God’s Return on Investment
Luke 14:12-24
When I say the word “investment,” what do you think of? Financially speaking we think about investing in the stock market, investing in a business, investing in real estate- we think of taking money and putting it into something that will in time produce more money, right? If you are wise about how you invest, over time you will see a return on your investment. Now it’s definitely possible to invest in the wrong type of investments, and over time you could end up losing money. These concepts are applicable not just in the financial world- you think about coaches investing in an athlete, parents investing in children, friends investing time in a relationship. In this morning’s passage, Jesus presents a really different concept concerning investing, contradicting what our gut instinct might typically be when we think about how one should invest. Let’s look at the passage together in Luke 14, verses 12-14. The context here is that Jesus is in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, sharing a meal with other guests. Upon seeing how the guests pridefully and selfishly sought out the best seats, he then taught on the subject of humility. And now in verse 12, he turns from teaching the guests, to teaching the host. (Luke 14:12-14)
In verse 12, the intent is not that Jesus is forbidding hospitality between friends, family, or neighbors, but rather His intent is to discourage hospitality that is invested in order to reap a return. The “do not” here in the verse means, as it does often in other places of scripture, “not only but also,” or “not so much, as.” We see this type of wording in verses like Proverbs 8:10 “Take my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest gold.” Or John 6:27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life…” Obviously the bible isn’t telling us to never receive silver (money) or to never work for food, but the idea is to draw extreme emphasis to the concept of what is being taught for one to do.
Nikki and I, upon moving to Brevard searched for a long time hoping to build relationships and community. I can’t tell you how many times we had some folks over to our house, hoping that they would invite us back to their house later so that we could continue building the relationship and find true friends. But so often we weren’t invited back to people’s homes, and it seemed that the relationship fell flat. But there were some others, who returned the invite, and we have continued to this day in relationship with them. But Jesus here is saying “I want my followers to be agents of hospitality, whether that hospitality is returned or not.” Now maybe you don’t invite people over to your home for the sole reason of hoping that they will invite you in return, but this investment/return idea shows up in other areas of our lives as well. Perhaps it’s not too far to say that often we as humans seek out certain relationships with the intent of gaining through that relationship. Obviously this is how politics works, this is how business relationships work, but Jesus is saying that this is not how the Kingdom of Heaven works.
When considering the type of investments I mentioned earlier, you want to make wise investments that will bring you back a return. You want to pick the right stocks that will go up, you want to invest in a business that will stably grow, you want to purchase real estate in the right part of town, as a coach you would want to invest in an athlete that will put forth effort- you wouldn’t want to invest in a reckless athlete who might squander the time put into them. When dating someone, you would want to find out as much as possible about that person early on, so that you don’t waste all the time, effort, energy, and emotion in someone who will end up not being good for you as a spouse. There’s a little bit of pressure when considering these different types of investments, the idea is to pick the investments that have a good return, and not the investments that will decline in value. But here Jesus is saying that if we want the biggest and best return, the big Kingdom of Heaven payoff- then we will need to make the investments that don’t necessarily give a return here on earth.
This teaching is completely counter intuitive. According to this world, it doesn’t make any sense. This way of thinking doesn’t come naturally. And that’s why Jesus spent so much of His time teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven- He wants us to understand it, knowing that it operates in a manner completely opposite of what we are familiar with. The way the Kingdom operates is so foreign, that as we live day to day in this world, it is so easy to forget about. It’s so easy to read a teaching of Jesus on the Kingdom, and minutes later be back operating in the mindset of this world. That’s why we daily need to be spending time in God’s word, renewing our minds each day, reminding ourselves afresh of how we are to live according to the laws of the Kingdom and not just according to the laws of this temporary world.
What do these types of non-return on Earth investments look like? Obviously, we have this example Jesus gave us- inviting people into our homes that aren’t within our sphere of friends. Being people of extreme, gracious, unreturned hospitality. Perhaps another application would be befriending people that are different than us, who don’t share common interests. Giving money to those in need. Giving money to organizations that are advancing the Kingdom of God. Sharing Jesus truth with someone, knowing that they might look at you and treat you differently afterwards. Volunteering and serving within the community- at schools, non-profits, or church. Be reminded that whether you see it now or not, these are hugely significant investments that will one day reap an immense reward.
Now while the greater honor is to be had one day in the Kingdom, I still would like to in a way, honor those who have been faithfully serving in our church, who humbly and graciously give of themselves without reward. I’m going to call out some areas of service at our church, and when I mention an area that you serve in, I’d like for you to stand up and remain standing. Sound booth, Kid’s Worship, Nursery, Praise team, Greeters, Wednesday night M&M kids, Benevolence, Connect Group leader, Staff, Deacons, Building & Grounds. Many of these standing serve in multiple areas, and I didn’t even mention all the areas of service that our church has and that many of these serve in addition to the areas I have mentioned. At the end of the service, Nikki has a small “thank you” for each of you in the form of a Blue Ridge Bakery gift card. Again, thank you for serving.
Now after Jesus had taught on this backwards investment strategy, one of the guests got really excited thinking about the Kingdom. Look in verse 15… He got pumped up! He was like paaarrrty! But not everyone is going to benefit from this investment strategy. Look at what Jesus replied… (verses 16-24)
You see, receiving the invitation to the kingdom is not enough. Many are invited. The whole world is invited. And often the invitations are received with great excitement, but sometimes they get lost along the way. Or the motivation to attend the actual banquet is diminished through the desiring of all that this world has to offer. Right now invitations are still being sent out, but one day those invitations will cease going out, and the final announcement will come, the trumpet will sound, and the feast will be served. And it’s not that in that moment people will decide not to attend, no, they will have already chosen not to attend by the time the announcement is made. They will have chosen not to attend by placing greater priority on things other than the Kingdom party.
Notice what the first one said in verse 18… There’s nothing wrong with looking at a piece of land. There’s nothing wrong with acquiring property and possessions. God gives land and possessions, and we are to be good stewards and take good care of what is given to us. But there becomes something hugely wrong when acquiring property and possessions takes priority over the focus of making sure to attend the wedding feast of the Lamb.
Look at the next excuse in verse 19… There’s nothing wrong with trying out new oxen to plow a field. There’s nothing wrong with managing your business, work, job, or growing in your capacity in your field of employment. No, God gives us work to do, and we should do it wholeheartedly as in doing it unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24)- with excellence, wisdom, and good stewardship. But there becomes something hugely wrong if advancing oneself in business, work, and finances takes priority over the focus of making sure to attend the Kingdom banquet.
Verse 20… There’s nothing wrong with getting married, taking a honeymoon, and enjoying your spouse. There’s nothing wrong with taking time to build relationships. No, God gives us relationships that we are to consider as being highly important- to invest in and take time for. But there becomes something hugely wrong when earthly relationships take priority over the relationship with Jesus that makes arriving to Heaven possible.
If someone says “one day, I will be an Olympic athlete,” then that person lives with a focus and determination in order to reach their destination of becoming an Olympic athlete. They train, they eat a certain way, they learn from other athletes, they ask questions to coaches. If a person says “one day, I will become an aircraft pilot,” then that person lives with a focus and determination in order to reach their destination of becoming a pilot. They enroll in a pilot school, they apply for the right certifications, they spend time in flight training- building up flight time hours, they study for tests and exams. If a person says “one day, I’ll lead a band that tours all over the world,” then that person lives with a focus and dedication in order to reach their destination of becoming a high caliber musician. They find a teacher to study with, they go to school to learn, they practice countless hours, they build relationships with other musicians. If we say “one day, I will go to heaven,” then we had better live with a focus and determination that shows we are intending to reach our destination of heaven’s gates. We’ll ask someone to disciple us, we’ll seek out knowledge from God’s word, we’ll spend time practicing being in the presence of God, we’ll learn from other believers- our life’s priority and focus will be living in a way that is focused on arriving at our destination.
Don’t tell me you want to be an Olympic athlete and you never hit the gym and never hang out with other athletes. Don’t tell me you want to become a pilot, but you’re too busy to ever get to the airport and you don’t ever study. Don’t tell me your dreams of becoming a musician if you don’t ever make time to practice and you’re not attending concerts and learning the music scene. Don’t tell me you’re Christian who believes in Jesus and is expecting to go to heaven, and you don’t hang out with other believers, you don’t come to church, you aren’t studying the Bible, you aren’t spending time in prayer, you aren’t talking about Jesus’ teaching with others. Talk about a destination is cheap, prove that you are heading to a certain place by living in way that reflects you are heading to that certain place. And just to be clear, I’m not in any way inferring that you can somehow earn your way into Heaven. What I am saying is that if Heaven is your destination, then you will live with focus and your life will demonstrate that Heaven is where you are heading.
The truth is, we make time for the things we want to make time for. We invest in the things we want to invest in. Jesus is laying in front of us a massive banqueting table, He has in store for us a huge reward, riches untold for all eternity- no one on earth should be too busy, or too distracted, or too uninterested to miss this. There are no good excuses for skipping out on Heaven. And God’s gifts to us- property/possessions, work, relationships- should never take priority over Him. The very first commandment God gave to Moses and his people was that there should be no other gods before the Lord God. God says “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3) And just to make sure the people then, and people today understand how serious God is, the second command follows up on the first, God says: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exodus 20:4-6) An idol of acquiring possessions, an idol of work and career, an idol of relationships simply won’t do before the Almighty Creator God.
And in response to those who made excuses, what does Jesus say? (Verses 21-23) Notice God’s heart in this illustration and in the previous illustration (verse 13) for the outsiders- the outcasts- the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame. In both illustrations, God is portrayed as wanting to make sure that even the outsiders, even the lowliest of low, the away from civilization people- the “countriest” of country folk, people living in Indonesia half a world away- He wants to make sure that all of these receive an invitation, and are also persuaded to arrive to the dinner. These might be people that are outside of our typical sphere of influence. Are you willing to be hospitable to these, as Jesus defines hospitality? Are you willing to invest in these without the possibility of earthly gain? Are you in a place mentally, physically, socially in which you can engage in a Christ-like manner with people outside of your typical circle of peers?
If you want to build a business- you hire quality, experienced, capable people. If you want to build a house- you find a qualified, integrity filled contractor. If you want to go to school, you look for the best school for the best price, that will give you the best return on your money and your time there. But if you want to build the kingdom, if you want to build a church body, then perhaps Jesus is saying through these two illustrations that it’s not necessarily the experienced, capable, stable, people with no issues that will give the best return on the investment- no, rather it’s the outsiders, the least likely, the broken that we should “invite,” as verse 13 states, and that we should “bring in” as verse 21 states, and that we should “compel” as verse 23 states, to come in to the Kingdom.