Luke 14 reminds me of eating out as a youth. With seven kids, that meant hamburgers in the back seat of the car. I do not recall ever eating at a sit-down restaurant. In high school, after a long hot day of making deliveries, the owner of the company asked me to pick him and his guests up at a marina. To my horror, he invited me to join them for a fine seafood dinner. I was completely out of place, so I just followed what the boss did. Today’s chapter is about the unexpected invitation. “One Sabbath… Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, He was being carefully watched”. Before Him was a suffering man; it was a set-up. Knowing their intention, Jesus asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”, but “they remained silent”. Without hesitation, Jesus “healed him and sent him on his way”. He then taught these experts in the law, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” Jesus watched as “the guests picked the places of honor at the table”. This was an act of self-importance, judging oneself ahead of others. He continued, “when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests”. Jesus concluded, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”. Where do you rank?
Jesus continued teaching, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite … your relatives, or your rich neighbors… so you will be repaid”. There is nothing wrong with dining with friends, but for some, a meal can mean survival. “Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind… Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous”. We do not know when a simple invitation will change a life. Apparently one of those present understood the lesson and added, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God”. Friend, it is time to stop eating in the car?
The chapter closes with a parable about a great banquet. The host “invited many guests… he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready’… But they all alike began to make excuses”. Everyone was polite in declining the offer, citing trivial reasons why they were too busy to make it. “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry”. So the master “ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame”, but there was still room. For anyone that thinks the church is for the holy or righteous, please note that it is full of damaged folks that just accepted the invitation to be nourished. The master told his servant to “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full”. There is a clear number of fullness, after that, no one else “will get a taste of my banquet”. Matthew 24:14 says, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come”. You can have peace with God today. My sin and yours were covered “once and for all” by the blood of the sinless Savior on the cross. His atonement is offered to all, and we enter by faith. Our life is changed by imitation, “whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple”. The Master has prepared everything. I am just a messenger letting you know that it is time to come. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear”. You are invited; there is a place of honor waiting. My friend, will you partake in the feast?