"R.S.V.P."

Pastor Laura Guy

July 9, 2006

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We heard the Parable of the Banquet from Luke 14:15-24. The host prepared a lavish party for all his friends, and initially they all said they would come. But when it came time for the actual event, his "friends" all had flimsy excuses for why they couldn't come.
We thought about the excuses they used and how ridiculous they were - "I bought some land but I haven't seen it yet"; "I have some new oxen and I want to take them for a test drive"; and "I'm on my honeymoon." These excuses are so threadbare that the host was sure to catch the true meaning - "We don't want to come to your party." They not only snubbed this social event, they snubbed the friendship with the host.
We saw how the host became angry, and rightly so, when he saw that his so-called friends weren't friends at all. Since the banquet was ready, he told his servants to go get all the people in the streets, the ones who had never been invited to a party, and tell them to come in. When the host realized he couldn't celebrate with his friends, he decided to celebrate with people who would truly appreciate his generosity and extravagance.
We pondered over what Jesus wanted us to learn from this. If we see ourselves as good, church-going folks, then we're probably closest to the original invitees. Many of us have said with our mouth, "yes, Lord, we want to be a part of Your kingdom party!" But when God actually calls us to do something, when the rubber needs to meet the road, we come up with all kinds of excuses. It is not just a meal we miss out on, it is life itself, God's kingdom life. Our excuses can rob us of the greatest adventure, the greatest blessings, the greatest life we can ever know.
We prayed for forgiveness for all the excuses we have made and asked God to help us accept His gracious invitation.
We shared communion, the magnificent feast, around Christ's table, thinking about the connection between feelings of unworthiness and gratitude. You can't fully be grateful unless you're aware of how unworthy you are.
In Act(s) II, we looked at this same parable from Matthew's Gospel and compared the two versions with their different messages.