“Excuses”

Friday, October 08, 2021

Tonk Talk 

Have you ever invited someone to a party or other event and your invitation was ignored?  Or worse yet someone made an excuse for not being there and you later found out that they did not really want to come to your event, to begin with?  How did this make you feel? Now, I think we all know and understand that things come up, and things happen; but it is very hurtful when someone excuses themselves because they simply do not want to participate. 

One example of this is found In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus tells a parable about A king who is hosting a wedding banquet for his son.  The king’s servants were sent to all those who were invited to come, but those invited refused to come to the banquet by making all kinds of excuses.  Someone has said, “excuses are defined as a "dressed up lie." This seems to be true for the people invited to the banquet because they were more concerned with their possessions and pursuits (farms, business, etc.), while others mistreated the servants and killed them.  They simply did not care about the king, his son, his servants, or the invitation.

One commentator stated, “In the East, as elsewhere, it is expected that invited guests will accept a royal invitation as a matter of duty.  It is also expected that wedding guests will come with appropriate gifts – expensive gifts.  Refusal to attend the wedding conveys the message that the king’s son is not worthy of a gift, that the guest do not approve of the marriage, and that they no longer render allegiance to the king.” (Kistemaker, p. 93).  Therefore, the king takes such forceful actions against those who made excuses for not coming to the wedding banquet.   The king in Jesus’ parable then sends out the invitation again to everyone along the highways and byways.

Jesus’ point is that the Jews, the first group to be invited rejected God’s invitation by making excuses and refusing to accept Him as the Messiah.  The second group is the Gentiles.

This parable is a reminder that God repeatedly calls people to follow Christ, to worship Him, to be dedicated to serving Him, to fellowship, to live godly lives, and to deepening our relationship with Him but if we make excuses for not doing so, the time of grace will end for us.

I am amazed how many times people who say they are willing and ready to go to heaven, say they love Jesus, and may even serve as church leaders, sometimes make excuses for not serving the Lord.   

According to one list in Bits & Pieces, November 1989, p. 18. The Top Ten Most Used Excuse are 1. I forgot.  2. No one told me to go ahead.  3. I didn't think it was that important.  4. Wait until the boss comes back and ask him.  5. I didn't know you were in a hurry for it.  6. That's the way we've always done it.  7. That's not in my department.  8. How was I to know this was different?  9. I'm waiting for an O.K. and 10. That's his job--not mine.

How many of these excuses have you heard?  More importantly how many of these have you used?

The next time you are called upon to serve the Lord or you see a job that needs to be completed in the church and are tempted to make an excuse, remember in the parable in Matthew 14 that it did not fare well for those who made excuses, and neither will we if we continue to make excuses for not following the Lord.   God’s word has already told us what we need to do, may we do it without excuse.  Think about it and do!  By Mark T. Tonkery

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