Hey good morning friends, thanks for joining us online today. It is a special day for us here at Men and Hills. If you're with us regularly, you know that the church building is actually closed today. But the church, well, the church is more alive than ever right now, as it's gathering at a private lake in Long Valley for our annual church picnic and baptism celebration.
Yet, our online community is super important to me and to our church. And look, I get it, for many of you, there are real reasons that limit your ability to connect with this in person. There's no doubt that schedules and sickness and distance are practical realities for so many of you who watch the messages here at Men and Every Week. And so this morning, as our church gathers in person for our annual baptism banquet, I've prepared a special message for you, our online community this morning.
And believe it or not, it's about another banquet that you've been invited to, and you can respond without even leaving your house. If you're a regular with us, you know that we've been working our way through the first century physician, turn first-rate historian Dr. Luke's account of Jesus' second act, his post-resurrection ministry. His research, Luke's research and records are contained in what we call the Book of Acts in the New Testament.
This Luke, he's the same Luke whose first book is, well, it's self-titled in one of the four Gospels in the New Testament. Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. And Luke records a parable that Jesus taught about, banquets and invitations. And I want to share it with you this morning.
Here's what he discovered and what he reports. One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. Now, some of you know that the Pharisees, they were influential religious people, a sect within Judaism, in the time of Jesus and the early church. And they were known for their emphasis on the keeping of the law.
And by the law, I don't mean just the Ten Commandments, but the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of laws both written and oral. It was what they thought made them righteous and acceptable to God. And Jesus, well, because he prioritized people over those laws, he was a constant frustration for them. So most of the encounters that you read about the Gospels between Jesus and the Pharisees, they occur because the Pharisees are trying to trick them up on the law and discredit them amongst the people.
And that's why at this banquet, they are watching him closely. Now, Luke, he reports that at this banquet, Jesus looks around and, quote, when you notice how the guests pick the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable. When somebody invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor for a person more distinguished than you might have been invited. And if so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, give this person your seat, then humiliated.
You're going to have to take the least important place. But when you're invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he'll say to you, friend, move up to a better place. And then you'll be honored in the presence of all the other guests. Now, I mean, this is a pretty funny story, right?
If you think about it, you can picture it. It's almost like a Seinfeld skit where you can see this happening to George Costanza. He comes in and he takes the best seat at the wedding, and in front of everybody, he's got to keep getting up and moving back further and further in the room. And so Jesus is offering George and all of us some practical advice.
Listen, take the worst seat and then you can only look good. But then he ends this practical advice with a profound spiritual truth. For all of those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humbled themselves will be exalted. Guys, it's a kingdom principle for Jesus.
It wasn't really about the seat, it was about the sinner. It was about his pride and lack of humility. In the kingdoms of this world, in the societies and cultures and countries in which we live, and maybe now more than ever, it's all about self-exultation, right? Self-aggrandizement.
How do I grow my brand, my audience, my influence? I mean, it's everywhere. And like with most things, the internet is kind of taking that desire for fame and supercharged it. If you're not aware of the surge in the pursuit of fame and celebrity online, just ask your kids about it.
They'll let you know about the power and the prestige of so-called social media influencers. And it's not just about power and prestige, it's also about profit too. According to the news site Vox, a micro-influencer, that's defined as somebody with 10,000 to 50,000 followers, they can earn anywhere between 40 and $100,000 a year. Influencers with millions of followers, they on the other hand, they are in tens of thousands of dollars per post.
You see it in this kingdom, the kingdom of the earth. We exalt the proud and we discount the humble. I mean, the humble in the social media world, they come cheap. But Jesus, over and over again, he says in his kingdom, the one that's here now in part, but one day will be in full.
In his kingdom, it's different. In his kingdom, it's the meek and the merciful who are blessed. And it's the proud who will be humbled. I mean, of course it's different, right?
Just look at the life of Jesus. He's the most powerful person who ever lived. And yet he's the most humble servant ever. Well, the banquet continues and Jesus tells them another story.
And again, it's all about pride and humility. Worldly values and kingdom values. Here's what he said. When you give a lunch in or a 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, you invite the poor, the cripple, the lame, the blind, and you'll be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you'll be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. You see, in the kingdom of the world, it's all about who we can get to come to our party, who we can be seen with and associated with, what contacts we can make, the relationships that we can leverage.
And Jesus is king of it's very different. In fact, in the first century world, they thought that those who were poor or lame or crippled, they deemed them impure or cursed by God. There were actually laws prohibiting them from the party. But Jesus's kingdom was just so radically different.
They're the guests of honor. And then finally, as he's sitting around with all of these Pharisees, he tells this one last story. It's about banquets and pride and humility. And this one involves you and me and our invitation.
Here's what Luke wrote. He said that when one of those at the table, one of the Pharisees, with him heard this, he said that Jesus blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. Again, likely a Pharisee sitting at the table, he didn't like all of this talk about the poor and the lame and the crippled being invited. And so he decides to test Jesus with his assertion.
Now, according to theologian Kenneth Bailey, in his book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, what would have been expected to be Jesus's response, this renowned rabbi, he should have asserted back something like, oh, that we might keep the law in a precise fashion so that when that great day comes, we will be counted worthy to sit with the Messiah and all true believers at his banquet. The reclining guests, if Jesus said that, would have nodded approvingly and thought to themselves, well, that's great, he passed our exam. Now let's move on to the next topic. But Jesus, he responds very differently.
In fact, he responds with another story. And your invitation, Jesus replies that a certain man was preparing a great banquet and he invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, come for everything is now ready. And so now I need you to see two things have happened there.
The first is this man had invited to his banquet, many guests. And in their culture, just like in our culture, the man had sent out an invitation prior to make sure that he had an accurate head count. I mean, we do that now, right? We send out invitations and we expect an RSVP.
In that culture, it would have been done either face to face, right? Or as you see in this story, it would have been done by a servant who would have done the inviting and the head counting. And so this man, this banquet holder, is a man of affluence. He after all has a servant and he has a head count.
And so now he goes and prepares a great banquet, like the best of the best. It is a banquet of great cost and effort by the man. And he's prepared lots and lots of the best of the best because apparently many had responded that they were going to come. Here's what we know.
Many had accepted the invitation. But now when the food is ready, quote, but they all alike began to make excuses. They had said they were coming, but now excuses. And the excuses, they all have one thing in common.
The first said, I've just bought a field and I have to go and see it. Please excuse me. Another said, I've just bought five yolk of oxen. Now on my way to try them out, please excuse me.
And still another said, I just got married, so I can't come. Now again, according to Kenneth Bailey, the one thing these excuses all have in common is that they are totally lame and frankly insulting to the host, the first guy, right? The first guy said that he has to go out and inspect the field he's purchased. The guys in the first century, there is no zillow or realtor.com.
There's no way anybody bought land for farming sight unseen. They would have been careful to examine ahead of time the soil quality, the drainage, whether the field faced the winter sun, the rainy season when crops were planted. They would have inspected the trees and known their age and their production. So if the man wants to be believed and avoided insulting the host, he would have said something like, I've been looking at the field and the owners contact me saying that we've got to settle on the price today or he's going to sell it to somebody else.
And so I need to go and complete the purchase. I'm very sorry I can't attend your fees. But the man doesn't say that at all. And the excuse given is just clearly a lie.
And therefore, it's like a public insult to the host. Same thing regarding the oxen, right? I mean, a pair of oxen was deemed worthless if it didn't pull together. So you don't buy oxen before you watch them in action.
Again, the excuse is just an obvious lie on an insult. The third excuse is honestly even more offensive, because normally it would have been an honor to attend the banquet with your bride. But Bailey points out that the excuse of I just got married was the equivalent of saying, I'm too busy with my wife now. And really, it had with it the connotation that sex is more important now than my relationship with you.
I'm busy at home. Bailey notes that all of the listeners would have understood that and they also would have understood it in the ancient world to be a vulgar insult. So not only do the guests not come after they said they were interested, their excuses are so weak, they're insulting to the host. I mean, when you put into context that story with what Jesus has been teaching, here's the point.
What's behind all of their weak excuses? It's excessive pride and a lack of humility. Friends, what Jesus wanted his first century audience to understand and what I believe he wants his 21st century audience to understand is this, you've been invited to a great feast. A banquet has literally been prepared for you and it came at a great cost.
For God, your invitation to turn a life, this banquet, this party, it cost him his only son. It cost Jesus his life. And the scripture say he willingly laid it down so that you could come, a sinner invited to the home in the table of a holy God, all made possible through the humble sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. The sinless one dying for a party full of sinners, all made acceptable, all made clean and well, not because of something they'd done, but because of something they got it done, something Jesus willingly did.
The separation from God that we deserve, the justice do God for all of our sins, all placed on Jesus, don't you see? The cross in a very real way just stands as a giant invitation to all who would come. But what keeps us away? What gets in our way?
Why don't we simply come? Pride. I mean, of course it does, right? Because the invitation to the banquet, it has to be received humbly.
Don't you understand? No one can receive this invitation to think, well, I deserve it, I earned it. This is not a merit ceremony that we're being invited to. The invitation to this banquet is reserved for those who understand they're actually unworthy of it.
This banquet, I heard it said this week, it's not like a restaurant where you have to pay for your meal, nor is it like some kind of potluck dinner where you prepare your own food. Understand, you can't earn it and you can't prepare it and you can't pay for it. All you can do is humbly receive it. And that's hard, right?
It hurts our pride. I mean, you know this to be true, right? When you go out with friends, what do we do? We argue over who's going to pay for the meal.
It's a matter of pride. If I let you pay, well, then that would require some humility out of me. And maybe it might make me feel indebted somehow or unequal. But I'm not sure if I'm in love with pride.
Now, some of us don't come because our pride prohibits us, but for others, our pride shows itself in another way. We feel unworthy of the invitation. And so we tell the host, thanks, but now's not the right time. Thanks, but not yet.
Let me clean myself up first. Let me get myself and my life in order. And I'll come later. I'm unworthy to come now.
Let me work on my stuff and maybe later. Maybe then I'll be acceptable. Maybe then I'll deserve the invite. Guys, don't you see what this is?
I mean, this is a pride thing too. It's insulting to the host. And here's why. You know what this would be like?
It would be like if somebody invited you to the most expensive restaurant in the world, and you accepted the invitation. You say, great, but let me first go home and make a TV dinner so I don't show up empty-handed. I want to bring something. I mean, your friend would look at you and say, what?
I mean, they'd be insulted. Don't you understand what you've been invited to? And you want to bring a frozen pizza? You don't understand the freeness and the greatness of the dinner.
You can't supplement it. All you're doing is insulting it, ruining it. For some of us, right? When we do this, it might seem like humility.
I'm not worthy, we say. But at our heart level, it's pride too. I mean, the host is calling out calm. Everything's prepared.
We're saying, well, I can't because I'm holding on to guilt and sin and shame. It looks like humility, but it's just pride dressed up. Now for some of us, our pride makes us look down on the other guests at the feast, or feel like maybe we're more deserving to be there than others. I mean, some of you know how Jesus is a powerful ends here, right?
Here's what happened. The host turns his anger into more grace. He tells this servant, go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town bringing the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame. Guys understand, no one.
No one at this banquet receives a VIP invitation. That's why the gospel for some isn't the good news they hope for. It wasn't seen as good news by the Pharisees who were gathered around the table. I mean, for the proud, it can seem degrading or humiliating.
Like it's just not for the respectable people. And it says to the self-deceived good and the self-perceived upright that you're just as needy as anyone else and if that insults you, well, then maybe this party isn't for you. And for all of us, for all of us, here's a pride challenge. What Jesus is trying to get us to see is that this invitation to his banquet, it has to take priority with everything else going on in our busy lives.
I remember the guests had RSVP. They said they were coming. They'd shown some interest. They wanted in, but they changed their mind.
And my guess is, like so many of us, that they thought that the banquet would come and it wouldn't disrupt their normal lives, their agendas, their five-year life plans. But Jesus, he comes as king, right? And he says, your commitment to this worldly kingdom, now it must change. In Jesus's kingdom, we play by different rules.
It must take priority. It was Jesus who said, right, if you love me, you'll follow my commands. And what are those commands? Well, love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
Guys, that's hard stuff. Let's be honest. To do it, to live with Jesus as king and this worldly kingdom is going to impact us. It does have a cost.
It's going to change. It has to, how we live, how we love, who we forgive, how we manage our stuff. I mean, we might not see this as a pride thing, but here's the truth. When we're putting our wishes and our desires and our feelings and our possessions above the call of Jesus and his kingdom, we're really just moving those things and ourselves to the best seat at the banquet.
We're going to have to humble ourselves under the priority of this kingdom. Now, this morning, as I speak to you, at the lake, folks are going to line up on a beach. And one by one, amidst all the food and the games and the fun, they in a very public way are going to make a very different choice. They will accept their invitation to a greater banquet than the food trucks that are there could ever provide.
By being part of the church, coming to services, going on mission trips, being part of small groups, they've expressed to the host an interest in coming to the banquet. This morning, this morning, they're setting their pride aside and they're humbling themselves as they accept Jesus' invitation to the baptism banquet. Friends, how about you? I mean, maybe distance or schedule or sickness has kept you from being present with us at the lake today.
I get that. But this morning, right there in your living room, on your couch, you could get down and finally accept the invitation. I mean, maybe you've expressed some interest, right? You've talked about it.
But today, my online friends, I want to encourage you to cross the line of faith, to finally accept the invitation of God to the banquet that he's prepared just for you. That a great cost to him. He's only son. Now, today, if you want to do that, literally, it just requires your yes.
You're coming. While many of my friends today will humble themselves by going into the water and identifying with Jesus' death and coming out of the water and identifying with his new life, today you could humble yourself right there at home. You could lower your head. You could close your eyes.
Maybe even drop to your knees and tell God you accept the invitation that you understand Jesus is exactly who he said he is, the way, the truth, and the life. And that no one comes to the Father. Nobody can come to the banquet except through him. And tell him that's just what you want to do to come.
Ask God to forgive you of your sins. He will. And then you go and prioritize this kingdom over yours. Tell God that you want his life, the Christ's life, a new life, empowered by the Spirit of God.
And if you do that, then I got to tell you today, the banquet begins. I mean, sure, we're not there yet. But the table is ready. And I promise you, as you follow God, you'll begin to see and smell and taste the food, the appetizers of a coming banquet, a coming kingdom.
All of that is yours today for the taking friends. The banquet's ready. I'm telling you, he's asking you to come. Now, of course, if you make that decision today, I'd love to know so that I can help you.
Our church can help you to continue to grow in your faith. And heck, if you're watching this and it's early, maybe you're watching the early service, it's not too late to confirm your decision by being baptized. You could right now go to mhcc.life, click on the baptism card, get the address for the lake, and head over there. I have to tell you, someone did just that last year.
And maybe this, maybe this really is your year. Come on over to our banquet too. You're invited. Have a wonderful day, friends.
I'm going to be praying for each of you this week. And I'm going to ask you to pray for the folks that you've baptized today. May we each walk closer to and with greater intimacy with Jesus, the host of the greatest party ever.