Devotions
Rev Gav
Banquet
Luke 14.15–24
One of the dinner guests said to Jesus, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.” But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies.” Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies.” Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.” So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.” Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.” ’
Reflect
‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’
In answering the statement from the dinner guest, Jesus was not disagreeing, but explaining that not just ‘anyone’ would receive the blessing of entering the family of God, because some people would refuse. Interestingly, in the parable, it is those with land, possessions, and relationships who refuse the dinner invite, and those without land, possessions, and relationships who joyfully accept — but more than that, anyone who accepts the invitation will be blessed.
We like to think that human nature has changed since this parable was penned, but how true it is that those with much feel they have little need for God’s blessing in their lives. Jesus was not saying that owning land, or possessions, or having meaningful relationships were bad things, but that the things that ‘feed’ us in this world can make us feel sated and with little appetite for God.
If we stand back and look objectively at our lives we understand that property, possessions, or even our relationships cannot ultimately satisfy the God-shaped hole in our lives — the inner longing for God’s divine peace and joy to fill our hearts. Sure, we all need somewhere to call home, to be surrounded by things to support us, and relationships that matter, but alongside those things we also need God at the very centre and core of who we are and how we have our being.
Today, whether you have plenty or little, an abundance or an insufficiency, you are invited to God’s wedding banquet, and there, as Jesus put it, “you shall find rest for your soul.”
Pray
Holy God
Thank you for inviting me
to your heavenly banquet.
Though I have been
blessed with many things,
I recognise my need
to be connected to you,
and I choose to put
you first over everything.
This day and forever.
and then