Excuses, excuses: The Parable of the Banquet

Excuses, excuses: The Parable of the Banquet

From Living Words by The Rev'd William Klock

June 14, 2026

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of understanding oneself as part of the Biblical story through the lens of the Parable of the Banquet and related scripture.

Excuses, excuses: The Parable of the Banquet St. Luke 14:16-24 & Deuteronomy 20:1-9 by The Rev'd Dr. Matthew Colvin I am often asked about “application” in sermons. “I enjoy a good sermon,” someone will say, “but I need to have application so I know what to do with it.” Well, you will notice that neither Fr. Bill nor I, his understudy, do very much with “application.” The pulpit is not the place to give you “ten steps to a better marriage” or “key principles of childrearing” or “the blueprints to build a Christian business.” Rather, we are concerned with the Biblical story, and we want to apply you to it, so that you read the Bible as your story. When Paul says, “These things happened as examples for us, upon whom the ends of the ages have come,” he means that to follow Jesus, we need to understand ourselves as being part of the story of the people of God. That is why Hebrews 11 gives us the “hall of faith”; it is why Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7 sums up the entire history of Israel; it is why, when Peter is telling Christian wives to respect their husbands, he calls them “daughters of Sarah.” We are consistently told to inscribe…

People in this episode

Host: The Rev'd William Klock

Guest: The Rev'd Dr. Matthew Colvin

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Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: St. Luke 14:16-24, Deuteronomy 20:1-9

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