https://assets-cdn2.dropwave.io/086174f0-efbe-400f-a3e9-b91549a26ab7/media/Trinity 2 AD 2026.mp3

++ JESU JUVA ++

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The excuses sound reasonable — caring for work responsibilities or going on a honeymoon are important and good. And if I had announced this morning that there would be a great supper at the Yaeger home tonight and invited you all, some of you might be able to come. But most would have other plans. At first glance, that's what today's parable seems to say.

But this wasn’t a feast thrown together in an afternoon. Nor was it a surprise to those invited. The servant is not announcing that a feast will happen. He says the feast is now ready. It’s like being told that a wedding reception is ready. You’ve already received the save the date and RSVP’d to the formal invitation. You know when and where the party will happen.

But this Host is more gracious. He doesn’t demand a gift, but He Himself provides everything that is necessary. He sends His servant at the proper time to bring you to the feast. Even so — even when you’ve planned to go and put it on the calendar — we’ve all had that startling experience of realizing that a certain date has come — and we’re not ready. Unprepared, we begin to panic. We hurriedly scramble to get ready.

But this Feast of which Jesus speaks is no ordinary party. It is the Feast of Salvation. Not just a Feast planned for months or years in advance. This Feast has been in the works since the beginning of time! Saint Peter says you have been “redeemed… with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:19-20).

Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord issued His invitation to the Feast. That’s quite literally what the Old Testament is: the invitation to come into the great banquet of the Kingdom of God. At the right time, Christ dies for the ungodly. Jesus Himself bears the Father’s wrath for our sin. His flesh, received by faith, is the substance of the Feast. When He cries out, “it is finished,” then the banquet is ready. The servant proclaims the news: now the feast of salvation is ready; all is prepared; come and eat.

We observe this series of events in the lectionary, too. Fifty days following the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection, we observe Pentecost. On that day, Peter preaches:

Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it (Acts 2:22-24).

And even when the Jews had killed the only begotten Son of God and crucified, God did not relax His gracious call to them. For it was to them that the Gospel was preached at Pentecost.

Jesus Himself, by His Holy Spirit, sends out His messengers to announce His Feast to Jew and Gentile alike. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Therefore, exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). The news of the Feast being ready should have surprised no one. We read in the Augsburg Confession:

[1] Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. [2] People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. [3] God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight

(AC IV: Justification).

And

[1] So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. [2] Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22].

(AC V: The Ministry).

In Christ, God has reconciled the entire world to Himself, not counting our trespasses against us (c.f. 2 Corinthians 5:19). This is nothing other than the Gospel. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? … And how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14). That we may obtain this faith, the Lord sends preachers. From the beginning of time, the Lord has been sending preachers.

No one should ever be surprised to hear a preacher of the Gospel. Yet the people in today’s Gospel were surprised. They are surprised that someone would open his mouth and speak the Word of God. Surprised that a man would dare to say, Thus says the Lord. Surprised that the Lord of heaven and earth would send His messengers out into the highways and hedges to compel people to come in.

They are surprised that the Good Physician would want the sick to recover. Surprised that the One who has no need of anything would, out of sheer mercy, prepare a Feast and invite only the undeserving. Surprised that those who have nothing to offer would be offered everything. Surprised that those who had wandered far from the Father's house would be welcomed back to His table.

People today are surprised, too. They are surprised to find out that church meets Sunday morning at 10:30am. Surprised that we expect you to be in church every Sunday, and to come to Sunday school. Surprised that Jesus calls Christians to read the Bible and to pray every day and to tithe. Surprised that it matters.

Sunday morning comes, and they discover — to their great surprise and dismay — that the Lord Jesus is making a demand on their time. They are surprised that He is inviting them to church. Surprised that He has a different plan for their lives than they do.