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Guess Who's Invited to Dinner?
Had any interesting dinner invitations lately? If you were to receive one from someone you honored or admired, how would that impact you? What if Jesus were to invite you to dinner?
Interestingly enough, the idea that God might do just exactly that is not something that we have to wonder about, for when we turn to the scriptures we find that this is exactly the kind of thing that God does. Over and over again the scriptures use the imagery of God inviting us to a shared meal to describe God's invitation to us to come, know and follow Him.
Curiously enough, what the scriptures also tell us is that, in spite of the graciousness of the invitation that God extends, we can be amazingly resistant to the invitation. Isaiah notes it in the first few verses of Isaiah 55. Luke records it the parable that Jesus tells in chapter 14 of his gospel. And John records the high levels of resistance in the room when Jesus invited the disciples to gather together for the Last Supper in chapter 13 of his gospel.
What we can anticipate when Jesus invites us to dinner, and what our resistance to that invitation is often all about, is what Pastor Ken explores with us in the sermon this week. Whether it is reflected in the interactions that took place before the Last Supper was served, or in the way that Jesus shifted the focus of a meal that was rich in Passover imagery to symbols that represented Himself and a new reason for celebration - those who attended the meal that evening definitely knew what it was to be challenged by being invited into something truly amazing and transforming.
If you would like to listen to the sermon again, or perhaps for the first time, you can access our sermon library by clicking here. You can also access the live stream version of the service by clicking here.
Isaiah 55:1-2
(TNIV)
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
John 13:6-10a
(TNIV)
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”
Mark 14:22-25 (TNIV)
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
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