"Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
"Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
"Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
"‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
"Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’" // Luke 14:16-24
The message of grace is a humbling one.
Jesus tells a parable about a wedding celebration. Many of the properly invited guests make excuses. Other less obvious guests are then invited.
If we looked at God's grace through the lens of this great banquet, this lavish celebration that has been prepared for us - then we either fall into one of two categories:
Either way, the message of this parable is quite an offensive one. Either we're people who think we're too good for God, or we're people who know we're not good enough for Him but yet we're given the chance to enjoy life with Him anyway. Either you're a self-righteous, conceited modern-day Pharisee, or you're a outcast, a misfit who's only been invited because someone else turned down the invitation.
You don't get 'some grace'
One of the writers of the Psalms wrote the words, "A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked."
Maybe he wrote those words because he completely understood message of this parable: that grace is grace, no matter how it comes. Even if on the outside grace looks like a secondhand invitation, the moment you get a taste of grace, there is no difference. You don't get 'some grace'. When you let grace in, it invades your life and you are never the same again. It's an all or nothing thing.
It's something the Canaanite woman who knelt at the feet of Jesus, asking him to drive a demon out of her daughter, understood. She, an outsider, interrupted Jesus' ministry to the people of Israel to make a request of him and he told her he had more important priorities that came first. "It is not right to take children's bread and toss it to the dogs," he said.
The woman had a choice to be insulted that Jesus was comparing her race to dogs. But she understood the plain and simple fact that it was true - she did not deserve grace, and Jesus did not have to give her what she asked for. She understood the nature of grace and so she replied replied, "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their Master's table."
Even if I get the crumbs, the leftovers, it is enough, she was saying. Just like the woman who reached out to touch the hem of Jesus, saying to herself, if I just touch Him, I can be healed. And in response, Jesus gives them exactly what they ask for, calling them women of great faith and even calling them "daughters", a term loaded with meaning and affection, speaking of endearment and closeness and intimate access.
Grace is offensive for those who think that rewards should be based on merit, that favor should be earned or deserved. But grace is for those who know, rightly, that actually, life doesn't owe me anything. Actually, God doesn't owe me anything. Actually, no matter how much I try to do the right thing, I still screw up. Actually, a lot more people care about me and love me than I actually deserve. Actually, I know the thoughts that I think when I'm alone and the way I self-destruct if left to myself and I marvel at the fact that in spite of my weaknesses, I still am where I am today.
Not in a self-condemning, self-pitying way but just in a matter-of-fact, that's-the-way-it-is kind of way.
All you need is one touch
For people who see themselves as they really are, no airs of self-importance, no hiding behind titles and possessions and popularity and reputation and achievement and all the things that make people feel good about themselves, grace is so amazing that if I can get even a hint of it I know it will change my entire life. I know I just need to get a little bit of goodness and patience and joy inside of me and I know it will spread to all the different areas of my life.
One day is all I need, wrote the Psalmist. One touch is all I need, said the woman with the issue of blood. One crumb is all I need, said the Canaanite woman. Because they know that actually, there is no such thing as a little bit of God, a little bit of grace. If you get a bit of it, you get everything. If you say yes to Jesus, you get His entire kingdom. You don't have to understand it. You don't have to earn it. You don't have to deserve it. All you need is a small taste, and it will change everything.
"Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance." -C. S. Lewis
"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
"Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
"Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
"‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
"Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’" // Luke 14:16-24
The message of grace is a humbling one.
Jesus tells a parable about a wedding celebration. Many of the properly invited guests make excuses. Other less obvious guests are then invited.
If we looked at God's grace through the lens of this great banquet, this lavish celebration that has been prepared for us - then we either fall into one of two categories:
- We were properly invited to this feast, but our false sense of entitlement and self-importance causes us to miss out on enjoying it because we are too caught up in other 'more important' things.
- We never deserved to be invited to this feast, but the invitation is extended to us nonetheless.
Either way, the message of this parable is quite an offensive one. Either we're people who think we're too good for God, or we're people who know we're not good enough for Him but yet we're given the chance to enjoy life with Him anyway. Either you're a self-righteous, conceited modern-day Pharisee, or you're a outcast, a misfit who's only been invited because someone else turned down the invitation.
You don't get 'some grace'
One of the writers of the Psalms wrote the words, "A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked."
Maybe he wrote those words because he completely understood message of this parable: that grace is grace, no matter how it comes. Even if on the outside grace looks like a secondhand invitation, the moment you get a taste of grace, there is no difference. You don't get 'some grace'. When you let grace in, it invades your life and you are never the same again. It's an all or nothing thing.
It's something the Canaanite woman who knelt at the feet of Jesus, asking him to drive a demon out of her daughter, understood. She, an outsider, interrupted Jesus' ministry to the people of Israel to make a request of him and he told her he had more important priorities that came first. "It is not right to take children's bread and toss it to the dogs," he said.
The woman had a choice to be insulted that Jesus was comparing her race to dogs. But she understood the plain and simple fact that it was true - she did not deserve grace, and Jesus did not have to give her what she asked for. She understood the nature of grace and so she replied replied, "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their Master's table."
Even if I get the crumbs, the leftovers, it is enough, she was saying. Just like the woman who reached out to touch the hem of Jesus, saying to herself, if I just touch Him, I can be healed. And in response, Jesus gives them exactly what they ask for, calling them women of great faith and even calling them "daughters", a term loaded with meaning and affection, speaking of endearment and closeness and intimate access.
Grace is offensive for those who think that rewards should be based on merit, that favor should be earned or deserved. But grace is for those who know, rightly, that actually, life doesn't owe me anything. Actually, God doesn't owe me anything. Actually, no matter how much I try to do the right thing, I still screw up. Actually, a lot more people care about me and love me than I actually deserve. Actually, I know the thoughts that I think when I'm alone and the way I self-destruct if left to myself and I marvel at the fact that in spite of my weaknesses, I still am where I am today.
Not in a self-condemning, self-pitying way but just in a matter-of-fact, that's-the-way-it-is kind of way.
All you need is one touch
For people who see themselves as they really are, no airs of self-importance, no hiding behind titles and possessions and popularity and reputation and achievement and all the things that make people feel good about themselves, grace is so amazing that if I can get even a hint of it I know it will change my entire life. I know I just need to get a little bit of goodness and patience and joy inside of me and I know it will spread to all the different areas of my life.
One day is all I need, wrote the Psalmist. One touch is all I need, said the woman with the issue of blood. One crumb is all I need, said the Canaanite woman. Because they know that actually, there is no such thing as a little bit of God, a little bit of grace. If you get a bit of it, you get everything. If you say yes to Jesus, you get His entire kingdom. You don't have to understand it. You don't have to earn it. You don't have to deserve it. All you need is a small taste, and it will change everything.
"Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance." -C. S. Lewis
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