On religious
holidays like Easter many people go to church, not so much out of respect for
the Lord, but out of respect for the family member who invited them. I find it
curious that most of us invite loved ones to church on special occasions like Easter
or Christmas, but fail to extend an invitation on the other 50 Sundays in the year.
I suppose in the back of our mind we think the significance of the holiday
gives us leverage and opportunity. Jesus however, didn’t wait for a festival, Passover,
or the Sabbath to offer an invitation. A simple walk on the beach while
fishermen were fishing was His opportunity, “Come, follow me,” Jesus
said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once
they left their nets and followed him” (Matt 4:19-20 NIV).
1 comment:
Gail;
-----I’ve always considered somebody invited to church kind of like a seed being tossed on the ground. Maybe it will come to life and grow, but maybe not. The only participation of the inviter in the process is the invite. Everything else is left to the happenstance of where the seed fell, that the condition of the ground the seed falls upon might be beneficial enough to bring the seed to life. In other words, that something of the sermon or the interactions of the people or such might connect with something in the heart of the seed. Of course, the invite is the least of the inviter’s possible effort. A small but significant addition to the invite is the inviter’s prayer for the Holy Spirit to play upon and within happenstance, making it beneficial for the seed’s germination. And I know my illustration is backwards of Jesus’ parable.
-----Within Jesus’ parable of seed sown upon the different ground types is a sense of the further effort any inviter really needs to make. I believe many souls have germinated unto eternal life in Christ by just having been tossed at the ground, by just having been invited to church. But it makes sense to me that many more have sprung to life after inviters had spent much time grooming their prospect’s soil as well as sprinkling seed of the Word around about on that groomed soil, and then inviting. I don’t think it wise to leave matters of such import as eternal life to mere happenstance, even if we do ask the Holy Spirit to play upon that happenstance.
-----Darkness is descending upon this world like a blanket. The allotted time for God’s pouring wrath upon evil is coming. Many people are yet asleep in this night, and going to sleep deeper as the darkness grows darker. This is a situation calling for us to turn up our followship and more deliberately walk like Jesus walked, which, by the nature of its being, shines much light. Light is the most significant of the groundbreaking preparation needed to get an invitee’s soil readied with nutrient and moisture to receive the seeds of Word sprinkled at church.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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