Inviting Friends and Neighbors

On the fortieth day after Jesus was raised from the dead, he met the disciples on a mountain in Galilee, and just before he ascended into heaven he gave them the Great Commission. "Go into all the world baptizing and making disciples of all nations and to teach people everywhere to follow Me."

The apostle Andrew was one of those disciples. He started out as a follower of John the Baptist. One day John the Baptist said as he saw Jesus walking by, "that is the Lamb of God." Andrew and another of John's disciples left, as we are told by John the Gospel writer, to follow Jesus on the way. But first, Andrew had something else to do. First he had to go and find his brother Simon whom we know as Peter, and say "Peter, we know who the Lamb of God is. Come with me and let's go meet him." Andrew, the patron Scotland, was also the man who found the little boy with his lunch. The crowd had been there all day and into the evening and there was no food. The disciples were fretting over how they would feed all those people and were encouraging Jesus to send them all home. Jesus said, "What do you have?" Andrew said, "We do not have anything but I saw a little boy with a `Happy Meal'." So it was Andrew who introduced this little boy to Jesus so the crowd could be fed. It was also Andrew who was standing with Philip when some men come up and said, "We would like to meet Jesus." Philip turned to Andrew and said, "You are the man that does the introductions." Andrew was one who invited people and introduced them to the Lord. One of our joys as we live the Great Commission is to introduce and invite.

Last week I spoke of being an ambassador or representative of Christ to other people. But more then represent Christ to others as ambassadors, we are also sent out to invite others to come into his fellowship. Ambassadors of the United Stated are not to encourage emigration from those countries to this one. But we are, as ambassadors of Christ, to invite others into the church of Christ, the fellowship of God's people, to adopt the Christian faith and to join the Messianic community.

We are to share the gift. It becomes a gift we offer out of gratitude and joy for what we have already been given. The Holy Spirit is guiding us and the Father of all loves us too. We are to share that knowledge and gratitude with others so they can experience it as well. It is by invitation that the Holy Spirit moves in and through us to connect us with other people so we can share God's gift of love. It is through invitation that we are able to deepen our own faith and to enlarge our circle of friends.

Last week the Gospel story was of the wedding banquet. The father of the bridegroom was expecting everyone to be present. When the time came he called to his servants to let all in and, nobody would come. He sent his servants out to find anyone who could fill the seats since the meal was all prepared. The children were getting married and it was time to celebrate. It was God's desire to fill the banquet hall. If there were empty seats because some guests did not come, he would invite someone to take their place.

He sends you and me out week by week to find his guests and to bring them next week. That is what the invitation is. To invite others that God loves into this fellowship where we can celebrate Jesus Christ's love for his church.

Of course when I was ordained back in the days when the Prayer Book was being revised, once the Peace was separated from the final Blessing and put in the middle of the service, somebody said, "You just can't be too careful where you sit anymore, because you might have to speak to someone you do not like." That question has always worried Christian people. "What if someone is in the building that I do not like?" "What if somebody comes that I am having an argument with? That will make it very unpleasant." There is another story about that.

When the prodigal son returned, the father threw this huge party for him. The older brother who stayed faithful and worked hard came upon the party and got his nose out of joint. He refused to go in because he was still angry at his younger brother. He was holding a grudge against him for squandering his inheritance. The father came out and said, "Wait a minute, this is my celebration, not his. I am happy he is back and that you are still here. I am the one who is celebrating. Now get in there to the party." If someone is here that we do not like, that is irrelevant. They are here because God loves them. And guess what, we are allowed to come in, too. That is good news even when we get our noses out of joint about "those people." So the father gets both of his sons to celebrate.

Who are the people God wants here at St. Margaret's, besides you of course? Well, he wants unchurched non-Christians. All those secular people out there who have never known the Lord, who have only a vague understanding of what the church is and have a really bad attitude about it more than likely. It is hard to figure out once you are in here why someone would have a bad attitude. God wants them and Jesus Christ died on the cross for their souls too.

God also wants all those unchurched Christians. The drop-outs and estranged. He wants them back. Years ago I was doing some study on how you minister to drop-outs. One of the pieces of information I discovered was that active church members have no fewer than six close associates or friends in the church. Inactive church members, the drop-outs, have four associates or friends still in the church. Most of us would say, "I do not want to go and deal with them because they are angry." They may show anger but the probable deal is that they lost two friends. If we can find two friends for them they will be back in here. Maybe you can be one of those friends and the person across the aisle can be the other. That is all it takes. Jesus Christ died for them too and wants them back.

The third group is non-Christian drop-outs, people who have held some other faith that is not Christian have dropped out of that because it did not fill the God-shaped hole in their hearts. They did not find spiritual fulfillment and so they dropped out of that. And because we are finding the God-shaped hole being filled here, because we are finding spiritual enrichment and fulfillment here, let's invite them. Let's introduce them to the Lord of Light. Who does the Lord want in here? People you already know.

I would guess that everyone knows somebody in those groups. So we do not have to go into the Palm Springs airport or the mall and stop people that are doing something else and ask them if they are saved. All we have to do is invite someone we already know, someone we already like. Say, "won't you come to church with me next Sunday?" How do you say that without sounding like some kind of nutcase? Quite frankly, you can say that you have a faith in Jesus Christ and you are trying to live by that and it helps life be a little bit better when you do. That is one thing you can say. It is honest and does not take a lot of explanation. You can say you are a part of a community of faith known as St. Margaret's Episcopal Church and in that community you are finding a little more meaning than you had without it. You can even say you are proud of St. Margaret's and you believe your friend can benefit from being part of it too. You do not have to go to seminary first. You don't even have to take the Bible study first; you just have to care for your friends.

So why invite people? They already know where we are. My guess is that over 50% of the community we serve does not know we are here. There is one sign at the bottom of the hill and one sign in front of the church and that's it. Most people do not drive up Highway 74 because they are afraid of driving on the mountain road. So they are not aware we are here for them. A place where they can find meaning and fulfillment.

Invitation is a simple thing. We invite people to go places all the time. Dinner, movies, plays. Come over for a visit. We know how to invite people. It is simple thing.

It is also a source of personal joy. When we see someone come through the door we rejoice that they are here. It can make a huge positive difference in the life of your friends. We all want to benefit our friends. Yes, Jesus does command it. Seek the lost, go into all the world and bring others into his fellowship. But do not do it out of duty. The other reasons are much better. The word of invitation. We have empty seats and if we fill them up we will just start another service. We have plenty of hours in the day to do that. You will be blessed and they will be blessed and the kingdom of God will be enriched.

Let us pray:

Oh God, by your grace you have called us in this parish to a goodly fellowship of faith. Bless all our people, those that are present, those that are absent, and those who are not yet among us. Grant that your word may be truly preached and truly heard, your sacraments faithfully administered and faithfully received. By your Spirit fashion our lives according to the example of your Son and loosen our tongues to speak of his power to all among whom we live and to invite into his church those who do not yet know him; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Rev. Dr. Robert Certain
rgcertain@stmargarets.org