Luke 14:16-24 – “Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’  18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’  19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’  20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’  21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’  22 And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’  23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  24 For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'”  NKJV

            Years ago the Kingsmen released a song entitled “Excuses” and it was spot on as well as hilarious.  I won’t go into the lyrics of the song but they are easily found if you ‘google’ it.  I am reminded of a situation once when a person working under my supervision did something incredibly wrong and lacking in intelligence.  I called him in to discuss his conduct seeking to determine any possible extenuating circumstances that might have motivated the action.  As he began his explanation it was obvious he was attempting to give an excuse.  He suddenly stopped, looked at me and said, “I know you do not want to hear any excuses so I’ll just tell the truth.  I was being lazy and did not think I would get caught.”  I almost laughed at the refreshing display of honesty at that moment, counseled him on his behavior and actions.  He was not terminated but would have been had he attempted to offer excuses.  He took responsibility, admitted his error and was somewhat repentant and became a very good worker.

In reviewing the passage above it is very clear that ‘excuses’ have been around almost as long as man.  If you will remember in the Garden Eve blamed the serpent and Adam not only blamed Eve but God for her flaws.  I have a friend who preached on this text.  He preached a very compelling message but one thing caught the attention of everyone more than anything else he said.  As he went through the excuses illustrating them and their meaning he came to the last one and said, “The others gave an excuse this man gave a reason.  He married a wife, and therefore truly could not come.”  The crowd roared in laughter and he almost lost the impact of his message but masterfully fit it in to the reality that we sometimes truly believe that our ‘excuse’ is a ‘reason’ or explanation that justifies.

I have often said, “I am not interested in excuses but reasons.”  I am, however, interested in the reason(s) for the excuse(s) for they speak to the problem and help us to get to the root rather than the symptom.  Why do we feel compelled to make excuses when we could easily be honest about the situation?  As we can see in the parable, Jesus made it clear that God is not moved positively by our excuses no matter how valid we believe them to be.  It is so serious that those invited were uninvited as a result of their excuses.

As the song by the Kingsmen we truly do hear ‘excuses’ every day and the devil has no shortage of suggestions.  I had a person tell me once that it was too cold in church but he went deer hunting that morning and sat in an open air stand in freezing temperature.  I did not press the ‘too cold’ part for fear he might have been speaking spiritually.  So instead of making excuses calling them reasons why not examine the reason for the excuse and ask the Lord to address that kink in the armor.

May God be with you as you go through your day!