Sermon for September 23, 2007

What is the most important event you have ever been invited to? It may be hard to answer because what may be important to one may not be important to another. But we all like to get invitations; and have you noticed? God likes parties! Not just parties, but lavish banquets where there are no dietary restrictions, no calorie counting, no food allergies—just one wonderful celebration. (In the Bible the image of a banquet represents the symbol of salvation – note our Isaiah text: "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow of well-aged wines strained clear.") In another passage Luke has Jesus responding to the question of the number of "saved" with the following, "then people will come from the east and west, from the north and south and will eat in the Kingdom of God" (Luke 13:29). And the phrase in the 23rd Psalm, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…" The Good News is that God is throwing the greatest party ever and WE ARE INVITED.

Here in our Scripture passage today Luke records the parable of the Great Banquet. As with all the parables, this one is in response to a question from one of the guests at the dinner party Jesus is a guest at. Jesus is sharing about the Kingdom of God and the guest makes a statement, "How blessed are those who are invited to eat in God's Kingdom." As I look at this statement I get the impression that the man is wondering if he will be invited. After all, he has done all the right things, kept the Law, made all the right contacts and given the appropriate amount of tithes, etc. He has been a good man. Thus, I paraphrase his statement, "I am good, therefore I deserve an invitation… don't I?" He is looking for confirmation that he will be awarded a seat in the coming Kingdom of God.

Jesus responds, "Let me tell you a story." I love that. Here is the midst of a theological debate about who is included in God's Kingdom Jesus tells a story.

There was a certain rich man who decided to throw a party. Following the Middle Eastern tradition he first sends out his servants to announce the day and time of the celebration and to get a confirmation that his guests will attend. What he prepares for dinner will be determined by the number of guests who respond to the initial invitation. (As we have shared before in our study of the parables – chicken (2-4 guests), duck (5-8), small goat (10-15), lamb (15-35) and calf (more than 35)) The menu is determined by the number of responses and this is going to a great party – the indication is that there have been a large number of responses. The guests have said they would come and to accept the invitation is a social obligation to be there. Any other action would be an insult to the host.

As the time arrives the servants go and remind the guests of the hour and their acceptance of the invitation and escort the guests to the banquet. The red carpet has been brought out and the uninvited villagers are watching to see who is coming. They would know who was and was not invited, etc. This party has been the talk of the village for weeks. For me it is the image of the Emmy's last Sunday – everyone not invited watching from the sidelines or, in the case of most, on TV. Can you imagine the gasps when the servants return without the invited guests? They return with excuses, not guests!

I have purchased a piece of land and must go and see it. How ridiculous is that? Land sales in the Middle East take months or years. No one buys a piece of land without first walking every inch of it. They would want to know who all the previous owners were. They would also want to know the crops it produced and what the harvest was. They would haggle for days over the price, etc. And, what difference will another day make? The land is not going anywhere. Everyone listening knows that invited guest is lying and has just insulted the host. He did accept the invitation. He has known about this day for weeks. Maybe the next guest will not be as insulting.

I have just purchased five yoke of oxen and I must go and see if they work together. Whoops! Another lie. No one would buy one yoke of oxen without watching them for days to see if they worked well together, let alone five. If they did not plough together the furrows would be crooked. He may even spend some time working with them to make sure they worked well together for him or his servant. Oxen were not bought without having been seen and worked. And five pairs! I mean how many of you would go on the Internet this afternoon and buy five used cars!!?? Another insult.

I have just gotten married. Now at first this may seem like a legitimate excuse. However, there would not have been two major parties in the village in a relatively short time. The wedding would have been a community event and the host would have known about it, been a guest and would not have scheduled another party in such close time proximity. Plus, one never talks about women in public. If a father was traveling and he had no son(s) but only daughters and a wife at home he would address any correspondence home, "to the son I hope to have" rather than to one of the women in the household. Some would point to Deut. 20:7 or 24:5 that could be used as an excuse, but this only applies in times of war and there is no war going on. The banquet would be held in the early afternoon and he would be home in the early evening. He is saying that his wife won't let him go. AND, he doesn't even have the manners to ask to be excused!

The most important aspect of this parable, though, is the host's response. He is angry but will not let this spoil his party. His anger turns to grace. He turns to his servants and instructs them to go through the village and invite everyone who would not normally be invited. He sends them to the ones who would never get an invitation. Remember how Jesus was criticized? He eats with sinners (Luke 5:30, Mark 2:16). Sinners are now being invited to the party. When all those from the village are in their places there is still room. What now? Go outside the village to the highways and bring (compel) anyone you find to come to my party. The host is going to have a party regardless.

Can you imagine how those hearing this parable are responding? Those who are not invited guests but are watching, listening in the background. Does this mean we are going to be invited? Are we getting an invitation? They think of all the parties they have watched from the outside. We watch a British Comedy, "As Time Goes By" when we can. In one episode the wife of the brother-in-law announces that they may not be able to attend a wedding, the husband has been put on the honors list and they will be partying with the Queen on that day. On the day of the wedding they are there but are not talking. The husband forgot to RSVP! Now, most of us don't even get the invitation, let alone to forget to RSVP to it! We watch from the sidelines or on television.

Here Jesus is saying, "Guess what? You are invited to the greatest party to ever be given. And, you can bring your friends." In fact, you can bring your enemies – that would be even better. Just give them the invitation and let them respond. They are welcome. They only have to accept the invitation. Your name is on the guest list. Now, people have trouble with Plourde. In the Philippine dialect we used there is no letter P, so everyone turned the P into an F – Flourde. Even here in the States we have to spell it out for people. But not for God—we are there on the list…right where God has put it; spelled correctly too. It can only be removed if we don't respond to the invitation.

Isn't this a fun parable? Not because of the excuses (we are all too familiar with excuses) but for the invitation list—we are included. Social status, not important. Economic status, not important. Degrees, honors, not important. Live on the wrong side of the tracks, doesn't matter. What matters is how we handle the invitation. We cannot earn our way on the guest list – it has been put there because of the worthiness of Christ and his sacrifice on Calvary.

We are invited to the greatest party ever to be given. You are invited to the greatest party ever given.

(Would encourage anyone who is reading this and who desires to learn more about the Living Christ and what it means to be a member of the Church to contact a local pastor/congregation and become involved in the life and community of a local congregation as they seek to be Christ's model for the world. We would love to have you as a part of the Mountlake Terrace congregation if you live in the area, but if not, would "compel" you to find a congregation where you can live out the Christ-like life—a web-link on this site brings you to other American Baptist Churches in our area and across the nation. Seek them out...Christ has invited you. How do you respond?)


First Baptist Church 22800 56th Ave. W. Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043-3922	(425) 778-2046 firstbap@FirstBaptist-MtlkTerr.org	©2004-2007 Last Modified 25 September 2007	Home Page