Please Respond

The title of my message today is this, please respond. Please respond. And in Luke chapter 14, Jesus shows up at a dinner. And I want you to see that it was the host is a Pharisee at the table are all these leaders. And this was a leader of the Pharisees. There was probably power and finances, all kinds of things wrapped up in who was at the table. And Jesus is invited to this dinner. So as he comes in, he comes in and it says that on verse one, one Sabbath day, Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees. And the people were watching him closely. There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. And Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day or not? And when they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away. And then he turned to them and said, which of you doesn't work on the Sabbath? If your son or cow falls into a pit, don't you rush to get them out? And again, they could not answer. Now this is the gospel story. Jesus hasn't told a story yet, but the setting is there. And you see that the Pharisees and the people that came are coming to critique this guest. Have you ever been under the scrutiny of someone?

I know I was interviewed for my credentials to be ordained at one point, and I felt like they were seeing through me and they were gonna ask all kinds of questions. Jesus is very much being scrutinized in this place. And he's also a provoker. Now Jesus would pick fights sometimes, okay? And you can see it in the text here because these guys at the table were so hung up on the minutia of the law that there were some things that were missing the whole point because of their adherence to a specific way of following the law. And so one of those things is on the Sabbath day, you don't heal, you don't work, you don't do anything. So there's somebody at the dinner that actually need healed. So what does Jesus do? You're healed. And when he does it, he creates an opportunity to challenge their thinking. And so Jesus wants to say, hey, hello, so is it okay to heal on the Sabbath? And well, you already have these other secret behaviors you do, you just don't let other people do it on this particular day. And the Pharisees were trying to scrutinize him, but he was gonna reveal something about their own hearts to them. And when Jesus is talking,

he's never just telling his story, he's never just addressing people. He wants people to move on their inner world. So verse number seven, it says, when Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice. I want you to see here in verse seven, when Jesus noticed, say that with me. When Jesus noticed, now they were all scrutinizing him, but he was watching their behavior. He had been in the house, in the banquet, in the living room, wherever that was, and observing how people were operating. And he had noticed that all of them were jockeying for position. They were trying to get to the most important seat. Now, in this particular part of the story, that actually in that home, the place of honor in the table was more like lounge seating, and it kind of went in like a U, and at the point of the U was the head. And so he was probably there, and he was noticing who was trying to get into those spaces. And it says there, now, he doesn't just observe us, but he wants to give advice. Let me just pause and ask this question. What do you think he's observed about you in the last 30 minutes? We can even drive it back a little bit further.

On the way to church. I won't ask for a show of hands of how many of you got in a fight or an argument on the way to church. Thank you for the blood of Jesus, amen? The grace of the Lord. I don't know how many parents got a little bit worked up on their kids, then dropped them off and asked them to behave, even though you weren't behaving when you were yelling at them, right? Now, Jesus is watching what's going on. He's gonna critique it here, but he gives advice. And I want you to see what he says and what we're to do about what he's observing. Verse number eight. When you are invited to a wedding feast, don't sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has a different view of the world? also been invited, the host will come and say, What if someone who is more distinguished than you give this person your seat. has a different view of the world? Then you will be embarrassed, and you'll have to take whatever seat is left What if someone who is more distinguished than you at the foot of the table. Jesus' advice is, don't sit in the seat of honor. Don't chase it down.

It's a setup for embarrassment. And their normal way, their normal habits, their normal rhythm is you work it, you chase it, you build your platform, you try to get a lot of likes on your social media, you wanna be noticed, so you position yourself in a way to be noticed. That's the normal culture. And Jesus is flipping it over, and he says, don't do it. Don't try to sit at the seat of honor. Turn to the person next to you and say, don't do it. Don't do it. Now, this is the cool thing about Jesus, is Jesus doesn't critique and make you feel bad. He also says what you can do instead of it. So he says in verse number 10, instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, friend, we have a better place for you. Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. In the kingdom of God, humility is the key to promotion. I want you to hear this today, because the rest of the world we live in, that's not the key. The rest of the world, it's doing other things. It's manipulative behavior, it's putting somebody else down so you can be lifted up. It's all of those other things. And in Jesus' kingdom, striving and manipulation and ambition actually invite God's resistance. Sometimes we can't get a promotion because we've been trying to sit in the seat

that God is waiting for us to get moved up into. And the reality is, we gotta do it Jesus' way and it's different than the rest of the world. Honor in God's kingdom isn't seized, it's awarded. So he says, wait to be brought up. Don't just try to make it known. Jesus declares this in verse number 11, the very next verse. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. This is a great memory verse, y'all. I memorized it in NIV and it just causes me problems every time I read it now in the New Living Translation. But leave that on the screen. I want y'all to read it out loud. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Jesus' kingdom is just different. And for him, humility is the way. In verses 12 through 15, this is the setup. We're moving towards Jesus' story here. And you won't understand Jesus' story until you understand these first few verses. Verse 12, he says, then he turned to the host. Remember, they're at a dinner table. When you put on a luncheon or a banquet, he said, don't invite your friends, your brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors, for they will invite you back and that will be your only reward.

Now, he's talking to a host. Maybe for this moment, Andrew, I'll point to you as if you're hosting, okay? You like to throw a party. You especially like to bring the coffee. So, now, if you're pulling it together, can you imagine Jesus turning to you and he's giving you? Now, we often think, how many of you, you host events in your home or other things? Who's the host usually? Who's the cook? Who's the one that freaks out? Vacuuming the room, wiping everything down, making it, I mean, there's a lot of work a host goes through just to put it together. You can stop elbowing the person next to you. I saw a few of the people in here. When Jesus is talking about what you host, I also like you to think about the church as a host. When we're hosting people, Jesus says, do certain things. Don't do certain things. He says, don't focus on your friends, your brothers, your relatives, your rich neighbors who invites you to their parties. What is he talking about here? He's talking about a culture of, if I scratch your back, you can scratch mine. It's an, it's an expectation as if the motive of our heart is to get something back.

Jesus is dealing with the heart motives here, okay? At that table. There were many people that were wealthy, there were people that had influence, and they got an invite just so that that person would invite the host to their house. And it kind of was cyclical. And then the danger in that is you only keep hanging out with the same people, and all these people are using each other. It's not really freely given. And Jesus is saying, that's not real love. That's not love. And Jesus says, in a sense, love doesn't have strings attached to it, right? Look at verse 13. He says, instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you. Now, Jesus shifts it in a dramatic way from inviting people that can do something for you to inviting people that can do nothing for you. In his kingdom, love has no strings attached. Now, we're almost to his story. At the table, there's a person that this is all flying over his head. He's totally missing the point, and he makes a statement that's gonna provoke Jesus

into telling the story. So look at verse 15. It says, hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, what a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the kingdom of God. He's like totally missing the point here. Jesus is talking about inviting people and everything else, and this guy goes, isn't it gonna be great in the kingdom of God in the future? And there are two things going on here that you need to catch. One is everyone at the table anticipates a future end-time banquet. Everybody does. They're all thinking about it. We talk about it even these days. Jesus is coming back. Heaven's on the way, and we get excited about that. That was just much like those people at the table. But the Pharisees were children of Abraham. They were Jews, and they were Pharisees. Their assumption was their ticket had already been punched. Isn't it gonna be great? I'm going there. And here's the thing. For Jesus, he's listened to all of this. For Jesus, the kingdom is right now. This guy is missing it. He's going, isn't it gonna be great someday? And the son of God is at the table.

The one that actually brings the kingdom of God is right next to him, and this joker is missing the point that the kingdom of God isn't all future tense. The kingdom of God is available right now. Jesus spent an inordinate amount of time talking this way, like he wants his kingdom here. He wants it active in our lives. He wants it in our families, in our workplaces. He wants his kingdom now, and the tendency, the human tendency, is to project it all into the future and miss what he wants to do in 2026. Are you hearing what I'm saying today? This is what Jesus is doing. So he tells a story, all right? Now lean in with me to Jesus' story. Started in verse 16. Jesus replied with this story. A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations, and when the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to tell the guests, come, the banquet is ready. But they all began making excuses. One said, I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me. Another said, I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me. Another said, I just got married, so I can't come. The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said,

go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. And after the servant had done this, he reported, there is still room for more. So his master said, go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come so that the house will be full, for none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet. Jesus tells a story. He has a vision in this story, the host does, of an incredible banquet. This is like ahead of time. I picture this day. Hey, some of you planned your wedding long in advance. Nowadays, they go to, this is crazy now. Like when we were getting married, it was like you just plan it, it's simple, pick the dresses, the flowers. It was at a church. And for us, we had somebody that bought some food for sandwich meats and it was good enough, right? Nowadays, it's gotta be Instagram worthy. It's gotta have a filmographer and it's gotta have all the right things and a Pinterest board that's got everything on it. And can you imagine in Jesus' story, this person, this master that's hosting, he has a picture of a grand banquet. Something spectacular, not for himself,

but for the people that actually show up. Like it's gonna be an incredible experience. Now, when he has that experience, he sends out invitations. How many of you have ever received an RSVP? Something like what's on the screen and you're like, on there is the date of the event, your invitation, and RSVP is short for the French phrase, but it basically means please respond. It's a request for the guest to tell the host if they will attend the event. Are you gonna come or you're not? Now, this crowd that Jesus is talking to is a little bit of a Minnesota crowd. Let's be honest. Because the goal was to get a clear count of the guests and the host wants to know, are you coming or you're not coming? But they kind of delayed their response. In Minnesota, it's like maybe. We don't do maybe in the kingdom of God. It's yes or no, are you coming or not? It's are you in or are you not? It's not like sure. Sure does not mean much. Sure means I'm not sure if I'm gonna come. And sure might mean maybe I'll come, but if I have a better invitation, I might not come. And so there's a whole lot wrapped up into the reply. Now, time goes by from the time the invitation went out

to the day or the week of the event, the banquet. And as that time goes by, people are backing out passive aggressively. And as they back out, there are three excuses that are mentioned. I want you to see what Jesus mentions for excuses. One is I just bought a field that I must inspect. Please excuse me. He wants an excuse. I remember when I was growing up and going to school, there was a difference between an excused absence and an unexcused absence. How many of you remember that? Nowadays, they just let them get away with all kinds of stuff. It doesn't make sense to me. And if you are having, if you're a homeschool parent, do not let your kids get away with excuses. All right, there's my little side. Excuses build up over time. If an excuse becomes a habit, then there's no emotion attached to it. It's easy to make an excuse. In this particular case, the person says, I just bought a field that I must inspect. This has to do with an asset that they purchased. Did you know our assets can cause us trouble? And in this case, they wanted a field. They probably were gonna work the field. There's crops on it or animals on it.

It was their way of making income. There's a whole lot of practical uses for this asset. But the asset prevented the individual from attending the banquet. Please excuse me. And last second at that, by the way. Now, if the excuse is an asset, you might be thinking, come on. You could have just taken it a day away. But think about in terms of Jesus' banquet. Think in terms about your presence at the table with the Lord. Your private time with Jesus in the morning. Your ability to take in the Holy Spirit in your life. Thinking about how God has called us to be salt and light. And we have excuses. We have excuses about church. Going to church. Sorry, pastor, I bought a cabin. Wow. I can't come. Now, I'm not trying to like, I know there are people probably at your cabin right now watching, I am so sorry. But you are watching, that means you're joining us. Bravo, thank you for being a part of church today. I'm just saying, right? Then we've got, okay, we got PlayStations in our house. And, oh, we gotta play the game. And then I bought a subscription to Netflix.

And you're like, I don't have time to pray. I don't have time to read. I don't have time to spend with the Lord. But you got time for episode one, episode two, episode three, and maybe episode four, but you're falling asleep at that point. Our assets can become our excuses. The second one that Jesus mentions is bought five pair of oxen, try them out. I have to try them out. Can't do this, I gotta try this out. Please excuse me. Now the oxen are parts of the career, the work materials, if you're gonna have oxen, they're gonna work the field. Many times in our stories, we have things that we've got to do for our jobs, expectations, that we need to be careful that our obligation to our career doesn't outweigh our obligation to spending time with the Lord. And there are expectations of taking care of things that we wanna just try them out. In other words, there's a value statement here. I would rather try out the oxen than be at the banquet. I would rather do this than to be with. And Jesus addresses the heart. Now I want you to see these three excuses as we're going to the third one as progressing because by the time we get to

I just got married, can't come. He doesn't even say, please excuse me. It's just like, duh, I just got married. But how many of you know that a wedding is probably on the calendar? They knew the whole time it was coming. And now it's like, you're trying to make me feel guilty, I got a more important priority. But Jesus is looking for a response to the invitation and they were getting ghosted. So when the answers to the questions came out, why aren't you coming? It's almost like callousness. When you make excuses for long enough, pretty soon you don't care anymore. I will run into people sometimes even with church attendance. They'll come to church, God is moving, He's speaking, and then something will happen and at first it's like, I'm so sorry, pastor, I couldn't be there for the last month. And I'm like, cool, thanks for being here today, I'm great. And then the next thing happens, I'm so sorry, pastor, I couldn't, you know, my kids got the league and we just, you know, sports is pretty important, you know. And then by the time they've done it long enough, it's like, I don't even talk to the pastor. I don't even care. And you have to watch your own heart in these things.

And we all battle them, so it's not like I'm saying, hey, you are a bad person because you've made excuses. I'm just saying, Jesus is addressing our excuses. What are our common excuses for not coming to God's kingdom? In Jesus' story, the host was furious. Now you're gonna tell me you're not coming? All these weeks later, now you're gonna tell me you're not gonna be there? I did the work, but you didn't think it was important enough to respond or decline early or break from whatever it was that you were doing to attend? So what does the host do? Cancel the banquet? They're not coming? No, moves on. And he says, go quickly into the streets and the alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, blind, and lame. Now he sends his servant to go do this, to go reach groups of people that the people at the table that he's sharing the story with didn't wanna be with. These were outsiders, people that were not a part of the club, didn't hang out with them, were they Pharisees? These were outsiders. And so Jesus is addressing this by saying, now the banquet host is gonna go after people that nobody else would go after. And he sends them out, go into the country. He says,

Because after the first wave came in, there's still empty seats. He says, go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come so that the house will be what? Full. God's objective is a full table. A full banquet. He's not satisfied because, man, we got a great number at church. Great number in our small group. He's not satisfied, why? Because he wants his table full. And he'll bypass all those that make excuses to go after other people. He wants his house full. This is the vision of the host. The vision is a full house. This is the heartbeat of God, y'all. His kingdom is available right now, and he wants the world to experience the good news right now. All around the world, God's kingdom is reaching people that are far away from him. I have read story after story from our kingdom builder partners that are missionaries in restricted access countries, Muslim nations, places where it's illegal to be a Christian in the Buddhist world,

and people are receiving visions of Jesus in their bedroom in the middle of the night. Why? His house will be full. He's not gonna wait. He's going after people and he's pulling them in. I'm watching the move of God amongst young adults in our country and the next generation, and those people are hungry. Some of you are a part of our church right now. The Holy Spirit is drawing you because his house will be full. And here's the thing. When Jesus is telling the story, I better ramp myself down here a little bit. When Jesus is telling the story at the table, it's as if he says, you gotta get up and you gotta go find them because they don't know how to come to the banquet. They haven't received a RSVP. And if they did, they would think, no way they want me at their table. So he says, I want you to go and I want you to find them. I want you to go into the hedges and the alleys. I want you to find people that nobody else is doing. There are thousands of people right now while we're in church that are out there that need to be a part of his house

so that it could be full. Are you hearing what I'm saying today? And there is a moment where the kingdom of God requires you and me to not be caught up only in business as usual and to recognize it's time for us to go get people to be a part of his house. Because the banquet is good, y'all. The presence of the Lord in his presence is fullness of joy. At his right hand are pleasures for evermore. Jesus wants us to not make excuses. And here's the danger. The danger is the same as it was for the Pharisees. It's a mindset that says, I already got my ticket punched. I've already experienced God and now it's time for me to take a break. And I'm not talking about anti-Sabbath, all right? We need to take a Sabbath. I'm talking about taking a break from the kingdom. Kind of reminds me of the Super Bowl 51. The Atlanta Falcons were up 28 to three on the Patriots. I'm watching it and everybody's like, no way, the Patriots are coming back. But the Patriots came back and they won the game. And the reason they won the game is, isn't just that the Patriots are good. I got a Patriots fan here somewhere. But the Falcons took the foot off the gas. Their strategy, they didn't run the ball,

they didn't run the clock. They didn't do the things that they needed to do win in the second half. And I'm saying this to you as Christians. Are you doing things in the second half that will help you win? If not, you may lose. And when we excuse ourselves, we miss the banquet. There's a move of God coming, I don't want you to miss out on. I don't want you to miss out on that moment when that loved one or that friend that you've been praying for that's a prodigal, is away from Jesus, and that particular Sunday is the day that they came to church. I don't want you to miss out on, because the tendency for all of us is to go, been there, done that, got the T-shirt. But I'm going to heaven. I'm okay. Jesus makes a bold. that the kingdom of God is here and now. How we live now is vitally important. And who we invite into our lives and into the kingdom is vitally important. Our motives matter. Are we doing it for the right reasons? And Jesus is challenging the motives of the heart. If we make excuses now, we miss out on the banquet later. What does it say in verse 24?

For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet. Today I'm asking you, what are you doing with the invitation being sent to you? Don't make excuses, respond. Evaluate your motives for generosity. It can't just be for selfish return. And share your invite with other people. Don't be satisfied with us five and no more. It's gotta be broader than that. Remember there are others that can be at the table. Our rewards in the future depend on our participation in the present. If you want rewards in the longterm, in heaven, then it demands that you participate now. I'd like y'all to stand with me if you could. I wanna say thank you to my friends. Would you put your hands together? All of them helped. All they had to do is look pretty for me today. Thank you so much. Uh, I wanted to set the table and the feeling. If you were at the table and Jesus was sharing the story with you, where do you fit in the story? What might Jesus be saying to you right now? Can you hear him talking? And Jesus never just condemns or calls out. He says, instead do this. If you're doing this,

maybe you feel like your hand gets slapped. Don't feel like that's eternal condemnation. He does, instead of this, do this. Let your actions, your heart, move in the direction where you're like, Lord, I want to experience your kingdom and all that it has right now. And you might have to fight excuses to get there. You might have to shut out some of the excuses to get the reward that you want. If you're in a place where you're fighting, it feels like nobody is noticing you and you're at the bottom. Remember Jesus' words about the humble are the ones that he exalts. Remember that Jesus says, hey listen, I'll take you up if you go the low route. If you stay humble and let me be the one that promotes you, then you will also experience the kingdom of God along the way. One of the things that I've noticed in my life that there are always people that we sometimes call EGRs, extra grace required people. How many know, how many have EGRs in your life? Okay, you've got an EGR in your life. Jesus would say, what if you invited an EGR to your table? Well, they might take it over. They might embarrass me at the table. They might take too much of my time.

Jesus would say, you go get them, you bring them in. Bring them in. We're talking a lot about invitations around here. You heard an invitation earlier about the Lakeville 100. We're praying that God would just tap people in our church that feel the call of God to leave comfort in Spring Lake Park and go participate in our location down there. I'll still preach to you. You can't get away from my preaching, but maybe God would tap you on the shoulder and you would go. We've got our fall kickoff coming up next month and as we move into the fall, this church can't just be about you. Who are you bringing to church with you? Who are you saying, hey, you know what? Let's go, let's go, let's go. It can't just be about us. Why? Because I want more people at the banquet. Jesus said his house would be full. His house would be full. It matters how you approach. Coach your life in the kingdom of God. And I happen to believe even in this moment right now, there are people that Jesus wants to heal. He wants to reveal his kingdom to you. And you might be making excuses. I'm like, you know, lunch is in a few minutes.

I don't know if I wanna linger. I don't know if I wanna go up for prayer. I don't know if I wanna do it. And you've got your excuses. Excuses keep you from the banquet table. Excuses keep you from what Jesus is offering. And I would just say, he wants to help you and be with you right now. Would you close your eyes right now with me? Each of our locations. If you'd come to church today and you said, hey, honestly, Pastor Nate, I'm an outsider. My sin has caused me to miss out. And I know that Jesus is doing something in me right now. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit convicts the sin and draws people to Jesus. And if you are here today and God is working on your heart, today is your day to give your life to Christ. And there's an invitation that went out when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead and he's alive and he's invited all of us. As many as call out his name, they will be saved. And if you're here today and you need to give your life to Christ or you need to come back to him, I wanna pray with you. And if that's you in each Lakeville, Elk River, Maple Grove, Spring Lake Park, that's you, you need to give your life to Christ, just put your hand up. Say, that's me, Pastor Nate.

I need to accept that invitation. I need to come home. He's doing it right now, yep. Who else, who else? Four, five, six, seven. Come on, somebody. Yes, you're worth it right now. You are worth waiting for it. There you go, there we go. I wanna lead you in a prayer. If you raised your hand and you're giving your life to Jesus or you're coming back to him, I want you to just pray these words out to the Lord and then you repeat them after me. I'll give you those words, but mean it from your heart and everybody else, you can join right in as well. Say, Jesus, thank you for loving me so much that you came to the earth, you died on the cross for my sin, and then you rose from the dead, and I know that you're alive. Today, I surrender to you. Please forgive me of my sin and make me new. I choose to turn and follow you for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen. Somebody give the Lord some praise in the house, amen. Amen. At the end of the service,

our prayer teams will be available. We've got a Bible. If you're giving your life to Christ, we will also help you in your next steps of following Jesus. I don't want you to leave too quickly, but stick around for that. We wanna pray with you, and our prayer teams will be available for a prayer of any type. But for now, I wanna say to the rest of us, hey, it is time for us to recognize Jesus is here right now. Let's not be the Pharisee that talks about, won't he be great someday? And Miss Jesus is in the room. He's here right now. And I don't know what he wants to do, but I believe he wants to touch and speak and care for and love and encourage, light a fire under some people's bottoms. He can do whatever we need in this moment, but we need to give our attention to the Lord. And if you would right now with me, just open your arms up to heaven. Lord, we come before you. We thank you, Lord, for what you've done, but Lord, we don't wanna just read these kind of words and these stories and miss what you're saying to us at every stage of our journey, to new believers, to people that have been serving you

for many years. We don't wanna keep making excuses. We wanna have a quick yes to your kingdom, to your banquet, and we pray in Jesus' name that, Lord, that you would open our hearts, expand our vision, our willingness, Lord, to expand our vision in our circle of friends, the place where we work, our neighborhood, Lord, to reach people, Lord, that nobody else can reach. And you would ignite us, anoint us, Lord, authorize us to be emissaries of the kingdom of God, to reach people nobody else is reaching. I pray, God, that you would give us courage, Lord, for those of us that feel like we're timid. You said that God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a power in love and a sound mind, and so I pray, Lord, that you would wake us up, Lord, that we would see the kingdom of God is here, and that, Lord, you would be with us that way, not just in church, but all week long. We thank you for that, and as we worship you, I pray. God that you take the word and and lord like seed going into the ground lord it would go in and would bear fruit eventually as it takes root we worship you this morning