What if you threw a party... and nobody came?
Luke 14:15-23
What if you threw a party and nobody came? Seriously? I suppose it’s a bit on my mind today because for the first time in 11 years, my birthday falls on a Sunday. Not that I particularly want a party. Supposedly last year was my “big” one, but the last birthday that bothered me was when I turned 25. Since then, I’ve learned to take them as they come... but they do give us a good reason for us to celebrate. My in-laws are particularly good entertainers. Their house is largely set-up for hosting parties... and it is something they do rather well.
But here’s a question. What if you decided to throw a party and nobody is able to come? What would most of us do? Cancel it!
But then here is Jesus telling us a parable of the kingdom of God... and there’s a different ending. Often called the parable of the banquet, it tells the story of someone who made plans for a big party. A whole raft of people were invited, the preparations were made, and everything was set... but when it came time for the party each one who was invited had a reason that they couldn’t be there.
In the mid-sixties, Miriam Therese Winter’s “I cannot come” told the story in song, in a way that makes the parable itself easier to remember. It has a few embellishments in the lyrics that we need to be careful about, because they aren’t in the original text, but it is still a good way to remember this parable.
The party is ready, everything is set... and so the person hosting the banquet sends his servants out to tell all the people invited that everything is ready... but each one of them RSVPs to say that they cannot come. Each of them “make excuses” –more accurately is that each one of them simply declines the invitation... and gives their regrets as to why they can’t be there. One person says that they have purchased some land, and the deal is closing, another says that he has bought some cattle, and needs to tend to them, and one says that he just got married and will be on his honeymoon.
Most of the time we have interpreted these as being flimsy excuses for not being there... but if you really look at each of the circumstances, all of those regrets are entirely legitimate... especially the last one. Getting married and being one one’s honeymoon is a pretty good reason why one can’t come to a party. The problem in the parable is not this line of people giving excuses as to why they cannot come, but the fact that a banquet has been prepared, and everyone who is invited has legitimate reasons as to why they cannot be there.
What if you threw a party, and nobody could come? Most of us would simply cancel it.
But this is parable of the Kingdom of God. With the parables of Jesus, there is always a twist... something unfamiliar that suddenly opens us up to the possibility and wonder of God in our midst. Jesus uses this parable to give us a glimpse of how God sees the world. He takes situations that people are familiar with, or would understand, and then put a spin on it that often left his audiences bewildered... but then suddenly it would all click and they would get it.
Instead of cancelling this party, this person decides that since everything is ready, he is going to have a party anyway. If his closest friends can’t make it, he’s going to open it up to every living soul. It’s going to be a party filled with people he doesn’t know... and will even include all those people who society had rejected... the poor, the blind, the lame... all of them are now welcome.
There’s a double-twist here... not only does the person decide to party anyway, but he is going to party with people who are going to damage his reputation!
And this is a parable of the Kingdom of God... and we still don’t know how totally revolutionary this is.
For example, what little we have learned from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the most pious and most religious of the day had very strict understandings as to who belonged to the kingdom of God and who didn’t. The Essene sect was perhaps even more strict than the Pharisees, that anyone who had some kind of physical defect or personal shame was not permitted in the community. The kingdom of God was reserved only for the pure.
...and yet here is Jesus, proclaiming this parable of the Kingdom. Not only does the party continue, but those very people that everyone else rejects now become the principal guests.
So what does this mean for us?
This parable is not about whether or not we should accept God’s invitation. Rather, this parable challenges us to realize that the party is going to happen whether or not we accept the invitation, and going even further, there are going to be people there that aren’t like us... and there may even be people there that society has taught us that we shouldn’t like.
God doesn’t cancel opportunities for celebration. Why should we?
It’s particularly relevant today in the environment Christianity finds itself in North America. The traditional form of the church as we know it today has been in decline since the end of the fifties. The whole culture around us that would bring people to our door is gone.
Yet get this... Christianity continues to be the largest and fastest-growing religious tradition in the world. Despite the institutional church being embattled in the west, the Christian faith is growing in all kinds of places that the traditional Western church hasn’t really considered. It’s not growing because of stereotypical aggressive missionary work, but simply from telling stories, walking with people, and giving a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives. From this, new communities are springing up as these relationships are built. The message is still being heard... God doesn’t cancel opportunities for celebration... so why should we?
So how do we bring some of that back here? Perhaps the first thing we should realize is that just because we’re here, and our doors are open doesn’t automatically mean we’re going to have people coming flooding through these doors... if we’re waiting for people to show up in droves, we still have something to learn. In the parable, the party hosts tells his servants to go out into the community and bring people to the banquet, he goes further and sends them out even beyond the community to seek anyone even the most unlikely of people to this party. The key part of the passage is that it’s a message of sending, of being out there in the community, and participating in the Kingdom of God, sharing the life-changing message that everyone on this earth matters to God. That’s what the good news is all about... God doesn’t cancel opportunities to celebrate... why should we?
In many ways, we are heading into a new year of sorts. People come back from the cottage, come back to work, go back to school... and because we are part of that culture, back to church. It is a time that we can renew that sense of mission and purpose about who we are and what we do in this community. If in that process, we discover that the community around us has changed, remember that God doesn’t cancel opportunities to celebrate!
Amen.
What if you threw a party and nobody came? Seriously? I suppose it’s a bit on my mind today because for the first time in 11 years, my birthday falls on a Sunday. Not that I particularly want a party. Supposedly last year was my “big” one, but the last birthday that bothered me was when I turned 25. Since then, I’ve learned to take them as they come... but they do give us a good reason for us to celebrate. My in-laws are particularly good entertainers. Their house is largely set-up for hosting parties... and it is something they do rather well.
But here’s a question. What if you decided to throw a party and nobody is able to come? What would most of us do? Cancel it!
But then here is Jesus telling us a parable of the kingdom of God... and there’s a different ending. Often called the parable of the banquet, it tells the story of someone who made plans for a big party. A whole raft of people were invited, the preparations were made, and everything was set... but when it came time for the party each one who was invited had a reason that they couldn’t be there.
In the mid-sixties, Miriam Therese Winter’s “I cannot come” told the story in song, in a way that makes the parable itself easier to remember. It has a few embellishments in the lyrics that we need to be careful about, because they aren’t in the original text, but it is still a good way to remember this parable.
The party is ready, everything is set... and so the person hosting the banquet sends his servants out to tell all the people invited that everything is ready... but each one of them RSVPs to say that they cannot come. Each of them “make excuses” –more accurately is that each one of them simply declines the invitation... and gives their regrets as to why they can’t be there. One person says that they have purchased some land, and the deal is closing, another says that he has bought some cattle, and needs to tend to them, and one says that he just got married and will be on his honeymoon.
Most of the time we have interpreted these as being flimsy excuses for not being there... but if you really look at each of the circumstances, all of those regrets are entirely legitimate... especially the last one. Getting married and being one one’s honeymoon is a pretty good reason why one can’t come to a party. The problem in the parable is not this line of people giving excuses as to why they cannot come, but the fact that a banquet has been prepared, and everyone who is invited has legitimate reasons as to why they cannot be there.
What if you threw a party, and nobody could come? Most of us would simply cancel it.
But this is parable of the Kingdom of God. With the parables of Jesus, there is always a twist... something unfamiliar that suddenly opens us up to the possibility and wonder of God in our midst. Jesus uses this parable to give us a glimpse of how God sees the world. He takes situations that people are familiar with, or would understand, and then put a spin on it that often left his audiences bewildered... but then suddenly it would all click and they would get it.
Instead of cancelling this party, this person decides that since everything is ready, he is going to have a party anyway. If his closest friends can’t make it, he’s going to open it up to every living soul. It’s going to be a party filled with people he doesn’t know... and will even include all those people who society had rejected... the poor, the blind, the lame... all of them are now welcome.
There’s a double-twist here... not only does the person decide to party anyway, but he is going to party with people who are going to damage his reputation!
And this is a parable of the Kingdom of God... and we still don’t know how totally revolutionary this is.
For example, what little we have learned from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the most pious and most religious of the day had very strict understandings as to who belonged to the kingdom of God and who didn’t. The Essene sect was perhaps even more strict than the Pharisees, that anyone who had some kind of physical defect or personal shame was not permitted in the community. The kingdom of God was reserved only for the pure.
...and yet here is Jesus, proclaiming this parable of the Kingdom. Not only does the party continue, but those very people that everyone else rejects now become the principal guests.
So what does this mean for us?
This parable is not about whether or not we should accept God’s invitation. Rather, this parable challenges us to realize that the party is going to happen whether or not we accept the invitation, and going even further, there are going to be people there that aren’t like us... and there may even be people there that society has taught us that we shouldn’t like.
God doesn’t cancel opportunities for celebration. Why should we?
It’s particularly relevant today in the environment Christianity finds itself in North America. The traditional form of the church as we know it today has been in decline since the end of the fifties. The whole culture around us that would bring people to our door is gone.
Yet get this... Christianity continues to be the largest and fastest-growing religious tradition in the world. Despite the institutional church being embattled in the west, the Christian faith is growing in all kinds of places that the traditional Western church hasn’t really considered. It’s not growing because of stereotypical aggressive missionary work, but simply from telling stories, walking with people, and giving a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives. From this, new communities are springing up as these relationships are built. The message is still being heard... God doesn’t cancel opportunities for celebration... so why should we?
So how do we bring some of that back here? Perhaps the first thing we should realize is that just because we’re here, and our doors are open doesn’t automatically mean we’re going to have people coming flooding through these doors... if we’re waiting for people to show up in droves, we still have something to learn. In the parable, the party hosts tells his servants to go out into the community and bring people to the banquet, he goes further and sends them out even beyond the community to seek anyone even the most unlikely of people to this party. The key part of the passage is that it’s a message of sending, of being out there in the community, and participating in the Kingdom of God, sharing the life-changing message that everyone on this earth matters to God. That’s what the good news is all about... God doesn’t cancel opportunities to celebrate... why should we?
In many ways, we are heading into a new year of sorts. People come back from the cottage, come back to work, go back to school... and because we are part of that culture, back to church. It is a time that we can renew that sense of mission and purpose about who we are and what we do in this community. If in that process, we discover that the community around us has changed, remember that God doesn’t cancel opportunities to celebrate!
Amen.
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