WELCOME THEM - SO THAT MY HOUSE MAY BE FULL

Who is welcomed into your home especially if they are unexpected, unannounced and unknown? As Jesus travelled around Israel He often told a story which His disciples would have repeatedly heard. It was the story of a nobleman who was hosting a great banquet in his large home and had invited other nobles (his countrymen) to be his guests. But one after another each made a weak excuse for not attending. The nobleman then told his servant to go and invite the outcasts to be his guests instead.

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.
Luke 14:16-23

I wonder if this nobleman hosting this banquet had a family? If so, how might they have felt seeing the homeless, the unwashed, the less-abled, and the uncouth come to this banquet in their large and pristine family home? How would they have felt seeing their father heartily greeting and embracing these strangers as they came into their home? This parable reveals something shocking about who Jesus is. While many of Christ’s parables are clearly about Him – is this parable? If Christ is in this parable, which of the characters portrays Him? The noble? The servant? The formally invited? The outcasts who actually and gladly came to the banquet? Perhaps this parable is about Christ’s church – His followers? Let’s consider these options and who Jesus was addressing this parable to.

 

WHO IS WHO?

The Nobleman?

Could the nobleman represent Christ? In this parable the nobleman is wealthy and enjoying the trappings of wealth. We see that he was generous, and hospitable. Certainly these are qualities of Christ. We also see that the nobleman was rejected. Christ was also rejected. “He came to His own” John tells us, “and His own did not receive Him!” (Jn. 1:11). We discover that the nobleman is deeply compassionate man who cared for the despised. This too was trait of Christ (Mark 6:34).

The Servant?

If the nobleman was Christ, then it might follow that the servant was His Church (comprised of His followers). After all, the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) certainly resembles the charge that the nobleman gave to his servant. But could it be that the nobleman in Christ’s parable is actually the Father? In which case, this would make the Servant Christ Himself. The Old Testament prophets certain foresaw the coming messiah as the Servant of the Lord (Isa. 52:13; 53:11). 

The Invited Countrymen?

The guests originally invited to the banquet were very familiar with the nobleman. Perhaps they were too familiar. Their familiarity failed to recognise what they were being invited to and who it was who was inviting them. Their pathetic excuses bear this out. It may have been that Jesus was sounding a warning to Israel – especially its nobles (Priests, Pharisees, Sadducees) not to too quickly dismiss His invitation to come to the Father’s banquet. Despite being very religious, these member of the Jewish ruling council (the Sanhedrin) did not know God!

The Outcasts?

The outcasts of society – the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame – gladly accepted the offer of the nobleman. Coincidentally, these are ones whom Jesus frequently ministered to (Matt. 11:5). 

 

WHO ARE WE?

We are not the nobleman in this story. We could be the servant though. We could be the nobleman’s countrymen who each refused his banquet invitation (but I hope none of us will be). We certainly could also be the outcasts, if not physically, we should all come to realise that at least without Christ, we are all spiritually blind, deaf, crippled and lame. And if we do realise our parlour spiritual condition without Christ, we would surely be eternally grateful for GOD’s banquet hall invitation. But there are two other characters in this parable. Both are silent but both are integral to the parable. We are already told that the nobleman had a servant who served as his messenger. It is improbable that he didn’t have other attendants who would have waited on the surprised dinner guests. I hope that this group represents us. But there is one more “character” in this parable which features prominently in this story, albeit silently, the one identified by the nobleman as: “my house.”

We are the living house of the Lord (1Peter 2:5). More than any other character or character’s action in this story, it is the house of the house of the nobleman which reveals the heart of God. The house in this parable reveals who God is. It is spacious. It is not merely about having a people over for dinner, it is about hosting and even accommodating the homeless so that it becomes their home as well. C.S. Lewis captures this house in his third book in the Ransom Trilogy and calls it, St. Anne’s. It is a mansion where an odd collection of guests take up residence and working together they save the world. This is a beautiful picture of the church. It’s host, Dr. Edwin Ransom, is himself crippled, and welcomes old and young, the religious and the irreligious, the refined and even the most bearly refined – “Mr. Bultitude”. This representation of the church as a holy building comprised of redeemed people, is re-used in the story of the Good Samaritan where the Inn and its keeper is a place of acceptance, rest, and healing for the wounded and rejected. In First Corinthians, the apostle Paul calls the ragtag, motley crew, of slaves and free, males and females, Jews and gentiles, whom Christ has called into His Church, a “temple” (1Cor. 3:16-17). The apostle Peter further uses the picture of a house to describe Christ’s Church when he uses the motif of the rejected Christ who has an ever enlarging house to welcome, entertain, and accommodate the formally spiritually destitute, distraught, and delinquent — yet redeemed followers of Christ. This is the local church!

 

“So that My House may be full!”

This Sunday, which of the characters in Christ’s parable of the nobleman’s banquet will you emulate? Because whichever one you choose it will determine how you will welcome and serve the hurting, broken, lost, and lonely whom the LORD is sending into His house so that “My House may be full!”.

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

WHAT DO YOU

What do you want? What do you want to do? What do you hope to achieve? What do you long to buy? What do you wish for your community? What do you need to change? What do you aspire to learn? What do you dream of leaving as a legacy for the next generation? What do you desire? Your life, your achievements, your reputation, your acquisitions, will inevitably be shaped by what you desire. I do not at all mean by what you claim you desire, but what you actually desire. Desires that are virtuous will shape you into a truly successful person. Desires that are wicked (‘concupiscence’) will deny you your path to you divinely intended destiny. When it comes to choosing your desires, choose wisely. 

¶ May He grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfil all your plans!
Psalm 20:4

How would you feel if a true prophet of the LORD gave you a Word from God that resembled Psalm 20:4? But even if you received that Word from the LORD it would still start with your true and godly desires. In fact, of my five decade study of people who have managed to achieve the extraordinary, I came to realise that they each had one thing in common: an undaunted and clear desire. Perhaps one of the greatest and most inspirational examples of this is the story of José Hernández. It is the true story of man who came from an unimaginably difficult upbringing and deprivation to reach his ridiculously big dream. After he realised his life-goal, he wrote his story ‘A Million Miles Away‘ (2023) to inspire others who have been told, “That’s ridiculous! … You’re crazy! … You could never do that —you’re uneducated! … That’s impossible! … Don’t be so idealistic!” The José Hernández story highlights what someone might be able to achieve when they have ‘proven’ desire. (‘Proven desire’ is the kind of desire that stands the test of time, leads to great sacrifices, produces dedication, and does whatever it takes.)   

WHAT DO YOU…

You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
Psalm 21:2

What do you want / to do / achieve / buy / to do to improve your community / to change about yourself / to learn / to leave as a legacy for the next generation? Whatever it is, that aspiration (longing) is determined by what you desire. You may not know what you really desire. But others can see it clearly. These people, often your colleagues, friends, or family, can tell what your desires are (despite your own denials about knowing what you really desire). They can see what you actually desire by what you do everyday seen in how you spend your time, talents, and treasure. They listen closely to your constant excuses about why you couldn’t get something done, or why you didn’t have enough time, or why none of the diets you’ve tried have worked, or why you couldn’t make it to church lately even though you claim to love Jesus. But most of all they can tell by what you really desire by what you’re prepared to sacrifice to fulfil it.

But maybe you already know that these people who care about you are right? Perhaps you are even disappointed with how the way you spend your time or use your talents or even how you manage your money – does not reflect what you really really would like to desire? Then, my challenging question to you is: Do you desire to change this?  

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

RESET YOUR DESIRES

Christianity is grounded in a vigorously denied truth: God can change people. This is called conversion. It begins with the acceptance of the truth. No matter what mistakes you have made in the past, GOD can forgive you and transform you into a new creature.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Second Corinthians 5:17

Without experiencing GOD’s transforming gift of grace we would all be left prisoners to the bondage of sin that corrupts desires into concupiscence (“evil desires”). But GOD’s gift of new life opens our eyes to how wretched we were without GOD’s help and why we need to turn to Him for the grace to live with godly desires that will be the doorway for each of us to fulfil our GOD given purpose in life (Prov. 10:24; 11:23).

He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him;
He also hears their cry and saves them.
Psalm 145:19

Resetting desires even begins with a feint desire for GOD to have His way (Matt. 6:33). Sometimes all it takes is a change from “won’t” to: “can’t”. GOD can help your “can’t” – but not your “won’t”. Reset desires shift your perspective from selfish to selfless. It shifts your vision of people as a means to get things done to a vision of getting things done as a means to get closer to people. (This is why being in church each Sunday is actually not about you. It’s about you together with other people getting closer to God and each other.)  

 

RESET DESIRES

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work [NET “desire”] for his good pleasure.
¶ Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent,
children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation,
among whom you shine as lights in the world.
Philippians 2:13-15

Australia has a rather desperate need for more younger pastors. When I was 18-years of age I went to my pastor, Joseph Bowes, around at his house one weekday morning. I announced the purpose of my visit, “I think God is calling me into ministry.” But I then said to him, “But I guess you have a lot of young men tell you that.” He answered, “No I don’t.” (Two years earlier I had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.) What followed this morning meeting with Pastor Joe, was an encouragement to finish school, get a job and even pursue a career. The desires that God had reset in me led me to connect with Richard Winter who had studied theology in the USA and who encouraged me to begin studying theology by distance with ICI Theological College (now Global University based in Springfield Missouri). Richard Winter connected me into Overseas Christian Fellowship where I helped where I could. Then one Friday night, unbeknown to me, the desire of my life walked in. She had bleached blonde hair and four earrings in each ear.

Just prior to meeting this 19-year-old young lady, I had had a vivid dream about her. When I met her that Friday night and looked at her for the first time at the end of the night I instantly recognised her as the woman of my dreams! Kim awakened in me a desire that I did not know I had. After a life of being a confirmed-bachelor I declared to my sister, Narelle, that “Last night I met the woman I was going to marry!” It’s important for me to tell you that my reset desires had involved a rock-solid commitment to Matthew 6:33 – seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. I had not made seeking first a wife my greatest desire. My commitment to God first led to Him awakening in me a desire to be married to Kim. After 36-years of marriage I can confidently say both Kim and I have the same desire, to – seek first the Kingdom of God.

I only share this story because I want you to understand that when your desires are reset by God with you applying Matthew 6:33, then God often awakens within you subsequent “secondary” desires that may have lain dormant within your soul for a long time. Some of you have dormant desires within you that will be awakened by your surrender to God that will lead you to be a business person. Some of you have dormant secondary desires that will lead to be an elite athlete. For some of you this will lead to being in politics, or education, or as a chef, or as a pastor (1Tim. 3:1), or as an actor, or even as an author. I hope the example of José Hernández inspires you to understand the price that has to be paid to fulfil your true desires. As my time comes to end, and in whatever time I have left, I hope to hear that many of you will pay the price for pursuing your desire to fulfil your divinely appointed destiny. (And remember Second Timothy 3:12 and First Peter 3:10 as you do.)

¶ Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
Romans 10:1

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

WAS JESUS EVEN A CHRISTIAN?

 AS my pastoral ministry at Legana rapidly draws to an end it is my hope that I leave a deposit in your soul that encourages you to also Love God with all your mind as well. Using your mind in your worship involves being thoughtful about what you read and hear; and, it also involves being sceptical. It may surprise you that these qualities are exhorted in the Bible for all believers (as I will point out in a moment). It is my contention that with increasing screen addiction to social media — where viewing “memes” and watching celebrity YouTubes — are being confused for factual information, that even believers maybe susceptible to deception. I want to offer some ways to guard what might be being allowed into your soul.

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Second Timothy 2:7

 Normally I would not discourage anyone from dismissing someone’s claims or ideas merely because they belonged to a different group to them. Philosophers refer to this as “the genetic fallacy” (based on dismissing the origin or ‘genesis’ of where the claim or idea came from). However, I do want to point out that even though someone claims to be a Christian, it is not their claim which verifies that they are a Christian – it is based on what they are claiming or the ideas they are expressing which verifies it or not. For example, someone could say, “I am a Christian” but then they dismiss that the Bible is God’s authoritative revelation, or that Jesus was the incarnate eternal God! Someone else may claim that they are a “progressive Christian” which may sound like they are a ‘contemporary’ Christian – but this actually means that they are a “theologically liberal Christian”. This is someone who does not believe in the authority of God’s Word, the miracles of the Bible, the deity and virgin-birth of Christ or Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. I am not encouraging you to necessarily dismiss someone out-of-the-gate who introduces themselves as a ‘progressive Christian’ (this would be committing the “genetic fallacy”). Instead, I encourage anyone to consider another’s claims or ideas for its truthfulness despite how they identify. This is applying First Thessalonians 5:21.   

But test everything; hold fast what is good.
First Thessalonians 5:21

HOW TO TEST ANY CLAIM OR IDEA FOR TRUTHFULNESS

  To “test” a claim involves asking three questions: (i) How do you know that?  (ii) How did you come to that conclusion?  (iii) How do those who disagree with you see this differently? These questions are important to distinguish between an ‘assertion’, which could simply be someone’s unfounded opinion; and, an ‘argument’, which is more likely based on facts and sound reasoning. It is important to remember that all people are equal; but, not all ideas are equal.

 

CASE STUDY #1,
A PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN DECLARES THAT THE CHRISTIANS HAVE GOT JESUS ALL WRONG ABOUT SEXUALITY, REPRODUCTION RIGHTS, AND SALVATION, BECAUSE JESUS WASN’T EVEN A CHRISTIAN!

  Alisa Childers, (the daughter of Chuck Gerrard who was featured in the film, Jesus Revolution) was a member of the Christian girls’ band, Zoe Girl. When she married her husband and came off the road to settle in Nashville and raise their family, her and husband connected into a local church. Touring for so many years and travelling the world to perform, Alisa was unable to enjoy a college education. The pastor welcomed the Childers family into the church and asked Alisa to join his weekly Bible study where, he claimed, she would be receiving the equivalent of degree-level theological education. Alisa was naturally excited about this opportunity but as she went each week she became increasingly disturbed by what she was hearing from her pastor. One night after coming home from this Bible study, she was particularly disturbed and told her husband. What the pastor had been teaching was undermining Alisa’s faith in Christ and His miracles, the authority of the Bible, and even the gospel itself. Alisa’s husband announced that they would no longer be attending this ‘progressive’ church. After leaving this church and finding another more theologically sound church, Alisa began to research what progressive Christianity actually taught. I strongly recommend reading her book which resulted from her research – Another Gospel.

Last week I was sent a link to a 2020 YouTube video featuring James Talarico who is a charming, popular, and very likeable American politician who described himself as progressive Christian. Oddly, his claim that “Jesus was not a Christian” has been repeated by many other social media influencers who are opposed to classical Christianity and have persuaded some to abandon the traditional beliefs of Christianity. I know that many godly Christian thinkers have responded to Congressman Talarico’s rather odd claim that most Christians are wrong about their traditional values because: Not even Jesus was a Christian. I would like to reiterate many of these responses and add my perspectives as well.

What is a Christian? Before someone makes an attempted ‘gotchya’ claim like Jesus wasn’t even a Christian – we should ask for a definition of a ‘Christian’. Put simply, a definition of a Christian (based on the Bible) is – A person who has been redeemed by Christ through their trusting-faith and is now metaphysically connected to Christ in which they are now “in Christ” and Christ is in them. Note Galatians 2:20 and Romans 8:1 which undergird this definition:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

¶ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1

  Once we establish the biblical description of a Christian as one who has been redeemed by Christ and now lives in Christ with Christ in them, it should become immediately obvious that the ‘gotchya’ meme that Jesus wasn’t even a Christian is literally a nonsense because Jesus was the Redeemer and not ever the One in need of redemption! And since Christians are those redeemed by Jesus who follow Him it is simply not true that being a Christian is opposed to what Christ taught! Perhaps some may object that there are people who claim to be Christians but don’t seem to live like one? In which case, I share their concern. But if their objection comes from a genuine Christian upholding the genuine moral teachings of Christ which are largely objectionable in today’s licentious culture (as it also was in the Greco-Roman culture of the first-century in which Christianity was birthed), then I do not share their concern. We should not shrink back from the uncomfortable teachings of Christ (Matt. 15:19-20; 6:15; 7:26-27; 16:27-28; 19:4-6; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 13:3; John 6:65; 14:6) — instead, we should lean into them!  Do not be embarrassed by Christ’s weird supernatural acts or revelations. Ponder C. S. Lewis’s encouragement not to be persuaded by liberal (‘progressive’) Christians (written over 60 years ago) :

Don’t, however, misjudge these “liberal Christians.” They genuinely believe that writers of my sort are doing a great deal of harm. They themselves find it impossible to accept most of the articles of the “faith once given to the saints.” They are nevertheless extremely anxious that some vestigial religion which they (not we) can describe as “Christianity” should continue to exist and make numerous converts. They think these converts will come in only if this religion is sufficiently “de-mythologised”. The ship must be lightened if she is to keep afloat. It follows that, to them, the most mischievous people in the world are those who, like myself, proclaim that Christianity essentially involves the supernatural. They are quite sure that belief in the supernatural never will, nor should, be revived, and that if we convince the world that it must choose between accepting the supernatural and abandoning all pretence of Christianity, the world will undoubtedly choose the second alternative. It will thus be we, not the liberals, who have really sold the pass. We shall have re-attached to the name Christian a deadly scandal from which, but for us, they might have succeeded in decontaminating it.
C. S. Lewis. 2015 (1963). Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (Lewis Signature Classics). Distributed Proofreaders Canada. Kindle Edition. Chapter 22, pg. 69.

 

CASE STUDY #2,
A BLOGGER CLAIMS THAT CHRISTIANS HAVE GOT JESUS ALL WRONG, AND  JESUS NEVER SAID TO FOLLOW CHRISTIANS, HE SAID “FOLLOW ME.”

Did He? There are many things that Jesus the Christ told His original disciples that He has never told us. Consider His statements to His disciples about seeing Him crucified to death then three days later seeing Him risen from dead (Matt. 20:18-19). It would be poor exegesis if such a passage was interpreted as if this was said to all generations of believers everywhere. Consider Christ telling His original disciples to go into Jerusalem and find a donkey for Him (Matt. 21:2) – no-one would suggest that every Christian down through every age should make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to find a donkey for Christ! Christ told His disciples to literally follow Him (Matt. 4:19; 9:9), as a test of another man’s declaration of allegiance to Christ (Matt. 8:22), and to a rich young noble (Mtt. 19:21). Christ certainly gave His disciples the cost of following Him which they were to preach as part of their gospel message:

¶ Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
Matthew 16:24

It is mischievous to claim that Jesus didn’t say “Follow Christians.” Jesus appointed His messengers (called apostles) to have His authority (Matt. 28:19; John 15:16). This authority given by Christ to those He calls within His Church includes the responsibility to rebuke and correct (1Tim. 4:11; 2Tim. 3:16; Titus 2:15). And if these Scriptures are not emphatic enough, then consider Hebrews 13:7, 17, which reveal that Christ has placed shepherd-leaders within a church who must be honoured. Naturally, Christ expects and requires that these appointees do so with gentleness, care, and love. Over the past twenty-nine-years, this is how I have striven to pastor those that God has placed in my charge. Please pray for me to continue to do so in an even greater way over these next seven weeks until finish up at Legana and hand the shepherd’s mantle over to Harry.

 

THE NEED FOR GODLY & LOVING DISCERNMENT

An aspect of my pastoral prayer for you and our church is that you each continue exercise and grow in your love for the Lord and each other, with a heart for those in our community who are in darkness. I am supplementing this prayer with the petition to the Lord for you to be discerning about what you hear and watch on social media, and on your guard about celebrities who are mistaken for experts, and memes which are mistaken for trustworthy. Remember to ask the three discernment questions mentioned earlier. Strive to follow Christ prayerfully, thoughtfully, studiously, and don’t be intimidated by those who appear to confidently denounce the Bible and Christ’s Church with empty slogans and witty internet memes. 

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.