May I Be Excused?

Luke 14:15 – HCSB

15 When one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!”

As we’ve been studying recently here in Luke 14, we know that Jesus has been invited to dinner by some leading religious people. He has taken the opportunity to give them some much-unwanted advice concerning where they chose to sit… and their guest list. He has been pointing out their issues of pride and feelings of social superiority. He has challenged them to consider being humble… and to consider sincerely offering friendship to those outside their comfort-zones.

It is immediately after Jesus admonishes them to invite ‘social outcasts’ to their future get-togethers that a man interrupts and boldly says, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!” Sounds good, right? Well…

Remember, the last thing Jesus had said, in verse 14, was; “…for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous”? You see, the Jews had some pretty determined ideas of what the ‘resurrection of the righteous’ was… what it would look like when God finally broke into history.

They imagined, and endlessly discussed, how wonderful it was going to be. Not only would the bad guys in charge be overthrown and finally put in their place, but there would be other wonderful things that would accompany this ‘golden age’. One of those things would be a great feast, given by God to His own people, where He’d literally serve up Leviathan, the sea monster, as part of the food! (ideas like this came from obscure passages of Scripture [Isaiah 27:1 & Psalm 74:14] as well as fabricated legend that had been passed down from generation to generation).

This interrupting man was thinking of all this when he blurted out “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed”. You have to understand that, in his mind, he imagined ‘the one who will eat…’ to be the JEWS… only. In a sense, he is responding to Jesus’ admonishment that they actually invite ‘outcasts’ to their future banquets, by stating “Well… that’s all good and fine – I guess we could consider inviting the blind, poor, lame, and maimed to our future parties… but EVERYONE KNOWS that only we JEWS are going to be the blessed ones that get invited to the banquet that God is going to be throwing.” When he spoke up, everyone at the table, including Jesus, understood what he was inferring to.

That is why Jesus immediately tells the following story:

Luke 14:16-24 – HCSB

16 Then He told him: “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. 17 At the time of the banquet, he sent his slave to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’18 “But without exception they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’20 “And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’21 “So the slave came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!’22 “‘Master,’ the slave said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’23 “Then the master told the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will enjoy my banquet!’”

In Palestine, when a person threw a party or a banquet, the date was announced way beforehand, and the invitations were sent out and accepted way beforehand. However, the hour wasn’t announced, because the host wouldn’t want people to arrive before all the food could be properly prepared, and without conventional ovens and microwaves, many times they were dependant on weather conditions and the amount of servants available, and so on… When the day did come, and things were ready, servants would be sent out to alert the invited guests. To accept the invitation beforehand and then refuse it on the day of the party was horribly offensive, because of the way that the food had been prepared! It was a serious insult to the host.

In Jesus’ story, the Master stands for God. The originally invited guests stand for the Jews. Throughout all of history they had been waiting for God to interrupt and break in… to rescue them and throw this big feast, and when He finally did, now that He had sent His Son, they tragically refused His invitation. The poor, maimed, blind, and lame people represent the tax-collectors and sinners who had welcomed Jesus in ways that the orthodox, religious folks just weren’t. Those gathered on the streets and in the alleys represent all the Gentiles (the non-Jews) for whom there was lots of room at God’s feast.

So… there was lots going on in Jesus’ parable. Lots of stuff that would have been pretty upsetting for those religious Jews and leaders sitting around the table that day.

And even though this was a very specific indictment to the Jews that were rejecting God’s invitation through Jesus…

And even though this was, at the same time, incredibly great news for all the non-Jews who were accepting of God’s invitation through Jesus…

                …there are some very powerful truths in this story of Jesus’… for us today:

In Jesus’ story, the invited guests had three excuses… excuses that aren’t too different than many of the excuses that many people will use today, as they decline God’s invitation to do whatever it is He’s asking them to do.

The first man said he’d bought a field, and was going to go see it. He allowed his own business venture to take the place of him accepting God’s invitation. Today we see this all the time, right? It’s not that people aren’t calling themselves Christian, or anxiously waiting for that place called ‘Heaven’ one day… but they become so immersed in the things of this world, that they have no time to worship, pray, read the Word, or really much of anything that would be considered something a “God-follower” would do. For them, work and business always seem to come first.

The second man said that he had “bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out”. He let the new ‘stuff’ he had bought keep him from accepting the Master’s invitation. This happens a lot today, as well. Many times when people have purchased a new ‘novelty’ item – in this case it was ten oxen, strapped together in twos with a yoke, and probably for pulling a plow – so this guy is probably a farmer – today the man might say, “I just bought a new tractor and I want to get this thing out in the field”- they can get so taken up with them that their desire to worship or chase after God gets crowded out.

People have been known to acquire a boat… or a motorcycle… or a hunting license… and say, “Well, we used to go to church and worship and learn more about God on the weekend, but now we enjoy going for rides, or hanging at the lake… or tromping through the woods… I mean, we only get a couple of days off!”

I’m NOT saying that if you miss church occasionally you are less of a Christian! What I am saying is that it’s dangerously easy for a new game, a new hobby, even a new friendship to take up even the time that should be kept sacred, and separated, for deepening our relationships with God. When those things become an excuse that keeps you from accepting the Master’s invitation… be aware.

The third man said, “I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.” One of the coolest, most merciful laws in the Old Testament is found in Deuteronomy 24:5:

“When a man takes a bride, he must not go out with the army or be liable for any duty. He is free to stay at home for one year, so that he can bring joy to the wife he has married.”

Maybe this guy had that law in mind when he gave this particular excuse? Whatever was in his mind, if I’m honest, this is actually a pretty darn good excuse, right? I mean, the guy just got married! The truth is… no matter how good the excuse is, if it crowds God out of your life, then it ain’t right.

Today, we emphasize the ‘family’ so much in Christianity. We have wonderful ministries, like ‘Focus On The Family’, and we often talk about being better mothers and fathers to our children. We stress the importance of maintaining a good, healthy marriage – because it seems that Satan will always attack the individual family units in a church first. I think we SHOULD emphasize these things, because they are absolutely important!

However, there is no lovelier thing, than a home that is anchored in Christ. It has been said, “They live best together who live with God”. The atmosphere of a home is best when those who dwell within it never forget that they are also members of the great family and household of God. I am a huge believer in being at all your kids’ games. I’m a huge believer in scheduling a ‘date-night’ with your spouse. I’m a huge believer in having regular ‘family-nights’ and ‘family-dinners’ around the table. But I am also a huge believer that God and His Body – the Church – are also vitally important! When I hear a person say that they are no longer fellowshipping with a local church, because they want to spend more time with their families… I have a real problem with it. Why? Because the invitation from the Master has gone out… not only to have healthy marriages and quality kid-time, but to be a part of His BODY (1 Corinthians 12)… and to not ‘forsake assembling together’ (Hebrews 10:25).

Last week I mentioned how the dinner table was perceived in Biblical times. I told you that it was often said that “a shared table is a shared life”… and that an invitation to dinner was seen as an invitation to friendship.

• What about when it’s Jesus doing the inviting? How will you and I respond to His invitation to intimacy, life, and friendship with Him?
• Will we politely say, “May I Be Excused?”
• Will we offer up some random excuse that ultimately gives a pretty good picture of what we think about the One inviting us… in comparison to our business/work, our hobbies and our toys, and even our families?
• May you and I be those, - no matter where Jesus has found us, in the church our whole lives, or in the alleyways and streets as total outcasts – that enjoy the times spent with Him in friendship and intimacy whenever and wherever we are given the invitation.