You are invited.........

Remember how wonderful it felt to receive that invitation in the mail?  You are invited.
You are wanted.  We want YOU to be there with us.  You belong.  What a powerful message, even when the invitation is only to a 3rd grade birthday party.


An amazing number of people who consider faith at the center of their lives have never invited someone else to come and see what God might have in store for them.  Although many value the grace of knowing they belong to a community of faith, they hesitate to invite someone else to discover the joy of belonging to this earthly community and divine Creator.  Even though they find worship to be fulfilling and centering, they don't consider inviting another to come and experience the Spirit at work.

Can you imagine waiting outside the door, wanting to learn more about this God and hoping someone, anyone, would invite you inside to be a part of the community?  Can you imagine making that move into foreign territory on your own?  If you think I exaggerate how difficult it is, consider your hesitancy as you approach the door of a mosque so you can learn more about Islam.  Will you be welcome?  Will you offend someone inadvertently? Are you dressed appropriately?

Invite:  this is a tool of faith formation.  Invite him to the men's breakfast on the first Friday of the month.  Invite her to Wednesday night service, shorter, more casual, more intimate.  Invite the new children to participate in the CROP Walk with your kids.  Invite the new member to partner with you on the Samaritan Center meal prep.  Invite, invite, invite.

You will be opening a door for the other while at the same time, you will find all the reasons your life is enriched by your relationship with Jesus.

Remember how wonderful it felt to receive that invitation in the mail?  You are invited.
Invite someone today.

Chickens, cafeterias and social ordering

Chickens can be very nasty to their own.  In any flock, the more dominant chickens will peck at the weakest members, leaving bald spots where feathers once grew.  Thus the origin of 'hen pecked.'  No one wants to be at the bottom of the social ladder, not even chickens.

Think about this as school re-opens.  Take your high school cafeteria. There was the 'cool' or 'popular' table.  Then were the techies, the geeks, the nerds, the artistic types, the jocks....and somewhere at the very bottom were the kids who ate their lunch alone, every day.  No one invited them over to share the table.  They were the object of disdain and often nasty pranks and 'jokes.'

Not that it goes away after high school; we all experience social ordering in our lives.  But it is a very difficult maze to master as a child - school bus, sports fields, lunch rooms, birthday invitations and all that.  Our children understand a system where shame is real and impacts all portions of your day.  Before they learn how to read well they understand the honor of being invited to move up to the higher place at the line, or being chosen first on a team.

So, Jesus pictures a banquet where those at the bottom are honored by the host.  You know, those folks who will never be able to invite you back for dinner or do you a favor at the office or even lend you a rake .....those are the folks you honor by inviting them to the banquet.  Our world doesn't work this way.....which is what makes it so God inspired, or we could say, which makes it the kingdom of God.

Come to the table and be fed.