Parable of the Dinner – Luke 14

16 But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; 17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ 18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ 19 “Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ 20 “Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ 21 “And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 “And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

24 ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’”

I was reading this story, that Jesus told, the other day and something stuck out to me.  You see, most would agree that this is a parable that teaches that Jesus came for the Jews first and when they didn’t care the good news it would be shared with the Gentiles, that’s everyone else and that’s good news for us.

But what I noticed is what the servant was doing for his master.  To me, and I say this is totally from my head and should not be taken as some type of commentary note, the role of the servant is what caught my eye.  He was the go between, the one that got the message out.

The servant, I took it was now the church, let’s say Oak Leaf.  Here’s what I think should be going on.

• We’re suppose to be the interceder between the world and God.
• The message is for everyone not just those of our preferences.
• We should already know the mind of God and be about doing His will before He even asks us to do something.

It is a tough role to be the servant.  Are you up for the challenge?