Ep 28 How to Make God Happy (Luke 15)

Hello and welcome to episode 28. Today we’ll be hearing stories from Luke chapter 15.

Before we get there, what about the stories from the end of last episode, Luke 14? That chapter told about what happened when Jesus went to have a meal with a ruler of the Pharisees, an important Jewish leader.

We don’t get the impression they invited Jesus to dine so they could honour him with a nice meal and enjoy his company, but rather, they had him over so they could watch him closely. They’re looking for an opportunity to condemn him.

And lo and behold, right before Jesus at this dinner party is a man whose body is swollen with fluid. No doubt this guy was there for the exact purpose of testing Jesus - to see whether he would do another Sabbath day healing.

But Jesus responds by testing them, asking ‘is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?’. The religious experts stay silent. Jesus heals the man, sends him off, and repeats the undeniable argument we heard in chapter 13 that exposes the hypocritical inconsistency of their traditional rule against Sabbath healing. Jesus makes his hosts, that is, opponents look ridiculous.

And when he notices how the invited guests chose places of honour for themselves, Jesus points out how foolish this is. Jesus knows that the respectable Jewish leaders at this meal inwardly think quite highly of themselves, and delight to find their self-worth, not in God’s loving friendship, but rather in having other people look up to them. Deep down they crave human recognition and approval more than anything else and they go about their lives persistently seeking the high places for themselves. The trouble is, God alone is the one in charge of bestowing honour; he is the master of the banquet of the wedding banquet of his son. Those who humble themselves in recognition of God’s authority will be one day be honoured by him. Those who reject God’s authority to bestow honour and presume to grasp it for themselves, will one day be brought low by him.

Moving on, Jesus continues by addressing the host, advising him not to invite friends, relatives, or wealthy neighbors when he throws a feast. Those kinds of guests can repay you here and now, he says. Instead, Jesus encourages him to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; guests who cannot give anything in return. This awkward advice, given at a party where only the leading figures of the community were invited, demonstrates again the long-sighted lens Jesus wants his disciples to look through. He shows that only doing things for others when there is something in this world to be gained, is very short-sighted. Far better to show love to the needy and underserving; demonstrating dependence on the goodness of God to repay in eternity.

In scene four of this really awkward dinner, someone comes out and says ‘Happy is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God’. Perhaps they’re hoping this simple comment, which no-one could really disagree with, might bring the conversation back on track to things that don’t make people feel so uncomfortable. Well. Unfortunately for them, this statement just opened a whole ‘nother can of worms for Jesus to spill on the table. It’s here that Jesus tells another story, this time of a man who sends out invitations to a great feast. Some get the invites well in advance, some get invited at the last minute. It’s pretty likely this feast Jesus is referring to in the parable, is the celebration that will happen when all God’s plans come to their fulfilment at the end of this world and the beginning of the next one. It’s the feast that will happen when all evil and sickness and death are destroyed forever, where peace abounds and where God will live with his friends, eating with them and rejoicing together with them for eternity. Happy indeed will anyone be who gets to join in at that feast.

Now those religious people sitting around Jesus when he tells this story, think that of course they will be the ones at that feast. They think so highly of themselves they assume that God does too. They assume that the seats of honour at the final banquet in heaven, belong to them.

In this parable Jesus explains that the man hosting the great banquet sent out his servant to say to those who had received invitations early, come, everything is now ready, join the feast! But these invited guests politely make lame embarrassing excuses, one after the other. The excuses all revolve around property, wealth and relationships. The stuff of this world. These were well-off guests that got invited! But their hearts weren’t really interested in the great feast. They took the honour of receiving an invitation for granted. In reality they’d much prefer to be following their own pursuits than enjoying feasting and friendship at the great banquet.

So then the man hosting the feast, furious at the insulting lame excuses of his invited guests, tells his servant to go out and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. And when there is still room, the servant is commanded to go out further from the city and bring in anyone who can be found on the highways and country roads. These later groups of people have no property, wealth or relationships to distract them from seeing the honour of being asked into the great feast. They didn’t expect an invitation at all, they certainly would not have presumed on a seat at the great banquet table! Through this story Jesus warns the self-satisfied leaders around the table, that it is very dangerous to simply assume that God will give them a place in his heavenly kingdom.

No doubt there was probably yet another awkward silence at the table.

The stories from chapter 15 start here:

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to hear him. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So Jesus told them this parable: “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them. After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle. Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.”’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let us eat and celebrate, because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again—he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

“Now his older son was in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the slaves and asked what was happening. The slave replied, ‘Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got his son back safe and sound.’ But the older son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and appealed to him, but he answered his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours. It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’”

The Story ends here

Thanks for joining us for today’s story.  You might like to take a moment to pause and think about what you noticed. Things you liked, things you didn’t like, something the story showed you about Jesus. To read it for yourself it’s in the book of Luke chapter 15. If you can find someone willing to read it and talk about it with you, even better! You’ve been listening to stories from the Bible - I’m Jen and I look forward to sharing more stories with you.