Redeemer Anglican Orthodox Church Mission

LUKE 14:15-24. THE GREAT SUPPER, A Sermon for the Second Sunday after Trinity

June 17, 2010 | 19 Comments

LUKE 14:15-24. THE GREAT SUPPER, A Sermon for the Second Sunday after Trinity
By David J. Miller, Vicar, Redeemer AOC, Loganville, Georgia
Luke 14:15-24   15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.  16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:  17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.  18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.  19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.  20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.  21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.  22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.  23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
INTRODUCTION
This parable is told by our Lord as He was present at a dinner in the home of a Pharisee. In those days, the townspeople would also attend a banquet like this, to be seated around the walls of the room or perhaps the inner courtyard, to listen and learn from the conversation of the invited guests. Jesus would especially draw the interest of the people, and their presence also explains the healing that is recorded in Luke 14:1-2  And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.  2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.
Jesus uses the context of the meal to teach about seeking the best seats at such a gathering (verses 7-11) and about gracious generosity (vss. 12-14).
JESUS PICTURES THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS A GREAT SUPPER
Our Lord uses the present occasion to call the guests (and the listening townspeople) to reflect on the nature of the Kingdom of God. One of the guests came out with an exclamation in response to what Jesus has said in verses 12-14:
Luke 14:15, And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
It’s impossible to say whether this is just a pious statement or an attempt to end the conversation and change the subject, but Jesus uses the occasion of this exclamation to tell this parable.
In the context of verse 15, the “certain man” is God, and the “great supper” is the Kingdom of God. No doubt all the guests in the Pharisee’s house, educated in Old Testament imagery, would have understood this. The image is one of celebration, well-being, friendship, abundance, love, welcoming and hospitality.
BUT THE REPONSE OF THE INVITED GUESTS IS JARRING!
This seems to be the supper nobody wanted! The invited guests all declined to come, something that just wasn’t done in polite society in those days!
The excuses would have sounded somewhat familiar to those Jews well taught in the Old Testament; they in fact mirror the biblical exemptions from military service in ancient Israel, as she was about to enter the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 20:1-8  When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.  2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,  3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;  4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.  5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.  6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.  7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.  8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.
The excuses the invited men use are almost identical to those permitted by the Lord in Deuteronomy 20:1-8 as exemptions from military service. Why would anyone appeal to the military exemptions to get out of attending a banquet, of all things!
What’s wrong with this picture? The temporary exemptions in Deuteronomy are there because military service meant fighting the enemies of Israel in the land, and a man might be killed. So these exemptions were a kindness, to permit an enjoyment of ordinary life, before one would have to fight in a battle. But why use these excuses to stay away from a banquet? What is there in this great supper that needs to be avoided at all costs?
What’s so terrible about this great supper? Why are the invited guests trying to avoid coming? Let Jesus tell us Himself; He does, in the following verses;
Luke 14:25-33   25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,  26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.  27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.  28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?  29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,  30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.  31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?  32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.  33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Notice especially verse 33: to be His disciple will cost you everything! You get invited to a free banquet, but to get in, you will have to forsake your prideful self-righteousness, all claim you have to deserving anything; it means having Jesus and the salvation He has won on the Cross is worth everything! You must die to yourself, if you would truly live! And dying is not an easy thing; but it is necessary for the transformation to fit us for the kingdom of God. This is why the Cross is central to the Gospel.
27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 
Jesus can command this kind of total allegiance because He is God in the flesh. Only He is worthy of such total commitment. King David, himself a type of Jesus, was once offered this kind of total commitment on the part of three of his faithful men:
2 Samuel 23:14-17  14 And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.  15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!  16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.  17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.
David refused to accept the honor; because he had the right perspective, he refused to put himself in the place only God should occupy. Instead, he turned the honor back to the LORD, where it belonged, pouring out the water as a drink offering to God.
But Jesus is infinitely greater than David. If we serve Him, we may and indeed, should, offer to Jesus our very life’s blood in grateful service. But we can only do this, if we understand and are gripped by what He has done for us! That’s why we must stand before the Cross.
IN SPITE OF SUCH TEACHING ABOUT THE CROSS,
THE REPLACEMENT GUESTS ARE GLAD TO COME!
Notice in Luke 15:1, the publicans (hated tax-collectors) and sinners all draw near to Him. Why did they come to hear more, and want to stay and follow Him, while the self-righteous Pharisees come up with excuses to stay away? The ultimate answer is that giving up on your own self-righteousness is the only way into the banquet! These poor folks have counted the cost, at least in principle at this point, and are still willing to follow Jesus.
Why? Because they sense deep down in their psyches that this is the only true answer! And what’s the question? What can wash away my sin? “Can a man who has killed twelve men in the arena ever hope to sleep at night? (from the movie, Demetrius and the Gladiators).
The self-righteous have too much to loose, and they think they don’t have that desperate need of God. To cite C. S. Lewis’ imagery, they are like children playing with mud-pies in a slum and want to stay there, because they cannot imagine what is meant by a holiday at the sea!
The Pharisees want, at all costs, to preserve their self-righteousness, and because of that, they are willfully blinded to the splendor and glory of God’s kingdom. Like the monkey who is caught because he can’t bring himself to open his fist and let go of the nut inside the narrow-necked jar, they will not admit they are sinners.
But we must be careful to judge the Pharisees! We need to follow the example, not of the Pharisees, but of the publicans and sinners. We need to admit to ourselves and to God, that we are recovering Pharisees!
We need to remember two things about the message of the Cross, that is, the Gospel (and I have never heard this stated better than by Tim Keller): first, there is the result of the Cross (costly forgiveness of sins) and secondly, the pattern of the Cross (reversal of the world’s values). Says Keller,
“On the cross neither justice nor mercy loses out—both are fulfilled at once. Jesus’ death was necessary if God is going to take justice seriously and still love us. This same concern for both love and justice should mark all our relationships. We should never acquiesce in injustice. Jesus identified with the oppressed. Yet we should not try to overcome evil with evil. Jesus forgave his enemies and died for them.”
First, let’s look for a moment at the result of the Cross.
R.C. Sproul has made the distinction  between conversion or revival, in which an individual is transformed by the Spirit of God, and reformation, in which society, the marketplace, the culture of the arts and world-views are transformed.
Revival may happen to a non-Christian, or to a nominal believer who attends church but is not living up to his profession, or the real believer who is essentially asleep, living at ease with sin and content with a luke-warm relationship with God. Such folks need to be awakened and revived (hence the term “revival”).
 Look into the world of literature: Tim Keller wrote, “The stories that always seem to move us most deeply are those in which someone faces irremediable loss or death in order to bring life to someone else. There is almost no popular movie, for example, that doesn’t make this its main theme.” Vern Poythress once said, “The only real story is redemption.”
But what is so captivating about the Gospel, is that it is not just a moving fictional story; it’s not something we merely view from a safe distance and sit back and admire. It is a true, immeasurably true, story about us. Ultimately, it’s all tied in with the profound affirmation of the Apostle John: 1 John 4:8 …God is love. The Gospel story is one of profound self-sacrificing love, not of a very good person, but of the Son of God, God Himself in the flesh, for us!
It’s the reality of our sin and the desperate necessity of the transformation of our in-born sinful nature that necessitates the Cross.
But our sinful nature fights to stay alive; this is why becoming a Christian involves a death. We are called by Jesus, to “take up our cross” and follow Him.
This is why the Cross is not only at the center of what God has done for us, but it’s at the center of the life we are called to live as disciples.
But the second part of the message of the cross is the pattern it causes those who have had their hearts transformed to implement into their everyday lives.
The upside-down pattern of the Cross creates an alternate kingdom, an “alternate reality,” if you will, a reversal of the values of the world, a reversal which the world and those with worldly ways of thinking resist with all that is in them. The new counterculture of the Gospel is one in which sex, money and power cease to control people, and we are set free to use these things in life-giving, community-building ways, instead of the destructive and manipulative ways that come so naturally to our sinful nature. (See Tim Keller’s book, The Reason for God).
Christians have, throughout history, often adopted two ways of dealing with the world: one way is to essentially withdraw from it. This would be the way of asceticism; the monks and nuns of the Middle Ages would be an example of this. There are Christians today who have no interest in the surrounding culture, in changing or influencing it, as long as they are left alone to practice their faith as they believe. The problem with such an attitude, is that Satan is not leaving the culture alone, and the time may well come when Christians are once again persecuted for their beliefs, because those in power see their ideas of the worth of the individual as a threat.
The other way Christians have often dealt with the world is to embrace it to the extent that, in everyday life, Christians are virtually indistinguishable from the pagan society around them. Francis Schaeffer predicted that the “pursuit of personal peace and prosperity” would soon become the controlling mindset of our culture, as well as of the church! Individuals would then be willing to give up their freedoms, in exchange for security granted by those in power. This was too often the mindset of professing Christians under the Nazis, who declined to protest, as long as no one was bothering them. The problem came when the ruling powers did come to bother them, there was no one left to protest!
I remember an issue of Eternity magazine, back in the 70’s that featured articles about Christians in business. The picture on the cover showed a Christian grocery store owner (known by the Christian slogan labels on his cash register), weighing meat on his scale, a big smile on his face and his thumb on the scale! Amusing! But the humor has a bite to it, because there’s truth to its message. The very idea that we can profess commitment to Christ and His Cross in our hearts and live lives lacking in integrity in our daily work is an abomination, yet it happens! Ravi Zacharias recently held a seminar at the Fox Theater about “Christians who have been hurt by other Christians.” I understand it was well attended!
But the way of the Cross is a third alternative! 
We are not called to an ascetic life of self-denial, nor are we called to a worldly life of pursuing pleasure, even legitimate, un-sinful pleasure, but one of self-giving love, in imitation of, and in gratitude for, our glorious King and Savior. Such a life of a disciple is one of immense pleasures and joys that can be found only in our Lord and God.
This is not a call to honesty in business and integrity in relationships so we can feel better about ourselves, or become proud of our self-righteousness. But it is a call to work out the implications of the Gospel message of free grace, the message of the Cross, in all our dealings, in business, politics, inter-personal relationships, or any other area our lives touch. It is a call to live a life of repentance, to be ever alert to what the Bible calls sin in our lives, and the willingness to crucify it! To put it to death by confessing it to our Lord, who took our sins on His own shoulders to the Cross, in short, to take up our cross and be His disciple! And whatever the cost, it is well worth it!
 Jack Miller calls us to enter by faith into Christ’s love:
“Think much of the Savior’s suffering for you on that dreadful cross, think much of your sin that provoked such suffering, and then enter by faith into the love that took away your sin and guilt, and then give your work your best.”
- C. John Miller, The Heart of a Servant Leader (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2004), 22.
Psalm 16:11   11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
AMEN!
David J. Miller, Vicar, Redeemer AOC, Loganville, Georgia. June 13, 2010.

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