"Come, Everything is Ready!" (Luke 14:1, 12-24)

Listen on Spotify

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 One man said at the dining table with Jesus: “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15).

 

Yes, it is true that everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed. But it is also increasingly obvious that not everyone really regards God’s salvation banquet as something so wonderful.

 

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus is where we would not expect Him to be. He is dining at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. He is certainly in a place we would not expect, but Jesus invites everyone to the kingdom of God, including those unbelieving Pharisees. But what happens at this dining experience is expected: they are watching Jesus carefully to see if He will again break another Sabbath rule.

 

So, while Jesus accepts this invitation to dine with leading rabbis, He also invites them to His great banquet, so to speak.

 

So, Jesus tells them about a man who prepared a great banquet. This was a banquet prepared with no leftovers, not with paper plates, and not with warm pop, but with the finest of food, the richest of wine, the juiciest of steaks, with a host who spared no expense. It was a meal of pure gift. And since the banquet hall was ready, his call went out through his servant: “Come, for everything is now ready!” (Luke 14:17).

 

In today’s world, we often send out “Save the Date” notices. This is what this servant is doing. He is sending out these “Save the Date” notices, but not for the future. He is saying, “Today is the date! Come, everything is ready!”

 

The date is set! The banquet hall is ready! The supper of rich food and well-aged wine is ready! (Isaiah 25:6). The supper is lavish! Come, everything is ready!

 

But they all began to make excuses. One bought a field. Another bought five yoke of oxen. Another just got married. They each said, “Please have me excused” (Luke 14:18, 19). Hey, at least they were polite about it. Well, for maybe the exception of the third who just said, “I cannot come.”

Now, at least two of the excuses matched legitimate reasons from the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 20:6-7, God’s Word proclaims: “And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.” So, the guy who bought the field and the guy who had recently gotten married may have good reasons. However, did you catch the caveat? They could only refrain from military service. So, their excuses fall flat. They weren’t going off to war. They just didn’t want to go.

 

So, under their veneer of civility and polite excuses was a cold-hearted rejection.

 

Before we get into the Parable of the Great Banquet even more, it is essential to understand the custom of first century banquets. In the Mideast, an unexpected invitation must be refused, especially when one is a foreigner or outcast. So, who would be expected? The rich, the wealthy, the well-to-do. Who would be unexpected? The poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, the Gentile. So, it is odd that the expected refuse to come and the unexpected later are compelled to come.

 

Back to the parable. The supper is ready, and no one wants to come. Instead, they make excuses. The first pleads necessity. The second pleads inconvenience. The third pleads pleasure. So, the servant returns and reports these things to his master.

 

But guess what, today’s parable is not about proper etiquette or first-century manners. It is about the Gospel. It is about the Divine Service. It is about you and me – and the dangerous foolishness of justifying why we refuse the Lord’s gracious invitation.

 

You see, the Divine Service is a banquet. Yes, today, we are sitting outside, and it looks more like a picnic, but believe me, the Divine Service is a banquet. It isn’t work where you must clock in, or a work that you must perform. It is a banquet. The Divine Service is a feast of grace. This is where God teaches us and where He serves us His grace. He serves us. He gives. And He does not give us table scraps. He gives us His very body and blood. He gives us forgiveness of sins, which begets life and salvation to you as His guests.

 

As poor, miserable sinners, we don’t often see the Divine Service this way. Yours and my Old Adam often looks at each Sunday morning and mutters: “Do I have to?”

But the problem isn’t with the Divine Service. The problem is with you and me. The problem is with our hearts.

You see, if you view the Divine Service as an obligation, you are already down the path of making excuses. And these excuses are not neutral. They are efforts to justify yourself. Each excuse is saying to God: “God, I’m not the problem here, it’s just that I have more important things to do.”

 

We are all experts at coming up with excuses. We are all great at justifying ourselves. We are all great at playing the victim. We are all too much like Goldilocks who says, “It’s too hot. It’s too cold.”

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not justify ourselves by avoiding God’s gifts. That is to say; when we make excuses to justify an absence, we are not only being dishonest – we are insulting the banquet and despising the Host. We are saying, “I have better things to do than to be in the presence of Jesus.” We are saying: “This gift is no gift at all.” We are saying: “The Divine Service is a burden.”

 

So, when we make excuses like this, it is not because of a scheduling conflict. To be perfectly honest, it’s idolatry. So, when you say, “I’d love to be at church, but …” we are putting God’s gifts on a scale and weighing them against our desires.

 

And when we do such a thing, we are exchanging the grace of God for the fleeting pleasures of the fallen world.

 

So, the message of today’s parable is clear: repent. Repent for all those times you have justified your absence from the Divine Service with excuses. Repent for treating the Divine Service like a burden. Repent for despising preaching and His Word. Repent for your apathy and excuses.

 

But be sure at this: not all excuses are the same. Yes, there are those excuses born of pride, but there are other excuses that are born of sorrow. So, there is a time when “I couldn’t come” is the right thing to say. Perhaps you are sick. Perhaps your work demanded it. Perhaps you are shut-in. Perhaps you didn’t have the strength – then come and contact me. So, you said, “I wanted to be at the Divine Service. I longed to receive Christ’s forgiveness, but I could not.” Now, that is not justification. That is a lament.

 

You see, a lament says, “Lord, I missed the feast, and I am hungry.” “Lord, I long for Your Word, for Your altar, for Your forgiveness.” You see, a lament is a cry of the soul. It doesn’t justify. It grieves. 

 

So, let there be no confusion. An excuse offered in lament is not a sin, but the groaning of a repentant heart. Justifying excuses despise the gift. Lamenting excuses desire the gift.

 

So, what is the Master’s response to justifying excuses? He says to His servant, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame” (Luke 14:21). He fills the banquet hall with the desperate and hungry. He fills the banquet hall with those who responded positively to the preaching of Jesus. But still there is room for more. The Master sends His servant to the rural areas, into the country lanes and roads not often traveled. The servant calls in people from the far corners of the earth.

 

Those who were first invited missed their chance. The door is locked, and they will not taste of the great banquet. They refused to hear the preaching of Jesus and now they find themselves excluded.

 

But thanks be to God that the door is still open, but one day the door will close. Right now, everything is ready. And He invites you to His banquet week after week – not to perform or impress – but to receive. And He does not grow tired of inviting. Sunday after Sunday, Monday after Monday, His call rings out: “Come, for everything is now ready!”

 

And when you miss a Divine Service in sorrow, He will not rebuke you. He welcomes your lament, and He strengthens your faith through His Word and Sacraments. So, when you are absent from the Divine Service, ask yourself: was my excuse a justification or a lament? If it was a justification, repent, and receive God’s forgiveness won for you on the cross. If it was a lament, bring that sorrow to the Lord.

 

Here, in the Divine Service, either inside or outside, God gives His best to you – Christ crucified for sinners, risen for your justification, coming in Word and Sacrament for you. So, receive what only Christ can give: forgiveness, life, and salvation. These are His gifts to you. Come, everything is ready! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Pentecost 12: "Persistent Faith" (Matthew 15:21-28)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“O woman, great is your faith!” (Matthew 15:28). With those words, Jesus healed this woman’s daughter instantly.

 

But it wasn’t easy. Oh no! It wasn’t easy for this Canaanite woman! Sometimes what we ask of God in our prayers also isn’t easy. “O Lord, please heal me!” “O Lord, please heal my loved one!” We want our prayers answered. We desire our prayers to be answered. But sometimes we forget that our prayers are not about our will, but His will. Sometimes, we get silence. No answer. And you may even wonder, “God, are you even listening to me?”

 

This morning on this 12^th Sunday after Pentecost, Jesus and His disciples travel north of Galilee and into the district of Tyre and Sidon in what is modern Lebanon. This is Gentile territory. This is not a Jewish territory and has never been Jewish territory. Jesus and His disciples are well beyond the historic borders of the Kingdom of Israel.

 

So, why is Jesus and His disciples in a Gentile territory that has never been a part of Israel? Well, it appears that they did not go there to engage in any compassionate ministry. It appears that they weren’t there to preach or to heal. So, why are they there? Well, they are there because things were getting a little too hot for comfort due to Christ’s recent confrontation with the Pharisees. So, they’re there to take a breather.

 

But could there be more to just taking some time away? Jesus is beyond the historic Jewish borders for a reason.

 

“And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon’” (Matthew 15:22).

 

Now, you may recall that the Jews and the Canaanites have a history. A history that goes all the way back to Moses. You see, Israel was ordered by God to exterminate the Canaanites, because of idol worship (Deuteronomy 20:17). That clearly did not happen, because we have a Canaanite woman coming up to a Jew. What is going through her mind?

Well, clearly, she knows who Jesus is. She has heard about Him. His fame had spread even past Galilee and into the Gentile lands. But this woman doesn’t just know of Jesus, she also believes in Him and His power. She trusts in Him. She believes in Him to be the promised Messiah and Redeemer from sin and the devil’s power.

 

Although she was a Canaanite and not a Jew, she believed in the promise of the Gospel. She believed that the Promised Messiah didn’t only come for the Jews, but even for her, and all people like her. She believed what Isaiah recorded from God: “The foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord … these I will bring to My holy mountain … for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:6, 7).

 

She believed she was included. She believed in God’s promise to Abraham: “In your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18).

 

You see, this woman’s faith rested upon these promises. Her faith was not in herself. She knew that she could not possibly save her daughter. Instead, she clung to the promise that God’s offspring would be the Savior for all people – for all sinners, including her. Her faith rested upon that promise. This was the only thing that could give her any hope.

 

But to her cry for help, Jesus did not answer her a word. Jesus stood there in silence. 

 

I thought Jesus was our friend. We just sang how great a friend Jesus is! I thought He was faithful! Jesus what happened? Why are you silent?

 

Is Jesus denying her request? Is Jesus denying her faith? Is Jesus denying her prayer?

 

Sometimes, we think God is not listening to our prayers as if we are all alone and He doesn’t care.

 

But then it appears to go from bad to worse for this woman. To end this awkward silence, the disciples beg Jesus, “Send her away! Just give her what she wants so she’ll leave us alone!”

 

To that request, Jesus says to the disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). This is Jesus saying, “O, you my beloved disciples, I am not here for your convenience or to be a wandering miracle worker. I wasn’t sent for her.”

Jesus wasn’t sent for this her? This is the friend we have in Jesus? Some friend He is! How can we say that Christ loves this woman and her daughter, considering what she is experiencing? But Jesus knows this woman’s heart. He is treating her this way to know the true nature of her heart. Where is her faith? Who is she trusting? Through these afflictions, her faith is turning from self-reliance to only Jesus Himself.

 

As this woman overheard Jesus say that He didn’t come for her, she persists as she kneels before Him – she worships Him – and says, “Lord, help me” (Matthew 15:25).

 

Now, Jesus speaks. But if His words were harsh before, they are even worse now. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26). Yes, you heard that right, Jesus is calling this woman a dog. Here, Jesus is making a distinction between the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews are called “children” and the Gentiles are called dogs.

 

But how does this woman respond? Does she get defensive saying, “How dare you!”? No. She actually agrees with Him. “Yes, Lord, I am a dog.” She receives His word and simply agrees.

 

“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (Matthew 15:27).

 

She believed. She agreed with Jesus. “You’re right Lord, I am a dog. I am a sinner. I don’t deserve Your help. I have no right to ask You for help. But if it is Your will, You are my only hope. I will never let go. For without You, I have no hope.”

 

To this, Jesus says, “O woman, great is your faith” (Matthew 15:28) and her daughter was healed instantly.

 

This Canaanite woman was persistent. But it wasn’t her persistence that necessarily got the results. It was her faith. Her faith was great because the object of her faith was Jesus and His saving word. Jesus was not being mean to this woman. He was treating this woman this way to reveal the true faith in her heart.

 

You see, the struggles that we face day after day with our sin and our constant temptations from Satan, the world, and our very nature, are used by God to draw us away from relying upon ourselves to relying upon Him. Faith believes in the Gospel and cries out to God for help.

 

So, we do have a friend in Jesus! He did come for this Canaanite woman and her daughter. He came for you and for me!

 

So, yes, God is listening to your prayers! And He doesn’t just listen. He also answers every single prayer with His good and gracious divine will. But like the Canaanite woman, yours and my prayers are not always answered immediately. It may appear as if God isn’t listening, but He is. He reveals His will to you and to me as yes, no, or not yet though His Word. He speaks to us and answers us in His Holy written Word. So, if it appears He isn’t listening, maybe it’s not Him who isn’t listening, but you. Yes, God can work miracles outside of His Word, but it is always best to look where He always promises to be found: in His Word and His Sacraments.

 

The good and gracious will of God is that all people would be saved from their sins. The good and gracious will of God is that all people would come to His house of prayer. But for that to happen, humanity would have to be brought back to God. Jesus who came for the lost sheep of Israel, also came for the dogs. He is the Savior for the Jews and Gentiles alike. Jesus became man to suffer and die in our place. As poor, miserable sinners, we deserve that cross, we deserve that pain, we deserve that death. We deserve all that because we have turned from God and to sin. But God would not have all of humanity perish. God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).

 

The Canaanite woman is an illustration of how we all ought to be. We also ought to have a persistent faith. We ought to have faith that loves God’s Word. The faith that clings to God’s Word. The faith that clings to His Sacraments. For there is no hope for us apart from God and His Word and Sacraments. 

 

Like the Canaanite woman, our access to God is not dependent on our merits. She had no merits. She was an outsider. She was a sinner. Even so, she prayed. She prayed relentless. She would not let go but held fast in worship to Jesus. May we follow her example as we lay our burdens before Christ focusing on Him alone as the object of our faith. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +