The Parable of The Great Banquet

Skip Ryan, June 28 2020. Key texts | Luke 14:12-24 (main text); Ephesians 2:11-18; Isaiah 25:6-8

SERMON OUTLINE & QUESTIONS

Opening thoughts—

What have we learned about parables so far?

  • They are stories that reveal truths through our hearts.

  • There is a “hiddenness” to parables; they are revealed to those with “ears to hear.”

  • We must expect the unexpected; the surprises in parables bear important truths.

  • They are always about the Kingdom of God.

    We must understand the difference between a gift and a bribe. A gift is something we give expecting nothing in return. The degree to which we expect something is the degree to which it is a bribe.

    The parable of the Great Banquet is all about grace—an unmerited gift from the Lord.

In what ways has this series caused you to pray about or read the parables differently? Have you paid closer attention to the surprises? Have you prayed for “hiddenness” to be revealed?

Have you ever given a gift and truly expected nothing in return? What compelled you to give in that way? How was it received? Or have you been on the receiving end?

Sermon Focus | Luke 14:12-24

Two key surprises—

  1. Surprise 1: The invited guests declined the invitation.

    One guest said, “I must leave to attend to my investments.” Another said, “I must leave to try out the things I’ve bought.” Still another said, “I must leave for my honeymoon with my wife.”

    All of the invited guests excused themselves from the banquet.

  2. Surprise 2: The host turned his anger into the “energy of grace.”

    He invites the downtrodden. People of the “highways and hedges.”

    These people were Gentiles, who were afraid to go into town. They were the last people the Jews would have expected to be invited to the banquet.

    Recall Skip’s story about being invited to dinner by his girlfriend to meet her family.

    The point: we are to invite those who cannot repay us; people who are different. We will be repaid at the resurrection.

Are there things in your life that pull you away from abiding in God’s grace and seeking the Lord first? What invitations of Jesus do you often excuse yourself from? Why?