Luke 14:1-24 "A Humble Party"
Ever get invited to a party you don’t want to go to?
As soon as you get the invite you start thinking of ways to get out of it.
Sorry, that’s my cat’s birthday and I promised him I’d stay home.
I’d love to but I’m allergic to balloons. And fun. I have a rare condition that makes me break out in hives if I’m around people who are having fun.
Oh, man, dang! I made plans to binge-watch every episode of Friends and think about how I don’t have any.
One year Kim and I invited like 30 people over for a New Year’s Eve party—they all said they were going to come—absolutely none of them did. Not one. That was December 31st, 1999. We partied like it was 1999 anyway. Coincidentally, Von’s birthday was in September 2000—so, it worked out that we were alone that night.
People have gotten even worse about showing up for parties though. And most people don’t know how to have fun if they do go. Because they think the party is about them. They say, “I don’t like small talk,” “I don’t know what to say to people.” “Who’s going to be there? I don’t want to be bored.”
Sometimes pagans are all about parties because they’re all about it. They go to a party to look cool, get smashed, and hook-up. Hedonism 101. Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Except no one cares about the rock-n-roll part anymore. The party is all about how much they can get out of it.
But Christians can be confused about parties. They know they shouldn’t party like the pagans, not like they used to, so they show up and stand around having polite conversation, sipping iced tea, and waiting for the first person to get bored enough to make their escape—then it’s a stampede to the door. It’s not only morbidly self-conscious, it’s completely selfish.
They’re still trying to make the party about themselves. The party isn’t about you. Christians are to make the party about the other people who are there—if we do that, all of a sudden—the whole thing can be glorious.
Jesus never turned down an invite to a party. It’s one of the main ways He describes the kingdom of heaven. Today Jesus is going to school us hard on our attitudes and etiquette concerning parties.
Luke 14:1-24
One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Luke 14:1-3
So this is one of those Sabbath dinners that would have happened after sundown on Friday, which is when Sabbath began. They could do all the work preparing for the party before Sabbath laws kicked in and then sit down and feast with friends and family. There would be food, wine, and conversation about big ideas—since it was Sabbath, they would focus on Scripture and God things. There were guests of honor and other guests who sat at the tables and enjoyed the food. The public could also show up if they wanted to sit against the walls and listen to the conversation.
So Jesus was passing through town and they invited Him to come to the party which was at the house of one of the big wig Pharisees. They invited Jesus because they wanted to see what He was like up close and personal.
We’ve been here before—Jesus at a dinner party with the super-religious people who hated Him. Always a good time.
It says there was a man with “dropsy.” You know… He kept dropping his fork, spilling his drink, and the screen of his iPhone was cracked.
No, that’s having the “dropsies”—completely different thing. Even Jesus can’t heal that.
I looked up “dropsy.” Apparently it means the man had abnormal swelling. I guess that’s nicer than saying “and behold, Jesus noticed one of the men was really fat.”
No. That’s not what it means either. It’s actually a bad deal. The guy had excess fluid buildup, probably due to heart disease, he was not a pretty sight and was going to die. They would have assumed his condition was brought on by grotesque sin, he would have been considered unclean.
Jesus sees the man—who was most likely crashing the party. They’re staring at Him, critical of every move, every word. Jesus does something different, He asks all these self-righteous know-it-alls a question before they have a chance to say anything. “So what do you think, am I allowed to heal on the Sabbath or not?”
They didn’t answer but Jesus knew what they were thinking. He let the stillness sit there for a minute until they felt the awkward silence.
VERSE 4:
Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.
Luke 14:4-6
Jesus took ahold of the man and healed him. Zwoop! Swelling went down right in front of their eyes. I could use some healing like that—Jesus grabs me by the shoulders and Zwoop! I go from 250 to 180 in the twinkling of an eye! I know, it’s not the same, but a guy can dream.
So Jesus had asked if it was okay for Him to heal on the Sabbath, they didn’t answer but He knew they didn’t think so. He goes ahead and heals a man right in their face. Then He’s like, “oh, you would have done the same thing. If your child fell into a well on Sabbath, you wouldn’t be like, “okay Timmy, hold on, we’ll get you out tomorrow after church.”
They were speechless—didn’t say a word. This is wisdom, you can’t win an argument with God anyway.
But Jesus was just getting started. It was time to go straight to awkward. He looks around the room and sees how they had all pushed and shoved to make sure they had the best seats.
VERSE 7:
Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. Luke 14:7-10
Jesus shakes His head, “So, what are you guys like at a wedding, do you just walk into the reception and sit at the head table with the bride and groom? Open a bottle of wine, cut yourself a slice of cake? Grab the mic from the best man and start telling stories about your wedding day?”
These Sabbath feasts were a big deal. You felt pretty special if you were invited. Since it wasn’t just a meal but also an evening of talking about big ideas—the best place to sit was at either end of the table so you could see everyone and everyone could see you. They clammered for those spots.
But if the host had someone else in mind to be the main speaker—the guest of honor—it would be embarrassing if you had to be asked to move while everyone was watching.
It’s much better to be humble than to be humiliated.
This is just good manners, good etiquette, but it’s also a very important lesson in how the kingdom of God works.
VERSE 11:
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11
But we don’t want to. We don’t want to humble ourselves. We want people to see us as winners! The smartest. The strongest. No one’s going to get over on us!
This is why we yell at other cars when we’re driving. Why we flip people off. Why we have to get the last word. Why we think people who disagree with us are stupid. Why we remind people of our education, our experience, our expertise.
This idea gets to the wisdom of the Gospel—what Jesus is all about. He calls us to put others first. Part of that—a big part of that—is thinking of others as better than ourselves. Letting them look better in social situations. Speaking well of them when they’re not around. Showing them patience and grace when they’re right in front of us doing the thing that drives us nuts. When they are critical of us in front of our friends—that one stings, I am not good at that one. Or even worse, at least for me, when I say something I think is funny and they make it their duty to be the joke police.
It’s all pride. Critical spirit is pride. Frustration and anger is pride. Irritable selfishness is pride.
Making sure you get the best seat, the biggest slice of pizza with the most cheese, the last good beer, the largest half of that candy bar you broke to share, the last word in that social media discussion.
When you’re tempted to let people know how great you are—just stop talking.
Humble yourself. If anyone is going to praise you, make sure it’s not you. God says this is the way the world works—those who humble themselves will be exalted by others. Those who exalt themselves will be taken down a few notches by anyone standing around. And even if that doesn’t happen, it’s definitely the way the kingdom of God works. God promises to humble the proud and exalt the humble.
Everyone who had rushed to get their special seat was feeling the weight of Jesus’ words.
Then Jesus looked at the guy who was throwing the party, the guy who had invited all of his best friends, closest brothers, nearest relatives, richest neighbors—He even invited the Son of God. It was quite the guestlist.
VERSE 12:
He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. Luke 14:12
Near-eastern rules of hospitality were more than suggestions by Emily Post. This was social law—you break it and you will be shunned. Outcast.
If someone invited you to a party then you had to invite them to yours. So if you wanted to be invited to the best, most exclusive soirees—you had to invite the most influential and prominent people to your events.
Everyone there, especially the guy who threw the party, would have been thinking, “Nonsense. That’s exactly who I invite. What’s this guy talking about?”
VERSE 13:
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:13-14
In other words, “Invite people who are begging for bread. People who can’t pay you back. People who can’t afford to throw parties and don’t ever get invited.”
I’m sure they were thinking, “I’d rather just stop having parties or going to parties altogether. I don’t want to go to a party with a bunch of riff-raff losers like that.” Mm-hmm. That’s definitely part of what Jesus is getting at.
He’s not saying we shouldn’t also invite our friends and family—people who could in turn invite us but He’s definitely saying we shouldn’t leave the others out. When we invite people who don’t know about the love of God that’s only found in Jesus to join us for our weekly church party, that’s when we’re doing His work—He promises to reward us for our trouble.
There was at least one guy there who was trying to track with what Jesus was saying.
VERSE 15:
When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
Luke 14:15
Like, “Yes! Jesus that is a really beautiful idea. When we all get to heaven, everyone who is invited to that glorious feast will be filled with joy and blessing!” Maybe the guy was just trying to change the subject.
But now Jesus has set the stage for the main act. He’s going to use this party and the guy who threw it and all of them who came as distinguished guests as a parable.
VERSE 16:
But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ Luke 14:16-17
So far so good. That’s exactly what happened. A man threw this dinner party, invited all his special people ahead of time, and then when everything was ready he sent his servant to let everyone who had agreed to come it was dinner time.
But Jesus isn’t really talking about this little dinner party with Pharisees anymore, He’s talking about the kingdom of heaven. The invitation to believe. To sup with Him. To eat the Bread of Life. The invitation these men were rejecting.
VERSE 18:
But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ Luke 14:18-20
The table is set, the feast is ready—but one by one all of his honored guests make lame excuses for why they can’t come at the last minute. They were like: I’m too busy at work. I bought a new computer—I just have a lot of stuff going on, sorry. My cat seems nervous. It might rain. I have an avocado in the refrigerator and it might go bad if I don’t eat it tonight.
The truth was they just didn’t want to. But He’s not really just talking about parties. Jesus came to the people who had the entire Old Testament as a written invitation, people who said they were waiting on the Messiah but when He said, “Alright, here I am, time to feast!” They blew Him off and stayed home.
Jesus has some pretty harsh words for the Jews that rejected Him. How do you think He feels about His people these days who are content to sit at home while His churches are sad empty places? And too many of us who do show up have absolutely no urgency about our orders to fill the empty seats.
VERSE 21:
So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
Luke 14:21
The master who’s throwing the party is God. The servant that He sent to round everyone up is Jesus. The party is the kingdom of heaven and salvation—the church. God is really angry that so few are coming to the party. I can relate to getting mad about the empty seats—this might be the godliest thing about me. Ha.
So He sends Jesus to the people who are living in the streets. The outcasts. Jesus is healing them, casting demons out of them, calling them to follow Him. People who don’t buy land or oxen—not the kind of people you want to network with. And the prominent members of society, the Pharisees and religious leaders don’t like this at all. But they’re really not going to like the next thing.
VERSE 22:
And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”
Luke 14:22-24
So the servant gathered up all the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of society—sat them all at tables ready for the party to get started. But there were still a lot of empty seats. So the master sent the servant outside the city—to the highways and the hedges. To the -gasp- Gentiles! Unbelievers! Go get the pagans and persuade them to hear the Gospel and find a way to drag them in here. Mostly by the life-changing strong drawing power of grace! Overcome their objections that such a wonderful thing as the Gospel could be intended for them. “I want my house to be filled!” No empty seats! I didn’t throw this big world-changing party just so religious snobs would turn their nose up at it!
Then He says, “none of those who were invited and made excuses to not show up—anyone who rejects the invitation—none of them will be welcome at that heavenly banquet or taste the bread of the kingdom of heaven. You can’t get in without an invitation and if you throw the invitation away that will not be good for you.
So, parties.
It’s a bad day when you make plans and throw a big event that no one shows up for. For you it might have been a birthday party or a cookout. For me it’s every Sunday. I’m learning how to not take it so personally. How to be thankful for all of you who are faithful to show up instead of being disappointed by the ones who didn’t. I’m getting better.
But it’s probably happened to you, too. And it doesn’t take too many flops before most people stop trying. Stop throwing parties. Stop going to parties. It’s not good. I’m not saying you have to go to every party you’re ever invited to but I think you should make an effort to go to most of them—go and don’t make it about you. The host will be thrilled you showed up at all. If you can say a few encouraging things and help some other people not feel left out or awkward—that’s a really good reason to have gone.
Don’t give up on parties or events. It’s easy to do as we get older. I don’t think it’s what Jesus wants for us, though.
And it’s the same with churches—too many give up. They try for a while but nothing works. Start feeling like no one’s going to show up anyway. They decide to be satisfied with their little congregation of people who show up once or twice a month. Too many churches, which are just a reflection of the people in them, have given up doing anything or trying anything to bring more people in.
But Jesus says, “I want my Father’s house to be full.” To invite the people who aren’t here. The people who don’t bring anything to the table. People we might not like. Yet. People who might not believe. Yet. Compel them. Persuade them. Drag them in here by any means necessary.
Probably makes you nervous when I talk about this.
So Easter is coming up in a few weeks. Good Friday, Easter. People need to know about the cross and the resurrection. We need to bring them in here so they can find out about it. You need to go out there and help invite and drag people in here.
We have an idea.
On Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, we’re going to have a crawfish boil after worship. We’ll hand out tickets for a free plate of crawfish. You take a bunch of those tickets and give them to whoever you can give them to, inviting them to come to our crawfish party. We’ll open up the cafeteria side, have live music, games. Hotdogs and hamburgers for people who don’t eat bugs.
Then we’ll invite them to come back for Good Friday, an Easter egg hunt, our Easter service.
Your job is just to hand out the tickets and let people know you’d love for them to join you. It’s up to God to make the miracles happen.
You’re here because you accepted God’s gracious invitation to humble your pride, confess that you are a sinner, and receive forgiveness for your sins. You know that Jesus humbled Himself all the way to death on a cross. You’re forgiven because of Jesus. Because of this, you have a place at His table forever.
It’s an invitation that comes with a warning though. If we start thinking we deserve to be here, that we’re the special ones. That we’ve received the kindness and mercy of God but we don’t have to extend that offer to other people who need it—or if we start taking it for granted and blow off this weekly party God has called us to. Well, there’s always room for humility and repentance but He’s not interested in our excuses. If we try to stand before God in our selfish pride we will be humbled—only those who humbly confess our sin can trust in Christ for forgiveness and hope to be raised up on the last day. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” AMEN