Rev. Charles Lehmann + 2nd Sunday after Trinity + Luke 14:15-24
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
Today's parable begins with what sounds like a pious declaration. The man
who is at table with Jesus says, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the
kingdom of God!” But what this man is saying is neither pious nor reverent nor
wise. This man is another in a string of people trying to entrap Jesus in what
He's saying and doing. Specifically, this man is ungrateful for what he has
already received, and he fails to recognize who has given it to him.
Imagine for a moment that you had just eaten Thanksgiving dinner with your
family. Imagine that while you were still at the table with your stomach so
full that you couldn't even stand up, you said, “Man, I'm starved. I think I'm
going to hop in the car and see if Perkins is open today.”
None of you would do that. You know that it would be disrespectful to
those who prepared the feast that you just enjoyed. You know that it could
cause them pain. Instead you would thank all who prepared the food. You might
even mention something specific that you liked about the meal. You would
recognize the great gift you had been given and you would be grateful to those
responsible for giving it to you.
The man in today's Gospel reading is dining with Jesus. The Lord and King
of the universe who created and sustains all things has just eaten food and
drunk wine at the very table where he is sitting. The man is blessed beyond
imagining. Jesus is there eating with him. God Himself is present.
But the man doesn't have any idea what he has. He says that he will be
blessed if he eats bread in the kingdom of God. In response to this Jesus
says, “None of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.”
The parable that Jesus tells on that day is a direct response to this
foolish man's words. Jesus is saying that this man has ignored the invitation
to the feast. He has failed to recognize what Jesus has already preached.
“The kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe the Gospel!”
This might seem harsh. In some ways Jesus looks like the impolite dinner
guest. You don't attack another guest when you've been invited to someone's
house for dinner. Besides, how is this man supposed to know who Jesus is? Can
we really expect him to know that he is actually eating at the same table as
the creator of the universe?
The answer is an absolute sure and certain, “Yes.” Earlier in this meal
the Pharisees brought a man into the house who was afflicted with dropsy.
Jesus, in fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecies, had healed the man in
front of all the dinner guests.
Any at the feast who had listened to and believed the words that Christ
gave in the Old Testament would have known who Jesus was. They would have
believed the Lord's word that the kingdom of God was upon them. They would
have never suggested that eating bread in the kingdom of heaven was something
they had to wait for.
The parable that Jesus tells us today is helpful to us in many ways. It
speaks a word of judgment to all those who allow the cares of this life to
divert their attention away from what the Lord gives. But to those who are
battered away by this life and know that they cannot provide any good spiritual
good to themselves, Jesus comes to them and says, “Come, eat of my bread and
drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in
the way of insight.” Jesus wants nothing more than for all people to hold onto
His promises and hearken to His ongoing invitation into a life that cannot die.
In the parable, a man has prepared a great feast. Long before the day of
the feast, he had sent out an invitation. But when the day of the feast came,
those who had been invited didn't want to come. They had all sorts of excuses,
but all have a thread in common. What's going on in their lives is far more
important than the feast the master has prepared.
One has bought a field and needs to inspect it. Another has a new yoke of
oxen and needs to try them out. Still another is on his honeymoon. Many of
these excuses seem fairly reasonable. It's important to be a good steward of
land and even of farm equipment. When you've gotten married, it's important to
invest time and effort in establishing your new household. But this isn't just
any feast. The feast of the parable has God our heavenly Father as the host
and His Son our Savior as the meal. This feast is more important than any of
the cares of this earthly life.
In the Garden of Eden, God invited Adam and Eve to feast on all the fruit
of the garden. He walked in the garden with them, and they had Him in His
fulness during every moment of every day. Even after Adam and Eve rebelled
against Him, God continued to invite them to His feast that would give them
life that could never die.
He spoke of the feast throughout the books of Moses. He proclaimed it with
the mouths of the prophets. From one end of the Old Testament to the other,
God continuously invites His people Israel to trust His promises and receive
all that He desires for them. As the Old Testament moves along, the promise of
our Savior becomes more and more explicit until at the end we know that He will
be born in Bethlehem of the line of David, bear the sin of all people, suffer
and die, and be raised again on the third day. All of this the people of
Israel should have known. All of this should have been in the heart and mind
of the one who sat at table with Jesus. He was at the table of a Pharisee and
was most likely a Pharisee himself.
He was well versed in the Holy Scriptures. He had no excuse for not
recognizing that he was sitting at table with the very Son of God whom all the
Old Testament Scriptures had proclaimed. Though he was right that those who
eat bread in the kingdom of God will be blessed, he would never taste of that
bread. The kingdom of God had come upon him and all who were in the house, but
the cares of this life had blinded him to the reality of which he was a part.
He was invited, but he would never taste the feast. Instead, the
invitation went out from Israel to all the world. Paul proclaimed the Gospel
in Asia Minor. Peter proclaimed it in Rome. Thomas proclaimed it in India.
Matthew proclaimed it in Egypt. And from all of these places, scattered
throughout the world, the Gospel moved on and on and on. Finally, it was
proclaimed to you. The master's invitation fell upon your ears when you were
baptized. He put His name on you with water. He adopted you as His own child
and made you a member of His own household. You are an heir of all things.
And today, in this very place, you receive a foretaste of the feast you
will enjoy forever in heaven. The Lord has come to you today with bread for
you to eat and wine for you to drink. But that's not all. By the Lord's own
word these earthly elements will become His very body and His very blood. When
you eat your Lord's body and drink your Lord's blood He gives you the
forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
The host is the Father. The meal is Jesus. He comes to you as your
Savior. He nourishes you with all that He won for you on the cross. You and I
have nothing in ourselves that makes us worth inviting. We are, left to
ourselves, dead in trespasses and sins. We are children of wrath and the
concerns of this life are the only thing we can pretend to have any power over
at all.
He has called you, the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. He has
called you who cannot afford even a morsel of this fine banquet. He has called
you who are left penniless by your sins. He has called each of you into His
feast.
Come, you who have no money! Come, buy and eat! The Lord will delight you
with the richest of fair. Your Lord Jesus has set the table. He did this when
he stretched out His arms on the wood of the cross to shed His own blood. On
his back lay the sins of the whole world. The Father's invitation to His feast
cost Him the life of His only-begotten Son. But to the Father, the price was
not too high. There is nothing that would keep Him from inviting you to His
table.
All of you are here, but there is still room. And so the Lord's invitation
continues to go out to the highways and the byways. There is plenty of Jesus
for everyone.
Rejoice, people loved by God. Your sins are forgiven, and you are free.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and
minds in faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Charles R. Lehmann
Pastor, Saint John's Lutheran Church, Accident, MD
http://www.stjohncove.org
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