Luke 14:16-23 (See below)
I’ve been thinking about the radical sayings of Jesus. In one of the parables of a great feast, do you remember what the owner of the house says? First he commands the servant to go and invite folks to come. Do you remember how they replied? I’ve bought land, can’t come; I’ve bought oxen, can’t come; I’ve gotten married, can’t come. Excuses, excuses, excuses. The owner was livid! So he sends the servant out to invite the blind, the maimed, the poor, and the lame. After this, do you remember? There was still all kinds of room. So, once again, he sends the servant. This time, these beautiful words are spoken–not for the sake of the parable, but for our sakes: “Go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
Oh, my friends, doesn’t that get you way down deep inside? Yes, many will make excuses. Expect it!!! Yet the Owner of the HEAVEN HOUSE sends us out into the highways and hedges–“COMPEL THEM TO COME IN,” He says. There is much room in the house. Our Jesus doesn’t want us hanging out in the comforts of the church walls, but He sends us out there–out there where they are perishing! Let’s go!!!!!
Luke 14:16-23
Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.