Come to the feast

 This week's verses are Luke 14:15-24:

When one of those at the meal with Jesus heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God!” But Jesus said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going out to examine them. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, and I cannot come.’ So the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ Then the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’ So the master said to his slave, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads and urge people to come in, so that my house will be filled. For I tell you, not one of those individuals who were invited will taste my banquet!’”

 I always find these verses a bit hard to accept. I am the sort of guy who will almost never refuse free food. And here people are being invited to a rich man's lavish feast! And yet they all say no, for what seem like stupid excuses.

One guy refuses because he's just got some land. He's swallowed up by his possessions. We can be like that sometimes, wanting to play house, wanting to disappear to our own domain, maybe do some remodeling. Sometimes we just want to stay in and plan the week's meals.

Another guy refuses because he's bought a huge number of oxen. This guy is a big businessman who wants to focus on his career. Nowadays he'd be saying how he's got a big powerpoint presentation coming up, or that he's got to travel for work that weekend, or maybe his work colleagues are doing something and he needs to be there.

The last guy just got married. If any of the excuses could be interpreted as valid by modern standards, surely love is the wildcard excuse that God would accept. But in my years, I've seen quite a few people drop off the face of the earth when they get involved in a relationship, or who suddenly won't commit to anyone anymore but each other. Romance, attraction, family aspirations, and the ticking of the biological clock are a more powerful danger than we might think.

But the truth for all three invited guests was that they just weren't all that into the rich man who invited them. The circumstances of their lives were more meaningful to them than the relationship with the feast-giver. So even though he reached out and offered them a real blessing, all they could think about was their stuff, their work, or their personal life. So they told him "Naah, I think I'm just going to stay in. I've got work I have to catch up with. And my wife wouldn't like it if I spent the one day she has off going out to your thing."

And we tell God the same things today. When prayer time comes, or church, or whatever it is he calls us to, we have business to take care of. Or we're just enjoying what we've got and want to be left alone. Or maybe our heart is just elsewhere and God isn't our primary relationship.

But imagine it from God's perspective. He's offering us something better than we could find on our own. For free. And a banquet is a chance to deepen a relationship. That's why people have dinner on dates, right? That's why families gather around the dinner table. And here we are telling him "No thanks, I'll just microwave something and have some me time." It is no wonder the rich man was angry.

So think about how the things of the world may have a hold on your heart. Does catching up on house work bump God off of your schedule? Does working late cancel Bible study for you? Do family and romance have the first say on what you commit to? Where is your heart? Are you as into God as he is into you? Is the relationship you have with him valuable?

The message these verses give us is a scary one: Those people who are more into their stuff than they are in a relationship with God will end up excluded. And it is their choice. They want their things more than they want God. But ultimately that's a terrible choice for them.

For us, there's still time to RSVP yes to God's invitation. Do you want to spend eternity with him? Then answer the call when he sends for you.