the Kingdom of God.

So it would seem that we have come full circle this morning; looking back at the Messianic Banquet, hearing our Lord’s own words about the Great Banquet and entering into His Kingdom, and receiving a foretaste of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb of God in Heaven.  Perhaps the bigger question facing us this morning and for the rest of our natural life is, “Would you make excuses for not resonding to God’s call and claim on your life – tantamount to spitting in God’s face OR would you, could you, just take God’s hand and step into His Grace and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  The second invitation has been sent out and all is in readiness.  “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God!”

And now, unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost be ascribed all might, majesty, power, and dominion as is most justly due this day both now and forever; world without end.  Amen.

SOLI DEO GLORIA – JEU+