You Are Invited (Pastor Greg Hudson, 07/26/25)

Dear God, we thank you so much that you water

us even through difficult times. You can grow

flowers in our life and help us to be more and

more like you. God, just be with us as we open

up your word this morning. May we see through

difficult times and challenging times that you

are the God who leads us each and every day.

In your name we pray. Amen. Sometimes you may

think you have everything needed, you may be

in the perfect spot, and then something better

comes along, and you realize that things can

even be better than you anticipated, than you

can imagine. It was a couple weeks ago during

a 4th of July weekend that my wife and I were

able to go down to Pensacola to visit my son

and daughter -in -law, and a few days before

we got there, our daughter -in -law Isabella

told us, that she had gotten some tickets to

the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Anybody have ever

heard of them before? They're a minor league

baseball team. They actually sometimes play against

the Chattanooga Lookouts. She said she'd gotten

some tickets from work. Would we like to go?

So sure, why not? So we got to Florida. It was

nice and warm, just like here. We made our way

to the stadium. It's on the bay there in Pensacola,

just outside of the... the outfield walls. Now,

when I've gone to baseball games before, the

seats that I sit in are usually a little further

away from the field, a little higher up. Some

might call them the cheap seats. So when we had

our tickets, I was looking that direction from

the concourse. But when we turned towards the

seats, we were going down. closer to the field.

And we went down the steps and down the steps,

not quite to the front row, but to the second

row. And we were right at the very front, right

there on the third base line. And as we looked

at the seats, we saw on the back there was a

little plaque, and it was engraved with the name

of the company that my daughter -in -law works

for. And we saw out in the outfield a sign, one

of the advertising signs, and it was the company

that she works for as a nurse. And so this company

had season tickets that they would give out to

their employees at different times. And so we

were invited to something better, and we got

to sit as close to the field as you possibly

could, simply because we knew the right person,

and we got an invitation to that event. at the

right time. We were invited to something better.

In Luke chapter 14, Jesus finds himself at a

Luke 14 · chapter mention

banquet, at a feast, at a dinner. And as he's

at this dinner, he begins to tell a couple different

stories. The first little lesson he teaches,

and he says, when you go to a feast or a wedding

feast, don't take the best seat that's there.

Don't sit on the front row. Because, you know,

how embarrassing would it be if you sit in the

best seat and then the host comes and says, well,

actually, you need to sit a little further away.

We've saved those for the VIP. Jesus says, instead,

sit further back. And then, wow, what a privilege

if they bring you up closer because they've reserved

some special seats for you. And then Jesus says,

if you hold a feast, he says, when you give a

dinner or a supper, don't just invite your friends

or your... relatives or your rich neighbors,

because they're probably going to invite you

back. You know, you have us over, then we'll

have you over the next time. He says, instead,

invite the poor and the maimed and the lame and

the blind. Invite those that aren't going to

be able to return the favor. Invite a different

group to your luncheon, to your crowd. And then

as he says this, One of the Pharisees, one of

the leaders that are there, responds in Luke

Luke 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14 and verse 15. It says, That's a true

statement, isn't it? I can't wait for that day

when we get to feast in heaven with God. is he

who shall eat bread in the kingdom of heaven.

That is a beautiful sentiment. But pay attention,

who said that? One of these who sat at the table

with him. Well, who was that? If we go back to

the first verse of Luke chapter 14, it tells

Luke 14 · chapter mention

us, it says, now it happened as Jesus went into

the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees

to eat bread on the Sabbath. Notice what it says,

they watched him closely. As we've read through

the Gospels, you remember the stories of how

there was a group of people who wanted to trap

Jesus, who wanted to trick Jesus, who wanted

to find something that he had done wrong. And

so here we have one of these people who are watching

him closely. who are trying to find some way

that they can accuse him. It's one of these people

who is anticipating, I can't wait to get to heaven

and enjoy that heavenly feast. It's one of those

who have rejected Jesus, or at least is in the

process of rejecting Jesus, and yet is assuming,

is thinking that he's bound for the kingdom.

And it's in this context that Jesus begins to

tell, a story. And we've been looking at various

parables over the past several weeks, and we'll

look at this one as well. Verse 16, then Jesus

said to him, a certain man gave a great supper

and invited many. So Jesus begins to tell this

parable about a man who invited many people to

a supper, to a feast. And as we read through

this story today, we'll see that in the context,

Jesus is speaking to those Pharisees, to those

who were rejecting Jesus, who were rejecting

those that Jesus came to live and to die for,

those that were maybe a lower social class or

whatever it would be. And Jesus is telling this

story to those who were rejecting him. And he's

telling them in the story, we'll see, to go to

others, to go to sinners, to go to Gentiles.

And that's the immediate point of this story.

But I think as we look closer at it today, like

with other parables, that we will see not just

truths for those Pharisees in Jesus' day, but

I think that we can see some truths for us. And

I think perhaps we can see a two -fold. invitation.

We can see an invitation for us to accept and

respond to an invitation. I think we can also

see an invitation that we're supposed to extend.

We're supposed to give an invitation to others.

So let's continue on and look at this story here.

So this man gave a great supper and invited many.

Many, many people were supposed to come to this.

And it says in verse 17, he sent his servant

at suppertime to say to those who were invited,

come, for all things are now ready. Think about

how much time and energy and effort it takes

even today to have people for food or for a meal.

You know, there's people during this time even

that are preparing food up in the fellowship

hall for our delicious Asian lunch that we're

going to have in just a little bit. But that

takes time and energy and effort. And people

yesterday or last night prepared some different

dishes and prepared some food. But think about

this day. There were no microwave ovens. There

were no... regular ovens. You had a stone oven,

a brick oven, and it's heated by fire, and you're

making bread from scratch. And when I say scratch,

you're actually pounding the wheat or the barley

for the bread. There's no Stouffer's lasagna

that you put in the oven for 45 minutes, and

it's ready. This is a process to make the bread,

to get the animal from the herd, to slaughter

it, to butcher it, to prepare all these different

things. This is a long process that takes a lot

of time. And it appears that there was, you know,

an RSVP invitations were sent out on this particular

day. We're going to have a feast. But now as

they're getting closer to supper time, well,

what? What time do we eat? Well, they didn't

have watches, no clocks, no phones that would

have an alarm, no real way of telling time except

by the sun. And so the servant would go around,

make a circuit to those who had been invited

and say, okay, it's time. The bread is cooking,

the lamb is roasting, you know, make your way

and this feast, the supper will be ready. The

time has come. for supper to be served. I read

a story recently about Kalina and Shane. They

had a beautiful wedding reception planned at

a barn venue in Oregon. They had sent out their

invitations, and at least 40 people had RSVP'd,

40 people and couples, and they were expecting

to have a beautiful wedding reception. But when

it came time to the day of the event, There was

only five people that came. They had planned

the cake cutting and the things you do at a wedding

reception, all the festivities, and they were

excited for that. And even though people had

said, yes, we will be there, only five showed

up. You can imagine a day of excitement and then

yet a disappointment because there was no one

to share it with. How do we respond to the invitations

that we receive? In this story, how did people

respond to the invitations? We'll pick up the

story in verse 18. The servant goes out and says,

Come, all things are now ready. But verse 18

says, But they all, with one accord, begun to

make excuses. Have you ever had to make an excuse

in your life? The dog ate my homework. I got

a flat tire on the way to work. You know, sometimes

things happen and we miss something or we forget

something or we're late. But sometimes we just

procrastinate. Sometimes we just don't get the

thing done that we were supposed to get done.

And you can hear, maybe I'm sure it wasn't you,

but your classmates coming up with different

excuses. about why that project, why that paper

didn't get written. And it says, with one accord,

these all begun to make excuses. The first said

to him, said to the servant, well, I have bought

a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.

So wait a second. You're telling me that this

guy bought some property, sight unseen. He just

bought property. Well, I bought this land. I

got to go find it. I got to go see it. I got

to figure out what this is. I remember as a child,

we used to go on vacation sometimes to like Myrtle

Beach from Knoxville, Tennessee. And inevitably

on the way home, my dad would say, okay, we're

going to stop by the property. We got to see

the property. Now, it wasn't our property. It

was some property that my grandfather owned in

Spartanburg. And I remember driving in circles

around Spartanburg trying to find this property

because it's... It's property. It all looks the

same, you know, and I'm not sure if we ever did

see the actual property or not. But this guy

says, well, I've bought some property. We need

to go and see it. I ask to have me excused. Please

excuse me. And then there's another excuse in

verse 19. Another said, I have bought five yoke

of oxen, and I'm going to test them. I ask you

to have me excused. So again, this guy bought

ten ox, ten cows. He hadn't seen them. He hadn't

used them. These are things that they would have

already had knowledge of. They would have already

known that there was property to be purchased,

that there was oxen that needed to get out and

experience the plow for the first time. This

wasn't something that just came up. Oh no, an

emergency. These were things that had been planned

ahead, and yet they didn't make any adjustment

for this invitation that they had received. And

then verse 20, the third one that is listed,

still another said, I have married a wife, and

therefore I cannot come. Again, was this an unexpected

event? Bring your wife along to the feast. Now,

in the Old Testament, there is a provision that

getting married could excuse you from certain

things, but it was just one certain thing. Anybody

know what it was? It was going to war. If you

had just been married in the last year, I think

it was, then you could be excused from having

to go off and fight so your new spouse would

not be a widow. But this is not a war. This is

lunch or supper. And no, I'm sorry, I just got

married. And he doesn't even ask to be excused.

He just flat out says, nope, I'm not coming.

I'm not coming to your event. I'm not coming

to your party. Two say, excuse me. One just says

no. But in the end, they all reject the invitation

that they had received. Just as it appears, these

Pharisees have been rejecting the life. and the

ministry of Jesus because they are watching him.

They are seeing how they can accuse him of something

even though they claim to think that they are

on the way to this supper in heaven. And we can

ask ourselves, what about us? What about the

spiritual invitation that we receive in our life

as we go through our day? as we spend time in

God's Word. Over and over, God speaks to us in

our life, in our heart, in the things that happen

to us as we go through our week. How do we respond?

Do we reject it? Do we say, oh, oh, I'm distracted

because I just got this new property, this new

car. or this new relationship that I'm in. There's

things that can distract, things that can pull

us in another direction. Oh, I'm too busy to

heed that invitation that God gives us. Here's

some of the invitations we find in Scripture.

Isaiah 55, verse 6. That whole chapter is incredible.

Isaiah 55:6

Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon

Him while He is near. What about Matthew 11,

28? Jesus says, come to me, all you who labor

and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.

An invitation from Jesus to cast our sins, to

cast our cares upon him. And then Revelation

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 and verse 20, it says, behold, I stand

at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice

and opens the door. There's the invitation. I'm

knocking. If you open the door, I'm going to

come in. I'm going to sit down. I'm going to

eat with you, and you can eat with me. There's

an incredible invitation that Jesus gives us

each and every day. How do we respond to those

invitations? In fact, in Revelation chapter 19,

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

this glory of heaven is actually written as an

invitation. Revelation 19, 9, it says, Then he

said to me, Blessed are those who are called

to the marriage supper of the Lamb. We have been

invited to something else, and yet so often we

reject. Maybe we don't come straight out and

reject it. Maybe we just say, Oh, please, please

excuse me. I'm busy today. I'm busy this week.

I'm consumed with other things. Or sometimes

we may just come straight out and say, no, I

don't want to have anything to do with this.

Back in Luke chapter 14, the servant made his

Luke 14 · chapter mention

rounds, called the people to the dinner, and

then he got all of these excuses. And it says,

so the servant came, he came back from his circuit,

came and reported these things to his master.

And the master of the house being, what's the

word there? Angry, said to his servant. The master

is angry because the people rejected this invitation

that he gave to come and eat, to come and feast.

An incredible invitation. And it was rejected.

And the master is angry. Now, I think that's

the human response. Because I think we see a

little bit different expression of a response.

From Jesus. Because we remember the story of

Jesus coming into Jerusalem. As he's coming in

that last week before the cross. And it said

that Jesus cried. He wept over Jerusalem. And

he said, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How long I

wanted to gather you. I wanted to gather you

to me. But you would not. So God. does not necessarily

get angry, but his heart is broken. And it says

that he desires that none should perish, but

that all should come to repentance. And that's

why God is patient and long -suffering with us.

And so in this story, the master gets upset,

and he sends this servant back on another mission.

He said to his servant, go out quickly into the

streets and the lanes of the city. and bring

in here the poor and the maimed and the lame

and the blind. It's the same group that Jesus

mentioned in verse 13. He said, go out. Close

by, it seems to be indicating. Go out quickly.

Bring this group in. Bring this group in that

most people would reject, that most people wouldn't

want to have anything to do with. Bring them

in to this supper, to this feast, because it's

been prepared, and we need people to be here.

And so I think we begin to see here that we're

not simply called to accept the invitation that

Jesus gives us, but I think Jesus is inviting

us to invite someone else to meet him, to know

him, to be part of this feast, to be part of

this celebration. Go quickly into the streets

and invite those that otherwise you may not even

think about it. And it doesn't tell us how long

this took, but the servant goes out to the streets

and lanes of the city, and then he comes back.

Verse 22, the servant said, Master, it is done,

just as you commanded. And still there is room.

I love that thought right there. There's still

room. Until Jesus comes, there is still room.

For each one of us. As we hear the invitation

of Jesus. As we accept that invitation of Jesus.

It doesn't matter what I've done in the past.

It doesn't matter what I've done today. But am

I accepting that invitation of Jesus? There is

always more room. In God's view, in God's perspective,

there are two kinds of people. Those that Jesus

loves, well, that's not right. In that era, in

that area, God loves everybody. God loves each

one of us. But there are two groups of people.

Those that have accepted the invitation, Jesus

loves them. And those that haven't yet accepted

the invitation, guess what? God loves them as

well. God loves each of us, but have we accepted

that invitation or not? There is still room,

the servant said. Notice what the master says

to the servant, verse 23, go out, go out, this

seems to be a little further, go out a little

bit further distance into the highways and the

hedges or the highways and the byways and compel

them to come in that my house may be filled.

And I think in the context here, this is where

Jesus is telling these Pharisees to go beyond

the people of Israel, to go to the Gentiles,

go out a little bit further, go out to the highways

and the hedges. And he says, go to those and

invite them to come in, compel them to come in.

Why? So that the house may be full. It's interesting

here. He says, go out. This seems to indicate

that we can't just sit and wait for people to

come to us. Do they see our invitation on Facebook?

Sure, they'll come. Do they drive by and see

our new sign that we have out here? Sure, hopefully

they'll come. But this says to go out and invite

someone else. To go out to... to Ringgold, to

go out to your place of business, to go out to

your neighborhood. There was a poll done a couple

of years ago by a group called Barna, and it

said that 80 % of the people indicated that if

they were invited to come to church by a friend,

that they would come. 80 % of people who don't

go to church that they polled said, if one of

my friends invites me, I'll go with them. I'll

check it out. And so we can't just wait for people

to come to us, but are we going out? And what's

that word? Compel them to come in. Now, this

doesn't mean, you know, a headlock, Hulk Hogan

style, and bring them to church. God is not a

God of force. God is a God of love. God never

forces us to do anything. So how can we compel?

Someone. What does that mean to compel someone?

Well, there's a couple ways you can look at that.

We can compel them with urgency. If we believe

Jesus is coming soon, and I believe Jesus is

coming soon, then our urgency. You've got to

hear this message. You've got to hear this gospel.

You've got to hear about this Savior. And then

a part of that is our excitement, our enthusiasm

for the gospel. How have we responded to it?

Do people see us excited about what Jesus has

done for us? And do they want to experience that?

And I think the greatest way is from our scripture

that we had today. John 12, verse 32. John 12,

John 12:32 John 12:32

verse 32. This is Jesus speaking in the week

of the cross, just a few days before the cross.

Jesus says, and I... if I am lifted up from the

earth, will draw all peoples to myself. That's

the best way of compelling someone is lifting

up Jesus, letting someone know about the incredible

matchless love of Jesus. It reminds me a little

bit of a little science experiment here. Let's

see if we can do this. I've got a couple things

right here. Magnets. You know, I read about how

magnets work, but I still don't know. But they

snap together, don't they? Some of you I know

have done different things and maybe seen a video

where they take a big magnet and they tie a string

on the end and maybe they'll go to a bridge over

a creek or a river and they'll throw that magnet

out there. and they'll begin to pull that rope

back in. Anybody know what that's called? Magnet

fishing. You're not trying to catch fish, but

as that magnet's coming back in, something will

stick to it. Oh, it's heavier now, and they pull

that rope back in. They pull that string back

in, and maybe it's just an old piece of metal

that fell off the bridge. Some of the videos

I've seen, it's been a bicycle that somehow fell

in the creek. A safe? Or maybe some sort of weapon?

A gun or a knife? Maybe somebody was trying to

get rid of it after, I don't know. But how does

that happen? Because the magnet compels the metal

to stick to it. And that's the compelling of

the love of Jesus. As people see that love of

Jesus, they're compelled to follow after him.

And they want, they're drawn to him. Now, you

know that with magnets, there's two sides, right?

And one side attracts, right? The opposites attract,

but what does the other side do? It repels, and

if you put the two sides together, you can't

push them together. And if we look at Jesus lifted

up on the cross as the ultimate positive, If

we see the negative, I'm a sinner. I'm in need

of a Savior. And I see Jesus, that ultimate positive,

then I'm drawn to Him. But sometimes we can look

at ourselves in a different way and say, you

know what? I'm not too bad. That Jesus thing,

no, I don't need Him. I'm pretty positive in

myself. And then as we look at our false positive,

compared to the true positive of Jesus, it does

not come together. But it's when we say, you

know what, I am a sinner. I am in need of grace.

That that cross of Christ will draw us, will

compel us to be with him. There's a statement

from the book Christ's Object Lessons. It says,

the last rays of merciful light, the last message

of mercy, The last message of mercy to be given

to the world, it doesn't say it's to scare somebody

about something. It doesn't say it's to tell

somebody about awful things that the future may

hold. It says the last message of mercy is to

reveal the character of His love. To be given

to the world is a revelation of God's character

of love. And so if we lift Jesus up, As we remind

people that the perfect Son of God came and lived

and died for us, lived and died for them. As

Jesus said, if I am lifted up from the earth,

I will draw all people to myself. People will

be compelled to see their need of a Savior because

of the incredible love of Jesus. So what about

us? Are we full of excuses today? Are we ready

to accept the invitation? that God gives us?

Are we excited about the grace that God has poured

out in our life? There was a young man with a

really cool name. His name was Hudson. This was

back in the 1800s. And Hudson grew up in a Christian

home over in England or Great Britain. And he

was a Christian growing up, but then he decided,

you know what, I don't believe in this anymore.

I don't accept this anymore. He started working

at a bank and making some money, and he began

to reject those things. But what he didn't know

is that his mama was still praying for him. There

was one afternoon that he had some free time,

and he was trying to find something to do. And

as he was making his way around town, he came

across a basket full of books. And as he was

going through them, he realized they were all

Christian books, gospel literature. And he thought,

well, these probably have an interesting story

in the beginning, and then it'll probably turn

into some sort of sermon at the end. So I'll

just read the interesting story, and then I won't

worry about the rest of it. And so he began to

read a book. And the story told of a miner, a

coal miner, who was dying of tuberculosis. And

as this man was on his deathbed, he was visited

by some Christians, and these Christians began

to tell him about... about Jesus. And this miner

was just shocked as it told stories about how

in his own body, Jesus bore our sins in his body

on the tree that we, having died to sin, might

live for righteousness. And these Christians

have begun to tell the man in this story about

the cross and about Jesus' dying cry upon the

cross where he said, it is finished. And as Hudson's

reading the story, his mind was, what? What is

finished? And he began to comprehend, perhaps

for the first time, that the significance of

Jesus' death on the cross, that what was finished

was his guilt for sin as he accepted Jesus as

his Savior. And as he read that story, he said,

God, Jesus, forgive me for what I have done.

Please be. my Lord and Savior. And it was about

two weeks before he saw his mother. And as he

went to where his mother was, he said, Mama,

I've got some good news for you. And she said,

I know. Because I was praying for you two weeks

ago, and suddenly a peace came over me, and I

had an inspiration that you had accepted Jesus

as your Lord and Savior. And Hudson, his last

name happens to be Hudson Taylor. And if you

haven't heard of him, a few years later, when

he was about 22, he went as a missionary to China.

And for about the next 50 plus years of his life,

he spent time in China and he created an organization

called the China Inland Missionary, where they

had trained and sponsored 800 missionaries to

go to China in the late 1800s. And thousands

and thousands of people gave their heart to Jesus

simply because one person, accepted an invitation

and wanted to share that same invitation with

others. Have you accepted the invitation today?

I want to close with one verse. It's almost the

last verse of the Bible. Revelation 22, verse

Revelation 22:17

17. One more invitation that the Bible gives

us. It says, The Spirit and the bride say, Come.

And let him who hears say, come. And let him

who thirsts, if you're thirsty for something

better, come. And whoever desires, whoever desires,

each one of us in here, whoever desires, let

him take the water of life freely. That is what

Jesus offers us. That is what Jesus offers you.

I hope that you will accept that blessed grace

of Jesus and that you'll share that. with somebody

else. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Dear God,

we thank you so much for all you have done for

us. You died for us. And it says if you are lifted

up, that you will draw all people to yourself.

So I want to pray for each one of us here. There

may be somebody here who is not walking with

you. Maybe they've turned in a different direction.

Maybe they've never accepted you as their Lord

and Savior. Lord, speak to them right now. And

may they, in the quiet of their own heart, just

say, Lord, I want to follow you. In your name

we pray.