Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
At Faith Presbyterian Church we are seeking to exalt Jesus Christ the King and to exhibit and extend his Kingdom through worship, community, and mission.
Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Luke 14:1-24; A Sabbath Meal at a Pharisee's House
Jason Sterling February 9, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL
Bulletin
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If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me this morning. Luke, chapter 14. So the Gospel of Luke, go to your New Testament. We're going to look at verse 1, then we're going to skip down and look at verses 7 through 24. The slides will be correct. I printed it all in your bulletin so you could get a sense of the context there.
Speaker 1:We've been in a series Meals with Jesus in the Gospel of Luke Luke the writer emphasizes food, meals, the table. Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal, and so we've been looking over the past several weeks at these meals where Jesus shows up and we've been learning that they teach us about who Jesus is and they teach us about the realities of his grace and they teach us about the mission of God. We're going to see that again through this meal in Luke 14. Jesus is dining at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. This is God's Word, luke 14. One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. Now skip down to verse 7. Now he told a parable to those who were invited when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them when you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him. And he who invited you both will come and say to you give your place to this person, and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you're invited, go and sit in the lowest place so that when your host comes that he may say to you friend, move up higher, then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. He said also to the man who had invited him when you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor. He said to him, with him heard these things. He said to him blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. But he said to him, a man once gave a great banquet and invited many, and at the time for the banquet he sent his servants to say to those who had been invited come, for everything is now ready.
Speaker 1:But they all alike began to make excuses. The first man said to him I bought a field, I must go out and see it, please have me excused. And another said I have bought five yoke of oxen and I go to examine them, please have me excused. And another man said I've married a wife and therefore I cannot come. And so the servants came and reported these things to his master.
Speaker 1:And then the master of the house became angry and said to his servants go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame. And the servant said sir, what you've, this is God's Word. Please pray with me. Let's ask the Spirit's help this morning as we study this passage. Let's pray together. Father, we're here. You brought us here, we are listening and we need a word. We all need a word from you. Some of us, as I often say I know this are in the middle of the worst week of their life, and so we need you, and I pray that you would give us comfort, that you would give us help, that you would show us, jesus, give us something that we can hold on to this morning. That would give us hope, and I pray for the one who preaches. Would you please be with me. Would you again calm my anxious heart this morning as I prepare to preach this, your word that you've called me to preach. Help me through your spirit in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:Many of you know that before coming here to faith, I was a campus minister with Reform University Fellowship it's our denomination's campus ministry, ruf and I was in Oxford, mississippi, at the University of Mississippi, better known as Ole Miss, and you have not seen well, maybe you have if you've been in and around Mississippi. You've not seen Southern hospitality until you've lived in the state of Mississippi. If you don't believe me, go to an SEC game weekend and spend a little time in the Grove, or go to a wedding reception in the Mississippi Delta. There is a reason that Ole Miss has the slogan we might not win all the games, but we've never lost a party. There's a particular social etiquette. There's very high standards for special occasions. It's not uncommon to go to a tailgate in the Grove and see chandeliers hanging, to see the fine China of Mississippi called McCarty everywhere, to see champagne and fountains at tailgates on Saturday afternoons. And here's the thing all are welcome, even opposing fans.
Speaker 1:And I'll never forget, when I first started at Ole Miss on campus, I was meeting with my leaders and I was like, hey, give me advice. What was one thing you would tell me. And so they looked at me and they said here's our one piece of advice Whenever you go to the Grove, whenever you go to a wedding reception in the Delta, whatever you do, just don't be awkward in the Delta, whatever you do, just don't be awkward. And I was in trouble from the start. You got to be cool.
Speaker 1:And I tell you that because in Luke 15, jesus has been invited to a party. He's at a dinner party and this was not uncommon. As we've seen in the Gospel of Luke, he showed up at lots of parties and Jesus, most of the time, fits right in and is very comfortable at these parties. But this party is very different Because, you see, jesus gets a bit awkward, you might say, at this dinner feast, and he stirs things up and he does a number of strange and awkward things. He criticizes you may have picked up on this he criticizes the fellow guest and their social behavior and their seating chart. He gives advice to the host about throwing a party and, to top it off, he shares this very confusing, strange story about a great banquet at the end. Why does Jesus do this? That's not because he's having a bad day, not because Jesus is in a bad mood. Jesus is stirring things up a bit at this dinner party and he wants to stir things up in this room this morning because he wants to teach us something about the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:And so we're going to learn three things about the kingdom of God in this passage at this dinner party. One, we're going to learn something about the seating chart. Secondly, we're going to learn something about the seating chart. Secondly, we're going to learn something about the guest list. And then, lastly, something about the requirements for entry Seating chart, guest list, requirements for entry. Let's take those in turn. Number one the seating chart.
Speaker 1:So, jesus, you see verse one he's at the home of a prominent. So, jesus, you see verse 1, he's at the home of a prominent Pharisee. It was the ruler of the Pharisees. So this is a leader. That meant this man had great wealth. That meant that this was a shindig, this was a feast, this was a blowout. All the movers and shakers would have been here, all the VIPs would be here, and Jesus is invited to this party. And look at verse one. And we learned that they are watching Jesus very carefully. Jesus is also watching them carefully, isn't he?
Speaker 1:Verse seven, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor. It says back in that day you see, the closer you sat to the host, the more honorable the seat. It'd be similar today to the head table at a rehearsal dinner or a banquet, and so people would jockey for those good seats. And in doing so, you were saying that you deserve to be there. You were saying that you're really, really important and so you need to sit in the best seats. Verses 8 through 10, jesus says don't do that, don't jockey for position, because if someone more important arrives and you have to give up your seat, that's going to be really, really embarrassing. And instead, when you're invited, take the lowest seat and then, if you're asked to move up, then move up and you'll be honored in front of everyone at the party. Verse 11, everyone who humbles himself will be exalted, but those who exalt themselves will be humbled.
Speaker 1:Jesus is not just giving us seating advice in this story is he? Jesus is talking about what's really going on inside of our hearts, going on inside of our hearts. Jesus is telling this parable because people were moving and trying to get in positions of power and honor and prestige. And Jesus starts talking about the seating arrangement in order to teach us that humility is the way, that humility is the way in the kingdom of God, that self-promotion is the way of the kingdom of self. To say it another way, the chief Pharisees, or one of their chief concerns, was holiness. And Jesus says you want to be holy, then give up your seat. You want to be holy, then give up the places of honor for the sake of someone else. You want to be holy, then give up the places of honor for the sake of someone else. You want to be holy, live sacrificially. There's a big game tonight. If you didn't know, and in light of the big game, here's an NFL illustration.
Speaker 1:Barry Sanders played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions from 1989 to 1998. And he entered the final week of his rookie season neck and neck with the Kansas City Chiefs' Christian Okoye, and they were neck and neck for the rushing title and the Lions actually, in this final game, had a special phone put in that was down on the sidelines so that they could monitor Okoye's carries and give them real-time updates. Well, when the Kansas City game ended, sanders trailed by only 10 yards and he was given a chance late to go into the game. They were playing the Falcons and he was given the chance to re-enter the game and to get the rushing title and he declined. Players were coming to him. You should do this. 11 yards, go get your glory and go get your rushing title. Not to mention getting the rushing title as a rookie also, according to his contract, had a hefty bonus attached to it. And Barry Sanders looks and says no, let the other guy play.
Speaker 1:And one of his teammates said Barry Sanders was one that did not love the limelight. He always wanted someone else to shine. That's the kingdom of God. That's what life is like in the kingdom of God. It is a posture of me for you. It's not self-glory, it's letting someone else shine, it is self-sacrifice rather than self-promotion. It is, to say it another way, going to the back of the line. Why? Because that's where Jesus is, that's where Jesus hangs out and it's the way that Jesus would change the world and it's the way that Jesus would change the world.
Speaker 1:Remember Mark, chapter 10, verses 45. Jesus Christ came into the world not to serve or not to be served, but to serve and to sacrifice his life and give his life as a ransom for many. And so here's your application question when is the one place in your life this week? Where is the one place in your life? Maybe it's in your marriage, maybe it's in your home, maybe it's in your school's students, maybe it's in your workplace? Maybe it's on your sports team? Where is the one place in your life where you can take the lower seat? Where is the one place where you can go intentionally to the back of the line and sacrifice for someone else? That's the first point. We see there, the seating chart in the kingdom of God. And secondly we see the guest list. And so Jesus has gone after the seating chart and now he turns to the host and he starts critiquing the guest list.
Speaker 1:Look at verses 12 through 14. When you throw a dinner or banquet, do not invite your rich friends or family, but instead invite the poor, because the poor can't return the favor, they can't pay you back. And then look at verse 15. Kind of funny. We'll work this out in a moment.
Speaker 1:When someone overhears this, they say blessed is everyone who eats bread in the kingdom of God. Here's the scene. Imagine a family gathering. Maybe it's Thanksgiving, maybe it's Christmas. You're with all your entire family. You've had this happen. I'm certain every family has. You've got the crazy uncle who shows up at the family gathering and he starts talking about things that are not appropriate or things that he shouldn't bring up and start talking about. And then, all of a sudden, this went to a happy family, to. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. And everyone's waiting who's going to break the silence? And somebody says how about them Braves? Or who's going to win the big game, or something of that nature to break the silence. And so they changed the subject. That's what's happening. That's what's happening.
Speaker 1:Jesus is saying invite the poor, invite the lame and the crippled and the blind to your dinner party and you can cut the tension in the room with a knife. In verse 15, somebody hears this and picks up on it and says well, I don't really know about the poor, I don't know what I think about that, but I sure know that the kingdom of God is going to be awesome and we're going to be in it and it's going to be amazing. And then Jesus in verse 16, takes the opportunity to go for the jugular and he bursts their bubble by telling them a parable. And he tells them a story about a banquet that's bigger than the one they're at and attending in the moment. He tells them about the real feast of the kingdom of God that's going to come at the end of time, when Jesus comes to take his church to be his bride. And the main point of this parable of the great feast is who is going to be at the table. That's what we are to pay attention to.
Speaker 1:And he starts describing the invitation to this. And back then it would have been very similar to the way we do things today, with an RSVP, but there would have been two rounds of invitations. You send out the first round, you get a head count, you want to know how much food you need to make, and then, the day of the party, a servant would go out and personally go to the people who said they were going to come and they would say something to the effect of the party is about to start. It's going to be at this place at this time. Come now, and in this story, all of the people who have been given invitations, who said they were coming, they start making excuses about why they cannot come anymore. And if you look at verses 18 through 20, they're not really bad excuses, but they are kind of lame and at the end of the day, as you read it, the truth is they just really didn't want to come, that they're just really not that interested. And so he reports back and says to the master none of them are coming to the party. And the master says go get the lame, go get the crippled, go get the poor, go to the highways and byways and compel them to come and fill up my house.
Speaker 1:Look at verse 24, very powerful, for I tell you, none of those who were invited shall taste my banquet. I want you to notice two things. One notice everyone is invited to God's party. There is going to be a party, there is going to be a feast in the kingdom of God and some people are going to be in and some people are going to be out. And if you're not there, it's not because you weren't welcomed, it's not because you were not invited, it's because you had some lame excuse, it's because, at the end of the day, you really didn't want to go. You had better things to do.
Speaker 1:And the other thing I want you to notice is who actually comes? Well, it's not the good people, it's not the religious people, because they don't see their need. Religious people and wealthy people are too busy with the cares of the world and so they actually make excuses. It's the outcasts who come, the needy, the desperate, the poor, the lame and the blind. And it tells us something about Christianity. It tells us that the hope and good news of Christianity is that God invites bad people to his party. You see, that's the good news of Christianity, that's the beauty of God's party. Your badness does not keep you away from this feast. It's your smugness and self-righteousness and pride that keeps you away from this feast. The great banquet is for losers, not for winners.
Speaker 1:Lastly, we see the requirement for entry. Look at verse 23. Notice the word compel. The master says go to the highways and byways and go to the poor and the lame and the crippled, and did you notice? Compel them to come. Why does he have to compel them to come? Why does he have to convince them? Why does he say convince them? Well, because they thought they were excluded because of who they were, and so they wouldn't believe it. And so he's saying you've got to convince them, because when you tell them they're coming to this house to this feast, they're going to say no, that can't be right. Do you know who I am right? Do you know who I am? There's no way someone like me can go into your home and go to a feast like that. And Jesus says you got to compel them. You're going to have to grab them in the eye and say it's true, the master wants you to come to his feast. He has invited you to the party.
Speaker 1:See, one of the ways you know that you're a Christian and not just a religiously moral person is that the reality of grace constantly floors you. It constantly shocks you and surprises you, so that if someone were to ask you you've heard me share this before hey, are you a Christian? You should never say of course, I'm a Christian. There's no of coarseness to it. You respond with yes, and it's a miracle that God would save someone like me. Can you believe that? You see, people who are shocked by grace are those who have connected the dots of God's mercy into their life personally, they're able to say why in the world would God, the God of the universe, put his sights on me? Why would he put his love and affection on me? Why would he invite me to the feast? And you have to compel yourself over and over and over again that the reality of God's grace, it is really true and it's actually true for you. To say it another way, it's the humble and the lowly that get into the feast, that get in to the banquet of the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:Remember who Jesus is telling this parable to? He's telling it to the VIP list. They thought they were on the VIP list in the kingdom of God. And Jesus says because you think you're qualified, you've actually disqualified yourself. Because Jesus says my kingdom is upside down, it's for the lowly and humble, it's not for the smug and self-righteous and prideful. My kingdom is for people who feel like they have to be compelled to come. You see, jesus in this parable is teaching us something about the very heart of God that God takes on flesh. He doesn't stay in heaven. He takes on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ to come down into this world and to be associated with lowly people like me and you to this world and to be associated with lowly people like me and you, to be associated with people whom the world considers rejects. That is what Jesus is doing on the cross. He's shamed, he's mocked, he's treated as an outcast. He's spit upon. You know why? So that he can invite you to his feast, so that he can throw you a party, so that he can expand the guest list and spread a banquet, so that you and I can come in. How do you get into this feast? How do you get into this feast? You just come. You just come.
Speaker 1:Verse 17,. Come, for everything is ready. You see, the salvation that God offers, the feast that he offers, requires a response. No one shows up into this world a Christian. The kingdom of God requires you to respond. The invitation is for all, and we hear that and we think well, surely I have to show up at this feast with something in my hand. We live in the South. You don't show up at a dinner party with nothing. This dinner party is different. This feast is different because it's 100% free. In fact, the only way you get in is if you come empty-handed. Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to the cross, I cling. The only way you get in is when you come and you're at the door and you say, jesus, I've got only you. I've got nothing in and of myself, and so I am standing and trusting in you by faith. You see, you don't need a report card for this dinner. You don't need to have passed the performance review and have all sorts of success and be successful enough. You don't have to have a moral record. That's passing, that says you're good enough to get in. You don't have to pay for a plate. It is free.
Speaker 1:Isaiah 55, come, all who are thirsty, come buy and eat. You who have no money, come at his cost and feast at his table. And some of you hear that and you're still like, no, you don't know who I am, jason. You don't know who I am, jason, you don't know what I've done. Some of you, perhaps you're overwhelmed with guilt and shame and regret over your story and you have things in your life that you've never told anyone. Jesus says come, come. Maybe you're crippled this morning by anxiety, crippled by fear and depression, addiction, sexual sin. Maybe your marriage is holding by a thread. Maybe you feel helpless and hopeless. Maybe you're self-righteous. Maybe you think you're really moral, everyone in between.
Speaker 1:Jesus says come and get this, when you come, all the food and all the drinks. Jesus says it's on the house and Jesus puts you at the head table. Friends, the gospel is really, really good news and it's for you. Are you going to respond? The invitations are out. Are you going to accept the invitation to come to Jesus' feast or are you going to respond like the people in the party who were too busy, too concerned with their own parties, that they missed the ultimate party?
Speaker 1:He welcomes all who will come, and so will you come this morning and sit with other sinners as they rejoice in the mercy of God for them, amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for inviting us to your party, thank you for your love for us, thank you for expanding the guest list for sinners, and we pray now that you would forgive us for our lack of humility, for thinking that we deserve this and that we deserve your grace. I pray that you would move in us so that we would, over and over, be floored and shocked by the goodness of your grace towards us. If there's someone here that doesn't know you, I pray you'd give them faith, give them eyes to see, ears to hear and respond to you. I ask these things in Jesus' name Amen.