|
What Does Jesus Say About His Coming? |
||
|
Snyder
Bible Home PREVIEW End Times Fiction: A Biblical Consideration of the Left Behind Theology |
||
|
Luke 14: 15-24 Pitch-ins and Legends One thing the Church is known for is it's banquets. I've heard them called pitch-ins, carry-ins, pot-lucks, and now "covered-dish." I like "pitch-in" the best because everyone "pitches in" to bring something enjoyed by all. One fellow in a church I served brought a bucket of the Colonel's secret recipe to each banquet because, as he often reminded the group, "Preachers love that fried chicken." Fried chicken is almost always the centerpiece of the church banquet. In fact, if the Kingdom of God were to appoint an official bird, the eagle and the dove would have to take second place to the chicken -- fried, of course. Church banquets, the combination of eating and worshiping, and their symbolic significance, is part and parcel of our Judaic heritage, going way back to before the time of Jesus to the first Passover meal, which Jews still eat to relive their protection from the death angel in Egypt. By Jesus' time, the legend was popular that, when the Messiah came from Heaven, he would throw a great banquet for those faithful who were awaiting his coming. This legend was rediscovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls in a little book scholars call The Messianic Rule. Dating back to a generation or two before he was born, Jesus was certainly familiar with this little book and what it said about the Messiah's coming. Here's an excerpt. Listen carefully:
Note the setting for this text is the "last days," a phrase that we find over and over in the words of Jesus. The "last days" is the time when the Messiah will return to earth and put an end to evil. We're in the last days now. Earlier in the text it says that all his brethren will come -- thousands upon thousands will be there -- and sit before him in order, from first to last. "For the first shall be last, and the last first." Notice that the banquet food is bread and new, unfermented, wine, probably Welch's. Notice too that
Everything will be done decently and in order then - all will pitch in with a part. The folks who were alive a generation or two before Jesus were living in great expectation - that the Messiah would soon descend and throw a great banquet for all who belong to him. You probably picked up on the similarities between the banquet in the Scrolls and the "Last Supper" of Jesus, where the Messiah and his disciples are breaking bread and drinking new wine as a token of their future reunification in the Kingdom To Come. Jesus made this clear when he told his disciples, "I will not eat of this again until they say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Jesus "Buffets" Everywhere You know, Jesus ate his way across Palestine. Of course, he ate with his disciples and close friends. The Bible also mentions that he ate with religious leaders, sinners, tax collectors, foreigners, and even prostitutes. He ate with multitudes of poor people. He enjoyed himself in both intimate table settings and great outdoor pitch-ins, and enjoyed sharing with both the high and the low. Because of his eating and drinking, the company he kept, and the stories he told, Jesus was called a drunk, a glutton, a low-liver, and a liar. As if to spite his detractors, he ended his mission to Earth with a banquet! Maybe he invited many to come -- although only his closest friends actually did. They were probably the only ones who would come by that time anyway. Those who didn't attend had a good excuse - it was just too darn dangerous. In today's text, we find Jesus eating his way back to Jerusalem for the last time - now sharing food and stories at the table of the Pharisees, the religious "lay-leaders." As he eats, he teaches; and he looks into the future, and describes the great banquet which is to take place at the beginning of the new age, where the "saints are all gathered in," and the table is spread. Here is Luke's version of Jesus' story about the Great Millennial Banquet:
The Pharisees at the table were listening closely. They taught this doctrine of resurrection, a theological premise which both Jesus and the Pharisees agreed upon. One of the Pharisees was so enthralled by the idea that he burst out, "Blessed is the one who'll eat that feast!" Jesus realized that this man's outburst didn't come from his faith, but only from his emotional exuberance. But Jesus seizes upon this opportunity to tell his own radical and insulting redition of the banquet story for his legalistic hosts. The Interpretation of the Banquet Story There is a deep meaning in Jesus' re-telling, for Jesus himself is the man throwing the banquet. The servant whom was sent is a disciple, like you and me. The invited guests are all those good and religious people who said they would come in the first place. The banquet represents the Kingdom To Come, reserved for those who have been born again. When the banquet is ready, Jesus invites the chosen a second time, for second invitations were customary then. To accept the first invitation but to reject the second was thought to be one of the greatest tests of friendship - then as now. It's like calling in an RSVP to a party, then just not showing up. All those who accepted the first invitation reject the second. Every one of them! There are plenty of excuses. And the excuses, if they are truthful, are not frivolous. Getting married, for instance, even exempted men from the draft. Yet not even marriage is an adequate excuse for breaking one's word. When the disciple reports this, the Master gets mad, and tells the disciple to hurry on and collect the unlovely, the diseased, the unkempt, the ignorant, the lame, the poor, the homeless, and the blind -- the low class. Low class people were called "sinners" by the Pharisees, much like today some folks are called "trash" by others. This tells us that the common, the ignorant, the diseased, the low down have an uncommon place at the Messiah's banquet. The benefits they had not in this life they have in the Kingdom to Come. When the table is still not full, Jesus bids his disciples to go even outside the city, to the roads of the country, to compel people to "Come and Dine." These folks represent people outside Judaism -- Gentiles and foreigners like us -- maybe even space aliens -- who didn't naturally belong there. Indeed, the last shall be first at this banquet. The table is finally full when Jesus says it is whether there are seats left or not. And not one of those religious, upper class folks could attend, even though they were the first to be invited. They will not get to eat what was prepared for them by God himself -- people they wouldn't approve of will take their places. Now, without a seat at the banquet, they'll neither share in the Kingdom. Jesus' story must have been a show-stopper. To think, Jesus dared to tell these holier-than-thou lay leaders that sinners and rabble, harlots and traitors, Gentiles and foreigners, "town trash," would inherit the Kingdom of God that they had devoted their lives to -- and not one of them would enter! And he said all this right to their faces! If I were Jesus' host, I'd have thrown him out. And For Today It's an easy mental jump from then to today. Many folks have taken Christ up on his first invitation -- an invitation to partake of God's grace. Everyone wants God's grace -- many think they're going to be saved. Folks come to church and dinner because they're seeking truth or experience or assurance in their lives. There are other reasons for coming, of course. Some are deeply involved in what they consider God's work, but is really their own work. Even people who are busy busy busy with church-work can be off-track when it comes to God's purpose. Of course, some just come to eat. But until that Kingdom Banquet takes place, all those who have responded to God's first invitation must be at the business of God's work. And that business is compelling others to come. We used to call this business "soul-winning." (This term has fallen out of favor.) Now, to be ecclesiastically correct, we call it "evangelization" or "faith-sharing" or "invitation." This is the service disciples are supposed to provide as we await him. Obviously, this is not the high priority of most Christians, but ought to be. As modern Methodists, it certainly is not our priority. We give evangelism a lot of lip-service, but when it comes down to action, we're dining when we should be doing; feasting when we should be fasting; too caught up in our own me-ality to get on board with God's re-ality and purpose for our lives. We are often too embarrassed to promote Jesus Christ, but we seldom have problems promoting anything else. To tell the truth, we're mostly ashamed of Jesus; yet always resourceful when it comes to making excuses. In the meantime souls slip away and time runs out. In a popular gospel song, Jesus laments, "My table's full, but my fields are empty." The song should have him saying, "Your table's full, but my fields are empty. Everyone wants to dine, but nobody wants to die to self for me." Afterward After Jesus told this story, he preached a radical message directed to his followers --
This teaching is so unacceptable to modern people that Bible teachers tell us Jesus isn't serious, but using hyperbole to make a point. They say he is merely exaggerating. But whether you interpret this word literally or not, it makes its sharp, stinging point without the need for explanation. The question is, how does the story of the banquet and its companion teaching about hating others speak to our hearts? How does it set here at home? Does it convict and convince us of our sloth as servants of God, our lack of commitment to the prime directive? Or does it encourage us to be a little more creative in manufacturing excuses? A Contemporary Story Everyone knows this story: Chicken Little and Porky Pig had a lovely church wedding. Chickens and pigs are big eaters, so they attended church only when lunch was served afterward. Hopefully they drove up to the church, and Chicky gleefully read the church sign out loud: "Ham and Egg Lunch After the Service. Everyone Welcome." "O goody - the church has lunch today and everyone's welcome," Chicky told Porky. But Porky's face turned pale. "Aw, let's go on back home - I don't feel so good today." Chicky was hungry and got upset with her new husband. "Come on -- even if we have to sit through the service, there'll be plenty of ham and eggs afterward -- free!" Forlorn, Porky stuttered, "That's so easy for you to say, my dear. All they expect from you is a donation. But from me they expect total commitment." And that is exactly what God requires from those who've accepted his invitation -- total commitment to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom. We must leave the eggs for chickens and deliver the ham. A Childish Example You know, this is a small church building. It could be filled each Sunday night. Let me tell you how. When Jesus wanted to demonstrate that type of commitment, he put a child forward
Today if we are looking for a super-evangelist, we might also bring forth a child. One teenager in a church I know brought in nearly two dozen visitors within six months. And she didn't even have to compel them to come, she just invited them to come, then she saw to it that they came. She was an evangelist and didn't even know it! You might say, "We'll, after all, she's young, and has all the time in the world. I'm a great big man/woman and I have a job and a family -- I don't have time for that." If you think this way, recall some of the excuses that invitees came up with in our story today, and then remember what the owner of the house said to his servant about them. Friends, the banquet table is spread and ready. Decide to put away your excuses and get your priorities right while there's time; decide to serve the banquet-master first and put lesser causes second; decide to act on the faith God has blessed you with. Compel others to come. Then you'll not be disappointed by the final guest-list. And consider one more thing: The faithful servant will always have a place in the banquet by necessity, even if that place is only baking the biscuits! That's one sure thing. |