*Title:* Come, Everything Is Ready — Jackson Whitacre, October 17, 2026

Fifty years after the class of 1976 walked the halls of Ozark Adventist Academy, Jackson Whitacre stood before classmates, students, and friends at the alumni worship service and asked the question at the heart of Luke 14: the table is set, the invitation has gone out — will you come? His message wove reunion gratitude together with gospel urgency. Ozark, he said, was never just classrooms and dorms and chapel services; it was people, friendships, and experiences — and whether they recognized it or not, God was present through it all. A spring reunion in Gatlinburg, old friends laughing until they cried, brought to mind the parable Jesus told at a Sabbath meal: a master who prepared a great supper and sent his servant out with the words, "Come, for all things are now ready."

From Luke 14 Whitacre drew three lessons. First, the law of God — including the Sabbath — is not to be used as a weapon; it is a gift and a guide meant to point us toward the character of a God who heals, restores, and gives life. Second, we do not have to prove our worth by pushing ourselves forward: status at the Master's table is not bought like airline status, it is called grace — a truth Whitacre illustrated from his own business failure and bankruptcy, from which only God's grace picked him back up. Third, the great supper itself: when every VIP invitee bailed on a modern gala with excuses about property, jets, and cruises, the host did not cancel the banquet — he widened the invitation to the streets, shelters, and bridges, because he wanted his house full.

The appeal landed on the students first and on everyone after: required chapel, required worship, required Bible class — don't think of them as requirements, but as invitations to take a place at the table. Our excuses have new names — investments, schedules, private comforts — but they are the same old refusals, and fifty years goes by fast. "No matter when he is calling, the answer is not later. The answer is yes." The sermon closed with the song "Come to the Table" and a final word to the class of '76: everything's ready. We have not earned a place. We've been given it by grace.

*Key texts:* Luke 14:16–17; Luke 14:1–6; Luke 14:7–11; Luke 14:15–24; Matthew 22:37–40

*Watch:* https://youtu.be/5CoxWHuvdaU · *Listen:* https://cloud-1de12d.becdn.net/media/original/4f5b2b9ee2d82ffc4eb05c6e90ce461b.mp3