The Excuses, Part 1

If you have your Bible, I would invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of Luke, the 14th chapter. In our story in Luke chapter 14, Jesus has been invited to a dinner, been invited to a man's home for a meal. And little do they know what they were going to receive from the Lord that day. In fact, as the food on the table grew cold, the discussion around the table was, became extremely heated. In fact, we don't even know if they ever really got to the meal or not, because Jesus would spend some time addressing the issues at hand.

Tonight, we want to begin with our introduction, and I want to point out several things to you that Jesus Christ was trying to point out to the people in the home that he was visiting. He particularly gives four basic lessons. One was a lesson of the people. on sympathy. Another was a lesson on humility. Another was a lesson on hospitality and generosity. Tonight will be the lesson on eternity in making sure you don't miss your opportunity. But it begins with a lesson on sympathy. You'll note that in the text in Luke chapter 14, it says that he entered this house that he was invited to and everybody watched him closely.

They were examining the life of Christ because they wanted to entrap him. They wanted to catch him in a slip-up. And you will note that there's a man who had a disease, the dropsy. It was a swelling of the man's body. He was there. Probably he was planted there by the Pharisees, by the religious leaders, because they had a law that you couldn't heal on the Sabbath. And so Christ, seeing the man, knowing what they were thinking, asks this question in Luke chapter 14 is it lawful to heal on the sabbath or not he asked the question and you will note that nobody responds everybody's kind of silent maybe they're kind of shuffling their feet maybe they're looking around at the at the lights on the ceiling or that case it would be candles on the ceiling but they were just not going to answer the question so what does christ do he heals the man completely and the man walks away different than when he came to the house And then Jesus says this, which one of you shall have a son, or literally a donkey or an ox, fall into a well and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?

And they could make no reply to this. You see, they knew that if their oxen or their donkey fell into a hole, they had to get him out. They had to preserve the life of the animal in order for them to keep their livelihood going. But they had no concern for the man. No concern that this man was in affliction, and that he needed help. He needed healing. And yet Christ had sympathy for the man. Christ was concerned about the man. And he pointed out to them that they lacked sympathy. They had more sympathy for their animals than they did for the man.

I began thinking about that. And you know what? That's true in America today, isn't it? I know a lot of people who have more sympathy for their animals than they do for their fellow church members. I know people who give more money to take care of their animals than they give to the church. It's a proven fact that we spend more money on dog food in America than we do for worldwide missions. It seems to me we got our priorities way out of whack. And yet we want to say we have sympathy toward man. And yet, for a lot of people, they're more sympathetic to their animals than they are toward their fellow man.

You can sit at a dinner table and listen to children bicker. and bellyache and fight and argue and call each other all kinds of names, then go out and hug their animals and love their animals and give more affection to their animals than they do to their brothers and sisters. Christ hit home with the Pharisees by telling them that they lacked sympathy for their fellow man. And then he would begin to watch as they would come into the house and take their seats and realize that they were all jockeying for a seed of higher position.

And as he watched him, as he observed what they were doing, he then begins to tell them, you know, it might be better for you to take the lower seat. That is, at these banquet tables, it was in a shape of a you. And of course, the seat of honor would be, of course, the host's seat. And then the person to his right is the chief place of honor. And then the person to his left, and then the second person to his right.

And then the second person to his left on down the line until you get to the end of the horseshoe. And these Pharisees would walk in and they would jockey for the highest position. And Christ was observing this as he watched these men. And he finally says, you know, guys, it would be better for you if you just sat at the end of the horseshoe.

Sit down here. Because you see, if you sit up here and the host comes to you and says, you know what, there's somebody more important than you and they need to have your seat. So you need to move down to the end. He says, that's embarrassing. He says, so maybe if you sit at the end, the host comes to you and says, hey, once you move up next to me, then you would feel a sense of, of dignity. And wouldn't you rather have that than the other way around? Of course you would. And that's a good lesson.

But he points out of divine principle in verse 11. When he says these words, for everyone exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. Christ pointed out that God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. And so he gives him a lesson on humility. And then he goes on and gives him a lesson in hospitality, a lesson in generosity. And he goes on and says, let me add one more thing to what's happening here.

I mean, Christ is the consummate party crasher. I mean, he's just throwing a damp cloth on everything here. I mean, they want to have this great banquet. They want to do this great party. They invite Jesus. And Jesus is just slowly but surely slicing and dicing all these leaders and melting them down to nothing. He says, I want to let you know something. You know, when you have a banquet, you need to stop in. inviting one another to your own parties. You need to go out and invite the lame and the blind, the beggars, the people who can't repay you, the people who can't invite you back.

You're so into yourselves and so into inviting your friends, and so your friends will invite you back, and you guys got this little clickish thing going, but maybe you need to invite the people who are the low lives that can't repay you, that can't give you anything in return. Let me give you a lesson in hospitality.

You need to be lovers of strangers. We tend to love those that we know. We don't love strangers. And yet Christ says there are other people that need to be a part of what you're doing.

And then he says, these words, he says, you will be blessed since they do not have the means to repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Your payment will come at the end. Oh, you'll be paid because Jesus Christ will see how you handle those that nobody cares about. And you will have demonstrated hospitality. You will demonstrate a generous spirit. And you will be rewarded. Now think about that with me for a moment. Here is Jesus, and he is trying to explain to these people things they need to understand.

He's criticized the guests. He's criticized the host. He has pretty much put a damper on the whole scene. And you can imagine what the host is thinking. He's thinking, man, I mean, if I invited all my friends and they're never going to come back again. And maybe looks at one guy and say, say something. You got to say something. You've got to do something to live and the party. You've got to do something to get Jesus down, to shut Jesus up. We've got to do something here to gain control because we've lost control.

We've got to get back to what we're about here as Pharisees, as Sadducees, as religious leaders. Somebody's got to quiet down this Jesus character. So one of the people there pipes up and says these words in verse number 15, and this is our lesson for this evening. And when one of those who were reclining at the table with him heard this, he said to him, Blessed is everyone who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. That's a great statement. This leads us to our instruction. This is point number two.

This is point number two. You've got to understand the scene. I mean, it's so quiet. It's unbelievable. Nobody's saying anything. I mean, what are they going to say? I mean, Jesus has already criticized everybody who's there. And what are they going to do? So somebody pipes up and says, blessed, blessed is everyone. Blessed are we worthy everyone in his mind. Blessed are we. Why? Because one day we're going to eat bread in the kingdom of God. All right. Sit down. Pass the condiments. Let's get down to business.

Let's get back to the meal time now. That's the setting. That's the exclamation that this man makes. Hey, it's all right. We're blessed. Forget about what Jesus said. We're sons of the kingdom. And we're going to be one day in the kingdom with the Messiah. And we're going to have a great time. Jesus couldn't let that path. I love Jesus. He never let anything pass by. He has to say something. He has to do something. Why? Because he feels in his innermost being, the need of these people. You see, he gave them a lesson on sympathy that wasn't enough.

He gave them a lesson on humility that wasn't enough. He gave them a lesson in hospitality. It wasn't enough. He had to give them a lesson about eternity. He had to give them a lesson about their eternal destiny. He had them to give them a lesson about missed opportunity. he wasn't going to miss the opportunity to say something he didn't want them to miss the opportunity to respond to the ultimate invitation and so Christ gives the parable and in this parable you will note that there is an invitation there is a rejection to that invitation and as a result of that there is a reaction and then there is a conclusion that's what I want to talk to you about this evening the invitation it says but he said to him who's the him the man who made the statement the man who made the pious statement hey we're all going to be in the kingdom of god we're all going to partake of the feast of god and you've got to realize that the Jewish nation was into this feast they knew what the prophet Isaiah said they knew that this feast was going to come one day.

Way back in Isaiah chapter 26, let me read it to you. Verse number six, and the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain. A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with morrow, and refined aged wine. And on this mountain he will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples. even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time. And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and he will remove the reproach of his people from all the earth.

For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, behold, this is our God, for whom we have waited that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His. is salvation. The Jews knew Isaiah. They knew what he said. They knew about the lavish banquet that Jesus Christ or the Messiah was going to prepare for them. And they anticipated that day. Christ knew that they knew. Basically based on the man's comment, blessed is everyone who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

So Christ is going to respond. He's going to give another parable. He's going to give a parable concerning man and all of his excuses as to why he won't come to the ultimate feast. Christ says this.

A certain man was giving a big dinner and he invited many. And at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, come, for everything is right. ready now.

Stop right there. This is the invitation. He says there was a man, a certain man who gave an incredible banquet. Many people were invited. Many people were invited. And not only that, this dinner was going to be filled with all sorts of goodies. It was the best there. And this man would send out the invitation. In those days, in the ancient Near East, what they would do is that they would send out two invitations. That was common. They would send one about the day, the time that the event was going to happen.

And they would send that well in advance. And then on the day that the event would take place, the servant then would go and re-invite those who were already invited. That's just the way they do it. And so when the day came, the servant went out and invited those who had already been invited to come and be a part of this tremendous feast. Now understand this. Christ, at the outset, is talking to them in a parable, but he's emphasizing the ultimate feast. The Married Supper of the Lamb. We'll talk about that later toward the end.

That ultimate feast where the believers would sit down in the kingdom of God and they would feast with their God. It's more than just a meal. You see, the Married Supper of the land, the feast that's spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, is the feast of the celebration, the jubilation, the satisfaction of all that man ever needs are man ever. once. And so it's more than just eating food. It's about the fellowship in the communion we have with the God of the universe that will last forever. And so Christ gives a parable about a man who had a feast.

He invited the people. There was time for that feast to take place. So a servant would go out and compel them to come. The second thing I want you to notice is the rejection says this, but they all alike began to make excuses.

The first one said to him, I bought a piece of land that I need to go out and look at it. Please consider me excused. And another one said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I am going to try them out. Please consider me excused. And another one said, I have married a wife. And for that reason, I cannot come. Now, I don't know about you, but I see a little humor in that. The first two guys said, may I please be excused?

The last guy said, I got a wife. I just can't come. She said, I can't come, man. I just can't show up. What can I say? That's just the way it is. I don't know if Jesus intended to be humor there, but I saw the humor there. But the point being is that they gave excuses. The first guy gave an excuse.

He said, very simply this. Look, about a field. I got to go see it. What do you mean you got to go see it? Didn't you see it before you bought it? Didn't you scope it out before you purchased it? Of course you did. It's a lame excuse. This guy says, you know, I've just bought five oxen, and I got to go try them out. Wait a minute. Before you buy him, you try him out. You don't buy him, then try him out. Again, it's a lame excuse. And then the other guy said, I got married. Can't come. I got the things to do.

My wife wants me home. I got a honey-do list I got to accomplish. So, you know, I just can't make it. Sorry, ain't going to happen today. Notice this.

The first two excuses centered around material possessions. The third excuse set it around personal affection.

These people saw something more important to them than this banquet. Something had come to the forefront in their lives. It was contrary to reason that they would do something that they could put off tomorrow. They didn't have to scope out the land today. They could do that tomorrow. The man didn't have to try the oxen out today. He should have already accomplished that feat many days earlier. So he can wait another day. And the other guy, you know, maybe the guy's wife needed to break from him anyway, right?

And if she needed a break, she might want him to go to the feast so she could get him out of her hair for just a little while that day. I mean, these were all lame excuses. But the point being is that Jesus Christ himself, offers the ultimate feast. A feast that would include a perpetual feast of peace, of hope, guidance, rest, joy, deathlessness, tranquility, heaven, righteousness, ultimately everything, salvation. Jesus Christ offers the ultimate feast, but people over and over every day turn their backs on the feast that Jesus Christ would offer them.

Why? Because of their possessions. Because of their affections. They mean more to them than Jesus Christ. Now Jesus does not demean man's possessions, nor does he demean man's affection toward his family. God doesn't do that. In fact, if you were to follow Christ, everything about your possessions would be set in order, and everything concerning your affections would be set in order because Jesus Christ would be the sole purpose of your existence. And you'd be able to do the things that you do better because of Jesus Christ working in it through your life.

He's not against man having a family or having a wife or taking care of those things that he has. You're supposed to do that. you're supposed to be a good steward. But if those possessions or affections are preferred, had the priority over Christ, then the soul of the man becomes in danger. You see, the real reason these people didn't come to the feast is because they didn't want it. All their excuses were lame. You see, if you were invited to go to the NBA championship game or if you were invited to go to a vacation in Paris for two weeks, free of charge, if you were invited to go to a place that you would like to go, you would arrange things in home to be taken care of so you could get there because you want to be there.

These people could have done the exact same thing. They could arrange their lives so they could have been at the feast, but they weren't hungry for the feast that God offered. They weren't hungry for the feast that this man in the parable was offering. They were hungry for something else. So that's the direction they chose. Wow. God says, I want you to come.

I want you to partake of the ultimate feast with me. I want you to be a part of the marriage supper of the land. Earlier in that verse in chapter of Revelation, chapter 19, says, rejoice and be glad for the marriage of the supper of the land has come. Blessed is everyone who's been invited to the married supper of the land. You're the blessed one. You're the fortunate one. You're the graced one. And then right on the heels of that, the king comes. And those who were invited and accepted the invitation and came were blessed.

But those that did not, their flesh would be eaten by the birds of the air. God says, if you don't want to eat with me, you will be eaten.

Can't get any simpler than that, can it? And God says, this is the way it's going to be. And he told those Pharisees on that day, not one of you here, not one of you here. One of you will sit down with me in my kingdom and will eat because you have refused the invitation. They missed it. It was right in front of them. The opportunity ate with them. The opportunity confronted them. The opportunity came and went. You missed it. I don't want you to miss the opportunity. I don't want you to miss it. If Jesus Christ has called you and you have yet to respond to nights and you, tonight you do that don't let another day go by without saying yes lord i understand the invitation to the banquet hall i want to come i want to be there i want to give my life to you this day don't refuse don't refuse because the end is not what you think is going to be it will be worse for you and god offers that invitation because he wants you more than you want to be there he wants you to be with him.

Don't give an excuse. No excuse will ever satisfy. Oh, I didn't have enough time. Oh, I was too busy. Oh, I had to get home. Oh, my ride was leaving. I had to catch my ride. Oh, I got to get on. I got to go to work tomorrow. Those excuses, just the whole water. If you've never given your life to Christ, you need to do so. If you have, you need to rejoice of what God has done. We'll pick up in our next session together Let's pray.