Luke 14:12-24

Today, Pastor Jack tells us that many of us are distracted by our self-centered lives. But, to refuse to consider Heaven is to excuse ourselves from God’s invitation to go there. Denying Heaven is to reject perfect peace, perfect love, and perfect happiness.

God is saying to you today:
“I am the God who sees you. I am aware of your struggles and your triumphs. The battles you face are not yours alone. Don’t worry about tomorrow. I am fighting on your behalf.”

They strategically placed the man there opposite Jesus knowing that he would have compassion on the man on the Sabbath day and heal him.
And in doing that, these religious snobs could catch Jesus in breaking the law because they viewed that if Jesus did anything good on the Sabbath, that he would be breaking the law.
And so it was a big set up and Jesus instructed them last time about being humbled.
Do you remember that uh the whole story was that when they opened the doors, they would run in, remember and grab the chief seats?
Because if you had the seats closest to the host, the probability of you being invited back for another function was, was elevated or, or uh greatly increased if you sat near the host and he would see your face then by nature, by conduct, by culture, they would invite you back.
And so that was a big deal. The door opened, everybody runs to get the best seat in the house.
Jesus watched that and he gave them a lesson on being humble that you, that you don’t need to be like that.
You let God take care of things yet that you don’t push your way around.
You let God open the doors. The Bible tells us in the Psalms that promotion comes from God.
So all of that was in verses or chapter 14 verses 1 to 11.
And now this morning, we pick up not being humble, that being settled.
He moves on to the next point that a host and for that matter, every Christian should be concerned about and that is being hospitable that we as Children of God, as Christians should be prone to being those of hospitality.
Why? Because our God is very hospitable toward us. Is he not, did he not invite us to heaven?
He could have shut up the doors and said, no, no, only the beautiful people, only those who win, only those who got it.
Only those who have it. He could have done that. He didn’t do that. He’s awesome.
And today we’re going to be talking about how hospitable God is and how we should be as believers regarding that and where the unbeliever is regarding God’s invitation.
Luke chapter 14 begin at verse 12. Then he Jesus also said to him who invited him, that’s the host.
When you give a dinner or a supper. In this case, a banquet, he’s gonna be speaking about.
Don’t ask your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back and you be repaid.
But when you give a feast invite the poor, the mame, the lame, the blind and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you for, you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just verse 15.
Now, when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, blessed is he who shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God?
Then Jesus said to him, a certain man gave a great supper and invited many and he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, come for all things are now ready.
But they all with one accord that is with one mind, one consent began to make excuses.
The first one said I have bought a piece of ground property and I must go see it.
I ask you to have me excused.
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I am going to test them.
I ask you to have me excused. Verse 20.
Still another one said I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come.
That’s the one he gave an excuse, huh? Verse 21.
So that servant came and reported these things to the master.
Then the master of the house being angry, said to his servant, go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor, the mame, the lame and the blind and the servant said to the master master all is done as you’ve commanded.
There is still room. Then the master said to the servant then go out into the highways and the byways or hedges and compel them to come that my house may be filled.
Verse 24 for I say to you that not one of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.
Strong words that Jesus is using and teaching and those that were gathered about. Imagine for a moment.
Uh It’s this host of Pharisees. And those at the pharisee, the host invited a very beautiful group of people.
They were financially blessed, they were educated, they were the cream of the crop.
But there’s two anomalies in the meeting.
There’s Jesus who they can’t stand and there is a crippled man who has no right in their culture to be at that table.
He’s not worthy. He’s an ugly guy. I mean ugly meaning that he’s suffering.
He may have odors and moaning and he may have complaints, but he was there.
Their motive was wrong for him to be there, jesus’ presence, their motive was wrong about him being there.
But God has a plan to turn it all around Jesus is going to teach them about what true hospitality is.
And it translates quickly into the very life that you and I are living today.
This message that Jesus gives encompasses all of human life from the beginning to the end from Adam and to the last person who will say yes or no to God’s invitation to know Christ.
So number one, jot it down our point is this to be hospitable.
Our God, that is the God of the Bible reaches out to all people.
I need you to mark that down.
Every Christian ought to know that, that our God, that is the God of the Bible reaches out to all mankind that mankind might know Him.
If you read the Bible, it clearly tells you that the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to eternal life.
We’ll talk more on that in a moment.
But we understand that he reaches out to all this way in verse 12.
He reaches out desiring nothing in return.
What an amazing God we have see the contrast is this man of power has invited others that might someday invite him to something God gives an invitation and he doesn’t expect anything in return.
He gives it freely. He issues to every one of us the opportunity to, to go to heaven and to know Him today, personally expecting nothing in return.
He said, come on, pastor, I was here a moment ago and they passed the offering.
That’s only for the believer, the Bible commands that as an act of worship.
And let’s be honest, if we know that we are to give a portion of what God has given us back at the end of each week, it keeps our rudder really straight.
It causes us to realize that we’re not living only for ourselves, but we are living for the life of others.
And it also keeps the fact that money can become a God in our lives. What should I have?
What should be mine? What do I deserve?
The amazing, awesome God of heaven reaches out to all people and says to us that you come to me and I expect nothing in return.
His invitation to heaven is amazing. And so the Bible tells us there, Jesus speaks.
He says, when you give a dinner, verse 12 or a supper, don’t ask your friends, don’t invite your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors less.
They also invite you back and repay you now church. He’s not saying that you can’t eat with your relatives.
That’s not what he’s talking about.
He’s saying when you uh habitually have a, a great banquet or a feast, don’t do this habitually.
That is, don’t do this and that you only invite your beautiful friends, go ahead and invite them but invite others as well.
Invite people. You don’t know. You say, are you kidding me? Pastor? I’m gonna invite somebody.
I don’t know. First of all, listen, you’d be surprised who you don’t know.
I remember the first time we had our first baby came out.
Uh Rebecca was born and you don’t realize this until you’re a parent.
You, you’re holding a human being in your hands and you’ve never met them before.
They are strangers in your house. Who are you? You little doodle machine?
I mean, you’re throwing up, going to the bathroom, you smell. Who are you?
You’ve got to get to know them, even your own baby.
And then what about your, your boyfriend or girlfriend?
Who believe me, one of them will someday become your husband and wife.
You met them as a stranger, didn’t you?
Everybody in your life was a stranger once, think about it, even your kids, hey, your kids think my mom and dad are strangers.
I mean, think about it. God’s heart towards us.
Is this that the Bible teaches us that we were strangers and foreigners to God until we came to know Him, he opened up heaven to us and by his grace, we responded to his invitation, but he desires expecting nothing in return that we might say yes to heaven.
So Jesus says, when you invite people, don’t, don’t invite people so that you might get something back.
Be like God. God invites people into his kingdom expecting nothing in return. This is a true story.
My wife who grew up in a Christian home.
I did not, she did either Thanksgiving or Christmas would it whichever holiday or maybe it was both of them.
I don’t know, but it was one of them that her dad would make a phone call down to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps and they, or he would drive down to Camp Pendleton and pick up a couple of marines who at the holiday season had nobody.
They were far from home. They didn’t have anybody.
And Lisa’s dad would pick them up and bring them back up here and they would host these strangers at a Thanksgiving dinner.
And that had to be something because my wife, Lisa, she’s the baby of nine kids and, and bring in the marines on top of it.
But Lisa’s mom and dad loved it and they did that every year intentionally to bring someone that was a stranger.
Why? Based upon this teaching, Jesus said, go get them.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if we just, in fact, we had to get together later and talk about this.
We ought to have all of us here in this church, bake and cook and fry and dip or whatever we cook up and, and do a spread out in the courtyard and then we go out and let’s go get people.
Let’s do it. Ok. Let’s do it. Let’s get together and let’s plan this thing. Let’s do it.
Can you imagine how cool that would be? Yeah. But what if people say no, they say no.
At least you and I will never forget this teaching today.
What if they say yes, then bring them and we will spoil them. What if they’re homeless?
Bring them? In fact, let’s target them the most. Let’s love them into the kingdom of God.
Well, what if they’re prostitutes down on Holt avenue? Bring them, ask your wife’s permission first. Make sure.
And you better tell a cop what you’re doing too. Could you imagine? I’m from my church.
Don’t tell them Cay Chapel. If that’s what you do bring them. Jesus says, bring them why?
It’s a picture of the Kingdom of Heaven.
God opens his door and he says, come on, you can’t find one verse in the Bible where it says God says, stay out.
I don’t want you here. He says, come, what an awesome thing. He wants nothing in return.
The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2 19.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
Wow, you’re listening to real life with Pastor Jack Hibbs.
You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series. Just go to Jack Hibbs dot com.
That’s Jack Hibbs dot com. And for now let’s get back to our teaching.
Once again, here’s pastor Jack household of God church family, if we can have a house and every one of our homes has their own vibe, you know that it has its own smells, it has its own sounds, it has its own attitude.
If we want to have a home that is hospitable and inviting people. How much more is heaven?
Can you even begin to imagine where Paul the Apostle said that he saw a glimpse of heaven and that human words are not lawful to try to describe what he saw.
I’m a little skeptical about people who claim to see heaven and they write a book about it when the Apostle Paul says, I wasn’t even allowed to talk about it.
Too fantastic, too great. God expects nothing in return and he offers us heaven.
Secondly, verse 13 says, he reaches out desiring that all should come.
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the mame, the lame and the blind. Absolutely amazing.
The word poor right here in the Greek jot it down. It means a cringing, beggar, not a beggar.
It means a cringing bear. What is a cringing beggar?
Like it’s someone who is scared to ask, they’ve been beaten up.
They, they flinch, they, they, they, they, they’re waiting to be beaten up or robbed or, or pillaged or whatever and, and, and yet desperation causes him to beg.
And he’s like this. Jesus says, go get them and I don’t know who you are.
Maybe that’s how your life is.
You may have the cars, you may have the clothes, you may have the looks.
But inside you’re like a cringing beggar. You’re terrified in life.
Life is, is scary and difficult and you’re terrified and you reach out your hand for love or for acceptance.
But yet inside you’re cringing because of the way that you’ve been treated.
That is so often seen by the way, in the eyes of someone you can see it in them.
Jesus says, get them and bring them here. What an awesome God.
And then the word name these that are injured, either at some time after birth or those that were born with things that are crippling.
You say, you know, well, we have a handicapped society.
Our society is very kind towards those that have needs that this is true.
Go anywhere in the world and nowhere is more comfortable for a disabled person than America.
But in that culture of Jesus’s day, they were outcast, they were rejected, they were put off to the side and left to rot.
Jesus said, get them and bring them.
I love that because what if I sometime either by birth or during life, what if my life has somehow become crippled or maimed?
And it doesn’t have to be physical.
What about in other ways Jesus says you come and then the word lame, the word lame is someone that is, that is weak, either emotionally, physically or mentally.
Maybe you’re emotionally frail. Jesus said, get those people and bring them into my kingdom.
Isn’t that encouraging today? I want you to be thinking about that.
You can never blame God for excluding you from his kingdom. No, no, no.
He wants everyone to come and that’s a great and glorious thing, desiring that all should come.
The Bible tells us, in fact, I’ll quote you the new living translation.
I don’t normally do that, but it’s so inviting. It’s so warm.
In Second Corinthians 5 16, Paul the Apostle said, I have stopped evaluating others by the world standards once I made the mistake of thinking of Christ that way as though he were a mere human being.
Now, I think of Christ differently. What a great way of putting it. Uh Oh, look at that guy.
He’s a bum. And let’s be honest, you go, you take the freeway, take any freeway, take any freeway off ramp and come down to the stop light and there they are with that sign, I’ll work for food and they always put God bless you on there.
Ok, here’s the thing. Are you as wicked as I am?
You are you and I, we’re together here. What’s your first thought? What a bum?
The guy probably makes 150,000 year because I’ve read about that in the papers.
The guy, the guy gets up in the morning doesn’t take a shower, throws dirt all over himself.
Puts holes in his socks, takes a sign and stands on the side of the freeway makes $150,000 a year.
That’s where my wicked thoughts go. I, I’m not supposed to do that. And what are you thinking?
Well, what do you do? Give him five bucks? So just go drink it away.
We’re not supposed to worry about that either. Lisa. And I used to have a friend.
She moved to Northern California. She kept in the trunk of her car, a bag, a bag of food every day.
She had food in that car in case she took a free way off ramp and there that guy was standing.
Yeah. But how do you know? That’s, that’s it. We won’t know, we won’t know, we can’t know.
So, instead of us being God, why don’t we just obey God and give them some money or some food.
Let God judge them in the end. I’m supposed to take care of them.
You know, it’s a scourge upon the church. It’s ridiculous. It’s embarrassing.
I tell you what, you have to run for president.
There’s people in here that’s over qualified to run for president. You’re wonderful people and you’re great leaders.
But I tell you what, you got to run for office on this platform, do away with welfare and put it back into the hands of the churches.
Let the churches do the welfare program and spare the government billions of dollars and let the churches listen, you unleash a church and let them go assuming they have the heart to go get those that are hurting and in need and you’ll correct the welfare problem in America.
Let the churches love people with food and clothing and care. Watch what happens. Let them go.
Jesus said he’s desiring that all should come. Thirdly, he reaches out desiring our happiness.
We sometimes in Christianity have a tendency to downplay happiness. But the truth of the matter is God.
Uh happiness is a word that you’ll find in the Bible. It, it’s, it’s something less than joy.
Joy is the ultimate, but happiness is what’s going on right here right now in our lives, the events around me determine my happiness.
Joy is a constant. But look at verse 14 and you will be happy, Blessed because they cannot repay you for, you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just in other words, God will take care of you in the end.
You take care of them now and I tell you, you start doing that and you’ll shatter so many hang ups that you and I have in our lives.
When we start to minister and bless others, God says, you’re going to be happy, you’ll find happiness.
And not only that, it will be well with you at the time of the resurrection of the just point number two this morning verses 15 to 21.
For us to be hospitable, to be like God, our God, the God of the Bible excludes none.
God excludes no one. His invitation goes out to all but he excludes no one verse 15 and 16.
Now, when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, quote, blessed.
Is he happy? Is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom? Of God.
Then Jesus said to him, a certain man gave a great supper and invited many.
This is a strong word.
Number one, you can circle or mark the words there, that sentence, that statement blessed as you shall eat in the bread.
In the Kingdom of God. Scholars don’t know the attitude in which that was said because number one, it came from somebody around the table.
These were all self centered, self righteous Pharisees. OK.
So scholars say the statement that the man makes is a sarcasm. And there’s arguments for that.
When I say sarcasm, it means that oh, isn’t it great?
We’re going to be so blessed when the Kingdom comes, we’ll all be eating bread together in the kingdom assuming because they’re beautiful and powerful and influential people.
Well then that’s, that’s how the Kingdom of Heaven must be all the amazing people.
And Jesus said, I tell you what a certain man, remember what you’ve been taught in the Bible here at this church.
Whenever you see the word certain, you mark it, it means that this is not just a man, this is a special situation.
So from this moment on Jesus begins to let us into God’s heart and mind about heaven and those who go there and those who reject it.
Did you hear what I said?
Those who go there and those who reject it, God wants you in heaven.
If a person winds up in hell, it’s because they’ve rejected his offer.
Every person who wakes up in hell sends themselves there. God doesn’t want you to go there.
He wants you in heaven. He didn’t have his son die on the cross for some people.
The Bible says he died on the cross for the sins of the whole world.
He wants all of us there. So you can’t blame God for not one in you there.
And we see this in his generosity. He excludes none based upon his generosity.
He says there a certain man gave a great supper.
We would use the word banquet and he invited many that word.
Many is all who would listen, all who would hear it doesn’t mean all those who would respond.
It means all those who would hear it, those who would respond and those who would reject pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called Be Hospitable.
So glad you could join us today.
You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Gospel of Luke, a series on the book of Luke and the unveiling of Jesus Christ to this world.
And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Everybody. Pastor Jack here.
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