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Jul 14, 2019

Simple Etiquette

Simple Etiquette

Passage: Luke 14:7-24

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: The Stories In-Between: Parables

A dinner gathering is always more than the meal served; it’s as much, if not more, the company and conversation. In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus had more truth to share at a dinner table than perhaps even in the Temple. But His lessons on etiquette went deeper than decorum; they had everything to do with His reasons for coming to earth. And what He says as a guest at this party has implications for all of life.

Order of Worship

Pre-Service Text: Psalm 36:7-8
Call To Worship: Isaiah 55:1-3a
Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-15
Sermon Title: Simple Etiquette
Central Text: Luke 14:7-24
Benediction: Revelation 19:6-9
Post-Service Text: Luke 14:12b-14a

07.14.19 Sermon Notes

Illustration

Babette's Feast - General's Toast

Readings & Scripture

Pre-Service Text: Psalm 36:7-8
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

Call To Worship: Isaiah 55:1-3a
LEADER: “Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!

PEOPLE: Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.

LEADER: Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.

ALL: Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant.”

Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-15
11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.

Central Text: Luke 14:7-24
Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “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, 9 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. 10 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. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

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. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Luke 14:15 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!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 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.’ 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.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 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.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 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. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

Benediction: Revelation 19:6-9
LEADER: Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’
ALL: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’

Post-Service Text: Luke 14:12b-14a

“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. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed”

Related Scriptures:

  • Leviticus 21:17-23
  • Isaiah 29:18-19; 35:5-6; 61:1-2
  • Matthew 5:43-48
  • Romans 1:16
  • Romans 3:1-2
  • Romans 15:7-16
  • James 2:1-7
  • Revelation 19:6-8

Discussion Questions & Applications:

  1. Best and worst dinner party ever, whether you hosted or attended--Go, tell the tale(s). What happened and why was it excellent or tragic? What, if anything, did your mom or dad teach you about how to either act at or host a party?
  2. What’s at work in the guest (vv. 7-11), the host (vv. 12-14), or the first set of invitees (vv. 15-24) that Jesus is out to challenge? What is He out to replace those qualities with?
  3. Who might be represented by the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame--the ones a host is told to invite, and those whom the host of the great banquet earnestly seeks when the original invitees renege on their plans to attend?
  4. Why would that be significant among Jesus’s first hearers? What might it say about how God sees people, and whom He invites into His bounty and future?
  5. What’s difficult about including those who are either unlike you, have no reputation, or who might be seen as an outsider?
  6. How do we tend to think of what makes us acceptable--to ourselves or others? On what basis are any of us found acceptable to God?
  7. What, besides mere guilt, might ever compel you to include those of no social, economic, political standing in your generosity?

Quotes:

  • So the meals of Jesus represent something bigger. They represent a new world, a new kingdom, a new outlook. But they give that new reality substance. Jesus’s meals are not just symbols; they’re also application. They’re not just pictures; they’re the real thing in miniature. Food is stuff. It’s not ideas. It’s not theories. It’s, well, it’s food, and you put it in your mouth, taste it, and eat it. And meals are more than food. They’re social occasions. They represent friendship, community, and welcome. - Tim Chester
  • Humble we must be, if we to heaven go / High is the roof there, but the gate is low - Robert Herrick, “Humility”

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