Second Sunday after Trinity,
2011
Text: St. Luke 14:16-24
The Rev. Jerry Kistler
St. Stephen’s Reformed
Episcopal Church
Priorities. Where are your priorities today?
There’s an old legend of a swan and a crane. A beautiful
swan lighted by the banks of the water in which a crane was wading about
seeking snails. For a few moments the crane viewed the swan in stupid wonder
and then inquired: “Where do you come from?” “I come from heaven,” replied the
swan. “And where is heaven?” asked the crane. “Heaven?” said the swan, “Heaven?
Have you never heard of heaven?” And the beautiful bird went on to describe the
grandeur of the
It’s tragic, isn’t it, how many people in this world have
exchanged the glories of heaven for snails! Jesus said, “Seek first the
Ray Krock, the founder of McDonald’s, was once asked what he believed in. He responded, “I believe in God, in family, and McDonalds.” Then he added, “When I get to the office, I reverse the order.” Is that true of you? Do you have a one set of priorities while you’re here at church, and a different set back at home or in the office?
Jesus told a parable about priorities. We call it the
Parable of the Great Supper or the Great Banquet. And the reason He told this
parable was that He was sitting among a group of people that were extremely
sure of themselves. They were cock-sure,
you might say, that when the
And that’s true. Blessed will
be those who shall eat bread in the
So Jesus says, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited
many. 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.’ But they all alike began
to make excuses.” And what are the excuses?
Well, they’re ones we can all easily identify with, because they revolve
around three of the most important areas and aspects of our lives: Property,
Business, and Family. It’s a three-point sermon. Jesus was a good Baptist when
it came to preaching. (I took a little away from the Baptists, so I guess I
should give them a little back). But when it comes to finding excuses for not
fully participating in the
1. Property. The man said, “I’ve bought a piece of ground, I must go and see it. Please have me excused.” But is a piece of ground, no matter how big it is, really something worth exchanging your seat in the Kingdom Feast for? You know, Charlemagne (who happens to be my great-great-great-some-odd-great-grandfather. Yes, you’re in looking at a living, breathing direct descendant of Charlemagne. That and a buck-75 will give me a cup of coffee at Starbucks. But anyway, Charlemagne…) by the time of his death in 814, had expanded his empire to include almost all of western Europe. He was probably the greatest of the medieval kings. But tradition has it that in the year 1000 AD, after he’d been dead for over 180 years, Charlemagne’s tomb was opened by emperor Otto III. And the sight that confronted him was astonishing. There, sitting upright on a throne of marble, with his crown upon his tilted head, his tarnished royal scepter in his hand, and his moth-eaten royal cape draped around his shoulders, was the mummified remains of the great Charlemagne. On his lap lay an open Bible, and a bony finger pointed to the 26th verse of the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: “For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Now I don’t know if that’s an apocryphal story or actual fact, but the point is well-taken, isn’t it? Charlemagne is dead. And he didn’t take any of his vast property with him. Even his tomb is lost today, and all its treasures. So if Charlemagne put empire before Kingdom (if you get my drift), he’s lost too. That’s what Jesus is saying in the parable.
You know, we spend so much of our lives trying to build our own little empires—collecting property and stuff. But at the end of the day, when the summoner comes to call us away from this world, what will any of that profit us if all it’s done for us is prevented us from laying up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt, and where thieves do not break in and steal. The point is: don’t let property and possessions keep you from receiving the inheritance God’s really wants to give you: the whole world. That’s what Scripture says. Don’t let a couple of pieces of real estate and a house-full of stuff draw your heart away from the feast God has called you to.
2. Business. Another man said, “I’ve bought five yoke of
oxen, and I am going to test them. Please have me excused.” Some of us really
understand the pull business can exercise on our hearts. There’s always so much
to do. There’s always more we can achieve and accomplish. We’ve got to stay
focused. We’ve got to beat the competition—you know,
the new Lutheran church down the street! (You see, I’m just talking to myself
here). Striving to do well in business and to really accomplish something in
your work is good—it is the gift of God, says the book of Ecclesiastes. But
there’s a greater gift and a better labor, and that’s as a member of the
Do you remember the sisters Martha and Mary in the Gospels?
Jesus came to their house one day, and like most woman would typically do when
they had an important guest in their home, Martha got all caught up in making
sure everything was just right, that everything was neat and tidy, and that
food was prepared just the right way, and served just at the right time. She
was frantic with busy-ness. I mean, come on ladies, don’t you think you’d be
right there with her if Jesus came to your home one day. But Mary—imagine
it—Mary let all that go and simply sat down at Jesus’ feet and listened to His
word. And Martha was none to happy about it! She was perturbed. And I get this,
because this is the way my wife gets when I sit down at the feet of the TV when
there’s a lot of work to be done in the house. So in huff Martha confronts
Jesus and says, “Lord do You not care that my sister
has left me to serve alone? So tell her to help me.” But Jesus answered,
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing
is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away
from her” (Lk.
3. Family. The third man in the parable said, “I have
married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” Now this is a difficult one for
us all, because we love our families, and it’s hard for us to imagine that
anything could come before our families. But in many parts of the world—and I
would say, increasingly in this part of the world, as well—Christians are having to make the choice between family and the
In 2005 I attended what was called the “Hope and a Future”
conference in Pittsburg, PA, which was the first gathering of what was then
called the “Common Cause Partners,” which has now become the Anglican Church in
North America. And at the conference one of the guest speakers was the Speaker
of the House of Lords or the British Parliament, Baroness Caroline Cox—a
remarkable woman of incredible Christian faith. In addition to being the
Speaker of the House of Lords, she’s also a certified RN. And what her faith
has compelled her to do is to visit the most closed off parts of the world, and
to the most desperate peoples of the world, to bring medical supplies and aid
particularly to the Christians who are being persecuted, and in many cases
tortured and killed, for their faith in these forgotten lands. At one point she
showed a photo of a young mother and her young child in southern
Would you be willing to pay that price? What price would you be willing to pay, with regard to your family, for your participation in God’s kingdom? The sacrifice of a day’s outing together, so you can come to church together instead? Would that be too much of a price to pay? People in the parts of the world Baroness Cox visits risk their lives, and the lives of their children, to come to church. But they do it with such joy, because they know it is their participation in the Feast of God—something we take so for granted. “Oh, we can come next week, or the week after that, or the week after that. God will have me excused.” Does your family take you away from the Feast?
You see, Jesus was speaking this parable to a bunch of very
religious people. He was speaking it to church-folk—people who were part of the
Old Testament church for sure, but
church-folk, just the same. These were the people God had promised the blessing
of the Land to—the
Jesus said, “the
You see, this is why our Church—the REC and the ACNA—are so adamant about us coming to worship every Sunday, unless providentially hindered. It’s not just a duty. It’s not just a rule for us to obey. It is our very life in the Kingdom.
And so Jesus said, “Seek first the