There’s Room at the Table

In the passage of Scripture we're going to be looking at this morning,

Jesus' teaching about the kingdom of God, and the fact that it's like a banquet.

Jesus told many parables, stories that related a truth in Scripture.

They were based on true things of the time. And in this, he related that the

kingdom of God is like having a party.

It's an extreme understatement to say, but Jesus' social life got him into trouble.

His social life created controversy.

Jesus made it a practice to hang out with and eat with sinners,

which was a practice that was denounced by the Pharisees and Jewish dignitaries.

I remember in one church where we pastored, there were a lot of new people coming to the church.

In fact, the church had grown from about 110 to 180 in congregational sides,

and I was spending time with the new people teaching them about the church and stuff like that,

and our superintendent called me and said that he'd gotten a letter from one of my board members,

and it's not you because it was another church,

complaining that I was spending too much time with the people out on the fringe

of the church and not enough time with the people in control of the church.

And he said, what's your response to that? And I said, well,

I find that letter as a very good compliment because isn't that what Jesus did?

And it was a practice of Jesus that was totally unacceptable for a rabbi or

religious leader because those people were considered unclean.

The common person of that day who might be considered a sinner was not even

allowed to touch a Pharisee or religious leader because their touch would contaminate

the holiness and piety of the leader.

And to eat with a sinner was to share in their sin by association and thus become unclean.

So as we look at the scripture today, Luke chapter 14, we need to ask,

Luke 14 · chapter mention

who does God want at his table?

How big is God's table?

And who's included at God's table?

So we're going to read from Luke chapter 14, verses 1 through 24.

Luke 14:1–24

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee,

he was being carefully watched.

There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body.

Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

Then he asked them, 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?

And they had nothing to say. When he noticed how the guests picked a place of honor at the table,

he told them this parable, When someone invites you to a wedding feast,

do not take the place of honor for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.

If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you,

Give this person your seat.

Then humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.

But 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.

For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Then Jesus said to his host, When you give a luncheon or dinner,

do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors.

If you do, they may invite you back, so you will be repaid.

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame,

the blind, and you will be blessed.

Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus,

Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.

Jesus replied, A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.

At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had invited,

Come, for everything is now ready.

But they all began to make excuses. The first said, I have just bought a field

and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.

Another, I have just bought five oxen, yoke of oxen.

I am on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.

Still another said, I just got married, so I cannot come.

The servant came back and reported this to the master. Then the owner of the

house became angry and ordered his servants, go out quickly into the streets

and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.

Sir, the servant said, what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.

Then the master told his servants, go out to the roads and country lanes and

compel them to come in so that my house will be full.

I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.

Scott McKnight, professor of biblical and theological studies at North Park University,

notes that the kind of people Jesus hung out with were looked down upon as second-class

citizens by the Pharisees and religious leaders.

People Jesus hung out with were people of the land. They didn't know the Torah or the Jewish law.

They were riffraff and common people, the lowest of the low.

The Pharisees could not understand by the common people, outcasts of society,

why they followed Jesus who claimed to be a rabbi and teacher or how he would

allow them or why he would allow them to touch him.

The kind of people Jesus ate with and fellowshiped would not be tolerated in their homes.

Pharisees were as likely to invite common people from the mobs that followed

Jesus to join them at their tables as jock athletes would welcome members of the geek squad.

Jocks and nerds just don't mix. In Jesus' day, a righteous person would not

sit down and eat with a common person. and people of the land.

Like I said, they didn't know the Torah.

But as you and I are well aware, Jesus often did not agree with or abide by

the Jewish customs and traditions of his day.

In fact, he invited everyone to his table.

In the story of the Great Banquet, that's exactly what Jesus is teaching us.

There is room for all at God's table.

This is in direct contrast to the Pharisees who believe that only certain people

are welcome at God's table.

Let me ask you, do you have a secret list of people you definitely would sit

down with and a list of people you would not invite to your table or with whom you would refuse to sit?

Do you have a list of people in your mind, maybe not written on paper,

but in your mind who you believe are deserving to sit at God's table and a list

of people you would refuse if you were in charge of the invitation list.

Do you ever prejudge whether someone would be willing to receive the word of

God or whether they would ever accept him?

Do you ever make up your mind that you're making up their mind that they're

never going to accept Jesus anyway? Do we ever do that?

John Ortberg, who was at one time a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Church in

Chicago area, told the story about going to his mother's hairdresser.

After talking to her, he thought that she had some interest in knowing about God.

He told his mother that he thought her hairdresser wanted to know about God.

His mother responded, no way.

She's on her fifth husband and she's living in sin. Sounds like a biblical story, doesn't it?

John said to his mother, mom, the next time you get your hair done at the beauty

salon, ask her if she's interested in spiritual things.

So the next time John's mother went to have her hair done,

she prayed in her heart as she was taking a seat in the beauty shop chair,

God, you know I don't want to talk to her about her faith because she's not

the kind of person I want to associate with.

But if you want me to talk to her, then have her ask me first.

Dangerous prayer. First thing that the beautician said when she approached John's

mother was, I understand you and your husband have a Bible study in your home.

Do you mind if I come sometime?

She said that her mother was Jewish and her father had been a Roman Catholic.

Her mom made her go to the synagogue on Saturday, and when she came home,

her dad made her take the rosary and make confession of her sin of going to the synagogue.

She grew up confused and turned to alcohol for comfort, and she could drink

with the rest of them, she said.

To get help, she went to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but could not bring

herself to think of her higher power as God, so she called her higher power Ralph.

At one of the next AA meetings, a guy came in half drunk and staggering.

He stood up and said, my name is Ralph, and I'm an alcoholic.

The hairdresser said that at that very moment in her life, she decided she didn't

want to know a higher power named Ralph.

She wanted to know the true God. And so from that point on, this hairdresser

and her husband attended the Bible study in John's parents' home and became

followers of Jesus Christ. Let me ask you this. Who is it that you have given up on?

Who is it that you kind of act that they're too far gone?

Who are the people you wouldn't invite to your table? Who is it you would not

let in your door of your house?

What people don't come up to your standards, who are not worthy to come to your

table. So let's ask this question first.

Who belongs at the table? In Luke chapter 14, Jesus tells a parable of who belongs.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

According to the passage this morning, one Sabbath when Jesus went to eat in

the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.

A man outside the house there had the disease of dropsy.

The Pharisees were probably hoping Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath so

they could accuse him of breaking the Jewish law, entrapment.

Can you see the unconditional love

of Jesus in going to eat at the home of those who were out to get him?

Not only was he wanting to heal someone who had the disease of dropsy,

but he was actually going into the face of the enemy hoping to win them to the Father.

They were looking for ways to discredit Jesus, yet he joined them for dinner anyway.

Jesus ate with everyone.

Jesus asked the Pharisees and teachers of the law, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath earth?

Not, but they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, it says he healed

them, healed him and sent him away.

Scott McKnight went on to describe the dining arrangement of a home of a prominent

person like the chief Pharisee.

The dining area was like a courtyard with a large table in the center loaded

with food and three couches surrounding the table.

A large couch was located on the head of the table, the farthest away from the

door, and a slightly lesser couch was placed on each side of the table.

The front of the table where there was no couch was for the servants to come

and serve the food to the people on there, and those who were important would

recline at those couches at the table while others who came sat on the floor.

As Jesus was in the room, he saw guests enter and people elbowing each other for a place of honor.

He said, when someone invites you to dinner, don't take the place of honor.

When you're invited to dinner, go and sit at the foot of the table.

Then Jesus turned to his host and said, this next time you put on a dinner,

don't just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors,

the kind of people who will return the favor.

Invite those who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks.

Jesus made it clear to his hosts that all people should be invited to the table,

including anyone and everyone.

John 3.16. We know that very true.

God has invited everyone to come to faith in him, not all except,

but he's made it open for all.

Religious leaders would not think of inviting the poor, crippled,

lame, or blind to their dinner, especially because their frailty and sickness

in that time was thought to be caused by some sin.

The passage goes on to say that one of the men at the table heard what Jesus

said and said, blessed is the man who will eat at the In other words,

I'm looking forward to being part of the feast in the kingdom of God.

We're all the blessed ones because we will eat there. We're worthy.

Jesus replied in verses 16 through 24 with the parable of the great banquet that we have read.

A man threw a great dinner party and invited many.

And in those days when the host planned a dinner, it was planned weeks in advance.

His invitations were given out in person to invited guests.

When a person was invited, they either said they would come or could not come.

There was no time set for the dinner. Why? Because they didn't have clocks that,

oh, by the way, if you didn't turn your clocks back, you were here early this

morning, just wanted you to know.

But anyway, they didn't have clocks back then, and the dinner was the whole focus of the day.

Oftentimes, they would come early and stay all day as the meal was being prepared.

And when the day arrived for the dinner, the servant went out and told those

who had been invited that it was time to come and dine.

And it was at this time that he contacted the people who had already agreed

to come, but one after the other, they made excuses.

One said he had just purchased a piece of property. I must go and look over

the property and make sure it's still there.

It's property. Property can wait. It's not going anywhere.

Another said he couldn't come because he bought five teams of oxen and he needed

to go see if they were still alive.

If they're not, what are you going to do about it?

The third one said, well, he couldn't come because he'd just gotten married

and needed to go home and see how his wife was doing.

Well, if he had just gotten married, why hadn't he invited this party giver

to his wedding if they were such good friends?

These invited guests were not out to well they were out to snub their honored,

host and they were out to kill the party so to speak put a damper on things

well if we're not there you can't have a party.

By now, you can imagine that the Pharisees and the other guests at the table

were kind of cringing a little bit and squirming in their seats.

Jesus was telling them that the kingdom of God's banquet is ready,

and they had been invited, but they were refusing to come.

They were refusing to come for God's plans because they were too busy with their

own plans. Sound familiar?

Who were refusing to come? All those who were invited to the dinner.

Outside the door were the common people, the riffraff, the ones that we would

consider, or society would consider unclean.

So Jesus said to the servant, quick, go out into the city streets,

collect all those who need a square meal, all the misfits and homeless and wretched,

you can lay your hands on and bring them here.

Jesus was including all of those standing outside the door and even pointing

or even referencing some who had to sit on the floor and the servants that served the meal.

They were also being invited to sit at the kingdom of God's table.

The invitation was to all Jewish people of all social economic standings, rich or poor.

The servant, it says, went out and brought all those he could.

And he said, there's still Rome at the table.

Probably really a pretty good promise, isn't it?

There's still Rome at the table for you and me. So then the master said to the

servant, then go to the country lanes.

Whoever they are, drag them in here.

He said, my table's going to be full so that these guys can't come in because they refused.

Everyone is welcome to my table if they will accept the invitation.

To us, Jesus would say, go to the trailer parks, go to the houses across the

railroad tracks, go to the poor and broken down homes and invite them to come in.

In fact, compel them to come in, as he said. But I think he'd also tell us that

there is poverty even among the wealthy.

Go to those who are downhearted and distracted.

I remember, and I may have told this before, when we were ministering in Brighton,

Michigan, there's an area of time, it was a very wealthy area,

southeastern Michigan.

There's an area of town that had, at that time, nothing less than a half a million

dollar house in it. And that was late 90s.

And you'd go out into those neighborhoods, and these executives who lived in

these neighborhoods, they wouldn't have a yard.

You'd see their houses clean and pure and all this kind of stuff,

and you'd look through the windows, which didn't go up next to them.

But from the streets, you could look, and you'd see there really wasn't much furniture in there.

They were just a place for those people to come home from work,

sleep in bed. their rooms were very small, but their living rooms and dining

rooms were large because they entertained people.

They were slaves to their home.

They were wealthy monetarily, but they were poor spiritually.

Jesus said, even them, compel them to come in.

Master saying, don't take no for an answer. Give them a hand and let them know

they are welcome to come to my table.

The second thing that we see is this parable gives us a picture of God's love.

Jesus doesn't wait for the people to come in. He goes out to them to find them.

He sends somebody out. Hmm, I just thought of something.

He sends somebody out to go get them. Oh, wow.

Can you imagine that? Who is that?

He sends his servants to go out and get those, invite them to the table.

Let me ask you, who did Jesus use to seek you out?

Did he use a loved one, a relative, a member, mother, a father,

a friend, or a neighbor, or even somebody at school or somebody at work?

This parable is giving each one of us a challenge. Who are you inviting to God's table?

Who are you bringing to God's table?

I'm thrilled when anyone tells me that they have prayed with a co-worker or

taking some help to them or sat with them when they were unlovable or gone with

them when they were going through a time in surgery,

or shared the love of God with them in a tangible way.

When we reach out to those who would not be accepted by society,

we've done what Jesus would do.

Tony Campolo is a sociologist. I'm sure many of you have heard of him.

He's a prolific writer, and he didn't demand as a speaker.

One of his stories, he tells of a trip to a conference in Hawaii.

He arrived in Hawaii in the evening, having traveled all day and night.

With the time change from the East Coast and jet lag, he had a difficult time going to sleep.

So he walked from his hotel to a coffee shop for coffee at 3.30 in the morning,

Hawaii time, while he was sitting at the counter.

A group of street ladies, as prostitutes, came in for coffee.

He overheard one of the ladies saying that the next day was her birthday and

that she had never had a birthday party given for her.

She'd never even gotten a cake.

After the ladies left, Tony Capolo asked the restaurant owner who the lady was

that was having the birthday, and he said her name was Agnes.

Tony asked if the ladies came in every night at the same time,

the owner said, yes, they did.

Tony said, I'd like to give Agnes a birthday party tomorrow night.

The owner said he would bake the cake.

So the next night, Tony Campolo arrived at the restaurant at 2.30 a.m.

To decorate the restaurant for the party.

At 3.15, the other ladies started coming in. Word had spread,

and it seemed that all the prostitutes in Honolulu had heard the news and came

to the party that some guy from the mainland was throwing for Agnes.

Tony said there he was in the coffee shop in Honolulu surrounded by prostitutes.

3.30 a.m., Agnes walked in, and they surprised her by singing, Happy Birthday, Agnes.

She was taken back and was in shock. Her knees almost buckled,

and she had to get me help to a chair.

Harry, the restaurant owner, said, Agnes, blow out the candles and cut the cake.

The candles were blown out, and then Agnes paused and said, Can I keep the cake?

I only live a couple blocks from

here, and no one has ever given me a birthday cake. Can I take it home?

Tony and Harry agreed, and she carefully carried out the cake to her apartment.

After she walked out, there was complete silence, and Tony felt led to say, what do you say we pray?

And there in the all-night restaurant in Honolulu with the restaurant owner

and all of Agnes's prostitute friends,

Tony prayed for Agnes and her salvation, and he prayed for God's love for her

and all of her friends in that room.

After his prayer, Harry leaned over the counter and said, Hey,

you never told me you were a preacher.

What kind of church do you belong to? Not really sure what to say, Tony replied.

I belong to a church that throws parties for prostitutes at 3.30 in the morning.

Harry said, No, you don't.

Because if there was a church like that, I would go there and join.

You know, friends, I wonder if there should be a church like that.

That's the type of church Jesus started. And it's really the type of church

that John Wesley and his brothers and friends started.

It's also the type of church that the Free Methodist Church was in the very

beginning of the movement in 1860. In fact, B.T.

Roberts and his wife lived in a house in the eastern part of the states.

And on the second floor of this actually was an old inn, and the second floor

of the inn were housed prostitutes of the town. They owned this house.

They allowed them to live up there.

The Methodist movement in its early days and subsequently our own denomination

were originally churches that evangelized by loving the lost and the fallen.

We were and should be again a church that lifts up the poor and disheartened

no matter what their financial status is.

The parable of the great banquet teaches that Jesus gives parties just like Tony Campolo did.

He gave parties for the outcasts, the prostitutes, and the lepers.

Everyone was welcome at his table. To each one that came with open hearts,

Jesus said, I forgive your sins.

Though they be as scarlet, they will be whiter than snow. Come and follow me.

God says, there's still room at my table. Now here's the question Jesus is asking us today.

Who are you bringing to God's table?

What people do you know that are far from God who need to come to the Lord's

table? And how are you bringing them?

We don't do the Lord's Supper on a monthly basis just so we can fellowship with

each other. We do it in remembrance of what Christ has done for us.

And the invitation is very clear.

All you who earnestly and sincerely

repent of your sins and seek to follow me are welcome at my table.

Friends, there are people not here who God would welcome, and we should too. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, what a party you're planning to give at the kingdom's banquet.

And many times we would long for you to come quickly because this world is such a mess.

But there are people out there, maybe even some in here who really don't know you fully.

We ask, Father, that you would help us to invite all to the table,

not just those that look like us and act like us and smell like us,

but all of those who need the love of Christ.