17 June 2012 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: Luke 14:15-24 (Prov 9:1-10, 1 John 3:13-18)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
Our spiritual father St. John
the Apostle says to us: “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but
in deed and in truth.”
For he knows how we are.
We are talkers, not
doers. We are like the man who says:
“Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Rather than being rewarded by Jesus for
saying something profound and pious, our Lord Jesus tells a parable to convict
him of his sins and call him to repentance.
For in this story, everyone has an excuse.
This is because we are
talkers and not doers.
We are like St. Peter who
swears that even if everyone else falls away, he won’t. Instead, he denied the Lord three times. It’s easier to make promises than to keep
them. It’s easier to talk about
Christianity than to be a Christian.
It’s easier to pay lip service to “spirituality” than to abide by the
teachings of Christ’s holy religion.
In other words, we talk the
talk, but do not walk the walk.
But, dear friends, the Lord
is calling on us to be honest with ourselves.
He invites us: “Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of
insight.” For “the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom.”
The first thing every
Lutheran child memorizes from the catechism is the first commandment: “You
shall have no other gods. What does this
mean? We should fear, love, and trust in
God above all things.” But who wants a
God that is feared?
And yet, the Word of the Lord
is clear: “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
But do we really fear the
Lord? Are we any different than the
characters of our Lord’s parable? “Come,
for everything is now ready,” He invites us.
The bread and wine are on the altar.
Everything is now ready. “The
feast is ready, come to the feast.” Sins
are forgiven in this place. The Word of
God is proclaimed in this place. The
Lord is miraculously present in the Holy Sacrament in this place. “Come, for everything is now ready,” He says
to us with great joy and excitement.
But where is everyone?
Jesus is here. What could be more important than that?
“The first says to him, ‘I
have bought a field, and I must go out and see it.” Someone else says: “I have bought five yoke
of oxen, and I must go to examine them.”
Still another says: “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot
come.”
There is always an
excuse. There is always something more
important. There is always a good reason
to do something else, go somewhere else, pay attention to someone else. There is TV to be watched, parties to attend,
chores to be done, places to go, things to do, people to see. There are shows and sports and things to do
at work. And even when there isn’t,
there is the morning paper and the chance to sleep in.
“So the servant came and
reported these things to his master.
Then the master of the house became angry.” He uninvited those with excuses, he sought
others who would recognize and appreciate the invitation. “Bring in the poor and crippled and blind and
lame,” he orders. And he adds: “None of
those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.”
This is a hard word the Lord
gives us today, dear friends. But thanks
be to God our Father that He loves us enough to warn us, to call us to repent,
to draw us into Himself, to His Son who did walk the walk of the road to
Calvary, who made no excuses, but who loves us in deed and in truth. Thanks be to God that He sends us His Spirit,
to convict us, call us, and draw us to Himself.
The Lord calls us to put away
our excuses! The Lord calls us to fear,
love, and trust in Him above all things!
The Lord calls us to “eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have
mixed.” The Lord calls us to walk the
walk and to truly know love. For “by
this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down
our lives for the brothers.”
He issues the invitation
anew: “Come, for everything is now ready!”
He has gone out into the “highways and hedges” and He compels us – not
with force, but with love. He draws us
in by grace! He beckons us with His
Word: the Word of forgiveness, life, and salvation. He desires that His house should be filled,
filled with the “poor and crippled and blind and lame.” Filled with “poor miserable sinners.” Filled with people who stop making excuses
because there is no excuse for our sinfulness.
Filled with forgiven sinners who accept reproof in love and who respond
to the call to repent with thanksgiving and not with scoffing.
Let us turn aside from our
excuses and let us confess our lukewarm hearts and repent of our fair-weather
faith. Let us joyfully partake of the
feast. Let us hear the Word of the Lord
and not allow it to become just one more text or e-mail in the clutter. Let us pray to the Lord and not just go
through the motions. Let us partake of
the Most Holy Sacrament, knowing and confessing that the Lord is physically and
miraculously present with us, for us, even as He has died in our place and
leads us into perfect love. Let us
receive the free and full gift of forgiveness, offered in love, and received in
love – the pure love of God that abides in us though we most certainly do not
deserve it.
“Little children, let us not
love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
Amen!
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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