Second Sunday after Trinity – June 9th, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: Luke 14:15–24
“Invited to the Feast”
Theme: Christ has invited us to the wedding feast of salvation, and even compels us there. We should have eyes of faith that see eternity even while we live in this passing, earthly world.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Did you know that the first name for our faith was not “Christian”? Now, we get that name “Christian” from Acts 11:26, which says, “For a whole year [Paul and Barnabus] met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” What were believers in Jesus called before that? Well, the name for Christianity in the early church was “The Way.”
In Acts 9, for example, it describes how Saul, later Paul, was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,” and he asks the high priest for permission to arrest “any belonging to the Way” (2). Later in Acts 19, Paul entered a synagogue and tried converting them for three months, but some became stubborn and “[spoke] evil of the Way before the congregation” (9). “The Way” is mentioned in Paul’s ministry in Ephesus (Acts 19:23) and in his speech before Felix the governor (Acts 24:14).
There is good reason to have this as the name of our faith. After all, Jesus famously says, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) and “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matt 7:13–14). The Way is a traveled road that we follow. If you wander from it, you will go towards destruction.
This image of a road or Way is a great metaphor for our faith. We should care both about the foundation of the road and also where we are going. Jesus is both. He is our cornerstone, our foundation. He is the one upon whom we walk. If we realize that we’re not connected to Jesus in this life, then we may not be on the true Way. He is also the one to whom the Way is going. Our focus is on Him as we are walking in this life.
The reason I say this is because our faith informs everything about our life. Our faith certainly informs where we are going. Our Gospel reading tells us of the banquet that God has prepared. He invites and even compels us to go to it. It helps us know how to live in this life. That is called wisdom, and our Old Testament reading for today is all about seeking wisdom and going to the banquet that God as Wisdom has set out for us.
The Gospel reading is a good place to start. It’s a parable of Jesus that is spoken against the Pharisees and Jewish leaders of his day. They had been rejecting him, even while he reclines at their tables. They are the ones who are coming up with many excuses to not attend the banquet, that is, to not believe in Jesus.
On the face of it, these seem like decent excuses. They aren’t excuses to sin. They are all about living life on this earth: buying a field, buying oxen, and even marrying a wife. All of these things are good and fine to do in this life. In fact, they are some of the things that make us happy and proud in this life. It means things are going well.
However, they don’t mean anything when it comes to eternal life. You cannot take your wealth with you to the next life. Your spouse will no longer be your spouse in eternity, even if both of you are in heaven.
Those who reject the invitation from God are saying that this life means more to them than God and His Kingdom. They believe in what they see rather than what they hear. They cling to this age rather than the one to come.
In fact, this is what the word “secular” means. You may hear the word “secularism” from me or other pastors. This word describes those who are believing and living for this age only. Paul uses this word in 1 Corinthians 2:6–7, “Among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.”
The wisdom that we impart is a wisdom for eternal life. It is found when master of the house in the parable invites the poor and crippled and blind and lame of the city to the banquet, when he tells his servants to compel even those on the highways and hedges to come in. This godly wisdom is all about the fact that salvation has come to those who did not deserve it. Salvation is for those who heed the call, the invitation to God’s banquet, and come. Salvation is for those who believe in God’s Word.
We who believe will recline at table with God in eternity. This knowledge also gives us great insight for how to live our lives in this world.
After all, we know that it is passing away. We know that this age will not last. We know that we will one day die, as everyone around us will as well. But while we are in this life, we have much to do. Why? Because we know there is another world to which we belong, the Kingdom of God. It is breaking into hearts and minds whenever we hear the Word of God. And, we get to live in this world inviting people to see the greater kingdom that we belong to—perhaps even compelling them. Now in this world is a time for love, to love God and love our neighbor. John says, “if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (17–18).
This also leads me to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is written for this very reason, to guide us in our daily life. But the first nine chapters of the book are all written about seeking God and seeking wisdom.
This is because just giving people pieces of advice without understanding why that advice is helpful may not actually help them. God, however, unites faith in him and life in this world when he says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (10). God has many pieces of advice for believers, and I encourage you to read and think about various proverbs in that book. But don’t see Proverbs as only a get-rich-quick or success book. No, it’s a book about faith and life and how the believer can approach others in this world with an eye on the world to come.
So, for those of us who belong to “the Way,” let us follow that Way, not only in faith but also in life. For following Christ may not always be easy, but it is better than establishing your life on the shifting sand of this world. The Way of Christ may be narrow, but it is firm under your feet, and it leads you at last to your Lord and Savior, who loves you. And, along the way, you may see opportunities to lead people back onto this path who have gone astray. Maybe, just maybe, we can even compel them to see beyond this life to the life to come.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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