Why People Need a Saviour But Say ‘No’

All right, we're going to discover in this text why people need a Savior and think about

why people say no.

Luke 14, verse 1.

Luke 14:1

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 the places 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'll 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'll 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, and so you'll be repaid.

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you'll

be blessed.

Although they cannot repay you, you'll 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'd been invited, come, for

everything is now ready.

But they all alike began to make excuses.

The first said, I've just bought a field, and I must go and see it.

Please excuse me.

Another said, I've just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out.

Please excuse me.

Still another said, I've just got married, so I can't come.

The servant came back and reported this to his master.

Then the owner of the house became angry and 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.

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

Then the master told his servant, 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.

Let's begin with the observation that the real Jesus often takes people by surprise.

I say the real Jesus because I was reminded this week, the English novelist G.K.

Chesterton, the first time as an adult he came to read the Gospels, he had in mind what to

expect.

He was expecting gentle Jesus.

He expected to encounter someone who was good, some kind of wise guru.

But as he tells of his conversion, he wrote that he discovered here was a man, the Son

of God, who was casting out demons, who was rebuking storms, someone who made a whip and

drove people out of the temple who were spoiling it with false worship, one who was confronting

his enemies.

Everybody needs to know the real Jesus.

Sometimes he surprises people.

In our story today, we see something of the strength of character of Jesus.

We meet Jesus deep in enemy territory.

On the surface, he's here having a nice meal, but we're told that his enemies are watching.

They are keen to lay a trap for Jesus.

But in the heart of this, Jesus takes on their hypocrisy, the hypocrisy of their organized

religion.

He exposes their double standards that they don't even adhere to the rules that they have

set up.

He targets their foolish, complacent pride.

And again, it would be really easy to come to this kind of story and to love it.

We love these kind of stories.

You know, the stick it to the man kind of story, the little guy taking on the institution.

And we can say, here is Jesus taking on the Pharisees in organized religion.

That was great.

It's a great story for then.

But what we need to do is to allow God's Word to speak to us, to let this meal become a mirror

on us and on our hearts today and right now.

Because when we do that, we'll discover that Jesus will help us to answer some important

personal questions.

We're going to see why do we need a Savior.

Those first 14 verses, Jesus shows not just the problem in society in the first century,

he reveals the ongoing problem in every human heart.

And at the same time, he's giving pointers to why Jesus the Savior, why he's the better

way.

But then following that with the story that he tells, we need to ask the question, why is

it that so many people say no?

No.

Here is the picture of the kingdom of God.

Here is Jesus inviting people to a feast to experience joy and generous grace.

So we need to think, what lies behind the rejection, the tragedy of saying no?

And as we do, we'll tie this to Advent and the two comings of Jesus that we need to think

about.

But let's begin with this first question, why do we need a Savior?

And we're going to look at these first 14 verses.

Now, I imagine some of you at least will have favorite figures in fiction.

There are books and characters you love.

For me, I love Hercule Poirot.

And I love, I don't care how kind of often it happens.

I love the climax of his stories, Agatha Christie's stories.

You have a whole room of suspects.

And you have Poirot controlling the room.

And the finger of suspicion points to each character until finally guilt is revealed.

Think about what's going on here.

Jesus is sharing a meal.

And we hear him talking to the whole room.

So in verse 3, we hear him talking to the religious leaders.

Then in verse 7, he talks to a fellow guest.

And then in verse 12, he turns to speak to the host.

So he's speaking to the whole room.

And he points out heart problems.

He points out the problem, exposes the guilt that lies within.

In this religious gathering, among a group of self-righteous and self-confident people,

people who would say, God will accept people like me, of course.

Jesus wants to burst that bubble.

When people are applying the wrong standard,

God will accept me because I'm living by my human rules,

but they've ignored God's holy law.

God's holy law, feeling satisfied in themselves while they're comparing across society

rather than comparing themselves against the holiness of God,

which should humble them and make them realize why they need a Savior.

So let's notice how Jesus diagnoses the problem, first of all, or diagnoses the problems.

First thing he notices is a lack of mercy.

In those first six verses, it's obvious.

There is a need of mercy.

There's a suffering man who comes in,

and he's suffering from this swelling,

so his joints and his body is in pain.

The first thing Jesus does is he asks a question.

We're surprised.

Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

Maybe we're asking, why would he even ask that question?

He asks that question because according to the religious leaders,

they would say, actually, it is against the law.

This isn't a life and death situation, so let's not spoil the Sabbath by showing mercy.

Come another day, suffering man.

How different is Jesus?

He understands God's law.

He understands God's heart.

And he knows mercy belongs every day, and especially on a Sabbath.

He also points out their double standards, doesn't he?

In verse 5, he says, listen, you know, if your child falls into a well or even your animal, you show mercy.

So why are you placing limits?

That's one of the horrible things that legalism does.

It strangles mercy.

But we need to understand that this isn't just a problem and an issue then.

We still live in a world where there is a lack of mercy in society.

Maybe we think about the treatment of migrants.

Maybe we think about the crimes of modern-day slavery.

Maybe we look closer to home, to our own ability to turn a blind eye to suffering when we see it in our streets or neighbourhood.

When we restrict kindness only to my kind of people.

Our world is still crying out for mercy, but where will mercy be found?

So he diagnoses a lack of mercy.

The second thing he diagnoses is a lack of humility.

Look at verses 7 to 11.

There's a particular situation that's happening.

So whenever there's a feast or whenever there's a wedding and you've got the table set, a U-shaped table,

and the top of the U, that was where the most important people sat,

they were rushing and people were fighting to get the best seat in the house.

Something we see every year, maybe even just when you go down to Prince's Street,

you know when the Boxing Day sales come on, it's every man for himself as the bargains come.

But that's what we're seeing in the feasts of Jesus' day.

And Jesus sounds a warning.

Just like gravity, what goes up must come down.

He says, beware, you take the best seat in the house and someone worthy of more honour comes,

you're going to end up at the bottom, humiliated.

Self-promotion and pride exposed by Jesus.

And again, perhaps we don't need to look too far to see the mirror exposing our hearts too.

My needs and my interests come first.

Perhaps it's the pressure of social media to show I am someone.

And in this way of living, not just in Jesus' day,

the weak will typically be those that get trampled on.

Those in power will typically be puffed up by pride.

And we'll all be competing to satisfy personal happiness.

A lack of humility leads to cruelty.

And then there's the lack of generosity that Jesus also diagnoses and exposes.

In the dinner party scene of the first century world,

there was this understanding,

well, if I invite you, you'll invite me back.

Here was a kind of generosity, but really it was self-serving.

It was generosity of a kind, but with strings attached.

I scratch your back, give you a nice meal.

You scratch mine, give me a meal in return.

And the problem that Jesus reveals is that this mentality

leaves no room for sacrificial generosity.

There was that need to leave behind the

what's in it for me mentality.

Recognizing that generosity needs to be costly,

not merely cozy.

It's easy to love those who love us and who are like us.

Jesus challenges us to go much further.

And so Jesus comes to this feast,

and he takes it as an opportunity to diagnose society

and to diagnose hearts.

And the problem is about a lack,

our lack,

of true mercy and humility and generosity.

As we compare ourselves to God's perfect law,

we're invited to recognize we don't reach God's perfect standard.

That if we are to enjoy acceptance,

if we are to enjoy life in the kingdom of God,

we don't look for ourselves for the answer.

We recognize we stand in need of the Savior.

And that's why it's good news that Jesus has come

as the solution,

as the Old Testament so often pictures

the promised King and Savior coming as the light of the world.

And light has that double function of exposing

and dispelling darkness.

Just think about how different Jesus is.

Think about the mercy of Jesus.

Jesus.

Everybody at that feast that day

saw the need of the suffering man.

But only Jesus,

verse 4,

took hold of the man and healed him.

His enemies remained silent.

Jesus didn't care what the others thought of him.

He didn't care that they thought this was the wrong thing to do.

He knew mercy matters.

He had come on a mission of mercy.

He was going to the cross

where he'd show mercy for needy and undeserving people like us

by dying in our place and for our sins.

Think about the humility of Jesus.

Compared to the people who are fighting for the best seat of the house,

Jesus lives,

verse 11,

those who humble themselves will be exalted.

We've been thinking about the journey of Jesus towards Jerusalem,

towards the cross,

but we can think of the journey of his whole mission,

leaving the eternal glory of heaven

to enter the womb of the virgin,

to be born to live as the suffering servant,

to live a life of perfect, loving obedience

that would climax with him dying,

to complete the plan of salvation

for sinners on the cross.

It's Philippians 2.

Think about the generosity of Jesus.

Luke's gospel, when you read it,

is so full of Jesus showing care

for the weak and the poor

and the marginalized and the excluded.

Jesus loves to show his generosity

to surprising people

because we're saved not by our merit.

We're saved not because of who we are

or our family background

or our religious background.

We're saved by God's free and loving kindness to us

in the Lord Jesus.

And Jesus is so generous to us.

When we put our faith in Jesus,

simply because of his loving kindness,

we have right standing before God.

We can be accepted.

We can draw near.

As a gift from Jesus,

by trusting in him,

we have forgiveness.

We are free of guilt.

God will never be angry at our sin

and place that anger on us

because that anger was met by Jesus on the cross.

Jesus gives us the gift of eternal life.

We get to know and enjoy life with God today

with the promise of knowing and enjoying

life with him forever.

Simply by a gift that we receive by faith,

we're brought into the family of God.

So when we compare and contrast what's happening,

it's almost like there's two feasts going on.

You know, we've seen the ugliness of legalism.

We've seen hard hearts towards suffering.

We've seen people fighting to be seen.

We've seen a focus on kindness

towards the people who can benefit us.

It's not a great picture, is it?

It's not a great window onto society.

It should stick in our throats in that sense.

But then we have Jesus at the feast

showing us a better way,

a way of love,

a way that satisfies.

That in his mercy is the answer to our spiritual need,

ultimately dealing with our separation from our God

because of our sin.

In his humility, we have a king,

but a king who serves,

who will suffer and die,

who will be exalted on a cross

so that by his grace,

we might be exalted to glory.

And in his generosity,

the entry to the feast of God

is opened up.

A world of eternal joy

for us to experience

future resurrection life.

And so at this feast,

and as we think about

why do we need a savior,

we're invited to see

that Jesus holds out the promise

of a better world.

It's an invitation to use our imagination for a moment.

Imagine a world.

Imagine a kingdom.

Imagine a community like this

where the unimportant are really valued.

Where sacrificial kindness was extended.

Where people really believed that the way up

is by going down.

That we practiced genuine humility,

glad to serve others.

Where hospitality became an expression

of God's grace and kindness to us.

What a wonderful society that would be.

How attractive that would be.

And you know, the church,

we as the people of God,

we're called to this life.

We're called to be the light of the world,

attracting others to Jesus,

the light of the world.

We are called to bless others

as we have been blessed.

To give people a window

into the hope and the joy

that Jesus himself offers.

It's our calling as we follow the way of our savior

with the help of the spirit.

As we wait for his return

to set up this kingdom

and this kingdom that will never end.

So he shows us why we need a savior.

Because the problem in our hearts

and he presents himself as the answer.

Are we trusting in Jesus and his salvation?

We turn from sin

to place our hope in him.

Takes us to our second question.

Why do people say no?

This is from verse 15 onwards.

Again, notice that Jesus uses his setting.

He's at a meal,

so he tells a parable about a feast.

There's a statement in verse 15,

blessed is the one who'll eat at the feast

in the kingdom of God.

And he takes that

and he makes the parable about that,

but he also wants to challenge

everyone who's listening.

If you think there really is blessing

to be found in God's kingdom,

are you part of God's kingdom?

Have you received his grace?

Have you received his savior?

So let's get into our parable together.

And maybe to help us,

let's get into the first century world

just for a moment.

So this is a story of a feast

and of invitations.

Now we know when we get an invitation,

maybe we'll get it through the post

and it will say,

here's the date,

here's the time,

be there, RSVP.

They didn't have clocks

in the first century.

Timing worked a bit different.

So there was in the sense

a double invitation.

Servants would be sent.

In a few days' time,

there's going to be a great banquet.

Do you want to come?

If you say yes,

there'll be a second invitation.

The servants would then go again

and say,

now the banquet's ready.

Now's the time to come on over.

So that's what's happening here

in our parable.

We also need to get into

the first century mindset.

Some of us,

this is easier than others

depending on our culture.

Because remember,

this is an honor and shame society.

And in an honor and shame society,

it's a terrible thing.

It's an awful thing

to cause someone to lose faith.

To dishonor someone

and to do that publicly.

And that's exactly what we see

from the folks who say no

to the invitation.

So there's a real power

in Jesus' parable here.

First, there's a wonderful invitation

that's given.

Look at verse 16.

A certain man was preparing

a great banquet

and invited many guests.

Okay, so it's an elaborate,

wonderful feast,

great provision.

And it's a very generous host.

Many people are invited.

And actually,

Jesus will show just how generous he is

that when the first people say no,

he is determined to fill his house

with people who will say yes.

Yes.

But the other power of the story

is to recognize the shock

when the guests say no.

And they make these really lame,

false excuses.

Nobody buys a field

without checking to see

if it's usable.

Nobody buys oxen for farm work

without checking to see

if those animals will be good

for the job that they were called to.

And just because a person gets married

doesn't mean you say no

to all your pre-existing arrangements.

They're shaming their host.

And at the same time,

they're missing out on the feast.

Let's hope that goes away.

There we go.

So we've got a double shot going on.

The first is,

why in the world would anyone say no?

Why would anyone say no

to a feast?

And remember,

this is a parable about the kingdom.

Why would anyone say no

to King Jesus

and his love and salvation?

Why would anyone say no

to belonging to God,

to receiving his grace and kindness,

to a feast of joy

that lasts forever?

It seems so shocking.

But the second shock

is when we see just how determined

this man is

to welcome people

into the feast.

Think about that in verse 21.

The servants come back and say,

oh, these guys have made their excuses.

The owner of the house

became angry

and ordered the servant.

And we might expect

ordered a servant to,

you know,

shut the thing down,

quickly into the streets and alleys,

bring in the poor,

the crippled,

the blind,

and the lame,

invite the lowest and the least.

It's like in verse 13,

because this is God's feast,

because this is grace.

This is God loving

to save and to welcome

unexpected,

undeserving people.

And then in verse 23,

when it's discovered

that there's still room

at the feast,

go out to the roads

and country lanes

and compel them to come in

so that my house will be full.

People are just walking on by,

strangers who don't even know

the person that's running the feast,

who need to be persuaded,

who think this seems

too good to be true.

Compel them to come in.

I want people to share my joy.

Here's a picture of the generous,

joyful heart of God

who loves to save people

and welcome them into his kingdom.

The kingdom of God

will be a full house,

will be feasting.

But while some people share the joy,

some will be outside,

because they rejected

God's king and savior.

They dishonored God

by saying no

to his offer of salvation.

And we need to think about

why would that be the case?

Why would anyone do that?

Let's think about worth

and wonder

for a few moments.

Let's think about worth,

for example.

I think one reason

why people might say no

is that people don't see

Jesus as worth following,

worth living for.

Maybe you're here today

and you're not a Christian

and you're not sure

what's the fuss about Jesus.

Other things seem

much more compelling.

Jesus in Matthew 6,

Matthew 6:33

verse 33 said,

where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also.

Think about the excuses

that were given.

There was one person saying,

my stuff comes first.

My work comes first.

My relationship in this moment,

it has greater worth to me

than the invitation

that you gave to me.

This is my treasure.

So I'm rejecting your offer.

Thanks very much.

And that's something

that we're doing all the time.

We assign value ratings to things.

I think this is really valuable.

I'm not so bothered about this.

One man's trash

is another man's treasure.

We're always looking for something

to find our hope,

our security,

and our joy in.

And the value that we place

determines our behavior,

determines our dreams.

And Jesus in this story

warns us

against finding

all our worth and value

in what is small

and what is temporary

so that we would ignore

the invitation to the feast.

Because remember,

that feast isn't just

a one-time party.

This is about the kingdom of God.

This is about eternal life

of being with God

in His perfect world forever.

Because Jesus knows

that worth is connected

to worship.

What we value most

is what we choose to worship,

what we build our life,

our security,

our hopes and dreams on.

And so Jesus in this story

is saying,

don't choose created things,

the property,

the job,

family,

good things,

they're not God things.

Don't choose those

over God's invitation

to salvation

through faith in Jesus.

Because Jesus wants us

to be part of this feast,

to hear this invitation

and to respond positively

so that we would know

living hope and joy,

that we would enjoy life

with our God.

people say no sometimes

because they don't see the worth.

Another reason people say no

maybe connects to the sense

of wonder,

where we either miss

or we lose a sense

of the wonder

of who Jesus is

and why Jesus came.

Perhaps there's especially

a problem if we've been

around the church

or in a religious community.

Maybe you know the saying,

familiarity breeds contempt.

You know,

we live in one of the most

beautiful cities in the world.

People will travel

from all over

and we'll take photos

of everything

and we'll get in our way

for the next wonderful scene.

But if we've lived here

for a while,

I imagine

we take it for granted.

These are our streets.

This is where we live.

The view that blew us away

once upon a time

after a few days,

it fades.

It's okay when it comes

to a city.

But it's awful

when it comes to God

and His good news.

It's like the people

in the parable saying,

wow, to a new ox.

Oh, I'm so excited

about my new field.

But I'm saying no

to God

and His invitation

to joy.

I want to say,

wow,

to a new device

or the next big thing

and say whatever.

to the coming of God's Son

into the world.

We don't want to miss

the heart-stopping wonder

of the journey

of Jesus.

Because what we have

here is a reminder.

Remember,

who is Jesus?

He is the eternal Son of God.

Created all things.

And now He's walking

in this world

that He created.

And as He walks

and as He works,

the power of God

is breaking in

every miracle,

a signpost

to what the kingdom

of God is like.

A place free

of suffering

and sin

and despair.

And Jesus is on a journey.

He is the sinless Savior.

But He's going to walk

to a cross

to take the place

of sinners.

He is going to experience

the anger of God

that we should know.

He is going to face

on the cross

that sense of separation

from God

that we should know

for all eternity.

He is going to take

our punishment

in dying to forgive sins

on the cross.

And He does it gladly

to complete the Father's plan.

But then three days later,

that same glorious Lord

will rise

on the third day

in victory

over the forces

that hold us

prisoner.

Our fear of death.

Jesus defeats death.

Our sin that brings guilt

that separates us

from God.

Jesus defeats

sin.

Light defeats

darkness.

And from there,

Jesus will then ascend

to take the throne

of heaven

where He sits

and He rules

and He reigns

and He's establishing

and maintaining

His church.

But one day

He's going to come back again.

And everyone's going to see Him.

And He's going to establish

the new heaven

and the new earth.

The world that we all want

will be ours to enjoy

if we trust in Him

as the Savior

that we need.

We have a great opportunity

in this season

of thinking about

the first coming

and the second coming

of Jesus,

of celebrating

as we wait

for His return.

And we have in this story

an invitation

to discover

the wonder of Jesus,

to worship Jesus,

to treasure Him

above all.

As He says to us,

listen,

the feast is ready.

He has done everything

by way of preparation.

He's been born,

He's lived a perfect life,

He's died,

He's risen,

He's ascended,

He's sent the Spirit.

And He invites each one of us

today,

come to the feast,

come into the kingdom,

come to Him as Savior,

turn from sin

and trust in Him

because He is the Savior

we all need.

And He would say to us,

please don't say no.

Let's pray.

Our Father,

we thank You again

for another picture

that Jesus gives

of the kingdom

in His life

and ministry.

We thank You so much

for His mercy,

for His humble service,

for His generous grace.

We thank You

for the picture

of the kingdom of God

as a feast

to enjoy.

Thank You for that picture

of Your generosity

of inviting

the lowest

and the least,

the weak

and the poor,

inviting people like us.

Lord,

we pray

that we wouldn't be

those who say

no,

who make excuses,

who find

other things

more worthy

of our attention

than the Lord Jesus.

But rather,

we would joyfully,

in amazement,

take our seats,

take our places.

Lord,

help us all

to respond,

to be turning

from sin,

to be turning

from those other things

that we look to

for satisfaction,

to trust in Jesus,

to live with faith

and to live with joy

as we anticipate

His return

and His kingdom

to come.

Amen.

Now,

let's close

our time together

singing the hymn,

Come Behold

the Wondrous Mystery.

And the words

are up on our screens

and we can stand

together

to sing.

come behold the wondrous mystery

in the dawning of the King.

Come Behold the wondrous mystery

in the dawning of the King,

be the theme of heaven's praises

robed in frail humanity.

In our longing,

in our darkness,

now the light of life has come.

Look to Christ who condescended,

took on flesh to ransom us.

come behold the wondrous mystery,

he the perfect Son of Man.

in his living,

in his suffering,

never trace nor stain of sin.

See the true and better Adam

come to save the hell-bound man,

Christ the great and sure fulfillment

of the law,

in him we stand.

Come behold the wondrous mystery,

Christ the Lord upon the tree.

In the stead of ruined sinners,

hangs the Lamb in victory.

See the price of our redemption,

see the Father's plan unfold,

bringing many sons to glory,

grace unmeasured,

love untold.

Come behold the wondrous mystery,

slain by death,

the God of life.

But no grave could e'er restrain him.

Praise the Lord, he is alive.

What a foretaste of deliverance,

how unwavering our hope,

Christ in power resurrected,

as we will be.

Amen.

Amen.