WHOS COMING TO THE BANQUET?

(1): ONE LESS THAN YOU THINK

(Luke 14:15-24)
January 10, 2015
Read Lu 14:15-24 One of the great football coaches (I forget which
maybe Lombardi) saw an article one morning that called him great. Taken
with his own press, he looked into a mirror and asked his wife, How many
great coaches do you think there are? Her response: One less than you
think. That is the warning Jesus issues in this passage on the kingdom. How
many will be there? Be careful; it may be one less than you think.
Its a wonderful passage; it pictures the glories of the kingdom of God as a
feast to end all feasts. And the invitation is open to everyone absolutely
everyone without exception. BUT underlying the glory is the grave warning
not everyone is going to be there who thinks they are going to be there.
The context is the Sabbath lunch to which Jesus was invited by a group of
Pharisees. In vv. 12-14 Jesus tells a parable noting that they should invite the
poor, crippled and blind to their parties instead of just friends who can
reciprocate. He is alerting them to consider their self-centered ways and to
encourage repentance for entrance to His kingdom. In v. 14 He notes serving
others as an expression of faith will be rewarded. For you will be repaid at
the resurrection of the just. These guys knew this reflected Jesus opinion that
their current lifestyle did not indicate such saving faith.
So, v. 15: 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! That sounds innocuous, but in the context it is almost certain that a
threat lies behind those words. Hes countering Jesus, claiming he and his pals
will find a place at the table in Gods kingdom BUT implying Jesus will not.
Hes countering Jesus reference to reward at the resurrection by saying, Yes,
we will be blessed to break bread in Gods kingdom, but we have doubts
about you. And Jesus answers, The kingdom! Ah, yes! The kingdom will
be wonderful. Lets talk about the kingdom. And then He launches into a
parable: A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.
In doing this, Jesus is agreeing with the mans statement, Blessed is everyone
who will eat bread in the kingdom of God! Any feast can banish hunger and
sadness for or a day. But this man believes the kingdom of God is like a feast
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to end all feasts a time and place when hunger will be gone forever and
our sorrow will be gone forever; when the blessing will be forever!
And Jesus is agreeing, Yes, the kingdom is a feast. Thats an assessment of
someone who knows very well what the kingdom is all about. It takes us back
to Jesus first miracle in John 2, when Jesus turned water to wine at a wedding
feast -- fine wine that turned a mediocre party into a great party. That was
His first miracle. But in the NT miracles are always signs. They are not just
exercises in bare naked power but always have significance beyond
themselves. As Tim Keller says, they are supernatural marques revealing
deeper truth about who He was and why He came. So why would His first
miracle be turning water into wine to save this wedding party? Why didnt He
do something less frivolous? Why throw a great party with your first miracle?
Why? To stress the unmitigated joy of being part of Gods kingdom. Its easy
to think that Christianity is basically, Dont smile too much. Keep your nose
clean. Obey the rules. Pass out the bulletins. Do your time in a soup kitchen
and forgo the new car for the Building Fund. Is that Christianity? Listen,
our faith may demand that and more. Jesus said in Mt 8:20, Foxes have
holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay
his head. His life wasnt easy and neither will ours be. He promises the world
will persecute us just like it persecuted Him. But while Christianity is hard, it
is not joyless. Just the opposite. Our hardship is leading somewhere to
something wonderful. And accompanying us on the way is the Lord of feast
who was signaling by that miracle, I come to bring festival joy. Where my
face turns, the trees laugh and sing for joy. Where I am there is inescapable
joy. If we dont understand that, we dont understand Him.
Listen to Isaiah describe the kingdom as a feast: Isa 25: 6) On this mountain
the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of
well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7) And
he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations (Veil, what veil? Next v.) 8) He will
swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all
faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for
the LORD has spoken. Yes, the kingdom is wonderful like a great feast.
But, Jesus goes on, its not the kind you think. You would limit the list to
the best and the brightest to those you revere and admire. You want the
fun crowd, the party crowd, the in-crowd. But while the kingdom of heaven
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is the feast to end all feasts, it is not the kind you think. Getting in is not
how you think. And those who get in will not be who you think. Very likely,
there will be one less than you think. To be part of Gods kingdom requires
a humility the Pharisees never came close to demonstrating. Entrance is not
earned as they think. And it is not limited to the Jewish elite as they think.
Jesus shows 4 ways we must humble ourselves to enter Gods kingdom.
These are ways we must continually humble ourselves to experience the joy of
the kingdom even in the middle to the crises of this life. Its there for all. But
we must humble ourselves under kingdom principles under the Phasing of
the kingdom, the Pricelessness of the kingdom, the Priority of the kingdom
and the Proliferation of the kingdom. These teach us a lot about the kingdom.
I.

Humble Yourself Under the Phasing of the Kingdom (16)

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But he said to him, A man once gave a great banquet and invited (or had
invited) many. At a high level this parable is not difficult to interpret. The
Master who gives the banquet is God. The servant who invites is God the Son
Jesus. And those invited are various people-groups. The first group,
represented by the religious elite and Pharisees, is the nation of Israel. They
have had the benefit of hundreds of years of revelation from God and are
first invited as we saw in Isa 25. And, certain individual Jews, like the
disciples, have accepted the invitation and be at the banquet. But as a nation,
Israel is rejecting the invitation. They will not humble themselves under the
phasing of the kingdom. They have expectations of Messiah immediate
political deliverance and if that is not on the program, you can count them
out.
They are unbelievers because they do not understand nor accept the nature
of a kingdom that demands rulership of the king from the inside out. Nor do
they understand the timing (phasing) of the kingdom. Verse 16 indicates the
invitation had gone out, but the date is unsure. This was in keeping with the
custom of the time. A great banquet of this sort involved two invitations one
that indicated a feast would be held, but without a specified date and a
second that indicated things were now ready and the time was now.
The kingdom of heaven is like that like a feast that is in preparation. You
might come by and taste a little. You smell it. You get a lot of the joy of it. But
it doesnt come in fullness until the end. It is now, but not yet. It is now in
the sense that those who have accepted the invitation have Christ ruling in
their hearts right now, and much peace and joy come with that regardless of
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circumstances. But it is not yet in the sense that external kingdom conditions
are not yet. Jesus is not yet sitting on the throne; tears are not yet wiped
away. Sin still pervades our universe; persecution and pain continue and
circumstances are often very difficult. The kingdom is now but not yet. And
the Jews of Jesus time did not get that at all.
But for believers, the kingdom is something we taste now; a power that comes
into our lives. But it wont completely heal; it wont completely restore; it
wont completely renew until that last day, the judgment day. Its already
here, but its not yet. Its phased in its timing.
To enter a kingdom like that takes humility. You have to humble yourself
under the slowness of it. For example, suppose you have a birthday party
planned for one of your kids. So at 6:00 while youre trying to sleep in, guess
what? The kids come running in asking, Is it time yet? Right? Is it time?
You say, No, guys, its not time yet. Let Dad and Mom sleep in a bit, then
we have a lot to do before the party. So they stomp off a bit disgruntled.
8:00. Now youre up and around and here they come, Is it time yet? No,
gang, were getting ready. We have to make the cake and set up the yard.
More grumbling. Now its 11:30 and youre getting a snack for lunch. Is it
time now?! Full of hope. No its not time yet. We still have a lot to do. Your
friends arent coming until 3:00 and besides you have to take a nap before
we even have a party. There it is the last straw. A nap? If this is the way
life is going to be, I dont want to live!
A child wants what they want, and they want it now, right? All kids know is,
the party hasnt started yet. The parent is pleading for understanding and it
takes humility to believe the Dad knows best. But kids dont have humility;
they have feelings, and they think they know everything. Which is exactly
why the Pharisees missed the kingdom and exactly why we may as well. So
many reject Christ because He doesnt operate on their timetable and by their
expectations. Tony Compolo is a well-known Xn speaker, and his son, Bart
followed his Dads footsteps. But not long ago he announced that he has
become an agnostic and has accepted a position as humanist chaplain at USC.
When asked how he lost his faith he gives a common answer that he cant
believe in a God who allows evil in the world. Then he goes on, I lost my
faith because God didnt show up when I asked Him to. Wow! God let me
down. Didnt meet my timing and my expectations. Count me out.

We must not think that we are in charge of God, Beloved. Or that we know
more. Even John the Baptist doubted: They are about to cut off my head
here, Jesus. I thought the kingdom was now. Why havent you taken over
and put down evil. And remember how Jesus pointed John to the miracle and
said, You have the right person, John. Yes, I am Messiah. Look at the
miracles. You can taste it; you can have kingdom joy now. But the ultimate
timetable is mine. The fulfillment is not quite yet. Dont be put off. Trust
me. And so must all kingdom members trust Him, humbling ourselves under
the phasing of the kingdom. The invitation is now; the fulfillment just a little
further on. Thats what Jesus is asking submission to His timing!
II.

Humble Yourself Under the Pricelessness of the Kingdom

What does that mean? Remember the Mastercard Priceless commercials? A

dressed up couple goes into a gas station food place and the announcer says,
Chips $3. Soda $2. Gas $31. Starting a new life together Priceless. Well,
Beloved, starting an eternity with Christ is the same way. It is priceless. It
cant be bought, earned, merited or arranged. It can only be accepted. But
oh, how people fight that concept. Surely we must do something to get in
some acts of kindness, some ritual, something religious, something selfless.
There must be something we can do. But look at v. 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. Come, everything is ready. Who made it ready?
The invitees? Did they prepare the banquet? Not a bit of it. All they do is
come.
Have you come? Have you humbled yourself under the pricelessness of the
kingdom? Have you realized that no price you could pay would ever qualify
you to enter? But Jesus has already done everything there is to do. The feast is
prepared by Him, not you. Turn to I Pet 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ! According to [our good works, he has caused us to be
born again. Is that what it says? No!] According to his great mercy, he has
caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and
unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by Gods power are being guarded
through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Thats the
invitation to the banquet, Beloved. But it is by His mercy, not our works, that
He invites us to come. You cant earn this invitation, you can only accept it.

Look at I Pet 1:18, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways
inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or
gold [no human works allowed], 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like
that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the
foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of
you 21 who through him [no thru you but thru Him] are believers in God, who
raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are
in God. Its all done by Him. When Jesus said on the cross, It is finished
thats what He meant. All that was needed for salvation was already
completed. You and I can add nothing to it. Just receive it.
It takes humility to do that to declare all my works good or bad as rubbish,
like Paul, in order that we might gain Christ. If you present anything other
than His invitation at the door, you will be rejected, just as you have rejected
Him. A girl was taking her driving test when she accidentally put the car into
reverse and backed into a building, tearing a hole in the wall and flattening the
back of the car. The proctor trying to be gentle said, You can go ahead and
finish the test if you like. Itll be good practice for next time. Flabbergasted
the girl asked, Are you saying Ive failed? Yes, that is just what God is
saying. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Its not your glory
that counts. It is Gods. When it comes to meeting His glory, your life and
mine are a car wreck. Kingdom entrance demands a price we cant pay. Its
priceless. All we can do is accept the invitation thats paid for by Christ.
Remember how God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, but they no sooner
got started on the journey than here came the whole Egyptian army with
orders to bring them back. And in front of them was the impassable Red Sea.
Slavery behind and death in front. No way backward and no way forward.
But we often forget what Moses said. Remember? Exod 14:13, And Moses
said to the people, Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD,
which he will work for you today. He didnt say, Battle and create
salvation for yourself. He said, Stand firm and see the salvation of the
Lord. Humble yourself under the pricelessness of the kingdom. Accept His
invitation bought, paid for and prepared by Him.
Conc Entrance to Gods kingdom requires ultimate humility. We must drop
all of our sophistication, all our good efforts, all our sin, all our desire to help
and just come. Just come. Spurgeon used to tell of an epitaph he once came
across in an obscure cemetery in England. The headstone was small and of
inexpensive material. On it were chiseled just two words: Freddy! as if
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someone had called a boys name. The underneath this, as if the boy had
answered, just one word, Yes. Not Yes, and heres my resume. Not Yes,
and heres my list of accomplishments. Not Yes, and heres my baptism
certificate. None of that. Just Yes! Have you ever said just, Yes? Make
sure theres not one less in heaven than you think. Lets pray.