In Luke 14:15–24, Jesus tells a story about a great banquet where everyone’s invited, but most of the original guests make excuses and don’t show up. So the host opens the doors wide, welcoming the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame — anyone willing to come. It’s a powerful picture of God’s grace: His invitation is open to all, but we have to accept it. The danger isn’t that God stops calling — it’s that we stop listening. Like the faint beep of a smoke alarm we’ve tuned out, we can get so used to hearing God’s voice that we no longer notice it. Today’s a reminder to pay attention — to say yes to the Father’s invitation, to make space for His grace, and to come to the table where we belong.

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Good morning! It’s good to be with you on this Friday as we continue our time together in Luke’s Gospel. I hope you’ve got a great weekend ahead. I know I’m excited — we’ve got a busy one. I’m heading to Cleveland tonight to see my son for his birthday, which is this weekend. Can’t wait to celebrate with him. Then tomorrow, I’ll be in Hattiesburg to watch the mighty Fighting Clarinet — and maybe a little football too. Sunday at St. Matthew’s will be another great day of worship and commitment, followed by our Fall Fest that evening. It’s going to be a great weekend. Wherever your weekend finds you, I hope it’s filled with grace, rest, and good fellowship.

So today we’re continuing in Luke 14. Remember, the last few days we’ve seen Jesus dining at the home of a Pharisee — a pretty big deal, fancy meal, lots of powerful folks watching him closely. The next few teachings tie right back to this moment. You’ll notice a lot about humility, power, and appearances, because everyone at that table is jostling for position. Jesus is teaching about how power corrupts and what true greatness looks like.

Let’s read today’s passage — Luke 14:15–24 (NRSVUE):

One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
Then Jesus said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many.
At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’
But they all alike began to make excuses.
The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’
Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’
Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’
So the slave returned and reported this to his master.
Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’
Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.
For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’”

What an incredible picture of grace! The invitation of God is wide open. Notice who gets invited — everyone. The people who end up missing out aren’t rejected by the host; they’re the ones who refuse to come. The invitation was there all along. The host says, “Go invite them,” and the messenger goes — but they all start making excuses. So the host says, “Fine — go find whoever will come.” And they do! And when there’s still room, he says, “Go out again, bring in the ones who never get invited anywhere — fill the house!”

God’s grace is like that. The invitation is wide open. But there’s a warning here too. For those of us who’ve been around church — we’ve heard the invitation, haven’t we? We’ve sung Just As I Am. We’ve heard altar calls. We’ve heard invitations to serve, to give, to follow. The danger isn’t that God stops calling — it’s that we stop hearing. The more we ignore God’s invitation, the harder it gets to hear that voice.

You ever get used to a sound in your house and stop noticing it? Before I got married, I had this smoke alarm that would do that little “beep… beep…” every minute when the battery was low. I meant to change it — really, I did. But I was working full-time and doing youth ministry, and I just forgot. After a while, I didn’t even hear it anymore. It faded into the background. One day a friend came over and said, “What is that noise?” I was like, “Oh — yeah, I guess that’s the smoke alarm. I should probably fix that.” It had been chirping for who knows how long, but I’d tuned it out completely.

That’s what can happen with God’s voice. The Father keeps inviting us — over and over — to the feast, to grace, to life with Him. But if we keep tuning it out, it fades into the background. Grace is beautiful, but we’ve got to accept it for it to change us. Unaccepted grace doesn’t do much good.

So today, don’t tune out the Father’s invitation. Don’t let the call of grace fade into the noise of life. God’s table is ready, and the invitation’s for you. Take a moment today to say yes — to listen, to commune with Him, to accept His goodness and mercy.

Thanks for being with us today. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll pick back up Monday with Luke 14:25. See you then!