June 5, 2015

“A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for all is now ready.” But they all alike began to make excuses. So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant “Go out quickly to the streets and to the lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame… For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.” Luke 14:16-18, 21, 24

Why is it that the Kingdom of G*d is described as a banquet and a party that no one wants to come to? Several times Jesus uses this description about the kingdom of G*d, and so an explanation is needed. I would say that the Kingdom of G*d is a great party – this is a description that we have about the Kingdom of G*d several times in the New Testament. And, of course, Jesus is inviting everyone to come to the party. So what is Jesus saying through this parable?

Well, first Jesus is telling this story to a group of Pharisees and their friends, and he was commenting on how they decided to sit at a party. He asked them if it wasn’t better to humble oneself rather than look to puff up one’s ego and take a seat of honor. And then Jesus wants to make another point – still about their sense of entitlement and egocentrism. So he tells another story, and in this story people make excuses why they can’t come to the party — “I have to go see some property I bought”, and “I have bought some cows that I need to see.” Notice the excuses are mostly about stuff they have purchased — material things that keep them from the party. They have more important things to do then to show hospitality and proper protocol.

Now of course, we know that a lot of people make excuses why they cannot come to church, why they do not like organized religion, and why they prefer to sleep in on Sunday morning and not come to church. They think living the Christ-like life is possible spending Sunday morning in bed, or on the golf course. And so by telling the parable Jesus is attempting to show how difficult it is to live the Christ-like life. Yes, heaven is a party — but the ticket to get into the party requires three things: faith, grace and love. To believe, to trust in the promises of Christ gets you the ticket: it comes wrapped in the grace of G*d and Jesus Christ. But to activate the ticket or to get the “full value” requires love — loving G*d and loving your neighbor.

Now, there are a lot of people who will disagree with me, and say I am not a good Lutheran Pastor, because what I just said sounds like works — not Grace. So let me clarify. Jesus said very clearly there are only two things we have TO DO, that we are commanded TO DO: love G*d and love our neighbor. Trusting in the promises of G*d gets us the ticket — Grace “insures” its full value — and love activates it — both the love of Christ, and our love of Christ. Grace is the insurance policy on the value — knowing that we don’t always value this wonderful invitation to the heavenly party — and knowing we often fail, like those in the parable. You decide if I have spoken the truth, or crossed the line into works.

Pastor Dave