Sermon Notes,
March 3, 2019 AM
Guess Who’s
Coming To Dinner?
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. Have
you ever been surprised by a dinner guest? In the early years of our ministry Tami and I were looking forward to having a group of young adults come to our house
for dinner on a Saturday night. On Friday night we were going about our business at
home with a two-year old daughter when the doorbell rang. At the door was a young
couple from church with a covered dish. They came in. A few minutes later another
young couple showed up at the door with a covered dish. They, too, came in. Tami
and I were terrified. The house was a mess. We looked at each other. How had we
misunderstood the date? Before long there was a large group of young adults in our
home with their covered dishes. Suddenly, they all took the lids or foil off of their
dishes to reveal they were empty. Without saying a word they all left! We had been
the brunt of a practical joke! Thankfully, everyone showed up on time Saturday night
with full dishes!
B. Most people enjoy sitting down for a meal with family and friends. In Bible times,
however, meals were much more than food, fun and fellowship. They
were very important events. Meals were used to seal covenants, signify relationship
and show acceptance.
C. Jesus used the occasion of a meal to tell a parable about a great feast.
1. The setting was a meal with a group of Pharisees (Luke 14:1-14). This might
seem strange since Jesus often found himself at odds with these men.
2. Jesus used every opportunity to help people understand what God is really like.
These Pharisees had developed such a distorted view of God. They valued their
traditions more than human beings.
3. In this setting Jesus told a story (parable) to illustrate God’s concern for people
from every walk of life.
I. THE FABULOUS INVITATION
A. Oscar Wilde told the story of “Aunt Jane,” who lived alone and received very few
visitors. When her new neighbors threw a lavish party Aunt Jane determined that
she would not be outdone. She decided to host her own ball. Immediately she set
to work. The old house was repainted, refurnished and the grounds replanted. The gourmet ood and the band were ordered from London. An army of servants was hired. Everything ould be of the best quality with no question of cost. At last the anticipated night arrived. The rive was lit for two miles with colored lights. The hall and staircase were gorgeously ecorated with fresh flowers. The ballroom floor was as shiny as a mirror. The bandsmen, ressed in formal attire, bowed as Aunt Jane, adorned in a splendid diamond studded gown, escended the staircase and waited beside the door. Time passed but no guests arrived. inally, after midnight Aunt Jane swept a deep curtsey to the band and said, “Go and have our supper. No one is coming.” Aunt Jane lived the rest of her life regretting that no one ame to her party. Only after her death was it discovered that she had forgotten to mail the nvitations.
B. Jesu’ story concerns a man who also
held a lavish banquet. He invited many
people. Notice two important
characteristics of the invitation. 1. It was extended to many.
a. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “Come unto me ‘all’ you who labor and are
heavy laden.”
b. In Isaiah 55:1 God said, ““Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.”
c. In John 6:37 Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and
the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”
d. In John 7:37-38, Jesus spoke, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and
drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost
being will flow rivers of living water.’”
2. The invitation to the banquet was extended on two occasions.
a. The invitation to the banquet was given by the man in verse 16.
b. According to verse 17 at the dinner hour the man sent out his servant to let
everyone know “all things are ready.”
c. God’s invitation of redemption was promised following humanity’s fall. It was
Jesus, His son, who came and said, “Everything is ready – come.”
C. The greatest invitation you’ll ever receive is the one that comes from God. His
invitation is real, valid, necessary and applicable to each of us.
II. THE FOOLISH EXCUSES
A. Jesus said that three men rejected this invitation by offering excuses.
1. In verse 18 one of them said, “I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out
and look at it; please consider me excused.”
2. In verse 19 another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try
them out; please consider me excused.”
3. In verse 20 the third said, “I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot
come “
B. Do these sound like lame excuses? They are.
1. Consider the land owner.
a. Why is he waiting until after he had bought the property to examine it?
b. What is his hurry? If he has already purchased the land where is it going? He
had plenty of time to view his land.
2. The man who had bought the oxen reminds me of a man who bought a car and
then took it for a test drive.
3. The man who had married had the rest of his life to be with his wife.
C. There are two realities to this story.
1. They did not want to come.
2. In ancient culture to reject such an invitation was to reject a relationship. In a
society build on hospitality to reject an invitation was an insult to the person who
extended the invitation. Today when a person rejects an invitation we overlook
it. This was not the case then.
D. If you have never become a Christian, what is your excuse?
1. In Acts 26:28 Agrippa told Paul. “I’ll call you at a more convenient time.”
2. In Matthew 19 a young man told Jesus, “I don’t want to give up my
possessions.”
3. In John 6 the crowds turned away from following Jesus because they didn’t like
what He said.
4. Are you using one of these excuses or have you made up one of your own?
5. Whatever the excuse you are insulting God.
III. THE FERVENT MASTER
A. The servant reported the excuses to the man giving the banquet.
1. The master was not happy. He was offended. These people should have been
honored that they had been invited to the banquet. Instead, they considered it a
disruption to their busy lives. Do you know any people who consider God in this
way today?
2. The master said, “‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring
in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” (vs. 21). These are the
people who see their need because they are not full of themselves.
3. Still, there was room so the master said, “Go out into the highways and along
the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For
I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner” (vss. 23-
24). There would be no last minute changing of the mind and no late arrivals.
B. Do we feel compelled to bring people to the Master’s banquet? The word “compel”
means to “urge strongly.”
1. Someone who was poor might say, “I can’t come. I have nothing to wear.” To
compel means that you say, “It doesn’t matter. Come on in.”
2. Someone might say, “I have nothing to bring.” To compel means to say
“Everything is provided, come on in.”
3. Do we suppose that our presence in this community is enough? Do we feel that
since West Side is here people can make up their minds about whether to
come? If they choose not to come we are absolved of responsibility? Do we
seek to compel people to come?
CONCLUSION:
A. When I was five years old I became engaged to Susan who lived down the street.
She was an “older” woman of six years old. She asked me if I wanted to be engaged.
Since I wasn’t doing anything else I said, “Sure, why not.” Several months later
Susan broke my heart. She had a birthday party and I wasn’t invited. I rode my
bicycle up and down the street thinking she would see me and invite me in. She
never did. The engagement was apparently off!
B. God has invited you to the most lavish, extraordinary banquet you will ever have the
opportunity to attend. How foolish it would be to miss out because of a lame excuse.
“All things are ready. Come to the feast.”
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