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Luke 14:1-24
We’re thinking about being a Gospel-centred
church. We’re thinking about how
we can be a church whose whole organising principle is mission – facing
out to the world with the good news of Jesus. So this week, we’re thinking about how Jesus did it. That seems sensible doesn’t it?
So let’s think about Jesus’ style of
ministry. What do we know? Well we know He would preach in the
synagogue on the Sabbath. He
would often preach in the open air.
He would spend time training up the 12 disciples and a wider body
of followers. And then He would
spend His time writing sermons, chairing finance committee meetings and
attending choir practice.
Actually we don’t know about those last ones. Instead we know that He ate and
drank. In fact one of the great
sayings from Luke’s gospel is ‘The Son of Man came eating and
drinking.’ That’s how He
came. I mean He got Himself
invited to dinners – a lot. And
when nobody invited Him, He invited Himself over. He had to: He had no home and depended
entirely on the hospitality of others.
In Luke’s Gospel, there are 16 parties that
Jesus is either attending or speaking about. 16!
And here in Luke 14 He’s at one of those
dinner parties. And while He’s
here He’s got a thing or two to say about dinner parties. He tells us the best kind of seating
plan. The best kind of guest list
and He finishes off by speaking of THE great feast to which all other
feasts point.
Now as we speak about these parties, we’re
not speaking about something Jesus, the Missionary, did to unwind. As we talk about mission strategy,
this, to a large degree, was it!
The Son of Man came eating and drinking. This kind of life of hospitality was a huge part of Jesus’
missionary strategy. If we want
to be missionaries here in Eastbourne (and I hope we do) – then we need
to learn how to party. And Jesus
will teach us in Luke 14.
Our reading from Luke 14 divides up pretty
neatly into four sections. In
verses 1-6, Jesus heals a man.
Verses 7-11: Jesus teaches about the seating arrangements – beware
the places of honour. In verses
12-14: Jesus teaches about the guest list – who to invite. And in verses
15-24 Jesus speaks of the great feast.
What’s interesting is that the first and the
last section show us Jesus’ way of throwing a party, while the middle two
sections reveal how we usually throw parties. And the contrast is pretty marked. Jesus knows how to have a good time –
and we really don’t.
But let’s look at the first section, all eyes
are on Jesus and how He behaves. Read with me from verse 1:
One
Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he
was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man
suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts
in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" 4
But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and
sent him away. 5 Then he asked them, "If one of you has a
son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not
immediately pull him out?" 6 And they had nothing to say.
Jesus is being carefully watched. And there, v2, is a man with
dropsy. Dropsy is where your
whole body swells up because of fluid retension. The man was literally drowning in his
own fluids. Now can we really
believe that the Pharisees invited this poor man for any other reason
than to trap Jesus?
Now imagine yourself at this party. Jesus hasn’t arrived yet but you’re
there with friends, you’re having a good time and you spot the man with
dropsy. What do you see when you
see him? There he is in all his
need. And you’re supposed to be
having a party. There he is with
all his demands and it’s your day off.
There he is on the Sabbath.
And on the Sabbath you are serving God according to some very set
rules. You are in the middle of a
whole system of boxes to tick in your service to God. You’re honouring God through a very
involved programme, and to be honest this guy would get in the way. What do you see when you encounter
this man at the party?
Well Jesus asks us to revolutionize our
thinking. In v5 he does a thought
experiment on us. He says: If
you’d lost something valuable down a well, wouldn’t you rescue it immediately? Think of this man like that – like
something that belongs to you, perhaps even your own son. And they’re in trouble. You’d move heaven and earth to help
them wouldn’t you? Well why don’t
we think of this man like that?
It’s clearly how Jesus thinks of him – here is a son who has
fallen and Jesus rescues him.
Verse 4 he heals him and this party’s rubbish anyway so Jesus
sends him away!
Let me ask you, how do you see the needy
people around you? In v13,
Jesus is about to tell us to invite ‘the poor, the crippled, the lame,
the blind’ into our homes. And in
v21 He tells us that that’s exactly what God does – God fills His house
with the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. What is our attitude to the
needy? Do we see them like Jesus
sees them? Do we see them as
people just like our own children in need of help.
What stopped the Pharisees from helping this
man? Were they just bad
people. Actually I think it was
their goodness, their morality, their religiosity that stopped them. Sabbath had become for them such an
elaborate service to God that, once they
were in the system they couldn’t see the needs around them.
There’s a story which I’m not sure if it
really happened, but anyway, there’s a story of a bible college in
America. And every now and again
they would ask a student to preach on the Good Samaritan in the college
chapel. (Do you know the Good
Samaritan) And then on the
way to the chapel that morning they would set it up so that the preacher
passed an accident. Someone would
pretend to have crashed their bike and was in need of help. And the big dilemma was – did the
preacher walk on past and deliver the sermon like a hypocrite
or did they actually put the sermon into practice and help the person.
And of course in the story of the Good
Samaritan the priest and the levite both passed by the man in need. The religious people were the least
helpful as they hurried off to their religious service. Here in Luke 14 the religious Sabbath
keepers are the least helpful at helping the needy. We must beware, it is very possible to
be busy ‘serving God’ and to miss the needs in front of our eyes.
Jesus never came across a needy person and
groaned saying ‘For goodness sakes, I’ve got a mission to complete. Don’t you know I’m very busy, don’t
you know I’m very important.
Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something far bigger – far more
useful to God’s Kingdom.’ No, He
never saw the needy as a distraction to service. When He saw the needy He saw opportunities
for service. So think: who are
the needy that we’ve been too busy, too selfish, too religious to help?
Well we must move on. In verses 7-11 Jesus turns the
tables. They had been watching
Him. Now Jesus watches them. And He notices an unholy scramble for
(v7) the places of honour. There
would be smiles and hand-shakes, pats on the back, social chit-chat – but
all the while, out the corner of their eye they were seeing which seats
were left at the table, and which were closest to the host. That would be the key – get close to
the host and people will see that you’re important. And so on a very superficial level
this party might have seemed a happy occasion. Underneath it was seething with competition, back-biting,
jealousy and anxiety. At this
party, people weren’t really enjoying each other they were ranking each
other. Constantly.
“I might not be as important as that lot, but
I’m definitely more important than them.
I suppose I slot in here – but maybe it’s time to assert myself
and go for glory.” And that’s how
they picked the places of honour.
And we think – how very undignified. How fortunate that these days, we are not so beset with
status anxiety.
What are the places of honour for us? Certain schools or universities? Certain jobs, certain
professions? Certain clothes? Certain cars? Our achievements? Our children’s achievements? Don’t we rank one another? Don’t we wish to be honoured? Don’t we drop things into conversation
(ever so subtly) to show that we’re really somebody?
Social interactions can often be like games
of cards. And we all know our
hand and we know what cards to play.
One person plays the ‘knowledgable’ card, another plays the
‘attractive’ card, somebody else plays the ‘funny’ card, and someone
again plays the ‘humble servant’.
And we’re all happily playing to our stengths. But if you’re the knowledgable person,
what happens when someone more knowledgable comes and trumps your
knowledgable card. How you feel? Happy to be corrected? If you’ve been playing the attractive
card and someone more attractive comes in. How do you feel?
That’s how you know you’ve been playing the card – when someone
else plays it and all your joy goes.
If you’ve been playing the funny card and someone funnier comes –
let me ask you: do you become the second funniest in the room or the most
miserable? If you’ve been the
humble servant of the group and someone else wants to serve, do you
always rejoice for an extra set of hands – or on some level do you feel
that they’ve trumped you.
We rank ourselves, just like they did in
Jesus’ day. And so Jesus tells
this parable:
8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the
place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been
invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come
and say to you, `Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will
have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are
invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say
to you, `Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honoured in
the presence of all your fellow guests.
Notice that this is a parable. This isn’t a teaching limited to one
dinner party or even to dinner parties in general. We’re speaking of something much
bigger than party etiquette.
Jesus in v8 speaks of a ‘wedding feast’ (He’s not at a wedding
feast but wedding feast is like a code for life in the kingdom). So this is not just what to do at a
oarty this is how to live in the kingdom. And Jesus paints a picture: it’s a picture of someone
taking the very lowest seat and then having the host come and raise them
up to the very highest place in the presence of all your fellow
guests. Does that sound
familiar? That’s exactly what Jesus
has done. He took the very lowest
place. From the throne of heaven
He stooped down to the manger, He became a Galilean, He’d have been
mocked for His northern accent.
The Lord of the Cosmos swung a hammer for a living until the age
of thirty when He began going from town to town without a penny to His
name. He was homeless. When He
wanted to show someone a coin to point out whose face was on it, He had
to borrow it. He was called a
madman by His family, rejected by His hometown, eventually He was
betrayed, arrested on false charges, beaten, spat on, mocked, flogged,
killed. The soldiers gambled for
His one possession, the clothes He was wearing and He was laid in a
borrowed tomb. And He tells you
and me: ‘take the lowest place.’
Don’t fight your way up to the top of the table. Do what Jesus
did. Sit at the bottom. Be content at the bottom. The Creator of the Universe was
content to be a nobody in this world.
You know if Jesus was born in the 21st century rather
than the 1st we might well pass Him by on the street. He’d be the homeless guy you wouldn’t give
a second thought to. Because
Jesus was not interested in getting honour on earth. He was not fighting His way to the top
of the table. But He knew, at the
end of it all, the Father would raise Him to the place of honour. And at the end of it all, if you tread
the same path as Jesus, God will exalt you the way He exalted Christ.
So the Christian will notice the needy, will
put their schedule on hold, will put their needs on hold, will put their
ego on hold, and they’ll serve.
At the bottom of the table they’ll be content. Don’t fight your way to the top of the
table. That’s not where you’ll
find Jesus.
So we’ve see Jesus heal the man, we’ve seen
Him address the seating arrangements, now we see Jesus’ teaching on the
guest list. This is stunning,
Jesus actually turns to the host and addresses him directly.
12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or
dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your
rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be
repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the
crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed.
Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of
the righteous."
Incredible words. Luke 14 is just a real eye-opener
about Jesus. He loves a party,
but He clearly hates this one.
This party is everything Jesus thinks a party should not be. First of all they don’t care about the
man they should care about – the man with dropsy. Then they do care about the seats they
shouldn’t care about. Then they
invite all the wrong people.
And Jesus doesn’t mind
people knowing what a tragic excuse for a party this is. And you know what His criticism
is? It’s all so blinking middle
class. That’s the problem isn’t
it?
The one sort of person
Jesus thinks is a good guest for a party was the guy with dropsy who they
probably only invited to trap Jesus.
Jesus turns to the host and pointedly says – don’t invite all your
middle class chums. Why not? Because then they might have you
around to theirs. And Jesus
thinks if that’s what hospitality amounts to – that’s a problem. ‘Why thankyou Imogen for a lovely
evening, we must have you around to ours…’ If that’s your definition of hospitality – that’s a problem
according to Jesus. It’s great
having people over – let’s call that fellowship shall we. It’s great to have Christian
fellowship with one another. But
even non-Christians open up their homes to one another when they think it
will get them onto the dinner party circuit. Jesus is speaking about hospitality. Hospitality is the love of strangers.
Hospitality, says Jesus, is not be about having one another over. It’s about opening up homes and tables
to those who will not be able to pay you back. Fellowship is a two way thing and it’s nice and
lovely. Hospitality is a
distinctly Christian thing. It’s
one-way traffic. And Jesus says
we need to be much better at hospitality. I mean He says ‘Don’t invite your friends or they may
invite you back.’ It’s the
wierdest warning, but Jesus is adamant: Beware – you might get paid
back. Isn’t that
amazing. Danger – repayment
ahead. Turn back! Caution – this may benefit you in
this life. Don’t do it! Aren’t these remarkable words from
Jesus. He’s calling us to
something so strange.
Luke 6:24 ‘you have
back your consolation’ => woe!
Luke 16:19ff – rich man
and lazarus. In your life you received back good things.
How on earth are we
going to have the strength to live so strangely in the world. Jesus says, (v14) think about the
resurrection of the righteous.
There’s your repayment.
Sitting down at the table with Jesus Christ at the head. Risen to
new deathless bodies, all tears wiped away. Songs like you’ve never heard
before, food and wine like you’ve never tasted. And there with you is that poor man you took in for a meal,
you helped him in the Christian life there he is with you, with Christ,
in radiant glory. Is that
repayment enough? Friends, we are
those poor, crippled, blind, lame people who Jesus has taken in and eaten
with. We have been
the recipients of just this kind of hospitality. We will be the
recipients of just this kind of hospitality. For the next few years – before the resurrection of the
righteous – can we pass on this hospitality to others?
This is the life Jesus
holds out to us – I hope you can see how attractive it is: seeing the
needs of others, preferring service to honour, opening up our lives, our
homes, our tables, looking not for earthly repayment but for heavenly
feasting. That’s real
living. That’s a proper party.
You see Jesus seems
like such a party pooper in this passage just because His ideas of a
party are so much greater than ours.
And so this passage ends with Jesus telling a parable of the true
party. And hopefully that party
will excite us enough to make sure our earthly parties are a little
better.
Let’s read from verse
16 this story Jesus tells to help us understand what the real party is
like.
16 Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and
invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his
servant to tell those who had been invited, `Come, for everything is now
ready.' 18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The
first said, `I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please
excuse me.' 19 "Another said, `I have just bought five
yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' 20
"Still another said, `I have just got married, so I can't come.' 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.' 22 "`Sir,' the servant
said, `what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 23
"Then the master told his servant, `Go out to the roads and country
lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24
I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my
banquet.'"
In this story the man throwing the party is
God the Father, His Servant is Jesus, and those who are first invited
refers particularly to the Jews.
But here is the picture, the invitations go out, “Come, for
eveything is now ready.” But
there are some who make lame excuses – fields and oxen and a new
wife. None of these things should
have prevented them coming. The
fields could wait, the oxen could wait, the wife could surely join them
at the party. But these people
put land, wealth and family ahead of this banquet. And they are left frozen out. Instead, the house is filled with the
poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. And you can almost hear saying under His breath – that’s my
kind of party. Not a banquet full
of Pharisees but a party full of those who are so grateful for mercy.
This story teaches many things about God’s
kingdom. I preached on it this
morning so if you like I can give you the recording which picks out more
things but let me just pick out one thing: I want us to notice just how inviting God is. It is His very nature to open up His
house and welcome those who can never repay Him. He is determined that His house will
be full – He will go to the ends of the earth to ensure it.
There are some here who perhaps have not yet
responded to God’s invitation.
Jesus says to you ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ I wonder if you have come? I talk to people all the time about
coming to Christ and they often say “Well I couldn’t come because I’m not
really religious or I’m not really good enough.” God knows you’re not, He invites you
anyway. There’s no entrance
fee. There’s no dress code, He
simply says ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ You don’t need to prepare yourself for God – He has
prepared everything for you. So
come. Jesus says these words in
Revelation 3:20
I
stand at the door and know. If
anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will eat with them and they
with me.
You are invited to eat with Jesus. That’s an invitation to the very
deepest of friendships and a sharing of life now, and to an unimaginably
great party in the future. He
stands and knocks now. He is
inviting you now. Do you want
your life and your eternity to be united with Jesus? Just tell Him now – ‘I’m coming. I’m opening the door. Let’s eat, let’s share life.’ It’s really as simple as that. If that’s you, if you’re someone who
is coming to Christ for the first time tonight, come and speak to me
afterwards.
But whether we’re just coming to Christ or
been Christians for decades, I hope we all can see just how inviting our
God is. His house will be
full. He will go to the very ends
of the earth to bring them in.
And He involves us in the inviting. If you’re seeking to be godly, you’ll be seeking to be an
inviter. Because that’s who our
God is. That’s who Jesus is. What a joy to extend God’s invitation
to Christ to our friends, to our family and to the poor, the crippled,
the blind and the lame.
Godliness, Christ-likeness is not keeping yourself to
yourself. Godliness, Christ-likeness
is opening up your life, your home and your table, inviting others in,
not seeking repayment but looking ahead to the great feast. It’s amazing how godliness in our
vocabulary comes to mean – being middle class, polite, not rocking the
boat and keeping yourself to yourself.
Jesus was none of those things.
Godliness is a radical other-centredness. Christ-likeness is opening yourself
out to the world in invitation and saying come – even when the world runs
after its fields and oxen and wives.
To be godly is to be in the business of inviting other to the
kingdom – that’s what it meant for Christ, that’s what it means for
Christians.
So what’s stopping us
living this joyful, inviting life?
Sabbath? Are we so caught up in religious
programmes that we are blinded to the needs around us.
Do we seek honour,
fighting our way to the top of the table?
Do we seek repayment
in this life – always looking for earthly reward?
Why not live like
Jesus. He knows how to throw a
great party. The world does not know. The religious, the Pharisees, they
don’t know. But Jesus knows how
to party. Do we trust Him? Let’s follow Him.
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