Party Time
D.L. Moody once spoke with a woman who didn't like his method of outreach. "I don't really like mine all that much either.” He replied, “What's yours?" She replied that she didn't have one. Moody said, "Then I like mine better than yours."
In the Excel Leadership Network, we encourage folks to embrace Tom Mercer’s “8 to 15” outreach approach of listing the people in the front row of our lives; praying for them; investing; inviting them to consider Jesus and the church; and expecting God to move.
That’s my method. But who do I put on the list? Are you like me, do you sometimes struggle with the “who” part of outreach?
I help people start churches, that is my job. So, most of my time I’m working with the already convinced. Almost all my immediate family members are believers already, so where do I find people to populate my front row list?
Jesus answered that question for us in one of his parables:
Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations...”
—Luke 14:16 (NLT)
The Message version has it this way:
“Yes. For there was once a man who threw a great dinner party and invited many…”
--Luke 14:16 (TMV)
Before we move on to the “who” question, I want us to pause to consider what Jesus is saying here.
This story begins with a party.
Not only does the story start with Jesus talking about a party, but Jesus was actually attending a party when he told this story about the party!
Jesus is at a party; he’s watching the people at the party, and he says that the kingdom of God is like a party. It’s like a great feast, an incredible dinner spread, a super shindig God is throwing.
Too often we’ve depicted God as dull, boring, out of date. That is sketchy theology. Jesus says God throws parties. And Jesus frequented parties.
Why was Jesus at this party? And why did Jesus do his first miracle at a wedding party? Because Jesus partied!
The religious leaders’ big complaint about Jesus is that he was too into parties!
“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’”—Luke 7:34 (NIV)
Jesus didn’t say “A man prepared the most boring, irrelevant, ritualistic, incomprehensible ceremony where they used four-hundred-year-old language, sang three-hundred-year-old songs, sat in two-hundred-year-old seats, and it seemed like the service lasted a hundred years.” He said, “It’s like a big feast.”
“The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians--when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.” --Joe Aldrich
Have you heard this one? “I want to go to hell because all my friends will be there.” That too is sketchy theology. Hell is separation from God, it is isolation. When Cain killed Abel, his punishment was isolation, restless wandering on the earth. Hell is solitary confinement. The party is in heaven.
We are inviting people to a party! As those wise theologians, The Beastie Boys sang, “You gotta fight for your right to party!”
So, who do we invite?
Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come. “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. –Luke 14:15-21 (NLT)
1. Invite people who are close.
The assumption here is we invite our family and friends, our coworkers, the people we see regularly.
Jesus once healed a man who immediately wanted to travel with Jesus’ entourage. But the Lord insisted, "’Go back home and tell people how much God has done for you.’ So that man went all over town telling how much Jesus had done for him.” --Mark 5:19 (NIV)
Jesus suggests our mission starts at home, it starts in our own neighborhood, in our own community. God wants us to go to our friends, our family, our coworkers, our neighbors, and invite them to consider Christianity.
But back to the passage. Many of the people who were invited did not accept.
How many of you have invited someone to church, or a church event but the people did not show up? How many of you have invited someone to church or a church event only to be given a weak, sad banana, pathetic excuse?
These excuses are flimsy! “I just bought a field and must look it over?” C’mon, who buys a field without looking it over first? “I just got five oxen and must try them out?” Who buys a car without test-driving it? “I just got married?” Since when is that an acceptable excuse? “The dog ate my homework.” “I need to wash my hair…” Shallow excuses!
If your invitation has been rejected, if you’ve heard some ridiculous excuses, guess what? Jesus predicted that. We should expect a fair amount of rejection.
I get the impression that the servant thought he was done. He invited his friends, so now he could punch out. Mission accomplished, right?
His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’—Luke 14:21 (NLT)
When the people at the top of your front row card decline, we are not finished inviting.
Jesus says we’re to invite the marginalized, the people we may have never noticed before.
Groucho Marks remarked, “I would never join a club whose standards are so low that they would let me become a member.” Those are the kind of people we should look to invite.
Christianity is not an exclusive club with a limited number or members. It’s not Augusta National golf course. It’s not exclusive.
Look for people who are looking. Look for people who are in transition or under tension. Look for people who are in conflict or undergoing change.
Who are the poor? People who complain about gas prices. Who are the crippled? People you may need to not only invite but provide a ride. Who are the blind? People who can’t see literally and figuratively. Who are the lame? People who give lame excuses.
More than all that, Jesus had just explained the who:
“Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the godly, God will reward you for inviting those who can’t repay you.”—Luke 14:12-14 (TLB)
2. Invite people who can’t repay.
Who should we summon? People who could never pay us back.
Jesus was trying to get us—to expand our horizons. Don’t stop at the people you know. Don’t stop inviting:
After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ So, his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full’”—Luke 14:16-23 (NLT)
3. Invite anyone we can find.
I’ve had to make some changes. I now try to get gas at the same Arco station every week so I can invite the convenience store clerks to church. One of them actually came!
My preference when at the gym is to stick my earbuds in; retreat into my own little world; and ignore everyone. I added a new gym—one where my nickname is in lights on a giant scoreboard for all to see. I call myself, “Preacher.” (They only gave me a few seconds to come up with something.) I must interact with the staff and clients whether I like it or not.
Jesus offered a couple more tips:
‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite…’—Luke 14:21 (NLT)
4. Invite people with urgency.
“The devil’s strategy: Tell the people that God is real. Tell them that they should have faith in Him. Tell them that the Gospel is true, that Jesus Christ died to save them from their sins. But tell them there is no hurry.” --Senior devil giving advice to Junior devil in “Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis
‘There is still room for more.’ So, his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full’”—Luke 14:16-23 (NLT)
5. Invite people with persistence.
Two church members were going door to door. They knocked on the door of a woman who was clearly not happy to see them. She told them, in no uncertain terms, that she did not want to hear their message and slammed the door in their faces. To her surprise, however, the door did not close and, in fact, bounced back open. She tried again, really put her back into it, and slammed the door again with the same result--the door bounced back open. Convinced these rude young people were sticking their foot in the door, she reared back to give it a slam that would teach them a lesson, when one of them said, “Ma'am, before you do that again, you need to move your cat.”
There is still room for more. The goal is a full house at God’s party.
Comedian Martin Short admitted, “I've chosen to treat my life more like a party than something to stress about.”
God is throwing a party! Let’s lose the stress and invite more people to the celebration.