The Parable of the Great Banquet

TEXT: Luke 14:15-2415
When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 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.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”

In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Some of the best days of my life have been marked by a meal. The day I was confirmed at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Seymour, IN, all the family got together for a meal. When I was married, there was another meal. On the occasion of each of my children’s baptisms there was a meal. In addition to all of these, special Holy days and holidays repeat themselves with the same traditional meal. On Christmas Eve we always have pizza burger. Thanksgiving was turkey and Grandma's homemade noodles. New Years Day is always fried chicken, cabbage, and black eyed peas. Easter is leg of lamb. And Memorial Day is always fried fish and German Potato Salad. Food marks the holidays of time. It even joins one generation to another. My wife makes the same German potato salad that my grandmother made. It’s a recipe that has been passed down throughout the generations.

I’ve never been to a family dinner and had no one show up. And usually, if you missed, everyone talked about you. They wanted to know why. Family dinners are important and not only are you expected to be there… the family wants you there. And so it is with the Lord’s banquet… “Come, for everything is now ready!”

One Sabbath Jesus went to eat at the house of a prominent Pharisee. The meal had been prepared the day before, as was the custom according to the Law… for the Sabbath was a day of rest. The Lord had business to attend to. And so this meal was about more than filling his tummy. The Lord was busy ushering in the Kingdom of God by preaching and teaching.

Jesus told a parable about three people who declined an invitation to attend a great banquet. One had new acreage to investigate. Another had to train his oxen for the field. And the third was busy with his new wife. None showed up. All of them had chosen more important things to do than to come and eat at the banquet. So, the master’s servants went and found other guests. These were surely not of same socioeconomic standing of the others. They were from streets and alleys. Hoodlems and vagrants. Poor, crippled, and blind beggars. They came from town and from the country. In other words, no one was overlooked. Everyone was invited.

The parable was a word of Law spoken against the Jewish people. God had promised Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the grains of sand on the seashore. God would rescue Abram’s descendents from the hand of Pharaoh in Egypt. He would deliver them time and time again from pestilence, famine and war. Even so, they would despise the Lord their God. He sent prophets to call them to repentance when they would turn from the Lord. Many would not listen.

But God is a God of mercy. He is a benevolent Savior. Even while the Jewish people disowned Him, He continued to call them. But He also came bearing His gifts of mercy and salvation to the Gentiles. No one would be overlooked.

Little has changed in the Church today. While there are a few who still sing with the Psalmist, “I rejoice when they said to me, ‘Let us go unto the house of the LORD’” many despise preaching and His Word. Even those who were called by name in Holy Baptism and even confirmed in the faith have chosen better things in life than to feast with the Holy Christian Church. Some are too busy farming, vacationing and living it up. But many just sit at home. “What has church go to do with me?” they ask. “I’m living my life just fine without that church. I’ve got a good job. A nice spouse. My kids are doing fine in school. Who needs to be bothered with getting up and going to church on Sunday mornings? I’ve got better things to do.”

These have ignored God’s gracious calling. They have rejected Him. Even while some of them may at one time have had true saving faith. They have driven faith out of their hearts. And just as the owner of the house became angry with those who would not come, so the Lord God’s anger burns against those who are flippant toward His gracious offer. His wrath is poured out like burning sulfur on those who despise preaching and His Word… to those who reject God’s grace in the crucified Savior, to those who have renounced their baptism and live as a demon in Hell’s kingdom.

But to the poor and needy, God has prepared a heavenly banquet. To those who acknowledge that they are miserable sinners. Those who are burdened because they know their sin is great. To those who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness, who are blind because of sin, the Lord has prepared a banquet…. A feast of Word and Sacrament. It is a banquet that gives life to those who are dying. It gives eternal blessings to us who are temporal. It gives salvation to those who are damned.

Blessed are you who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God. You have the appetizer in the hymns and Liturgy. The main course has come to you in Confession and Absolution. And now the icing on the cake comes through Preaching and Sacrament of the altar. I have many fond memories of meals with family and loved ones, but none of them compares to the feast offered at this altar. Here your cup overflows. Every Sunday is banquet of cosmic proportions… even better than Grandma’s German potato salad.

The Lord bids you, “Come, for everything is now ready.”In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.