Banquet or Burden? How You See Church Reveals Your Heart

Text: Luke 14:15-24

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In today's Gospel from Luke 14, Jesus tells a parable about a man who prepared a great banquet.  This was a banquet prepared not with leftovers, not with paper plates, and not with warm soda, but with the finest of food, the richest of wine, and a host who spared no expense.  It was a meal of pure gift.  And so, when everything was ready, the call went out: 

"Come, for all is now ready!" 

But they all began to make excuses. One bought a field. Another, oxen. Another just got married. They were polite enough: 

“Please have me excused.” 

But under the veneer of civility and polite excuses was a cold-hearted rejection.

Now, as we consider this parable, it is essential to understand that it is not primarily about ancient banquets or first-century manners. It’s about the Gospel. It’s about the Divine Service. It’s about you and me—and the dangerous foolishness of justifying why we refuse the Lord’s gracious invitation.

For today, let’s start here: the Divine Service (the church service you are in right now) is a banquet. Not a potluck where you bring a dish, not a duty station where you clock in, not a spiritual treadmill where you perform. It is a banquet. A feast of grace. In the Divine Service, the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—serves you.  That’s why it’s called “Divine” Service. The Divine One serves. The Lord gives. And He gives not scraps or suggestions, but His Word, His promises, His very body and blood. He gives the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation to you as His guests.  

But truth be told, our sinful nature does not see it this way.  Our old Adam, looks at Sunday morning church services and mutters, 

“What a hassle. What a drag. What an obligation.” 

Ah, but let’s be very honest this morning, the problem is not with the Divine Service, the problem is with you and me.  The problem is with our hearts.  

You see, when we view the Divine Service as an obligation, we are already halfway down the path of making excuses. And these excuses are not neutral. They are efforts to justify ourselves. They say to God, 

“You see, I’m not the problem here. It’s just that I had more important things to do.”

But dear friends, we do not justify ourselves by avoiding God’s gifts. That is to say; when we make excuses to justify our absence, we are not only being dishonest — we are insulting the banquet and despising the Host. We are saying, 

“I have better things to do than receive from Christ.” 

We are saying, 

“This gift is no gift at all. It’s a burden, a curse.”

Mark this: when we make excuses like this, it is not just a scheduling issue. It is idolatry. When we say, “I’d love to be there, but I just bought a boat...I just need one morning to sleep in...the kids have sports...I need a break,” well…  we are putting God’s gifts on a scale and weighing them against our desires.  

And when we do this, we are not simply making a neutral trade-off. We are calling the Lord’s feast a curse. We are exchanging the grace of Christ for the fleeting pleasures of the world. 

Dear friends, the message is clear this morning: repent. Yes, repent for the times you have justified your absence from the Divine Service with excuses. Repent for treating the Divine Service like a nuisance. Repent for despising the banquet by your apathy and excuses.

But hear this as well: not all excuses are the same. You see, there is a kind of excuse that is born not of pride, but of sorrow. There is a way of saying “I couldn’t come” that does not justify, but mourns – grieves. 

Let me give you a couple of examples: perhaps you are sick, perhaps your work demanded it, perhaps you are a shut-in, perhaps you were crushed in spirit and simply did not have the literal strength to see another single person, and you said, 

“I wanted to be there. I longed to receive. But I could not.” 

That is not justification. That is a lament.

You see, a lament says, 

“Lord, I missed the feast. And I am hungry.”

A lament says, 

“I long for Your altar, for Your forgiveness, for Your Word.”

A lament is the cry of the soul that knows the feast is good — and knows that being away is a loss.  A lament doesn’t justify, it grieves. It is a sad expression, not a prideful excuse.  

This is what David meant when he said in Psalm 84:2: 

“My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord” (Psalm 84:2).

This is what the faithful believers in exile felt when they said, 

“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:4).

Dear friends, let there be no confusion: an excuse offered in lament is not a sin, but the groaning of a repentant heart. Justifying excuses despise the gift. Lamenting excuses desire the gift.

Now please listen up; the Lord’s response to justifying excuses is clear: He simply opens the doors to the poor, the blind, the crippled, the lame. He fills His banquet not with the self-sufficient, but with the desperate and hungry.  Let me contextualize this a bit: 

LCMS Lutherans who make up excuses and won’t come to the Divine Service? … The Lord reponds by simply inviting others: marginalized former ELCA Lutherans, burdened Baptists, burnt-out Contemporary Worship seekers, and confused Evangelicals will take their spots.       

Listen up: You are not invited to the Lord’s Divine Service because you are an LCMS Lutheran.  You are invited because of Christ’s cross. You and I, who were once not a people, are now a people. We, who had no place at the table, are now guests of honor, wearing robes of righteousness placed on our shoulders, seated at the feast of salvation because of the gracious Host who invited us poor miserable sinners.

And so, everything is ready. He invites you to His banquet week after week after week — not to perform, not to impress — but to receive. And He does not tire of inviting. Sunday after Sunday, His call rings out: 

“Come, for all is now ready.” 

And when you miss a Sunday in sorrow, He does not rebuke you — He welcomes your lament, and He strengthens your faith with His Word again.

So let us make a clear distinction today. When you are absent from the Divine Service, ask: Was my excuse a justification? Or a lament? If it was a justification, repent. If it was a lament, bring that sorrow to the Lord, for He binds up the brokenhearted.

* * *

The Great Banquet is not a command to be obeyed, but a gift to be received. The Divine Service is not your chance to give your best to God. It is where God gives His best to you — Christ crucified for sinners, risen for your justification, coming in Word and Sacrament for you.

Do not make excuses to justify your absence. For that turns the gift into a curse. But if you are kept away, let your excuse be a lament. Let your heart cry out for what it misses — the feast of grace. And then return. Come. For all is now ready.

* * *

Baptized Saints, let us see the Divine Service for what it truly is: not a curse, not a chore, but a banquet of grace. Let us not insult the Host with justifying excuses. Let us not compare the Body and Blood of Christ to earthly tasks and pleasures. Let us not pretend we are too busy or too important.

Rather, let us confess, receive, and rejoice. Come to the feast, not because you must, but because you may. Come with empty hands and hungry hearts. Come and receive what only Christ can give. For this is His feast, and it is for you – as a gift.  

In the name of Jesus. Amen.