Reawakening to the Mission of Christ
1. God’s Feast
A feast or a banquet is a place of celebration and joy. God is preparing a feast of rich food and blessings for all people. “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.” (Is 25:6-8)
God is preparing the wedding supper of the Lamb. Last week we read this passage from Revelation (19:6-8). Today let’s read verse 9 — Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”
God is preparing his table before us and for us. God’s table represents a relationship. Our relationship with God and others has been restored. It represents a uniting. In Christ we are united again with God and others. From all nations, tribes, languages we are united to form one nation, God’s people. It represents a fellowship. We are connected with God and others. God’s table represents salvation. In Christ we are reconciled with God, our sins are forgiven, we are new creations, and have new, eternal life.
2. We Are Invited to the Feast
We are invited to this feast. God has prepared a place for you at His table. He desires for all to be at the table. He desires all to be saved. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:3-4). “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). God is inviting you to the table. “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20).
Don’t let excuses keep you from God’s table as they did in this parable. What excuses are you making not to believe in Jesus and follow Him? If you believe in Jesus Christ, what excuses are you making to avoid surrendering your whole life to Him as Lord? What areas are you holding back from his Lordship and rule in your life? And then, what excuses are you making to not go and make disciples of all peoples, to avoid being His witnesses in this world?
Going to God’s table requires sacrifice and surrender. To follow Jesus, to be His witnesses and make disciples require sacrifice and surrender. “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:37-39).
Do not wait. Stop making excuses. Die to self. Make the sacrifice. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. Surrender to Him as Lord. Accept the invitation to God’s feast and you will be blessed richly when you sit at His table. He transforms you into a new creation. He gives you a new life that lasts forever. God adopts us into His family. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (Jn 1:12-13).
God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:2-3). “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Gal 3:7-9).
3. We Are Sent to Be a Blessing
Thus, we are sent to be a blessing to all peoples. We bless others by inviting them to God’s feast. People need to be invited to the feast. “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (Ro 10:12-15). If people don’t know about the feast, they can’t go. So, we need to invite them. How do we invite them?
Jesus commissioned us to go and make disciples of all peoples. This is for all of us, not only for professional missionaries. We have to go to them, not wait for them to come to us. Have you lost your passion for making disciples? May God give us a new fire for those in our lives who don’t know Jesus yet.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We invite people by being witnesses of Jesus Christ. We witness to His suffering and His resurrection. We preach the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins to all nations (Lk 24:45-49). Jesus continues His Kingdom work through us and by His Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be faithful witnesses to Christ. No more excuses, let us actively look for ways to communicate Jesus with our family, friends, coworkers, fellow students, and neighbors.
We are fishers of people. “Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him” (Lk 5:10-11). God calls us to belong to Him, to know Him, and to be with Him. As we follow Jesus He transforms us to become like Him — others-oriented, rather than living self-focused—to live and work for the Father’s glory. God is busy gathering in his people. Through us He calls for the hurting world to come to Him. Through us He invites them to His glorious feast.
We must preach the gospel to the whole world. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Mt 24:14). We must bring the good news of Jesus Christ to our dying world. We are to be His witnesses to all people around us. Preach to the whole world, to all nations. Be witnesses to the ends of the earth. We are to bless all peoples, no exceptions, no favoritism. We must invite all no matter who they are. “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed” (Lk 14:13,21). And “People will come from east and west and north and south and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29). We must invite the broken and brokenhearted—those who are broken physically, emotionally, spiritually. Invite the sinners, the worst of sinners. Invite our enemies. We are to be a blessing to all.
4. We Are Called to Go and Compel
However, we should not just invite them. We are called to go and compel them (Lk 14:23). As Christ’s ambassadors, God is making His appeal to them through us. We implore them on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 Co 5:20). Christ’s love compels us and spurs us to action. Are you so burdened by the many people who are not sitting at God’s table, who have not yet heard the invitation that it invokes tears in you, enflames a passion in you that you have to go and compel them to come to the Lord’s table. But words alone are not enough. Our lives should compel them. How? We compel them by being the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Mt 5:13-16).
We are the salt of the earth. Salt adds flavor and acts as an agent of purification and preservation. Jesus is calling us to a distinct, radically different kingdom lifestyle; a life that has a positive moral and ethical influence on the people around us. Our lives should invite and point people to Jesus Christ. He alone enables us to live in a way that avoids the moral and ethical deterioration of the world. If we’re just like the world, then we’ll never be able to reach and invite those in the world.
We are the light of the world. Light pushes back the darkness. Our witness—both in words and in lifestyle, in our actions—must be displayed in a way that helps others see Jesus. People are attracted to Jesus by what they see in us; the work He is doing in us through the Holy Spirit. Are there any areas in your life that are hindering people to see Jesus? Repent and ask the Lord to give you the courage to let your light shine in the world.
We care for the hurting people. Matthew 25:31-46 describes the final judgment. King Jesus separates those who love and care like He does from those who do not. Christ’s people care like He cares. We feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and come to those in prison. We minister to the hurting and suffering, the widows and orphans, the strangers, the foreigners, refugees, and the oppressed. As He has loved us, we love them and as we love them, we love Him. Pray that the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to see the hurting people as He sees them, and refresh our hearts to care for them like He cares for them.
The most compelling Christian witness, the most compelling invitation to God’s feast, is our very lives being led by the Holy Spirit. When we live Christlike, kingdom lives, the world sees, takes notice, is attracted and impacted by our lives. When we die to self, deny ourselves, only then can we follow Jesus as Lord, only then can we surrender and live by the Spirit. And by the Spirit, we are able to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. We are able to serve others humbly in love. We live in grace and we live out grace. We receive and experience love, joy, peace, freedom, and hope. In this messy and hurting world, such a life won’t go unnoticed. We become a riddle that the world simply can’t ignore any longer. This awakens deeply personal and life-altering questions. And so, we must “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Pet 3:15-16). Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to be a showcase of His love, grace, goodness, and mercy. Pray that He will give us the opportunities to have life-giving conversations with others.
God desires everyone to be at the feast. God wants you at the feast. It doesn’t matter what ailments, problems, or sins you have and what mistakes you made. He takes the broken and makes them whole. There are no excuses. Come to the feast, and be transformed by God. God wants you to take this message to the broken. God wants you to take that message to the ends of the earth. Let us reawaken to the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ.