Tag: banquet

Enjoy the Feast

Read Luke 14:15-24

We have become a people of excuses. There always seems to be a ready excuse why we cannot do something. These excuses may appear reasonable and logical. Some situations are appropriately avoided due to safety concerns. Other times circumstances which are not within our control require us to decline an opportunity. Yet, more often than not, we make excuses so we can avoid situations we judge to be unpleasant or too demanding of us. We are more concerned about our comfort or convenience.

Jesus tells a story of excuses. He speaks about the host of a great banquet who invited a number of guests who the host deemed to be deserving of the invitation. When the banquet was ready, each guest had an excuse why they could not attend. With all the food prepared, the hall stood empty. The host  instructs his servants to go into the streets to invite the people to enter the hall and feast. When this did not fully fill the hall, the servants were sent into the countryside until the hall was completely occupied. Then the host declared that those who had received the initial invitation would not be able to enjoy the great food because their place had been taken.

In our lives we are given many opportunities to enjoy the “feast” of life. These opportunities come in the form of moments given to share with others. Sharing of time, resources, love and caring fill these opportunities. Sadly, we can be quick with excuses why we are unable to grasp these moments. The Lord has prepared a banquet of life from which we excuse ourselves. The individuals who accept the invitations find they are able to enjoy a wonderful selection of the finest life has to offer. Each moment feeds the soul in indescribable ways.

Do not excuse yourself from the banquet of life. Seize  the opportunities which the Lord provides you. Taste the sweetness  of each engagement you have with others. Those who decline will never know the great banquet others experience when they accept the invitation.

An Invitation

6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
    a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
    the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
    the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8     he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
    from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
    from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

9 In that day they will say,

“Surely this is our God;
    we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
    let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

Isaiah 25:6-9 (NIV)

Imagine receiving an invitation to attend a banquet. This banquet is being hosted by a very important and powerful person. The individual is known to have access to the finest food, wines and drinks known to humanity. You are also aware that the location of the banquet has been described as having unparalleled views, amazing furnishings and ideal weather. You are not required to bring anything or pay any sort of fee to attend. What you wear to the banquet does not matter because a special robe, exactly your size, has been prepared for you to wear once you arrive. Would you even consider turning down the invitation?

The passage which we have read today from Isaiah is part of a song of praise. The song speaks of God’s faithfulness to Israel. God’s protection of Israel from foreign enemies and the destruction of those foreign cities is lifted up. Then the words of the song switch to the telling of the Lord preparing a great banquet for all people. This is where our reading begins. The song moves from speaking about a great feast to God’s work in destroying death and its power over humanity. The Lord will remove the tears and disgrace of all people. The celebration then begins.

You have received an invitation to a banquet. The Lord has invited you to come to a celebration where death, tears and shame no longer exist. You know the host and the host’s abilities. The location has been described throughout Scripture.  There will even be people who you have previously known there. The price of admission has been provided. A special robe to cover all the dirty parts of your life has been made especially for you. Only one thing remains to be done, accepting the invitation. Will you?

The Invitation

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

Luke 14:12-24 (NIV)

Most brides, grooms, and their families struggle with the daunting task of creating an invitation list for their wedding service and reception. During our current pandemic, this task has become even more complex. Imagine engaging in this effort and sending out the invitations, only to have all the guests give excuses why they cannot attend. What an extremely disappointing experience this would be. Not to mention the wasted expense of food costs and rental fees. While this scenario is very unlikely, you can imagine the feelings of hurt, disappointment, sadness, and anger which would exist.

This type of scene is exactly what Jesus conveys in the story which he tells in today’s passage. Jesus indicates that the host of a banquet responds to the guests not accepting his invitation by making guests of the people of the streets and country side. His new guests are not capable of repaying the invitation in any way.

Reading Jesus’s story and exhortation causes are to consider an invitation and the response to the innviation. We have been invited by Jesus to come and join him in a heavenly banquet which the Father has prepared. An opportunity to sit around a table filled with goodness, love, forgiveness, and great joy. All of us are undeserving of the invitation. None of us are ever able to repay the invitation. Yet those are exactly the qualifications necessary to receive the invitation. Our response is all that matters. Will we come in acceptance of the invitation, or will we make excuses why we must decline? Will we let our activities of life and other priorities lead us to miss out? The invitation is always before us, the choice is our own.