P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

“YOU’RE INVITED!”

Guess who’s coming to dinner? When it comes to the “Great Banquet” Jesus talks about in the book of Luke, GOD is the One who wonders. Just who will accept His gracious invitation? He can’t wait to serve up some of that heavenly hospitality!

Well, you might ask, who would God invite to this divine dinner you’re telling me about? Now that’s a very good question. Who is on God’s guest list?

Friend, your name is on the list! You are invited to the Great Banquet! So is your family. So are your friends. Your neighbors. Prisoners on death row. AIDS patients. Housewives. Vice Presidents. Millionaires and street beggars. The folks who work at the IRS. Everybody.

Everyone who is “anybody”, and all the “nobodies” – there is not one single soul who has ever been born, whose name hasn’t been included on the Lord’s guest list to the Great Gospel Feast.

“Now hold it right there!” you may be saying. “Some of those types of people could not possibly be invited to this ‘banquet in heaven’ you’re talking about!”

And friend, maybe today, deep in your heart, you don’t feel like a person who deserves to be on God’s invited guest list. Maybe you’ve done things you’re ashamed of, things you still feel guilty about. And you don’t see how God could possibly forgive you. Perhaps you’ve grown bitter, and gave up on God a long time ago. Or it might be that even though you’re sitting in the church pew every week…and trying to be a good Christian…you still don’t have the assurance of salvation. You don’t feel like you’re “ready”, if Jesus were to come back this very day.

If that describes you – friend, I have Good News! God loves YOU, just as you are. He forgives you. Just ask Him to come into your heart, to be your Lord and Savior. Say “Yes” and plan on coming to the Gospel feast, where there is a place setting just for you.

Yes, EVERYONE is invited. Everyone receives an invitation.

But what’s the catch, you ask? Well, there is no catch. But there are conditions. Each person has to R.S.V.P to God’s invitation. They have to respond. Yes, or No.

You see, the Lord is a very gracious host. But He gives us the gift of choice. He won’t force anyone to dine at His divine table. Each person has to choose. Will he or she eagerly accept the invitation, and say “Yes, Lord!”? Or, will some open the invitation, take a quick look, then set it aside for later? Sadly, too many will just crumple up the invitation and toss it in the trash.

Not everyone will accept God’s invitation. But everyone is invited.

And think about how good it feels to be included! Yes, God is inclusive. He doesn’t want anyone left out. But it’s just the opposite with people, isn’t it? Too often, people tend to be exclusive. And you know it hurts to feel left out.

The pain of rejection – of being excluded, snubbed, ignored, is all too familiar for most of us. At every age and stage of life – it’s painful to feel like you’re on the outside looking in.

Especially during those difficult teenage years, with the hurt that can come from the feeling of being left out – of not fitting in.

Rejection, ridicule, bullying – they’re harmful; sometimes even deadly. Sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise was often teased by others, according to relatives. They said his father committed suicide four years ago, and his mother lives in a Minneapolis nursing home due to brain injuries caused by a car accident.

On March 22, 2005, Jeff Weise killed two of his grandparents, then went on a shooting rampage at his Minnesota high school on the Red Lake Indian reservation, killing seven people and wounding as many as 13 others before killing himself. It was the worst school shooting in the U.S. since the Columbine massacre.

Dr. William Pollack of the Harvard Medical School was asked about ways to recognize when a teenager is becoming a threat. “If more people understood these key warning signals and helped the boys and girls who show them, we’d not only prevent shootings, we’d prevent suicides, diminish depression, and enhance mental health,” Dr. Pollack said.

There’s no excuse for the wrong and twisted choice that triggered this terrible tragedy. Yet it might have been prevented. What a difference a little more kindness, and a lot less rejection, might have made in the life of this troubled young man.

One thing’s for sure. Jesus knows well the pain of rejection! The prophecy in Isaiah 53:3 says, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him…” (NIV)

Yet Jesus never rejected anybody. There were times when He condemned wrong behavior. He hated the sin, but loved the sinner.

And Jesus was a gracious guest. He accepted invitations from the rich as well as the poor. As the 8th chapter of Luke begins, we find Jesus one Sabbath at a feast in the house of a prominent Pharisee.

To the Jews, a sacred feast was a symbol for the blessings of eternal life. They loved to think about the great feast to come where they would sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – while the Gentiles stood around and watched.

Basically, the Jews wanted to hoard the blessings for themselves – while they denied God’s mercy to anyone outside their elite inner circle. The parable Jesus was about to tell would let Israel know that they were rejecting the call to God’s kingdom that they should have been sharing. The irony is that those very people the Jews shunned – they would receive the Gospel invitation instead.

The Pharisees had become rude, legalistic snobs, with long lists of nit-picky rules. They asked only their friends to dinner. The only reason they had invited Jesus was to watch him closely, try to trip Him up, and catch Him doing something wrong.

Politely, Jesus explained how they should act at the dinner table. He observed the guests taking their seats. What he said to them is right here in Luke 14: 8-11:

“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host… will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But…take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (NIV)

True Christian etiquette puts others first. Then Christ explained who SHOULD be on the guest list. I’m reading verses 13 and 14:

“Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Jesus was giving them an extraordinary lesson on charity, and God’s call to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and minister to “the least of these.”

I get the feeling that the Pharisees’ idea of a fine banquet would be something like an elaborate, exclusive awards ceremony at the Jerusalem Hilton. A tuxedo-and-designer-gown kind of affair.

But I think Heaven’s Banquet would be more like a Thanksgiving meal at a homeless shelter. A warm, comfort-food kind of dinner for folks who can really appreciate it. However, in the heavenly home, no one will be homeless or hungry.

One thing the Great Gospel Feast will not be, and that’s a potluck dinner, where you bring your favorite casserole. Here’s my point. There is nothing we can contribute when it comes to salvation. Our own works cannot save us. Jesus Christ is our righteousness. Only Jesus can satisfy our spiritual hunger. He is the true Bread of Life!

Which now brings us to the final, sobering warning message of this banquet story. Verse 16 in the NIV says:

“A certain man was preparing a great banquet and 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.’”

But the guests all made excuses. “I’ve just bought a field, and I must go see it,” said the first guest. “Please excuse me.” Another guest had to check out his new team of oxen. Yet another excuse from guest #3. “I got married, so I can’t come.”

The servant reported this all to the master, who became angry and insulted. He ordered his servant to “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” (verse 21)

The servant followed these orders, but there was still room. So the master told his servant:

“Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.” (vs. 23-24 NIV)

This parable speaks of both love and judgment. It warns of the serious consequences of rejecting Christ’s invitation – and the danger of being too busy and preoccupied to follow Jesus with whole-hearted devotion. It is God’s final message of mercy that must go to all the world.

The Great Banquet represents the blessings offered through the Gospel – Jesus Himself. He is the living bread of life. “If any man eat of this bread,” Jesus said, “he shall live for ever.” (John 6:51)

Only Jesus can satisfy our soul hunger and thirst for righteousness. Are you hungry, are you thirsty today? There is a place setting just for you. Answer your banquet invitation. Say “YES” to Jesus!