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“Canning Excuses”
Luke 14:16-24
IPC, August 30, 2009

Rachel and I were glad to get a few days away to spend time at the prettiest beach in the country.  Everyone needs to break up the routine from time to time and it gave y’all a chance to hear a good sermon from Pastor Kevin.  And I’m sure you said encouraging things to him after worship last week.  I say that because the following came across my desk.  It’s entitled, What Pastors Hear at the Door.  (We often hear things like:)

• You always manage to find something to fill up the time.

• If I had known you were going to be good today, I would’ve invited my neighbor.

• I don’t care what they say—I like your sermons.

• Pastor, did you know that there are 847 panes of glass in the sanctuary windows?

• They shouldn’t make you preach so often.

Two weeks ago we talked about “Spiritual Fitness” and our need to leave our comfort zones, can the excuses and forge ahead.  I want to expand that second point about canning excuses.  Have you ever stumbled around to find a “lame” excuse for not doing something that you didn’t want to do?  You’re too busy, you use the kids as an excuse, or you have company coming, etc.  Excuse=Ask forgiveness of oneself and request to be released or exempt from a duty or obligation. 

A hunter hired a guide while vacationing in New England, but they got lost.  The exasperated hunter said, “I thought you said you were the best guide in the state of Maine.”  The guide replied, “I am the best guide in the state of Maine, but I think we’re in Canada now.” 

Scripture is full of folks with excuses:

• Adam and Eve (That woman YOU gave me…)

• Cain when asked about Abel

• MMMMMMoses (I am slow of speech & slow of tongue…Ex. 4:10)

Jesus talked about a folks who made excuses for not following Him.  The excuses varied:

• They were too busy to bother.

• Too clever to come.

• Too religious to repent.

• Too worldly to want to.

• Too proud to pray.

Luke 14:16-24 (The Parable of the Great Banquet): “A man once gave a great banquet & invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses.  The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, & I must go out & see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, & I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, & therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came & reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry & said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets & lanes of the city, & bring in the poor & crippled & blind & lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, & still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways & hedges & compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” 

For years, the southern part of the United States has been referred to as “The Bible Belt.”  However, with demographic changes and the waning influence of Christianity in our nation in general, I’m not so sure that is an apt title for our region anymore.  I pass numerous people on Sunday mornings who are doing a number of things other than attending worship.  Let’s look at the Luke account we just read, because it is a timely story for people in 2009.

1. The Preparation.

By now you know that the Bratley’s are entering a wedding season.  Our youngest son gets married in January and Jonathan and Morgan will be married in March.  Tim and Julie recently sent out “save the date” postcards, which is trendy among engaged couples where they send a “warning” invitation before the formal invitation arrives closer to the wedding.   

In verse 17 of our parable, we are told that these folks who subsequently make excuses were initially invited and apparently accepted the first invitation to attend the feast.  It was a Middle Eastern custom to invite in advance. (To send out “Save the Date” cards…)  There is an example in the Book of Esther where she issues an invitation to King Ahasuerus and the evil Haman to attend a feast.  The initial invitation was in chapter 5 and the final invite occurs in chapter 6.  In the Luke account, as the supper hour approached, the master sent his servant to get the invitees.  

This parable seems to be an allegory.  The host is God.  The feast represents salvation and the servant is Jesus.  It seems that the original invitation list was comprised of Jewish folks.  They had been issued this invitation in the Old Covenant in the Old Testament—we might say that God sent them a written invitation.  At the close of our passage, we see the servant going to different places to invite disenfranchised people and finally, the servant went out of town onto the highways to bring people to the banquet. 

In verse 17 we are told that “everything” is ready.  In regards to our salvation, God did it all.  And the master said that it was “now ready.”  2 Cor. 6:2 “In the favorable time I listened to you & in a day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 

The host had apparently fixed a wonderful feast.  “Everything” was ready.  Every detail had been covered.  There is more to an incredible meal than mere culinary ability from the cook. There was probably much planning.  It met a great need and it probably cost a great price.  God’s feast cost Jesus His life.  And according to the 2 Corinthians verse we just read, there is NO WAITING.  Your table is ready! 

2. The Invitation.

The servant goes out and encounters a number of false and valueless excuses.  There were three kinds of folks invited.  In verse 18, we have the businessman whose excuse was “my wealth.”  In verse 19 we have the working man whose excuse was “my work.”  And in verse 20 we have the family man.  He takes it like a man and uses his wife as his excuse.   

This feast was most likely at night.  Do you really think that the businessman was going to view his ground at night?  Think about this—do you think he bought the land without checking it out first?  How about the second guy, heading out to “drive” his new oxen at night?  Do they have headlights on them?  Of course, the third guy is now married so I guess that his nights out were over.   

On the last page of the Bible, in John’s prophecy in Revelation 22:17, we read: “The Spirit & the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”  Because of sin, every person who ever lived has an eternal thirst…one that can only be quenched through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  That is God’s invitation to each of us and we have a responsibility to act.  And any uses of “lame excuses” are simply that—they are lame!  (You have no “leg” to stand on.) 

3. Condemnation.

In Texas, a motorist circled the block a several times looking for a parking place.  Already late for an appointment, he parks in a “No Parking” zone.  He leaves a note under a windshield wiper reading, “I have circled this block for fifteen minutes.  I’m late for a very important appointment so I’m parking here.  Forgive us our debts.”  He returned later to find a traffic citation under that wiper blade with a note that read, “I have circled this block for fifteen years.  If I don’t ticket you, I could get fired.  Lead us not into temptation.” 

Now, the host’s reaction was not a traffic citation.  It was anger.  In the Middle East, to turn down an invitation could mean literal war.   

Among Jesus’ listeners, the Pharisees had the best chance to respond, because they knew the Old Testament and its prophecies.  However they refused, so Jesus invited the publicans and sinners.  Please don’t confuse publicans with modern Republicans—although I’m sure that Republicans are sinners too.  A publican was an ancient IRS guy—a tax collector, and, historically, Republicans have not been the political party that likes to do that.  When the A List turned the host down, he took his invitation elsewhere.  

In the King James Version, verse 23 says, “Go out quickly into the highways & hedges & compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”  The word compel is not talking about using force but it does denote a sense of urgency.  Those who finally came to the banquet were not self-sufficient.  The poor didn’t have land and the crippled couldn’t “try” oxen.  Think back: What did Jesus say about the “poor in spirit” in the Beatitudes?  He said, “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matt. 5:3)  The Lord’s banquet is not for the “beautiful people” and “movers and shakers.”  God’s banquet is for those who are unable to make themselves right with God through their own efforts.   

Most of you here today are probably Christians but you may be holding God somewhat at “arm’s length.”  We may feel somewhat “self-sufficient” in and of ourselves.  We may be reminiscent of an old Native American wandering around in the woods.  He said, “I’m not lost!  My wigwam is lost.” 

Morning Glories are beautiful flowers that like to grow in cool, somewhat shaded areas of a yard or garden.  The blooms look great until the heat of the day cranks up and if they are in much direct sunlight, they begin to wilt.  Some professing Christians are actually “wilting morning glories.”  They look good, but when they encounter the parched plains, untamed rivers and scorching deserts of life, they wilt.  

In the Old Testament we know that King David spent a great deal of time in his early life being pursued by then King Saul, who viewed David as a threat to his throne.  David had men who traveled with him and they often lived in caves—basically living “life on the run.”  Probably many of these men still followed David after he became the king of Israel.  Raymond Brown wrote a book on the life of David and said this about David’s followers: “Their duty was to obey the king’s instructions and to trust his wisdom.  It meant that they were going into a life of hardship, insecurity, deprivation, suffering and possibly death, but they would be with the king and that was enough.”  As believers, we know that one day we will be, as Paul wrote, “absent from the body & at home with the Lord.”  (2 Cor. 5:8)  But we know that in the meantime the Lord promises that He will “never leave us or forsake us.” (Heb. 13:5) 
We have His promised presence, and like King David’s men, we are “with the KING and that is enough!” 

You’ve probably heard the Gospel a number of times during your life.  You’re aware of your shortcomings, failures, sins, whatever you wish to call them…And yet, you continue to live your life in the words of that great theologian Frank Sinatra in his famous song…“MY WAY!”  During British Colonialism in Africa, an African chief led an uprising, causing the occupying government to send in British troops by boat.  A runner came to warn the chieftain.  He had the messenger killed.  Another runner came to warn him of the impending British invasion.  He killed that messenger too.  And the next.   And the next, but the boat kept coming.  At some point, dear folks, Jesus is coming again.  And, like the British ship, He could be coming in judgment.  You can continue to “kill the messenger,” but Christ will return. 

Maybe you’ve never attended the Lord’s banquet.  Or maybe you’ve shown up but “cut out” early.  And, as a result, maybe you’re afraid to come home to the Father today.  There was a young man from Connecticut who left home in rage.  He lived like the Prodigal Son in Jesus’ parable and finally hit bottom.  He wanted to go home, but he had hurt his parents deeply so he felt like he couldn’t return.  He would call but hang up after one ring.  Finally he emailed and told his folks he was coming home by train.  He gave the date and time.  He wrote, “If it’s ok to come home, please tie a blue ribbon on the right side of the track just before the train station.  If there is no ribbon, I won’t get off.”  His trip home was tense.  His knuckles turned white from gripping the arm rest as he was nearing his hometown.  When the train rounded the final bend before the depot, he didn’t see one blue ribbon.  There were hundreds of blue ribbons by the side of the track.  His broke into tears.  His folks wanted him home.   

God’s ribbon isn’t blue.  His ribbon is red, the color of Jesus’ shed blood on the cross.  And your Heavenly Father wants you home.  He wants you to love Him, to follow Him and to serve Him.  Will you “can” the excuses?  Please pray with me.

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In Christ,
Bill Bratley - Pastor