Luke 14:16-24
16Then Jesus said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.” 18But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies.” 19Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies.” 20Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.” 21So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” 22And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.” 23Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.” ’
Blog Discussion Question: What angered the master?
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8 comments:
This reminds me of a former parable where the last become first. Although many were invited who did not come, there were many more that were brought in that were so happy to come and enjoy the benefit of the banquet at a last minute notice.
Once again I believe Jesus is helping us understand the meaning of grace. The gift is in front of us, but it is up to us to accept this. It also seems that some that appear to be in the front of the line would be ready to jump and open the gift, but this is not necessarily so. Maybe this could say to all in the church not to become lazy in our faith and not take for granted the lessons we can continue to learn from reading and reflecting on those bible stories we learned as kids! It also may be saying, keep bringing in the people from the "streets" and open the church doors as Jesus opens his to us.
Praise, you are right, a blog all year is a good idea.... :)
Same Bible, different book. I think this one is from Luke 14. I just got an e-mail this week from a friend. She was wondering why we hadn't responded to her RSVP to the invitation to her daughter's wedding that was sent over a month ago. The invitation recipients from yesterday's parable simply denied the request "they refused to come". Today's recipients "made excuses". I was maybe even worse, my friend probably wondered if I "even cared" about the most important event happening in her life this year. She didn't say she was upset, but I guess she was at least disappointed by having to re-invite me. Jesus cares enough to re-re-re-invite us to the most imporant banquet in OUR lives. I bet HE would like to hear from us. I replied to my friend and Friend today!
What angered the master was the decline of the invitation because of other more "pressing matters". As a family, we almost got up from the breakfast table this morning without doing our bible study. I guess we were thinking about the "pressing matters" of the day. The Lord invites us everyday and we hope to accept his invitation like it is the priority matter of the day.
I would have to agree that it seems that much of the time the invite is laying right in front of us to come to the most remarkalbe banquet yet we continually put it off and make excuses of why we haven't done it yet! Seems like much of our lives here on earth is made up of excuses of why we cannot do something that is so important to someone else. Jesus continually is inviting us daily to join at His table and dig into His Word, yet we are continually making excuses of this or that. RJQ is right though Jesus will continue to re-re-re-re invite us each day.
As far as what angered the master, who would not feel frustrated if you have set out an incredible banquet for your friends, but they deny to even take a glance at it! It is part of our human nature... However, we are show God's grace and mercy because although He may have to continually invite us he is "slow to anger"!!! Praise be to GOD!!!
The master was angered that everyone made excuses for not accepting the invitation. Much like our walk of faith I think....we can come up with all kinds of excuses for not accepting what is right in front of us. All the invitations of the world sometimes get the quickest RSVP. Yesterday at Lenten worship there was a reference to "ants in the pants" how things in our life move us to different levels in our faith walk and I was kind of in that excuse making doubting mode. Was feeling like I wasn't getting it and maybe I just couldn't do it. I was reminded there is always room at the table for all of us. Thanks Pastor Jerry for inviting us to take this journey together Reading these parables and blogging has been so good .Thanks be to God for reinviting us mjb
Of course, we look at the excuses and think that they are terribly lame...especially the one about just getting married! Have we ever "listened" to our own excuses? And....going out and compelling the people in the streets to come...seems like compel is quite a strong word...where does the free will that God gives us come in? And...saddest of all, the invited that had the excuses were not allowed to come to the dinner!
These parables get awfully "personal", don't they??? Are there any parables that as we digest them make us feel real comfortable? Seems like they all, in our conscience, make us feel like the "bad one"! Good or bad??? Perhaps a good "changing gauge" for all of us!
These are the verses that proceed today's parable in the Gospel of Luke....notice verse 13
12 He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’
and then look at verse 21 of today's parable...
21So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.
It seems to me that the thing that angered the dinner maker is that he realized how thin relationships that are based upon "what you can do for me" really are. Think about that when a church seeks new members in order to pay the bills. Think about that when people with money seem to carry more sway in church decisions. Think about that in how a church can tend to treat those who have important talents or skills. It is a confusing message that we give when people hear our invitation attached to what they can do for us.
But a whole different response comes from those who hear the clear message of the Gospel that the invitation to the dinner has nothing to do with what the invitees can do, but everything to do with what the inviter has done.
Sure, we hope that every person who sits around the table of God's grace is so moved by God's grace that they would employ the distinct gifts and talents that God has given them in the divine adventure of making all things new. But it isn't their talents and gifts that has given them a seat at the table....it is completely and purely God's desire to have a party where the hopeless see hope, where the broken are healed, where the weary are renewed, where the hungry are fed, where the lonely and outcast are befriended.
Those of you who know me, know that I believe the gist of the Christian faith is found in the strength of God's grip on me, and not the strength of my grip on God....in God's free will to choose me, and not my tethered will to choose God...in God's transformational forgiving power, and not my limited human power to merely plug holes in an ever deteriorating dike.
As the hymn says, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. No merit of my own I claim but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock ( i.e.: God's grip, God's will, God's power) I stand. All other ground (i.e.: my grip, my will, my power) is sinking sand."
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