Those who Reject the Party

Scripture: Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, "What a privilege it would be to get into the Kingdom of God!" Jesus replied with this illustration: "A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When all was ready, he sent his servant around to notify the guests that it was time for them to arrive. But they all began making excuses ..." Luke 14:15-18a

Observation: In this parable, Jesus goes on to tell of how the rich man, angry that his invited guests will not come to the feast, sends out servants to invite anyone and everyone to the glorious party. They invite the weak, homeless, destitute, cripples, hidden, lost, ignorant ... literally anyone they can find. The point of the parable is that the invited people - the friends of the rich man ... aka the Jews - actually refuse to attend this extravagant party and make many meaningless excuses for NOT attending, and thus the rich man (God) invites the outcast (gentiles) to the party (heaven).

However, it is interesting to see the context of the parable, that being the exclamation of the person saying "what a privilege it would be be get into the Kingdom of God!" This man openly declares it would be great to get into heaven, and Jesus responds by pointing out that, for the pretext of relatively meaningless personal reasons, so many people who are invited into the the Kingdom of God will actually reject the invite.

People are told "come and enjoy a blissful eternity with the Lord, and all you have to do is show up," where 'showing up' involves believing in Jesus ... and instead they will say "no thanks, I would rather keep my head down and do my daily work here on earth until I die, ignoring God."

Application: I have witnessed this happen. I have seen people told "you can have a great life, and an eternal life of joy," and the listener responds "no thanks, that sounds stupid, and I know how the world works so I'll take care of myself." I was once that person, having actively decided that I had figured out how the world worked and didn't need to rich friend, or his party, and that maybe the friend didn't even exist in the first place so going to his party would make me a public fool.

The invited guests in the parable are doing just that, taking care of their earthly lives, too busy to ... you know ... attend an awesome, joyous party!

I must first ensure that I, personally, recognize that life with the Lord, and faith in Jesus, is in fact an awesome party, and that I am never, ever too busy in my daily life to miss out on that joy.

And I must find better ways of inviting others to the party. I would like to find ways of inviting them in a manner that they would be willing to set aside their earthly cares and check out the wonderful feast they are missing. If they refuse, I must also be willing to move on and invite others, those who are further away or less knowledgeable, in ever-expanding circles.

May will fill God's house!

Prayer: Lord, as we look to see whose hearts may have been stirred during the last year of struggles, may all your servants seek those to invite to your kingdom. We know of your joy, and of your great blessings. May be make the invitation to enjoy these same blessings known to more and more people. Amen.