25 September 2016,

youre invited to the banquet of God!

(Luke 14:15-24)

Introduction:
Friends, everyone loves to go to a banquet. I mean, it doesnt matter
which country you were born in or what language you speak, going to a
banquet (a feast) is one of the great experiences we can have in life. You
know, the food, so much food, & such good food, too. Its all there &
theres lots of it Yum! But its not just the food, is it? Because normally
when people gather together to have a feast they are celebrating
something important. Perhaps a wedding, perhaps a special birthday like
an 18th birthday party or a 50th birthday party, or a special anniversary.
And when we gather together like this, we sit together, we eat together & we celebrate together,
together we laugh, maybe even dance, & we remember the past & we look forward to the future,
together. You see, banquets are a time of joy, they are a time of friendship, & they are a time for
celebrating & strengthening our relationships with those people we are closest to. And so to be invited to
a banquet is one of the greatest privileges we can have. Because the invitation says you are my friend,
you are special to me & I want to celebrate with you. And so, really, you have to be a very foolish
person to not go to a banquet that you have been invited to, wouldnt you? I mean, to not go means to
miss out on all the good stuff the food, the celebration & the friendships.
And yet, in Luke 14, Jesus says that are many people in this world, today who have been invited to the
greatest, biggest banquet of all time, & they have decided not to go. look at the story that Jesus tells us.
A man sitting at the dinner table with Jesus exclaimed, What a blessing to be at the banquet in the
Kingdom of God!
15

Friends, here in Luke 14, Jesus is sitting around a table & enjoying a banquet feast with many people
because at the beginning of Luke 14, a man called Levi has just decided to leave his old life as a tax
collector behind, & he has decided to became a follower of Jesus. And so Levi has invited his friends to
celebrate his new life with Jesus. And during dinner, while people laugh & eat, one man, with joy in his
heart, says these very wise words: What a blessing it will be to be seated at the final banquet in the
kingdom of God! Friends, now theres a smart man. You see, this unnamed man can see that this small
dinner he is now enjoying with Jesus & Jesus followers is a small taste of the big feast, the big celebration
that is coming soon, when the kingdom of God comes into this dark world with all its glory & goodness.
And this is man is absolutely right, isnt he? The banquet (the feast) that awaits the people of God, is
going to be at time of great celebration, an eternal celebration. But instead of Jesus saying, Amen,
brother! Jesus warns this man & Jesus warns all those people seated around him & Jesus warns all of us
seated here, today. look at v16
So Jesus replied with this story: A man prepared a great feast & sent out many invitations. 17 When the
banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, Come, the banquet is ready.18 But they all began
making excuses. One said, I have just bought a field & must inspect it. Sorry, I cannot come. 19 Another
said, I have just bought five pairs of oxen, & I want to try them out. Sorry, I cannot come. 20 Another said, I
just got married, so I cannot come.
16

Friends, as usual Jesus tells us a story to make us think. And this story is a simple one, isnt it? I mean, an
invitation has gone out to many people. And all the hard work has been done, the tables are set, the
food is ready, the drinks are chilled, & the servants are waiting. And so now the message goes out telling
all the invited guests to come - because everything is now ready & now is the time to start celebrating
together with the master. BUT, incredibly the invited guests will not come. And they make excuses, dont
they? You know, I have just bought a house in Campsie so I cannot come. Another says, Ive just
bought a new car & I need to polish the bumper bars Im sorry, I cannot come. And another says. Ive
met someone special & were getting married soon- so were really busy preparing for the wedding at
the moment. Im sorry, I cannot come - maybe later!
Now friends, the truth is that there is nothing wrong with buying fields or oxen, or buying houses, cars or
even getting married we are free to do these things. But the guests who were invited to share in the joy
of the master, have said no to the master, because they love other things more than him. And the
master, who thought his invited guests loved him & wanted to be with him - he is extremely disappointed
& angry. Look at v21.

The servant returned & told his master what they had said. His master was furious & said, Go quickly into
the streets & alleys of the town & invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, & the lame. 22 After the servant had
done this, he reported, There is still room for more.
21

Now friends, I think that here we begin to see inside the heart of this master. You see, although the
master is angry he is also determined to fill his banquet hall for his feast. And so if people do not want to
come, he will not force them to come. I mean, if people have other, more important things to do, this
master will not interfere with their plans. He will not interrupt them & he will not get in their way. Instead,
this master will send out his servants to invite other people to come, until his banquet hall is full until
every seat is taken, until there is no more room left. And so the servants of the master go out to proclaim
the message to anyone they can find - The banquet is now ready, youre invited, come & share in the
joy of the master! But still, there are more seats to be filled. look at v23
So the master said, Go out into the country lanes & behind the hedges & urge anyone you find to come, so that
the house will be full. 24 Because none of those I first invited will taste my dinner.
23

Friends, the servants keep inviting people to come to the banquet. In fact, they urge people & they
plead with people. The servants of the master beg the poor, the blind, the lame, the crippled, anyone
they can find to come & enjoy the master. And so slowly the masters house is filled with those that hear
the message & accept the message - with those who accept the invitation to come to the masters
banquet. Now friends, its a great story but why did Jesus tell this story? Well, the wonderful news for us
today is that Gods banquet is now ready & Gods servants are now spreading the good news to people
everywhere- C, youre invited too! Come, & enjoy God!
Friends, over the last 2 weeks we have seen that Jesus Christ died on the cross & rose from the dead &
that now Jesus is king over all things. And now the risen Jesus is busy inviting all people to come & live in
the kingdom of God, today - with him. And here in Luke 14, Jesus uses the story of a master inviting
people to a great banquet - to describe what Jesus is now doing in the world today inviting people to
come & live their lives with Jesus just like Levi the tax collector did.
But friends, just like the story, Jesus will not force us to come. No!...Jesus invites us to come - but he does
not force us. Jesus invites us by proclaiming the good news of his death (for our forgiveness), & of his
being raised back to life again so that we can begin to live a new life with him - in the kingdom of God,
today. But if, deep in our hearts, we want other things; if we have our plans for our own lives- without Him;
if we think that we have more important things to do than to live & celebrate with Jesus - then Jesus will
not force us to come. He will simply invite others until his banquet hall is full.
You see friends, if we want to begin to enjoy the banquet of God (a friendship with God)
then there is one very important thing we must. And the one thing we must do, is to
choose to stop living for ourselves. Jesus says we must choose - of our own free will - to
stop trying to be the king of our own lives. In other words, we must freely decide to stop
trying to be the boss of our own lives. Because when we live as our own little king, living
our lives without God - then our own plans & our own desires will always seem so important
to us. And they will get in the way & they will stop us from seeing the goodness of Gods
invitation & they will stop us from accepting Gods wonderful invitation to come & live our
lives with him.
You see, friends, if we want to enter Gods banquet we must change our thinking & we
must let go of our own desires & plans for life. We must take the little crown off our own
heads & we must let Jesus be our king. We must let Jesus be our king, & our friend & our
teacher. In other words, we must become his humble students, depending on him for
everything & learning from him - how to live our lives with him & for him.
Conclusion
Friends, what is the solution to the terrible human problem of living with our shame &
guilt, fear & anger, jealousy & pride, arrogance & conflict & death? Well, God says
there is only one solution - only one. And that solution is to leave our own plans & our
own desires behind & to begin to trust Jesus. The solution is to begin to live our lives with Jesus, each day
depending on him for everything, letting him guide us & teach us. Letting him be our king & saviour,
teacher & friend & brother. Lets pray