Many people in the Church are frustrated because they don’t see a harvest. They’re frustrated because they have so little fruit, and they wonder why. They keep going to the same people. In the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14:15-24, the rich didn’t want to come. They were busy enjoying their money and possessions, and they made excuses. The poor can’t do these things, and they are eager to come to the banquet when they are invited. God says there are no excuses, but the Church keeps going to the wealthy and well-fed, and then it wonders why they don’t respond.
God is saying, “Wake up, Church! Wake up, Church! The Church isn’t ready for the wedding feast. The poor need to be called.” The Lord is looking for servant-lovers who are passionate for Him, who are filled with love for Him, who are longing for the Bridegroom’s return, who can taste the feast and know it’s about to begin. They can’t stand anymore to stay in their comfort, to wait around for someone to be saved. They will literally run out and call the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. If we go, they will come. (p. 164-165)
The Lord is calling for servant-lovers who will call in the outcasts, who will go into the dark corners of the world and compel the poor to come. And they will come. Who will go and leave their lives of comfort and call in the broken? Who will go and be a learner? Who will go and lay their lives down for Jesus among the poor? The Lord Jesus wants His house to be full. It’s time for us to go out to the poor, to the broken, to the homeless, to the dying, and to the lonely and call them to come in. Thousands and thousands of missionaries and ministers need to go out to the darkest places, to the poorest places, to the forgotten places, because the wedding feast is about to begin and so many of the poor haven’t been called. Rush out and call them. They will come. (p. 166)
-Rolland and Heidi Baker (
Always Enough)
If you have been waiting on some sort of call to take the gospel to the poor and outcast in your area and the nations, then you just got it. Luke 14:15-24 talks about the Master (God) sending out a slave (followers of Christ) to invite and bring people to the great wedding feast. He first invited those who had great possessions, but each one turned down the invitation. Then, He invited “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” The Scripture seems to imply that there was only
one servant. Do you think it was hard for that one servant? The crippled and lame cannot walk. They would have had to be carried, and the blind would have to been led slowly. But the Master said, “There is still room.” The Church needs to realize that there are still those who haven’t been invited. There are so few “slaves” and so many who do not know there is even a great feast waiting for them. Christ is returning sooner than we think. Will you go and reach the lost, the poor, the crippled, the blind, the imprisoned, and the dying? Romans 10:14 says, “…how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Don’t wait on someone else. The time is now. We can’t wait one moment longer to go.
