Sermon - Trinity II 2023 - Luke 14:15-24

The Poor, the Lame, and the Blind called into the Supper, The Story Bible from Genesis to Revelation, 1873

Evangelism

1. Evangelism is inviting people to God’s feast.

2. The invitation goes out to all, but some reject it.

3. Regardless, God’s Kingdom will be full.

How did you become a Christian? How is it that you’re sitting in these pews right now? Different people have different stories. Maybe you were baptized as a baby and never knew anything different. Or maybe sometime later in life you had some experience that ultimately brought you to faith in Jesus. Whatever it is that brought you here it all boils down to the same thing: somebody evangelized you and you heard the invitation to God’s feast. That’s what today’s Gospel reading focuses on: evangelism. “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.”

Often when we think of evangelism we think exclusively of telling the Gospel to someone who has never heard it before. That’s certainly evangelism, but evangelism is more than that. Evangelism is telling other people the good news of Jesus Christ, it’s inviting people to God’s feast. God does this by sending His servants to speak. It’s not usually the St. Paul conversion experience; that can happen, but it’s pretty rare. Rather, the normal way is that God sends His servants to get out the word. “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.’”

To some extent I’d like to speak about evangelism very practically today, explain how it’s done, and perhaps dispel a few misconceptions. First off, evangelism is not fast, but a very slow process. We’d like to imagine it as having a single conversation in which we say just the right things in order to convince them of the Gospel and viola they’re now a Christian! It could happen that way, I suppose, but that’s very rare. The more common conversion experience is actually quite slow over the course of many months or even years. Therefore patience is a virtue during evangelism.

With that in mind, we get a better idea of who we should be evangelizing. Since evangelism usually takes a very long time, it means you must have a relationship of some sort with this person and opportunities to be around them frequently. So who are we talking about? It’s gonna be the people you’re around: family, friends, coworkers, neighbors. The point is that you’re going to be around these people for a long time, and you have the relationship necessary to tell them the good news.

So we’ve identified the people we are to evangelize and we know it’s going to take a while, but now comes the hard or the scary part: how do you actually evangelize? It’s not as difficult or nearly as scary as you think. We think it’s scary or tough to do because we assume evangelism is being able to argue someone into the faith by saying exactly the right words in the correct order. While you do need to know the Gospel in order to speak it, it’s not nearly as complicated as you think. All of you already know the Gospel. We recite the summary of the Gospel weekly in the Nicene Creed, you already know it!

Additionally, what convinces a person of something is less about the words you say than and more about who you are. This gets into the study of rhetoric. The words you say, the rational argument you make, is less powerful than what’s called your ethos. Your ethos is you, who you are, what you’re like, what you do, how you live. This is largely how charismatic leaders can get people to do almost anything they want. It’s not because they have the best arguments, they don’t, but they have the ethos, people like them, they’ll follow them right off a cliff.

Now understand that this doesn’t mean that we all have to be charismatic speakers in order to convince anyone of anything, but it does mean that how you live is very important for evangelism. You have to do what you believe. A drunk or a liar or a thief or an adulterer will not be able to evangelize well. You must look like a Christian and be respectable. 

In that same vein, your demeanor is very important. If you’re always grumpy or negative about things, complaining constantly, rude and quarrelsome, you will turn people away from Christ. If you complain about church to outsiders, even if they’re your best friends, you will be anti-evangelizing and stabbing yourself and your church and Christ in the back. Why would anyone ever want to join something that you complain about all the time? But on the other hand, if you’re positive about church every chance you get, if you’re always joyful and excited about it, if you have zeal which others can see, if you prioritize it above everything else, then they will learn to be interested in it as well.

Now, I know that I said your ethos is more powerful than the words you say, but you do still have to speak in order to evangelize. So how does this work? What do you say? When do you speak? This is very straightforward as well. It’s not hard. You simply need to be listening to others through the lens of the Gospel. Try to listen for complaints or problems that others might have, and answer their issues like a Christian. For example, let’s say your friend got into a heated argument with her sister and she’s very angry, you could talk about how God forgives us our sins through Jesus’ death and that it would make your friend feel better to forgive her sister.

When you speak, don’t worry about trying to convince someone of christianity or argue them into the faith, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. Your job is simply to tell them the Gospel, to invite them to the feast. If they make excuses or argue with you, that’s their problem, not yours. You don’t always have to enter into every argument that arises. Usually it’s better to just state your piece, if they argue with you, don’t bite back.

This is the dose of reality Jesus gives us when He teaches us about evangelism: some will reject the invitation. “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.’” Man! Those are lame excuses! God prepares an everlasting feast and home where there is no more sin or sadness or death or anything bad, and so many reject His invitation with the lamest excuses. Remember that, you’re inviting people to God’s feast, a good thing, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, even if they reject the invitation.

But here’s the deal: even though people are rejecting God’s invitation, the banquet hall will be filled. “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.” 

God’s kingdom isn’t going to be empty or half-full, there won’t be empty seats, God won’t leave room just in case someone changes their mind later. “None of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.” God will always raise up for Himself people to live in His kingdom. If those He invites reject the invitation, they lose their place and someone else will take it. This happened with the Jews; God had chosen the Jewish nation of Israel, yet when Christ came they rejected Him, so God raised up Gentiles to fill His house. God will continue to do the same today. Those who were once christians but rejected the invitation and made excuses, they will lose their seat at the feast, and God will seat others in their places.

This should teach us three things: One, it should teach us humility, that we’re not indispensable, and if we turn away from God He’ll replace us. Two,  it should fill us with vigor for our people who don’t know the Gospel. St. Paul said: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Paul was willing to go to hell if it meant the salvation of his people. We should have that kind of love for our people too. Third, finally,  it should fill us with hope and joy, because it means heaven won’t be empty. Just because the pews aren’t currently filled  that doesn’t mean heaven won’t be full! The perfect number of Christians will fill God’s house. Don’t worry, God will preserve His church. We mustn't panic. We need only be faithful and tell the good news. Remember, the magnificent banquet feast is prepared, an eternity of happiness, and you’re invited.