RSVP, Come Hungry, Bring Friends
In Luke 14:16-24, Jesus tells a story about a great dinner where the invitations have already gone out. However, when asked for their RSVP, the invited guests begin making excuses. They have fields to inspect, oxen to try, and other responsibilities that suddenly seem more important than accepting the invitation.
As I reflected on this passage, I found myself asking a simple question: What if God is still inviting us to the feast—and what excuses are keeping us from coming?
1. RSVP and Stop Making Excuses
The people in Jesus’ parable had already received the invitation. When the time came to RSVP, however, they found reasons not to come.
We can do the same thing. Our excuses may sound different today: busy schedules, work, family responsibilities, distractions, technology, or even the challenges we’re facing personally. Sometimes we can convince ourselves that these are legitimate reasons to put our relationship with God on the back burner.
But God is calling each of us to more.
The invitation isn’t simply to attend church. It is an invitation to know Jesus more deeply and to participate in what He is doing in the world.
2. Come Hungry for the Things of God
One of the things that challenged me most while preparing this message was realizing how easy it can be to simply “exist” in church.
We can sing the songs, listen to the sermon, enjoy fellowship, and go home—but God is offering us something much deeper.
His invitation is: Come and feast with Me. Come and commune with Me. Come and know Me.
There is so much more of God that He wants to reveal to us. Hebrews 4:16 reminds us that we can come boldly before the throne of grace. We don’t have to stand at a distance. We are invited into His presence.
For me, one of my ongoing prayers has been, “Jesus, I just want to know You more.” I want nothing to stand between God and me. And I believe that same invitation is extended to every one of us.
3. RSVP and Include ‘Number of Guests‘
The invitation doesn’t end with us.
Jesus tells the servant to go out into the streets, the lanes, the highways, and the hedges and compel people to come in. There are people all around us who don’t yet know Jesus, and we each have a part to play in reaching them.
We don’t have to consider ourselves evangelists to share the good news. Our character matters. When people see love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control lived out in us, they see something different.
Our responsibility isn’t to point fingers or judge people for where they are. It’s to invite, plant seeds, pray, and allow Jesus to draw people to Himself.
John 3:16–17 reminds us that God sent His Son not to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. That is the invitation we have been entrusted to carry.
4. Don’t Leave the Gift Unwrapped
There was another picture that stayed with me as I prepared this message.
Imagine receiving a beautifully wrapped Christmas gift with your name on it—and then never opening it.
I believe that sometimes we do that with what God has for us. Every time we come together, God has something He wants to give us: His presence, His grace, His Spirit, His healing, His direction, His gifts, and a deeper experience of who He is.
I don’t want to get to the end of my life and discover that I left gifts from God sitting unopened.
So my prayer is simple:
“God, I don’t want to leave anything unwrapped.”
I want to come into God’s presence with expectation. I want to know Him more deeply, and I want to be available for whatever He wants to do through me.
RSVP
The invitation is still being extended.
Jesus is calling us to come closer, to know Him more deeply, to receive what He has for us, and then to go into our world and invite others to experience Him too.
So don’t let another excuse keep you at a distance.
Come hungry.
Come hungry for God. Come expecting His presence. Come ready to receive.
And whatever God places in your hands, don’t leave it unopened.