Sermon Tone Analysis

Some of you

Today, we are going to talk about banquets and feasts, so I thought it might be appropriate to tell you about the first banquet I can recall attending.

I must have been nine or 10, and my father was active on the board of directors with the Associated General Contractors of Virginia, and that organization held its annual conference at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va.

Now, if you’ve been to the Homestead and eaten dinner in their grand ballroom, you’ll have an idea of just how fancy this event would have been.

For those who haven’t been there, let me give you a picture.

All of the men were wearing their best suits — and I think some may have even worn tuxedos.

The women were dressed elegantly and with their best jewelry on display.

Even the kids were expected to be in suits and ties and pretty dresses.

Each table was set with the resort’s finest silver and crystal, and the service was impeccable.

In fact, the Homestead has long been known for its world-class service.

There is a white-jacketed maitre d’, and there are white-gloved waiters in charge of water and waiters in charge of bread and waiters in charge of butter and waiters in charge of cutlery and waiters in charge of plates, and then there are headwaiters in charge of the waiters, and every change of course is handled with the precision of a military drill team.

Mom had spent long hours with me back in Portsmouth going over all the special rules of etiquette that I would have to know, explaining which fork to use for which course and which knife to use to cut meat and which spoon to use to stir my tea — probably she just said, “Don’t do it, or you might spill it.”

And by the night of the banquet, we had enjoyed several meals at the Homestead already, so I am sure that I must have pretty much felt at ease by then.

Now you should know by now that I’m a big fan of food, and I was never shy as an only child about ordering the most expensive thing on the menu when my parents took me out to eat.

Annette will tell you that I still have a habit of doing that.

What can I say?

I like good food, and I like to be adventurous about what I’m eating.

So the night of the banquet, we were sitting with a group of my father’s colleagues at one of those big, round banquet tables, and I was enjoying the best steak I had ever eaten in my short life, taking my time and savoring every bite, while basking in all the compliments about how well-behaved I was and how proud my parents must have been of me.

At some point, I put my knife and fork down on my plate and turned to say something to Mom.

As I spoke to her, I saw from the corner of my eye a quick movement at my place setting and I turned back just in time to see the coattails of the waiter who had just vanished with my plate of half-finished steak.

Some of you have probably figured out what happened.

For those who didn’t read Emily Post this morning, let me fill you in on the etiquette.

When you’re finished eating, you are to leave your knife and fork on your plate as a signal to the waiter to remove it from your place setting.

If you are merely stopping for a moment, intending to continue eating your delicious steak, you are supposed to simply prop the silverware on your plate.

The lesson I learned that day was to always keep your fork ready to jab the person who tries to take your plate before you’re through.

That may be why I haven’t returned to the Homestead in decades.

Most of us have probably attended a banquet or two in our time, even if they’ve not been quite as elegant as the one I just described.

Weddings, awards ceremonies and the like come to mind.

In fact, banquets are nearly always celebratory in nature — or they are held to honor someone significant.

And one of the themes that is woven throughout the Old and the New testaments is the coming of the Messianic banquet.

Indeed, the Messianic banquet is pictured in the very observance of the Lord’s Supper, and so today is a good time for us to explore its significance to the church.

All the way back in Genesis, we see a picture of this banquet — when Abraham prepared a feast for the Lord and the two angels who would later go on to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.

And in this scene, we pick up on the first of three ways in which banqueting is significant in Scripture.

1

Gen 18:3-4

READ Gen 18:1-5

Biblical scholars believe that this was an appearance of the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ to Abraham, and Moses, who wrote this book under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, used God’s covenant name in his description of the event.

Note that the first appearance of the word “Lord” here is in small capital letters.

That means that God’s name Yahweh or Jehovah appears in the original text.

Moses, who wrote this book under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, certainly understood what had happened, but when you look at Abraham’s

So whether it was Jesus or the Father appearing in the flesh of a man, what became clear to Abraham very quickly was that he was in the presence of the Lord Most High, and he wanted to honor that visit with a banquet.

Abraham says here that he will bring a piece of bread to share with his guests, but he actually laid out a spread of bread cakes, curds, milk and a tender calf before the men.

And after having eaten the banquet under one of the oaks of Mamre, the Lord looked at Abraham and made him a promise:

This banquet would be a significant event in the lives of 99-year-old Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah.

It was a sign of the spiritual blessing that God had pronounced for them, a blessing that would be given a physical manifestation in the birth a year later of their son, Isaac.

The first significant thing about banqueting in Scripture is that it’s a sign of spiritual blessing.

We read the 23rd Psalm in our responsive reading this morning, and you’ll recall that one of the lines from that Psalm is “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

Now, think about this for a moment.

How safe does it seem to have a banquet in the midst of your enemies?

How peaceful would that supper be?

Taken out of the context of this Psalm, this line sounds more like a curse than a blessing.

But we know that the context of this Psalm is one of blessing.

We read or recite this Psalm when we want to remember how much the Lord has done for us or when we want to run to God for comfort.

The idea of having God prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies is only comforting if I am sure that God will also protect me from those enemies.

And that’s exactly what David knew.

God had poured out His blessings on David, and the banqueting table of this Psalm was a sign of those blessings.

The prophet Joel had stern words from God for the people of Judah, and he warned them of destroying armies that would be so numerous as to seem like locusts.

But God also gave Judah encouragement through this prophet, a promise that Israel would one day be delivered and its enemies defeated.

And that time of blessing would be marked by feasting.

Joel 2:24

Banqueting is a sign of spiritual blessing.

Banqueting is also a sign of spiritual satisfaction.

To see how this is true, we’ll look to the prophet Ezekiel, who prophesied to the people of Judah who had been taken away into exile in Babylon.

Ezekiel’s prophetic purpose was to make the exiles understand that their collective and individual sin had led to God’s discipline.

But God also used this prophet to give them hope for a time when they would be redeemed and for a time yet to come when God’s glory will once again fill a new temple in Jerusalem.

In terms reminiscent of the ones David had used in the 23rd Psalm, Ezekiel gives the people God’s word about the time of their redemption:

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When the people of Israel are fed by the Good Shepherd, they will be satisfied, and they will have rest.

But this isn’t simply talking about full bellies.

To see a fuller picture of what God is promising here, turn with me to our focus passage today — .

READ

Now, look back at that first verse.

How can one buy wine and milk without money?

For those of you who were here when we studied the seven letters of Christ to the churches in Asia, you may recall something similar having been written to the people of the church at Laodicea.

Remember that they thought they were wealthy and that they had need of nothing.

But Jesus said to them through the Apostle John that they were “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” () in their spiritual state.

And then He gave them advice:

Jesus had paid the price for their salvation.

What they needed to do was to accept the gift of grace and recognize that neither their worldly possessions nor their religious rituals would not earn them a place in heaven.

We are saved by grace, through faith, and that not of ourselves — it is the gift of God.

This grace is what the prophet Isaiah is describing in Chapter 55.

But much like the church of Laodicea would do so many years later, the exiles of Judah were still relying on empty religious ritual, hoping for spiritual satisfaction and finding it nowhere to be had.

Is

God was offering His people a chance for true satisfaction, a chance for — as the Psalmist puts it — thirsty souls to be satisfied and hungry souls to be “filled with what is good” ().

All they would have to do would be to follow Him in faith, just as Abraham had done, just as David had done.

This is the same thing God offers us today.

Follow His Son, Jesus Christ in faith — admit that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sins and confess that He is your Savior and Lord — and your hungry soul will be filled with what is good.

And just as Abraham dined with the Lord, Jesus promises that those who follow Him in faith will do so as well:

And that leads us to the third significant point about banqueting in Scripture.

It is a sign of fellowship with God.

Through His son, Jesus Christ, God has made an everlasting covenant — the new covenant in Christ’s blood — to save we who are lost in our sins if we will only accept the gift of grace that Jesus offered on the cross.

Part of that covenant is the promise that those who have been saved — those who represent the true church, the bride of Christ, who is the Lamb of God — will be on the guest list for the wedding banquet in Heaven.

The Apostle John wrote about this in the book of Revelation:

This invitation was extended first to the Jews, God’s chosen people.

And many of them accepted the invitation, choosing to put their faith in a Messiah whose salvation would come through His death on a cross.

But as a nation, Israel rejected that invitation, and so the doors have been opened to all the nations.

Jesus has called to Himself nations that did not know God.

He became a witness to all peoples.

And all peoples can experience the blessing of spiritual satisfaction and fellowship with God, who glorified His Son, Jesus Christ, the Holy One of Israel.

What we do here today as we eat a morsel of bread and drink a sip of grape juice reminds us of the spiritual blessing we have received.

It will not satisfy our physical hunger or thirst, but it reminds us that Jesus Christ is our only possible source of spiritual satisfaction.