Second Sunday after Trinity June 5, 2016
Trinity 2
Luke 14:15-24
June 5, 2016
“Right Now”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
In the Gospel reading today Jesus tells about a man who throws a great banquet. Jesus doesn’t say what the banquet’s for. But in Matthew’s version of the parable, Jesus says it’s a wedding banquet for a king’s son. So we might very well assume this is a big wedding reception.
We’re, of course, in wedding season again, aren’t we? Don’t know if any of you have weddings you’re planning to attend this summer. A few of our members are down in Florida, I believe it is, attending a family wedding this weekend. Middle of July I have a cousin getting married in Southern IL. We’re excited about that.
Just want to get in your mind again how these things usually go. When you’re invited to a wedding party. We usually are well aware of the wedding a long time in advance. Now, of course, there are exceptions to that when people get married quicker. But usually we know a long time ahead. Sometimes even more than a year in advance. We received a “save the date” for my cousin’s wedding quite a long time ago, toward the beginning of the year. And of course, we actually knew about it through the family long before that. Then came the invitation a few weeks ago and I sent back our R.S.V.P. telling them that all six of us would be attending. This is how it goes…
All of this, of course, is for good order. This gives them plenty of time to plan. Plenty of time to make sure there’s enough food. And enough seating. And enough beer. It gives all the guests plenty of time to clear their schedule. To make travel arrangements. To buy a gift. To make sure you’ve got something nice to wear. This is the way we do it. We prepare. We plan. We invite. We R.S.V.P. We attend. It’s all in good order.
Now let’s say none of that happened. Let’s say that you wake up on a nice Saturday morning this summer with no particular plans. You mess around for a while with different things. Have lunch. But then you get this urgent phone call. You’ve just had lunch and the phone is ringing. It’s a close relative of yours. A good friend. You’ve known her for a long, long time. And she says, “Hey, will you come to my wedding today? Everything’s ready. It starts at one o’clock and the reception is right afterward. Will you come?” Now you’re going to think what?
You’re gonna think, “Why in the world are you just telling me this right now? It’s twelve-thirty. What’s the matter with you? I can’t just come to a wedding at the drop of a hat? I mean, I need some heads up. I need some time. Some warning. I need time to clear my schedule. Time to get a gift. I need time to get dressed. Time to find the right thing to wear. This is crazy.”
Now we think that’s crazy and we’d probably tell her, “I don’t know if I can make it.” But now wrap your head around this—that’s exactly what happens in Jesus’ parable. Exactly. All the people that show up for the banquet are people who woke up that morning without a clue about it. They didn’t plan for it. They didn’t buy gifts. They didn’t send an R.S.V.P. They just came. Right now. They came.
And the people that were invited a year ago, the folks who got the “save the date”, who got the invitations, who mailed the R.S.V.P.’s, who all knew about it way in advance—these are the ones that don’t come. These are the ones who give all the excuses why they can’t be there.
And the excuses, as you can see, are so ridiculous. They’re foolish. How would you feel if people gave these excuses for missing your wedding or for missing your daughter’s wedding? Just bought and field and have to go look at it? What? You’d say, “We invited you months ago. Can’t the field wait?” Or you’d say, “What kind of person buys a field without looking at it first?” It’s nonsensical.
Just bought some oxen and you have to go examine them? What? Maybe today it would be I just bought a car or just bought a tractor and I have to go examine it? And you’d say again, “Who buys a car without examining it first?” That’s just silly. Can’t the oxen wait until tomorrow?
And then the last guy’s excuse—I’ve got a wife. So what? So do I. It’s not like he just married her today because there’s no way they’d have two wedding celebrations on the same day in a town like this. Do you see it? All the excuses are absurd. They’re just made up. They’re worthless. The bottom line is—they don’t want to go to the banquet right now. Maybe a month ago it sounded alright. But right now? No. And yet, all the folks invited today can’t wait to come.
See, it’s really not about your plans or your intentions or your friendly desires. It’s about right now. Are you gonna come right now to the wedding banquet? Everything’s ready. Whether you’ve been planning to come forever or whether you just heard the invitation at 12:30. Come right now.
The master of this banquet is God Himself and He has invited you to come join in His party. Not only has He invited you but He has invited every single person everywhere. The Gospel is for everyone. You don’t have to meet any certain requirements, certain age, certain color skin, certain income, certain dress, certain anything. The whole town is invited.
And the food for this feast is the very Son of God—sacrificed on the cross for our sins. The food is His Word which we hear and read from the Scriptures, which gives us faith, which forgives our sins, and gives us love for one another. The food is right here on the altar—Christ’s body and blood—given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.
God invites you to His party every Sunday and every single day as well. He wants you to be part of His royal family and to eat His food—which is His Word—every single day. He wants you to ask anything you need of Him—anything at all—in prayer. He wants you to bring all your cares and concerns to His throne so that He may answer them. He wants you to sit at His feet here every Sunday morning and party and sing and eat and listen and receive full forgiveness of all your sins. He wants you to come—right now!
And yet here’s where the excuses start to pile up for us. See, we’re so often like the people invited way ahead of time. We have the best of intentions. The best of plans. Oh, yes, I think that’s a fine idea to read God’s Word, to pray, to do devotions, to go to Church, to receive the Lord’s Supper. We send in our R.S.V.P.’s. “Oh, yes, Lord, I’ll plan to be there.” But the moment of right now comes and we say, “Excuse me, I’m not ready.”
Please excuse me, Lord, I’m not ready to give up every Sunday morning. Please excuse me, Lord, but I don’t have time like we scheduled to read your Word today. Please excuse me, Lord, but I haven’t had time to really plan out when I’m going to pray. Please excuse me, Lord, but I’ve been working so hard all week at my sinning that I need Sunday morning to sleep in and do my own thing. Please excuse me, Lord, but Sunday morning is this sports tournament that only comes once or twice a year and I would just hate for my kid to miss out on this opportunity. Please excuse me, Lord, but I don’t have time right now to trust you—I’m too busy figuring everything out myself. Maybe later.
What are these excuses? They’re silly. Is there any good reason that you’d skip out on the best party in town? It’s not like you didn’t know that Sunday morning is church. It’s kinda been scheduled for like—forever. Long before any sports or any party the night before. And it’s not like you didn’t know about praying today. You’ve also kinda known about that invitation for like—forever. What are these excuses? Is there any good excuse to miss out on God’s party? No, there’s not.
We seem to accept that there are good excuses for missing church. For not praying and so forth. But there’s not. Now there are people that simply just cannot make it. And we accept that. Maybe a soldier serving overseas and he can’t physically make it to church. We accept that. But he knows he’s still missing out on the party. And he wishes he were here. Or maybe someone who is homebound and can’t physically make it here. We accept that. But at the same time, they know they’re missing out on the party. And they wish they were here. Or someone who has to work. We accept that has to happen sometimes. But they’re missing out.
If you’re not here Sunday morning, you’re missing out. I’m really hopeful that we will take the leap soon to start having the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. I don’t like people missing out. Ever. We don’t want people finally making it to church after whatever reasons they haven’t made it—and then we don’t have the Lord’s Supper for them. The party is right now. Not just the 1st and 3rd Sundays. WE are missing out on this one.
Now go back to excuses. Look at the people who come to the banquet in Jesus’ parable. The poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame. Start with the poor. When they get invited, are they going to say, “Sorry, I just bought a field.” No, they don’t have any money to buy a field. They don’t even have money for food. There’s no way they’re going to turn down this feast.
And the crippled and lame? Are they going to buy oxen? There’s no way they can work oxen. They would say, “What kind of an excuse is that? There’s no way they’re going to miss this party. And the blind? Are they going to go examine their field or oxen? They don’t care what those things look like. They can’t see them. But they know a good party. And they’re not going to miss it.
And what about us sinners? What about us blind, crippled, and poor people? Is there any excuse right now why we wouldn’t be here? What about you who have been angry at someone all week and can’t forgive? What about you who have judged people all week because you don’t like what you see in the mirror? What about you who have lost a loved one? What about you who is lonely? What about you, blind and crippled by sin? Come to the party! Come to the banquet! Right now.
See, we often don’t come because we plan to come later. Oh, I’ll deal with that sin that’s destroying my soul and my life later on. I’ll make some plans. Oh, I’ll repent of those grudges that are harming my wife or my husband later on. Not right now. Oh, I’ll pray to the Lord when things are quieter. Not right now. Oh, I’ll go talk to the pastor about the burdens of my soul later on when I happen to run into him. Not right now.
If that’s you in any way, then you’re being invited right now. The banquet is ready. Jesus is ready for you. For this wedding, you don’t have to plan or prepare. You don’t need to bring any gift. You don’t need to dress up in any way. Just come. Success is just being here.
The Lord judges success in such a different way. It’s not how many fields you’ve bought. How many oxen you own. Who you married. Success is just being here. You, friends in Christ, are a success. You are here at the party. God invited you and you’re here. You came. Right now. And you are enjoying this feast of God’s Word and forgiveness.
Jesus has invited you and there’s nothing that could keep us away from Him. Even if it’s 12:30, we’re not dressed, and we don’t have a gift—we’re going to be at the banquet. Because it’s here that everything wrong is made right. It’s here that we are loved and forgiven and fed and strengthened. No excuses. We’ll be here. Right now. Amen.