Sermon for 6/18/23: Second Sunday After Trinity

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The Feast Is Ready

Luke 14:15-24

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

         

The Kingdom of God is not just some far away event in the distant future. The Kingdom is present now. Blessed is he who hears the Word of God and keeps it now. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven now. Blessed is he who eats bread in the Kingdom of God now. The Kingdom of God is already here, and in that Kingdom, God is now present with His grace and mercy.

So Jesus tells this parable about urgency and invitation. Everything is ready…everything, that is, but the invited guests. They have lingering commitments. They have other wants and desires for themselves. The master of the feast is ready, but they are not. And so come the excuses. They don’t come right out and say that they don’t want to come. They just don’t want to come now. Of course, we can clearly see the foolishness of such behavior. We are pleased that the host invites the outcasts of society—the poor, the lame, the maimed, the blind—and still there is room. We are glad because that means there is still room for us.

This is a parable about urgency, about a desperate, current need we have. We might even mock these men in the parable who thought themselves too busy to attend. But what about us? Are we ready for the final summons? Are we eager? I suspect that we’re not quite there yet. You young people, teenagers, and young adults: how do you feel about the Lord possibly returning very soon? You have plans and dreams. You want to grow up and have families and careers. There are things you want to experience. And you are not alone in that desire. Your parents and grandparents would probably feel just as cheated for the same reasons. The truth is, if it were up to us, many of us would prolong the Lord’s return permanently. We have more important things we want to do and more significant goals we want to accomplish. And we don’t want to be disappointed.

Please forgive my bluntness, but you must understand that this is pure nonsense. No believer will be disappointed on that Day of glory. You will not look back grudgingly on this vale of tears. No matter what your plans or dreams are, no matter what you come to possess, no matter who you leave behind for a time, it is far greater joy to leave behind this life of suffering and frustration and disappointment and be joined to the saints in that perfect and eternal heavenly communion!

It is true, of course, that there are those who are near the end of life—those of great age, perhaps those experiencing great sorrow, illness, or suffering. Their frustration is a different one. They wonder why God keeps them here. They are ready to go; they cannot see any further purpose they can serve here. They don’t know why they go on living. Sometimes I have to tell them I don’t know the reason either. But as St. Paul reminded the Romans, for all who love God and are called according to His purposes, all things work for good—all things without exception. He will take them home soon. And God’s time is perfect. But that plaintive cry, that desire for the end, should be in all of us, regardless of age or health or occupation. What do any of us—husband, wife, farmer, laborer, banker, teacher, or pastor—what do any of us add to this world? God does not need us here. This is not even our home. Eternal life is our destination. “Come, Lord Jesus” should be more than a thoughtless table prayer.

And yet, the sad fact is that, sometimes, we have behaved and thought about eternity as though we might actually be bored in heaven, as though we might have nothing to do there that we enjoy doing. And it is certainly true that heaven may not be a utopia of golf courses, or ponds stocked with fish, or limitless perfect hands of bridge or pinochle. The truth is, it is far better than any of that. Heaven is the most interesting, the most delightful, the most wonderful place, beyond our ability to imagine. At the Resurrection, we will be free from sin. We will no longer have to deal with affliction, suffering, or the destructive forces of this world. We will stop hurting ourselves and those we love with shameful, selfish behavior. We will bask in the presence of our loving Father as His children perfected in grace. We will have no regrets. Nothing will be lost. Everything will be gained.

But that joy to come, the glory to be revealed, is already here. For those with eyes of faith, we are already God’s beloved children, forgiven by grace, in whom He eternally abides. Already now, already here, He gathers us around Himself. He feeds us with food that money cannot buy, with bread that will not waste—with crucified flesh and blood that is not dead but forever alive, with a righteousness that forever satisfies.

Everything is ready. It is all finished. All debts are paid, all sins removed. All shame is forgotten in the death He died once for all, in the resurrection that delivers us to our eternal home. There is nothing left but to receive. The Feast is ready. So come; be filled with Him. As the Psalmist invites: “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him.” In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.