Open Invitation

Open Invitation

Luke 14:18-24, NKJV

But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.” 19And another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.” 20Still another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” 21So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.” 22And the servant said, “Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.” 23Then the master said to the servant, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.”

Setting the Scene

Luke’s account of the banquet at the Pharisee’s home ends with Jesus’ parable of the great banquet. The parable is based on the protocol for such events in first-century Israel. The location of the banquet was accessible—the guest list was made up of local people. The invitation came in two parts: the initial announcement of the banquet to the invitees and the gathering announcement that preceded the beginning of the feast. When the meal was ready, the servants were dispatched to gather the guests, who had presumably notified the host that they planned to attend.

Submitting an RSVP is not quite the same as actually attending an event. The servants in Jesus’ story discovered that all the prospective guests had made other plans. Jesus specifies three categories of excuse: a possession that must be inspected (a field), a possession that must be tested (five yoke of oxen), and a new marriage that required attention. The negative responses of the invitees cheapen the value of the invitation. Jesus was speaking to his own people. Israel’s history had been marked by a great privilege and invitation extended by God that generation after generation of Israelites rebuffed.

The neighbors’ boycott led to an open invitation in the alleys of town. The “poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind” were welcomed to the banquet. And when there was still room, the host issued an even broader invitation to the “highways and hedges.” Those who began the day unaware of the feast ended up as guests, while those who were originally invited never even came. Their excuses indicated their true intent regarding the banquet—they were not interested in coming.

Getting Personal

If you have submitted an RSVP to God regarding his invitation to spend eternity with him, how are you occupying yourself in the time leading up to the opening of the banquet hall?

How are you passing on the invitation you received from God?

Those who treated the invitation lightly found out what it was like not to be invited at all. The point isn’t the invitation but what we do with it.

Talking to God

It’s important to be a good steward of your possessions and your relationships, but be sure to bring them all before the Lord, asking him to help you undertake these joyful responsibilities as part of your relationship with him. Affirm your desire to keep him as the informing center of all your decisions and activity.