“Jesus’ Big Party” - Luke 14:7-14
September 2, 2007
Dr. Michael C. Yarbrough

          Back in the early 90’s, when I lived in the Dallas, Texas area, I occasionally read a newspaper column called “Miss Manners.”  I haven’t noticed whether the Star carries her column or not.  Each column would answer a different question on the correct etiquette in social situations.  As far as I know, she never got a question like this:

          In high society, successful dinner parties are a social art.  Decorations and music are a “must.”  You’ve got to put together an appropriate menu, figure out the right mix of guests to invite, and decide where everybody will sit.

          Things were not much different in Jesus’ day.  “Mr. Perry C.” – I mean, a Pharisee, invited Jesus to a dinner party that turned out to be a disaster.  The Pharisee was probably a man of great wealth and social standing.  This guy was experienced – he knew how to throw a party.  I can’t understand why he invited a loose cannon like Jesus.  Maybe he was hoping to put Jesus in a tough spot with deep theological questions, or hoped to expose him as an uneducated country bumpkin from Galilee.  Maybe he just thought adding Jesus to the normal high society mix would liven things up a bit in what might have been an otherwise dull evening.

          Just before dinner, Jesus turned to his host with some unwelcome party planning advice.  And Jesus wasn’t even very diplomatic about it.  This was no little discrete aside.  He shared his party tips right there in front of everybody.  “Look,” he said, “when you throw one of these dinner parties, don’t just invite your friends and relatives or your buddies from work and church.  When you put together the invitation list, include the losers, the social disasters, the down and outers.  Invite strangers and people who can’t even afford to have a dinner party to reciprocate.  Stick to these party guidelines and you will be richly rewarded in heaven.”

          I imagine that stunned silence greeted Jesus’ advice.  In the awkwardness of the moment, someone thought to raise a toast.  “Here’s to that final feast of which my good man here speaks!  Blessed are those who will eat at the great feast of the Lord in the sweet here after!”

          But the words were like a key in a car starter, and really got Jesus going again.  He told a parable.  A certain man prepared a gigantic dinner party.  He invited a distinguished list of guests.  On the evening of the dinner, when the steaks were ready for the grill and the champagne was chilled, he sent out his servants to bring the guests.

          The servants returned with empty limos and lame excuses.  One guest sent word: “I’ve just closed a last minute real estate deal.  Business requires my personal attention.  Sorry – maybe another time.”  Another guest said, “Wow – this timing’s just not gonna’ work for me right now.  I’ve bought a new team of oxen, and I need to take ’em out for a test drive before I turn them over to the servants for fieldwork.  Count me out.  P.S. – fondest regrets.”  Still another claimed to discover that his new wife just didn’t like parties, and his husbandly duties required that he stay home and keep her company.  The list of excuses left the snubbed host in a snit.

          There is no doubt that the host in Jesus’ parable is God.  The party in the story is a big end of the world extravaganza that God has planned for humanity.  The prophet Isaiah had a vision of that party in his oracle where he said, “The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food, a banquet of choice wine, the best meats and the finest wines.” (25:6)

          But – oh, those excuses!  You just don’t turn God’s invitation down!  Those with excuses – even good ones – you’ve heard them and said them all before – will miss the party.  The best and the brightest – the very ones you would expect to be there are going to miss the heavenly feast.

          We would expect that evil in our lives might keep us from God’s banquet – behaviors like marital infidelity – or murder – or addictions – or violence – or greed – or hatred.  Everyone can probably understand that those behaviors would separate us from God.  But Jesus’ story implies that some seemingly innocent things can too.

          The good things of our lives edge God out subtly.  We might delay prayer or Bible study to watch our favorite sitcom or read a novel.  We find our love of the lake and our boat demanding our attention on Sundays.  The cottage, the new house, recreation, or any number of good things can come between God’s invitation and us.  “I’ve swung a deal on a new SUV – sorry!”  “I’ve got to work on Sunday to wrap up the paperwork on that deal closing on Monday.”  “I’ve got to go in early and stay late tonight to finish up that report the boss needs at the end of next week.”  “I can’t be generous because my savings have really taken a hit in the stock market downturn.”  “I’ve just started college, and so I’ve got a lot of stuff to do and need to get settled in.”  “I’ve just gotten married.  Maybe we’ll get back to church after we have children – or when the children are older.”  It is often the good things we own, the jobs we do, the responsibilities we have, and the relationships we cherish that come between God and us.

          And when we decline God’s invitation, we dishonor God.  If I were God, I’d just cancel the party.  But God’s ways are not my ways.  In Jesus’ parable, the host sent his servants out into the alleys and streets to round up some guests.  They picked up the prostitutes, the blind, and the panhandlers.  This was the crowd with severe body odor and no manners.  These were the mental cases and the addicts.  These were the scandals of the community: the diseased – the defective – the destitute.  They are the ones who “woke up that morning expecting nothing – if not worse.”

          Can you imagine the horror in the hearts of the Pharisee’s dinner guests as Jesus described this new party guest list that reflects God’s kingdom?  Those at the head tables are moved to the back of the room and the dishonored and the despicable are seated in the place of honor.  Feasts are thrown for the homeless, the helpless and the poor.  The crippled are given the comfortable plush couches in the front room near the choicest portions of food.  The lame and the blind get to go through the buffet line first, and everybody else eats the leftovers.  I would guess that the Pharisee was probably sorry that he had ever invited Jesus to dinner.

          Just in case you were wondering, you and I will not be getting an invitation to the Pharisee’s dinner party.  We don’t make the cut.  We aren’t rich enough – or pretty enough – or live in the right neighborhood – or know the right people.  I hope that you’re not too disappointed.  But – guess what?  We have an invitation to another banquet – a better banquet – an eternal banquet!

          Through the unexplainable grace of God, we are being gathered into the dining room of the greatest mansion of all.  It is a grace that invites the poor, the rejected, the crippled, and the blind to the greatest party in the world.  Come on in!  Hey – isn’t it great to be invited?

          Let us pray:

          Gracious God – Generous Host; we spend so much energy in our lives scrambling for the best seats at the best table.  We want to be number one, or at least very close to the one who is number one.  Gracious God – Generous Host; turn us from our self-seeking ways.  Help us to find our place among the lowest and the least.  It is in your Servant-Son’s name we ask it.

Amen.