Excuses, Excuses
(Isa.25:6-10a; Phil.4:12-14; Mt.22:1-14)
Years ago, I worked with a man who was very often late for work. He had so many excuses that they became a running joke among the staff.
Why do people make excuses? It’s because they worry about what others might think of them, and they don’t like feeling embarrassed.
People have been making excuses ever since the dawn of time. In Genesis, when God asks Adam and Eve about the forbidden fruit, Adam blames both God and Eve by saying, ‘The woman you gave me for my companion, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.’ And Eve blames the serpent: ‘the serpent deceived me, and I ate’ (Gen.3:12-13).
Neither wants to take responsibility for their actions.
Moses, too, comes up with several excuses when God asks him to lead his people. He says he’s not good enough and he doesn’t know what to say. He also says he doesn’t have the authority and he’s not a good speaker (Ex.3:11; 4:13). Eventually, however, he comes around to doing what he is asked.
When we make excuses, we might feel happy for a while because we’ve dodged some discomfort. But we also risk feeling anxious or depressed later on, when we realise that we’ve neglected something important.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us his Parable of the Wedding Banquet. Heaven is like a wedding banquet, Jesus says, and he tells the story of the king who sends out invitations to his son’s wedding.
None of the guests is interested, however. They all make excuses. One person is too caught up in his work and can’t get away. Another is too busy shopping, and a third person is too involved with his family. He has just got married and simply can’t come (cf. Lk.14:15-24).
The king is annoyed, but doesn’t cancel the celebration. Instead, he extends the invitation to many other people, and lots of them attend.
In this story, the king is God Himself, and the wedding banquet represents the kingdom of God. Those He invites first are the religious leaders of Israel who hear the Gospel but refuse to accept it. The servant messengers are the prophets of old, and the second-round invitees are everyone else, including the tax collectors and sinners – and of course, you and me.
The king is offering his guests a feast of eternal happiness and joy, but none of those first invited can be bothered to attend. They all have other priorities.
The point Jesus is making here is that the doors of heaven are open wide, and He has come to invite Israel to join Him there. Sadly, these wayward guests are too busy with their worldly affairs to appreciate the value of His offer.
It’s only the tax collectors, the sinners, the poor, the blind and the lame, who are wise enough to understand what it means.
It’s no different today. God has not withdrawn His invitation to this fabulous event. It’s still current, and the doors of heaven are still wide open. As God says in Jeremiah 29:11, ‘I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
But how do we respond? Are we making excuses? Are we avoiding the obvious? Sooner or later, we will have to take responsibility for our choices.
Let’s close with some verses from an old song by the Kingsmen quartet:
Excuses, excuses, you’ll hear them every day.
And the Devil he’ll supply them, if the church you stay away.
When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always loses
So to keep them folks away from church, he offers them excuses.
In the summer it’s too hot. And in the winter, it’s too cold.
In the spring time when the weather’s right, you find someplace else to go.
Well, it’s up to the mountains or down to the beach or to visit some old friend.
Or, to just stay home and kinda relax and hope some kin will drop in.
Excuses, excuses, you’ll hear them every day.
And the Devil he’ll supply them if the church you stay away.
When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always loses
So to keep them folks away from church, he offers them excuses.
Well, a headache Sunday morning and a backache Sunday night.
But by worktime Monday morning, you’re feeling quite all right.
While one of the children has a cold, ‘Pneumonia, do you suppose?’
Why the whole family had to stay home, just to blow that poor kid’s nose.
Excuses, excuses, you’ll hear them every day.
And the Devil he’ll supply them if the church you stay away.
When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always loses
So to keep them folks away from church, he offers them excuses.
So to keep them folks away from church, he offers them excuses. [i]