INVITE, Part 1

As we continue discerning our path together as a congregation, today I wanted to address the second key word in our new vision statement: INVITE.

Luke 14:16-24
16 Then Jesus said to him, "Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17 At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, "Come; for everything is ready now.' 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, "I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.' 19 Another said, "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.' 20 Another said, "I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.' 21 So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, "Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.' 22 And the slave said, "Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.' 23 Then the master said to the slave, "Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.' "

This parable of Jesus, often called the Parable of the Great Banquet, touches powerfully on this word INVITE. How many times have we, like the first guests, turned down an invitation because we had something else to do. I mean, on face value, we might say, "Well, it happens, things come up." And that's true.

I remember when Chris and I were rounding the corner on wedding planning and our ceremony and reception were only days away. We had done a respectable job getting an RSVP from everyone, and we did the seating chart, etc. Of course, there are always changes, people who can't come, people who want another guest, you know.

My uncle Ken and his family ended up not being able to make it because a hurricane was hurdling towards their home and his wife had elderly relatives there to look after. That is a good reason. But then there were the people who just, well, didn't show. Even people we had spoken to recently. There weren't many of those, and to be honest, we could've guess who would flake out. But it was, indeed, infuriating.

We can all begin to imagine the host in this passage and the anger and frustration at the response of his first invited guests. They all had something else to do. Jesus of course told this parable to and about the Pharisees, illustrating how thos who might first be expected to be the favored or chosen ones had, themselves, removed themselves from the party. They had become so self-important that they missed the point.

So the host invited everyone else. All the people that no respectable person would ever invite. I imagine it was quite a wild party!

This is precisely, though, that same message we need to hear today. God's invitation is not for the "best" people...but for all people, especially the ones we might not first think to invite. What does this mean for us as we think about how we invite and who we invite? It means the people God is calling us to invite may not be on their way to us already. They may think we don't even want them. Or, they may have been told directly they're not invited.

At In the Street last week, we had a sign at our booth that read, "What if church was a verb instead of a noun?" It drew some curiosity, and some people came and asked about it. Young people were especially intrigued. As I was standing there with others from Calvary, a group of rather hip young adults/older youth walked by, and I could tell were reading the sign. I asked them if they wanted a magnet (we were handing out magnets with our worship times, etc.). They said no, but as they walked by, one young man walked up to me and said, "I'm gay. Could I come to your church?" I responded "Yes." and before I could say anything else, he nodded and continued on with his friends. The suddenness of our interaction was disconcerting, but even more so was the reminder that this young man had perhaps experienced not invitation but exclusion at the hand of some Christian(s) to ask that question.

Let's be honest. We're often much better at listing off who we don't want to invite than who we do. At those times, we are more like the Pharisees than Jesus. But it doesn't have to be that way.

God calls us to be part of God's Great Banquet--the coming of God's kingdom. We not only get to attend, but we get to help invite! To go to those people and places that others might walk past and share our excitement and God's love with them. And invite them to their place at the table.

I will write again later this week about invitation, and suggest some more specific questions for us all to think about. For now though, I invite you to think about these:
1. What was the best invitation you ever received?
2. Think of a time you were somewhere that you felt very unwelcome. Describe that experience.
3. What was the last thing you invited someone too? Describe that experience.