Jesus offers everyone an invitation to God’s eternal kingdom.
Luke 14:15-24
15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
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 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 compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
Have you been invited to a special celebration? Perhaps to a friend’s or family member’s wedding, a school formal or a party for a significant birthday. If you are like me an invitation to a wedding is a source of great joy and I get rather excited to be able to join in the celebration. So much so that earlier in the year, at short notice, I decided to celebrate the royal wedding of Meghan and Harry with a (not so royal) feast. Invitations were made, food prepared, and royal paraphernalia displayed. The guests, my neighbours, eagerly joined in the festivities as we came together to celebrate the love, joy and hope that a wedding a demonstrates. While our setting and banquet did not compare to that of the extravagant royal wedding, we still felt that for a moment we were part of something special.
In today’s passage we hear about a great banquet that has been prepared for many guests but some of those invited have chosen not to attend. I wonder why? It is hard to fathom that anyone would refuse an invitation to such a lavish event. But they did. They all made excuses because they were distracted by other things, had more important things to do or maybe because they had little respect or concern for the host. This meant that attending the banquet would come at a cost to them; they would have to forgo something else that they were already invested in. Clearly, they were not prepared to do this and as a consequence will never taste the master’s banquet (verse 24). However, in the end the host’s house was filled to the brim with many unexpected guests who did respond to the call.
Jesus offers us the greatest invitation; to gain a new life and to be subjects of his kingdom…forever. Jesus offers us his unconditional love and forgiveness with open arms and invites us to enter into a spectacular eternity with him where we have something greater than a royal banquet to look forward to. Like the invited guests in the Bible verse above we can choose to accept or reject this invitation and there will be a cost involved. To accept the invitation will mean to put aside the old ways and to take up the challenge of following Jesus by sharing the gospel and serving others. However, it will ensure that we enter into his kingdom, to a new beginning and ultimately to our everlasting home.
Head: Do I acknowledge the significance of the invitation offered by Jesus to everyone to join in the Father’s glorious banquet? Am I willing to accept this invitation of amazing grace and to follow Jesus?
Heart: Are there things in my life that I need to forgo in order to surrender my heart to Jesus completely?
Hands: How can I be less distracted by the things of this world and focus more on Jesus so that I can serve him and others more fully?
Prayer: Lord help me to love you as my only master and saviour in this world as I look forward to being with you for eternity. Help me to forgo the things of this world that distract me from truly surrendering to your will. Help me to be a faithful subject of your kingdom and to serve you better as I share my love for you by serving others.
A song to listen to: Only You Can Satisfy
Sharon Mensforth – Living Church Creek Road
