A Dangerous Thing
This could be one of the most dangerous things either of us does. We aren’t talking about sky diving. But it’s a common human behavior…and it is dangerous. It can be terminally dangerous as we will see.
So…what is this hazardous thing?
It’s making excuses.
In the passage below, Jesus gives a powerful parable about making excuses. Excuses are a dangerous human behavior.
Someone explained an excuse this way: “An excuse is worse than a lie for an excuse is a lie guarded.” Then, why do we make excuses? Try these reasons out:
*To avoid the truth
*To avoid responsibility
*To be able to complain and stay a victim
*We fear the unknown
*We want the easy way out
Do any of these seem familiar? Each of them is a reason we make excuses.
There is a banquet in heaven of unbelievable majesty and wonder prepared by God for those who believe in Jesus. It is a celebration unlike anything ever recorded in history. But because we can’t see it-or God-we find it hard to believe. And we make excuses for why we won’t believe.
It’s the sin in our hearts which makes us so good at excuses. Sin is the Achilles heel of every human. We make excuses for rejecting God’s invitation to His Heavenly Banquet because we think earthly things are more important. People have made excuses for ignoring God’s invitation for centuries. Read the verses…which excuse do you use? I am guilty of them all.
“When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “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. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So, the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’””
Luke 14:15-24
Have you seen it?
God has invited both of us to His eternal banquet in heaven. There is no excuse worth giving up the gift of life everlasting. To make excuses and seek to be uninvited to this banquet is dangerous. It’s a mistake neither of us want to make. What does a banquet made by God taste like?
God…please enable us to see that our excuses are only self-swindling.
Then, give us faith to accept your gracious invitation.