The Pious Language Of Unbelief And The Sinner Beneath The Mask

Text: Luke 14:15-24

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

When you hear Jesus’ parable from Luke 14, it almost sounds like all those people who were invited to the great banquet had gotten together beforehand and rehearsed their excuses. Sure, their excuses were different: one had bought a new piece of property, another had purchased some oxen, and another had just gotten married. Sure, they had different excuses, but if you listen carefully, the excuses sound the same.  It sure sounded like they did not want to come to the banquet.

And so, this begs the question: why not just say it plainly? Why not just tell the master, 

“We do not want to come.”

Why play these games? Why not simply say the quiet part out loud: 

“The banquet is an inconvenience.”

Dear friends, one of the great difficulties in American spirituality is that we do not like plain and honest talk about what we do and why we do it. Here in the Midwest, we are especially skilled at avoiding direct speech. We smile, nod, soften, and excuse. We say, “Well, you know…” and then we dress things up so no one feels too uncomfortable. 

This is exactly what is happening in the parable. The invited guests do not say, 

“We hate the banquet and despise the master.” 

No, they are much too polite for that. Instead, they say, 

“Please have us excused.” 

That sounds decent, respectable, and thoughtful. 

But make no mistake about it, underneath this polite language is rejection. 

Dear friends, let’s be honest, unbelief does not always loudly curse God. Sometimes unbelief whispers with folded hands. In other words, our Midwestern chronic niceness knows how to play this game, 

“I would love to come, but…” 

“I know it is important, however…”  

“Surely God understands…” 

Now, as already mentioned, none of this sounds blatantly wicked. In fact, much of it sounds good. But the fact of the matter is that when we use nice-sounding excuses to justify not attending the Lord’s Divine Service, well… these nice-sounding words become the pious language of unbelief. They become a way for the old Adam to avoid saying what is really going on.

Now, to be clear, in the parable, the field, oxen, and marriage were not evil.  These are good gifts of God. But in the parable, these good things are being used as a religious cover for rejecting the banquet. Their mouths said, 

“Please have me excused.” 

But – here is the catch - their hearts said, 

“This banquet is an inconvenience. I do not want to come.” 

That is how pious unbelief works. It takes something good and hides behind it. It takes good things and uses them as a shield. It takes family, work, busyness, tiredness, responsibilities, schedules, and obligations, and then uses them as predictable excuses to avoid Christ and His gifts. 

Dear friends, this is why many atheists have more integrity than many of us Christians. When an atheist is asked, 

“Do you want to come to church?” 

He may respond, 

“No. I do not believe that stuff. It is not important to me.” 

Now, that is tragic, but at least it is honest. 

But well-intentioned Christians? When asked why they neglect the Divine Service, they often say, 

“I would love to come, but I must attend to my land, oxen, and marriage.” 

Again, this sounds respectable. But more often than not, deep down, what is being said is this: 

“I do not really believe that the Word and Sacraments are that important. I do not really believe I am that sinful. I do not really believe Christ’s gifts are that necessary for me.” 

And so, to the point, the Christian can end up demonstrating less integrity than an atheist. At least the atheist calls the thing what it is and does not hide his unbelief behind religious piety. 

Dear friends, we need to speak honestly this morning. Your sinful nature — your old Adam — hates the Word and Sacraments. Yes, there is a part of you that does not want to come to church, does not want to confess sin, does not want to hear the Gospel, and does not want to receive the body and blood of Christ. There is a part of you that looks at the Divine Service and says, 

“What a hassle. What an inconvenience. What a burden.”

And so, what happens is instead of admitting, “There is a part of me that wants to reject God,” we avoid admitting this, and then we use pious language to cover up our wickedness. And tragically, we do this not only with church attendance but everywhere else. 

Dear friends, plain and honest talk scares us. Why? Because if we were honest about ourselves - if we were to stand before the mirror of God’s Law and not look away, we would not like what we see. And so, we look away from the mirror. We do not speak plainly about ourselves. Instead, we spend countless hours trying to convince ourselves that we are good enough, nice enough, and that people like us.

But let me speak plainly and clearly this morning. The reason we do not like calling things what they are — the reason we dress up our excuses and sins with pious language — is because the sinful nature must always be right. Your old Adam cannot stand to be wrong. Your sinful nature cannot tolerate the feeling of guilt. And so, there is a part of you that must justify, explain, defend, and always be right.  And to accomplish this, we rename our unbelief and give pious motives to our wicked motivations. We explain our sins away with reasonable explanations. We soften and cover sin – we do not call things what they are. We make evil sound good.  

Frankly, I have heard it said that many people in this world live with masks on. They are acting on the world stage, hiding their sins beneath pretend lives - crafting excuses, trying to sound pious, and shielding themselves from guilt and shame. But Jesus tears the mask off. He does it in love, but He tears it off. In the parable, the invited guests want everyone to say, 

“Well, these are good people with valid reasons for not attending the banquet.” 

But Jesus does not say that. No, they are not good people with valid reasons. They are rejecting the banquet. They are not merely busy; they are being rude. They are not offering innocent excuses; they are using pious-sounding excuses to cover their unbelief. Plainly and simply: they were invited, the supper was ready, but they rejected the banquet. 

Baptized Saint, listen up!  Beneath our so-called respectable explanations and masks, all of us have sin and unbelief. Your old Adam does not want to receive from God. But this is where we must understand the impasse:  what your old Adam rejects is exactly what you need.  That is to say, you do not need a Savior for the person you pretend to be. You need a Savior for the sinner beneath the mask. You do not need Christ for the carefully managed image you present to the world. You need Christ to slay the old Adam beneath the pious excuses.

Baptized Saints, listen up! Jesus does not invite you to the banquet wearing your mask.  Christ does not host a masquerade dinner. That is to say, Jesus does not say, 

“Wear your best justifications and force yourself to come to the banquet.”

No. He says, 

“Come, for all is now ready.” 

All is now ready because Christ has gone to the cross for sinners who make excuses. He has shed His blood for sinners who hide beneath pious religious explanations. He has been crucified for sinners who twist good things into shields against God. He has risen for sinners who cannot save themselves.

And this is the great difference the Gospel makes. Without the hope of the Gospel, you will always hide from the depths of your sin. Without the hope of the Gospel, you will always try to justify yourself. Without the hope of the Gospel, you will bury your sin, rename your sin, soften your sin, and pretend to be righteous. But in Christ, you do not have to pretend. In Christ, you are forgiven for who you really are. And in Christ, you are declared righteous. In Christ, the mask is smashed and destroyed, because Christ is your righteousness, piety, holiness, and forgiveness. 

That is why you come to the Divine Service. Not because you have no sin, but because you do. Not because you have no excuses, but because Christ forgives them. Not because you have something to offer, but because Christ has everything to give to you. 

So, dear Baptized Saints, let us stop playing old Adam games. Let us speak plainly about our sinful nature. Let us call sin sin. Let us confess our unbelief, our laziness, and our excuses. Drop the mask and hear the voice of Christ: 

“Come, for all is now ready.” 

Indeed, come, not with your mask, but with your sin. Come, not with your excuses, but with empty hands. Come, not to justify yourself, but to be justified by Christ. Come to the banquet. The feast is ready. The Host is gracious. The gifts are for you. 

In the name of Jesus. Amen.