Invited

District Diaries June 2024 Edition
by Marvin Penner

              Luke 14:13 - Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, “Follow me…” and they took him up on the invitation. It feels good to be invited. I still remember the first birthday party I was invited to. I was in grade one and I was incredibly nervous to enter the house of strangers. I knew my friend from school, but not his parents or brothers and sisters. I overcame those fears because I was invited. There was real money in the cake. I would not have agreed to go if I was told to. The invitation was important in giving me the courage to do something new and scary. Invitations are tricky. You can’t predict who will respond or how long they will stay. They require you to be the kind of person that others will want to be around and follow.
No one will follow the inhospitable. The first picture we have of Jesus’ ministry is an invitation to follow Him. One of the last pictures we have is of Him standing at the door and knocking (Rev.3:20). Two expressions of the same way of being. An invitation to go with Him and the opportunity to invite Him. This is the way of faith. The absence of faith says we can’t trust God to add the right people to His church or give those people the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to make good choices, even though that is exactly what is promised. Without faith there will be no invitation, no hospitality, no following.

The only option then, is to lord it over others. I’d like to suggest that we open the door to the way of Jesus, invite any who will respond into the hospitality of our community of Jesus followers, and seek to live with the kind of integrity that will inspire many to come in.

   Hebrews 13:2 - Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done                                           this have entertained angels without realizing it!