Sermon Tone Analysis

“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.

You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

[1]

Instant gratification marks contemporary society; people want immediate fulfilment.

I have heard people complain because it required a full minute to reheat a cup of coffee in the microwave.

A drive for instant wealth fuelled the stock markets to incredible heights in the late nineties and in 2008.

Whereas Canadians were once a nation of “savers,” we have today become a nation of debtors.

Personal gratification appears to be the driving motive for far too many actions witnessed in contemporary society.

Even Christians are caught up in this irrational exuberance.

We worship, singing the songs we enjoy—selections chosen because of rhythm and melody instead of being concerned about their theological expression.

We sing, seeking personal gratification rather singing from desire to honour the Lord.

Participation in the work of the Faith is too often motivated by a desire for recognition.

We give, anticipating that we will obtain some immediate benefit.

Televangelists have taught us that rewards are our due and the rewards sought are immediate.

Much of the labour of contemporary Christians is performed with an eye on the moment instead of looking toward eternity.

None should question that God is a gracious and a just Master; He knows our labours and He has pledged to reward those labours that are worthy of His Name.

While we may argue that anticipation of rewards is not a proper motive for serving Christ the Lord, God seems to be unimpressed by our scruples.

Nevertheless, some Christians have focused on serving solely for what they can receive, instead of focusing on the honour of service to God, as taught by the Master.

Therefore, such Christians anticipate immediate repayment for their service.

God alone is able to recognise motives for service, but we may be assured that He does know the motive for every service presented in His Name.

*THE BACKGROUND TO THE MESSAGE* — Since so many of the incidents recorded in the Gospel accounts are unfamiliar to newer Christians, and since it is always helpful to review familiar stories to ensure that nothing is neglected, it will no doubt be helpful for us to review this pericope in order to ensure that each of us fully understand the events that elicited this teaching from Jesus.

The ministry of the Master was marked by conflict from the beginning.

Especially incensed at His teaching were civic and religious leaders.

Divided by worldview, they were nevertheless united against every threat to their tenacious hold on power.

Jesus, through His emphasis that man is created to be free before God, was a threat to their position and to their power.

Therefore, they sought to discredit Him.

Consequently, the Master frequently cautioned His followers not to fall into the trap of the Pharisees, which was “telling” but not “doing.”

For instance, reviewing the preceding chapters, we are informed that Jesus cautioned against the great sin of the Pharisees—hypocrisy [LUKE 12:1-3].

He followed this up with a call to fear God instead of fearing man [LUKE 12:4-7].

Thus, those who fear God will acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ [LUKE 12:8-12].

He related the story of the rich fool [LUKE 12:13-21], taught the people not to live in anxiety [LUKE 12:22-34] and instructed His followers to be ready for His return [LUKE 12:25-48].

He called all to repentance, warning that those who failed to repent would perish [LUKE 13:1-5], compared Israel to a barren fig tree [LUKE 13:6-9], healed a woman on the Sabbath [LUKE 13:10-17] (a most grievous offence in the estimate of the Pharisees), and then related several parables and clear warnings to those who were religious, but lost [LUKE 13:18-35].

Yet another man was healed on the Sabbath [LUKE 14:1-6], which again distressed the religious leaders.

Jesus also accepted an invitation to a banquet in His honour, and insulted the other guests by noticing how they were jockeying for position [LUKE 14:7-11].

He followed this up with the parable that serves as the focus of our study for this day.

Throughout these events, conflict and stress marked the relationship of Jesus and the religious leaders.

They seem to have been hoping that He could be co-opted so they would be able to strengthen their position in the estimate of the people, but He would not play their game.

His every action was scrutinised and criticised, especially because the religious leaders exalted religious observance over transformation.

Every parable He told stung those leaders because it exposed the unworthy nature of their actions.

More particularly, this second healing, immediately prior to the parable serving as our text, occurred at the very dinner to which Jesus had been invited.

This particular meal happened to be on a Sabbath, which becomes important in understanding the reaction of the religious leaders to Jesus’ actions.

When He entered the house, there was a man suffering from dropsy.

The condition is actually the result of another medical condition.

It is expressed in swollen limbs and tissue, the result of excessive retention of body fluids.

Many Jews considered dropsy to be the result of sin.

[2]

Likely, this man was uninvited; he probably just “dropped in.”

Uninvited guests would often walk into a dinner party, especially when a guest of some note was present.

It was perhaps comparable to people in this day thinking it is all right to approach a celebrity to ask for an autograph, or to attend an Academy Awards ceremony just to see the stars.

Then and now people enjoy being in the company of the great.

However he came to be present, the religious leaders watched Jesus intently to see what He would do.

Jesus not only healed this man, but having sent the healed man on his way, He seized the opportunity to challenge the religious critics.

Unable to respond to His teaching, they kept their silence, probably burning inwardly all the while.

Jesus then told a parable based upon His observation of the way in which these self-important men promoted themselves by jockeying for the seat of honour.

The Master cautioned them to remember that honourable men do not seek honour, but rather honourable men recognise that someone other than oneself awards honour.

Jesus was saying that it is easier to go up the ladder than it is to be forced to go down the ladder.

*THE ASSUMPTION BEHIND THE STORY* — The unspoken assumption is that those hearing this story are able to give a party.

Jesus assumes those hearing Him have at least some friends, family or colleagues whom they wish to impress on occasion.

This story was not directed toward the common people; but rather it was addressed to a man whom people would have considered wealthy.

We would not consider the average person of that day to be wealthy, but rather we would think him to be quite poor.

The story Jesus told is well suited to those of us living in this great nation in this day.

We are wealthy!

Ours is a most unusual society in the history of mankind.

From a historical perspective, the overwhelming majority of mankind has been insufficiently fed, inadequately housed and unsatisfactorily clothed.

Throughout much of history, meat was a luxury, as was a ready supply of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Not so many years ago, every home had a root cellar precisely because root vegetables were stored for eating during the winter and spring months as the family awaited fresh produce during the summer and fall.

The few families that did not raise milk cows or chickens either purchased fresh milk and fresh eggs from local farmers, or they purchased canned milk and eggs packed in sawdust for use throughout the long winter months.

Until very recent times, the thought of time away from home, especially anticipation of an annual holiday, was foreign to the average individual.

Even during the first half of the previous century, holidays were rare, except for the very wealthy.

Until immediately after the Second World War, hunting and fishing as recreation would have been most unusual.

For most inhabitants of this northern country, hunting was a necessity and fishing, if time for such was available, was to provide food for the table.

Perhaps families were able to observe an occasional holiday—Thanksgiving or Christmas, perhaps even Dominion Day—but government-mandated holidays would have been unprecedented.

One day in seven was invested with significance, allowing for some rest from routine labours as families throughout the English-speaking world gathered for worship of the Almighty, whom they acknowledged as the Giver of every good and perfect gift.

These thoughts are presented to awaken within us the knowledge of our privileged position, living as we do at this point in history and in this nation.

Perhaps in the clutter of electronic chatter we know as Email, you have received an article that made the rounds a short while ago; it was one of those thought-provoking items that most of us read and then forget.

Consider the impact of what the Email said.

“If you have a homeland in which you are able to live in safety, you are ahead of 50 million people who have been displaced because of war.

“If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world, and therefore you are blessed.

“If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death, you are fortunate because more than three billion people in the world cannot.

“If you have a roof over your head and enough to eat, you are richer than seventy-five percent of this world.

“If you have money in your wallet, you are among the top eight percent of the world's wealthy, because the average income worldwide is only $500 a year.

“If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all!”

I mention these facts, not to condemn holidays, fine dining, good houses or the other luxuries we enjoy as a society; rather, I wish us to recognise our blessings as the wealthiest people of all history.

Despite the debt incurred in acquiring convenience, we are yet a wealthy people.

Thus, the words of Jesus are assuredly directed to us.

We are the people who have sufficient wealth to invite friends to a party.

There is not one of us incapable of inviting friends over to share a meal.

That meal may be no more than soup and sandwiches; but we are able to do this, and much of the world cannot do so!

There is not one of us forced to live on the street.

We live in warm homes, whether rented or purchased, and we can invite our friends to share our homes with us.

We are among the wealthiest people ever.

Surely God has blessed us!

Our desires often outstrip our ability to pay, but almost universally we have bought into the lie that every desire deserves immediate fulfilment.

Consequently, most of us make monthly payments on debt acquired as result of our appetites.

Too frequently we excuse ourselves from remembering God through the worship of giving because we have already indebted ourselves to care for our own luxurious tastes!

If our books were opened for everyone to see, most of us would be embarrassed to discover that we spend more on entertainment and personal grooming than we do on Christ and His Kingdom.

Consider the words of Jesus as if they were directed toward you.

These thoughts from Him are pointedly applicable to each of us.

“When you give a dinner or a banquet…” The next time you invite friends over for a meal, the next time you entertain business associates, the next time you give a party and invite your neighbours, think of Jesus.

Think of the fact that He inspects your actions and your guest list, calling into question your claim to be unable to support with your wealth His Kingdom’s work.

*THE ANTICIPATION ARISING FROM THE STORY* — The anticipation arising from the story is that hearers will be sufficiently sobered to consider their actions.