The Servant of the Feast

It really is so very easy to become complacent about the things we have when life is going well! In our country we have certain ‘expectations'. Good healthcare, plentiful and cheap food, abundant energy resources, fast and easy transport and a wide variety of entertainment. And although many of these things are becoming increasingly expensive and scarce, this should give us pause for thought to appreciate them all the more! Of course these things in themselves are not bad things and are the hallmarks of a society that is working well for the mutual benefit of all. But I often wonder if these same outward hallmarks have indeed caused the nation to lapse into complacency and self-satisfaction. ‘Life is good and so there is no need for God!' many seem to be saying. Indeed it would appear to me that the television and newspapers tirelessly chant this mantra of wealth and prosperity whilst all around the nation is losing sight of the two most important rules for human society: that of loving God and loving neighbour as oneself.

In our New Testament reading (Luke 14:12-24) we hear about Jesus' concern in both these areas. Firstly, he teaches that Israel, the very people whom God had redeemed from the hands of the more powerful nations around them, had become complacent about their status as his chosen people. They had forgotten their Redeemer and Saviour and had become so enraptured in their own way of life and religious tradition, that the living God had been forgotten. Indeed, as we uncover in the reading, these people who were the first to be invited to come to the dinner table of the ‘owner of the house' all began to make excuses because they apparently had better things to do with their time. They had become distracted by the pleasures of the world and thus had no need of the living God in their lives! Secondly, the ‘owner of the house' became so hurt and angered by their apathy towards him that he sent his servant to call the ‘poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame' [Luke 14:21b] to come to his supper instead and them. And upon finding that there was still room at the feast, he sent his servant to ‘compel' [Luke 14:23] anyone who might take up his invitation to come.

It is obvious that the ‘owner of the house' that Jesus is talking about in the parable is God. And it is this God who has always written into his master plan that the redemption of the world should include all people and not just his people Israel. In fact history repeats itself in that God's primary concern is for and with people who are having a hard time of things. To such people he consistently extends the hand of help. And so in the parable he invites the poor, the crippled and the lame - partly to shame his chosen people into reconsidering their refusal to eat with him. As I mentioned earlier, God's chosen people, Israel, had themselves once been attacked, led into exile and enslaved by many of the surrounding nations around them. They too were once an oppressed and marginalised people that God sought out of the world, fighting powerfully on their side, in order to bring justice for them. We see from the Bible that God leaps to the defence of those whom the world abuses. And yet this parable contains a warning to any son or daughter of God who becomes so engorged with the world's pleasures and deceit that they forget their need for God.

As God's people we are to be just like the servant of the feast in the parable. We are sent to seek out those whom others ignore, like those who are used and abused by others for their own advancement and fulfilment. I am currently trembling in anticipation that in six days' time I am to be ordained Priest in the Church of God. Even after being placed in priest's orders I shall always remain in deacon's orders too! Deacon's orders are not rescinded or outgrown in any way when one is ordained Priest; rather the priestly ministry grows out of the fertile bed of the deacon's ministry. During the service for the ordination of deacons the bishop proclaims that ‘Deacons are called to work with the Bishop and the priests with whom they serve as heralds of Christ's kingdom.

They are to proclaim the gospel in word and deed, as agents of God's purposes of love... They are to work with their fellow members in searching out the poor and weak, the sick and lonely and those who are oppressed and powerless, reaching into the forgotten corners of the world, that the love of God may be made visible.' [Common Worship: The Ordination of Deacons] Part of the role of a Deacon in the Church, or a Priest for that matter, is to provide a rounded image of the ministry of all the people of God. They are to be mirrors of the ministry of the Church, reminding the Church of her calling to a life of servanthood and priesthood. Both the words from the ordinal and the challenge of Jesus in this evening's New Testament reading are just as applicable to lay people as they are to the ordained!

Our challenge today then is to go out into the world and reach into its forgotten corners in order to invite the lost into God's kingdom. Yet so much of the Church seems embroiled in squabbling about matters of theology and politics that the lost go unreached. This is the trouble when the Church starts to take herself too seriously, rather than acknowledging that she is only partial and not perfect, provisional not permanent. The perfect will come, most certainly. But the harvest will not harvest itself and the business of reaping what we did not sow is still to be completed. We should earnestly pray that God will constantly turn the gaze of the Church away from preoccupation with herself and towards the plight of the helpless.

We must remember though that the Church's ministry is not just to be focussed on the marginalised but also upon all who will respond to the Lord's invitation. In the New Testament reading the ‘owner of the house' tells his servant to compel or constrain anyone who will come so that his ‘house might be filled.' [Luke 14:23] God does not want just a handful of people to come to him, he wants a full house - and we know that his house has room enough for everyone who would come in [John 14:2]. We get a flavour of God's passionate love for all people when he tells his servant to forcefully persuade all who they meet to come to his dinner. The Greek word translated as ‘compel' or ‘constrain' is indeed forceful and powerful and is also related to the phrase to “Go out” [Luke 14:23]. Any feelings of apathy or complacency, or the fear of retribution from the forces of political correctness, should be no match for our passion for the gospel. The Church should proclaim boldly the good news that there is indeed a God of love who has revealed himself by becoming human and by living among us.

What though of the people who were invited and yet still refuse to come? Those people who were so preoccupied by the pleasures of life: their property, their livelihoods and even their close relationships with others which had no place for God in them? Will they inherit the blessings of the Lord at the dinner in the kingdom of God? It is hard to say, one way or another, and the theological jury is still out. In the end all we can do is leave them in the hands of our merciful Lord. But we must remember that the ‘owner of the house' said that none of those who rejected his invitation would taste his supper, because it was they themselves who had refused to come, he was not saying that in order to give his listeners either a sense of complacency or a chance to indulge in judging others. He was saying it to warn every last one of us that we have a choice as to whether or not to respond to his gracious and loving invitation – and that we need to make that choice wisely, and to make it now .