Sermon: Trinity 2 - 2021

13 June 2021

Text: Luke 14:15-24

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Liberty is one of the things we Americans value as a people.  The founding document of the United States calls “liberty” an “inalienable right” that we are “endowed” with by our “Creator.” 

One of those rights is religious liberty.  Sometimes, people will argue that we don’t have religious liberty, because God doesn’t grant us the freedom to worship other gods.  But the fact of the matter is that we do.  God did not create us as robots, or like insects or like plants that operate by instinct and primitive DNA hard-wiring.

Adam and Eve were created with the ability to love God or to reject Him; to hear the Word of God and obey it, or hear the lies of the devil and walk down the path of destruction.  God did not hardwire them to obey.  He did not use force to prevent their sin.  They were created with liberty – whether they used it for good or evil. 

Similarly, God doesn’t compel us to love Him.  He commands us to do so, but He does not take away our liberty to reject Him.  God does not empower the government to force us into Christianity.  For such force isn’t based on faith at all.  God does not establish civil law to compel people to, say, baptize their children.  Believe it or not, I have debated with some Lutherans who believe our Baptist neighbors should be forced by the government to being their children to the saving waters.

And so this story of Jesus about the Great Banquet can be a bit confusing.  On the one hand, the master invites many people to his table for a banquet.  “But they all alike began to make excuses.”  One turns down the invite because he has bought land.  Another does the same because he has just bought some livestock.  A third also turns down the offer because he just got married. 

The master invites a certain group of people into the kingdom.  They refuse.  But the master doesn’t compel these people.  He doesn’t arrest them and bring them kicking and screaming to the banquet.  Rather, he lets them live with their excuses.  He grants them the liberty to refuse his generosity.

But notice that the master wills that his house should be full of guests.  He will replace the ingrates with others who will appreciate his kindness.  And so, he issues another round of invitations, this time to “the poor and crippled and blind and lame.”  These are people who are usually excluded from such things as fancy dinners.  And in spite of lots of new people being invited and showing up for the party, there are still some empty seats.

This time, the master says: “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”  Notice that the word “compel” is used for these people, the ones who would never think to turn down such a gracious offer.  In other words, the master is making them an offer that they can’t refuse.  He is taking ordinary people and offering them the opportunity of a lifetime – to dine on the most magnificent food in a stunning setting of luxury.  And so in this case, the word “compel” is more like in English when we say that we had to “twist someone’s arm” to get them to do something pleasurable.  It’s an ironic word.

This is how God “compels.”  He offers us, who are unworthy, a gift that we could never even dream of receiving.  And so we are “compelled” to receive the gift of the Gospel: forgiveness, life, and salvation.  And although we are not the children of Abraham, God has sent His servants into the highways and hedges of the Gentile nations, and He has “compelled” us to come to His table.  We can take no credit for being there.  We are not worthy of an invite.  We are literally charity cases because God looked upon our wretched condition and determined that it was no barrier to our place at the table. 

And part of God’s invitation to us is that He wants His house filled.  He is replacing those who were invited, but arrogantly turned down the invitation.  He calls us Gentiles to take the place of the children of Israel who rejected their Messiah.  To be sure, not all did reject Jesus.  Those who received Him became the founders of the Church.  But the vast majority rejected Him, as they followed the lead of the proud Pharisees, the theologically liberal Sadducees, or the misguided political zealots.  Ordinary people were caught up in buying property and stuff and in ordinary married life that they were just not interested in following Jesus.

And so, they are replaced.

And this is a warning to us as well, dear friends.  Jesus invites us to eat at His table.  But He doesn’t zap you with a taser and drag your paralyzed body to the rail where the pastor jams communion into your mouth.  No indeed! 

Maybe church is boring, you have other things you want to do, you are tired, the weather is too nice, the weather is too bad, or you just don’t see what the point is.  God will not compel you to come to the table.  He won’t preach Good News to you against your will.  The church has no police force to prevent you from walking out the door.  You are free, just as God created you.

And if you choose to turn your back on God, He will give your seat to someone else, to someone who is needy and knows how much this invitation means, someone who won’t squander it on excuses.  The Holy Spirit will “call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify” someone else, someone who will realize that the choice that we have to reject Him isn’t really a choice at all.

But one thing is for sure: those who were invited but who rejected the invitation will pay a price for the exercise of their liberty contrary to the will of God.  “For I tell you,” says Jesus in the person of the banquet master: “none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.” 

Dear friends, you have liberty.  But don’t squander it.  Don’t waste your time on things of this world to the detriment of the faith.  Come and hear the preaching of the Gospel.  Come and partake of the body and blood of Jesus.  For it may well have been apart from your will that Jesus called you through baptism, though you were very young.  You were invited!  Don’t antagonize the Lord by turning down the invite.

Rather see in yourselves “the poor and crippled and blind and lame,” those who do not deserve to be seated at the banquet, but who nevertheless are there by virtue of God’s grace and mercy.  Give thanks to God that servants were sent out, missionaries bearing the Gospel, pastors preaching the Gospel and making disciples by baptizing them.  Give thanks to our Master that He compels us to come in, that His house may be filled, and let us thank God as well that he did not make us like plants or rocks with no will of their own. 

We have bodies and minds.  We have a will.  We were created in God’s image.  And we have been invited to the table – in spite of our unworthiness!  This is good news, dear friends.  In fact, this good news we call the Gospel.

And let us call to mind the man who, upon hearing the beautiful teachings of Jesus, cried out: “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Take eat.  Take drink.  And come, let us join together at the table, that the house of the Lord may be filled!  Let us use our liberty wisely, gratefully receiving the gifts He so graciously offers, even everlasting life.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.