Luke 14:17-20 English Standard Version

17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’

Let us not get defensive here. The banquet table has been set and some who have been invited have made excuses about why they are not willing to accept the invitation. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, these words don’t apply to you.

We are sitting at the banquet table. Now eat.

What has been prepared that you do not like? You have your favorite foods and are willing to partake of those things. Why not eat a little of everything? Maybe you don’t like how it looks or smells. Maybe you have a delicate stomach. Maybe you don’t have the stomach for it.

This is the Lord’s Supper. This is His body, take eat. This is His blood, drink of it.

Imagine if you could prepare a banquet feast for your children and they turned up their nose at what you have prepared. How would that make you feel? 

We are not Christ but what He has prepared for us is not only good for us, it is made to make us grow up strong, healthy and satisfied.

Why wouldn’t we partake? I’m not hungry is not an acceptable excuse. What does the Lord say?

Matthew 5:22-24 English Standard Version

22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Do not bring your problems to the table.

Acts 17:21 English Standard Version (ESV) Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

We left off yesterday asking ourselves what is keeping us from being intimate with Christ.

Here Luke tells us of a group of men that do nothing except sharing something new. That sounds like a group of men in intellectual pursuit of feeding each other’s ego.

Is this a proper definition of time well spent? Obviously they had to eat and drink to sustain the time spent with each other but what kind of time did they spend with those who served them?

This all took place at the Areopagus. The Areopagus is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. The Areopagus literally meant the rock of Ares in the city and was a center of temples, cultural facilities, and a high court. Ares was the Greek god of war. This is a place where ideas, ideologies and theologies were contested.

Religion, culture and justice were all put on display on this prominent rock, high and lifted up, separated from the common men and women. This is just the opposite of what Jesus Christ did because He lived His life with sinners.

Now He lives His life in us.

The time we spend with Him defines our intimate relationship. This life in Him isn’t about religion, culture or justice. It is about His sharing His life with us and making it about those things that define life, people who need Him in their lives.

It comes down to where we spend our time. It is time to stop making excuses.