The power of invitation

Today's topic is the power of invitation and we all love an invitation.

It tells us that there's something great going to happen and invitations come for a variety

of reasons.

Only just two weeks ago I received, this is not normal I have to say, two birthday invitations,

a 50th, a 60th, two wedding invitations, a baptism invitation and an invitation to my

own birthday.

So all within one week.

But today we're going to talk about a particular invitation and this particular invitation is

one that has power attached to it.

But before we do that we need to review what happens when we accept the invitation to come

to Jesus when we first came to know him.

Now we know and we've been doing this through Romans, we know that the gospel of Jesus Christ

has the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes and we accept that the gospel

we commit, sorry, for everyone who believes and when we accept that gospel we are committing

to three things.

I'm not sure that you actually notice that we commit to these things but first and foremost

we all know that we're committing to Jesus Christ.

It is Jesus who has come into the world to live the perfect life, to die the perfect death

death on our behalf and who has risen from death to life to proclaim his power over sin and death.

We know that when we see the gospel.

But the second commitment is to the church, to the universal church and to our local church.

We're committed to the body of Christ when we come to the gospel.

We participate together in worship, in serving each other, in loving each other.

It's why our mission statement here at St Paul's is to know Jesus, to treasure Jesus and to represent

Jesus for God's glory and the joy of all people.

But the third commitment is that when we come to the gospel is to the cause of Jesus.

It's to Jesus and his mission is what we come to.

If we are not committed to what Jesus is committed to, then it's going to question that first and

second commitment.

You cannot truly be committed to Jesus and his saving power for us personally and truly committed

to the church locally and universally if in fact you are not committed to the cause and

the mission of Jesus.

You can, on the other hand, be committed to church and to serving and doing lots of things

within a church and to a mission and not be committed to the cause of Jesus, to his mission.

And if that was the case, then we have a serious problem.

So we need all three commitments.

Now, what is the cause of Jesus?

Well, 1 John 3.8, and I will be jumping from verse to verse all over the place.

So if you're a person who wants to reflect on what has been said, you might want to just

jot those verses down or flick quickly in your Bible.

But in 1 John 3.8, it tells us the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's

work.

And 2 Corinthians 5.18 says,

That is, Jesus' ministry is to destroy the devil's work.

And the Father says that we too have that ministry.

Not only do we have the ministry, but we are given the message as well in verse 19, where

it says,

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

So, every one of us here who is a child of God's, who has Jesus as their saviour, has a job title.

That is, we are all ministers.

And not only do we have a job title, but we have a job description.

And that is the ministry of reconciliation.

So how do we do that?

Well, we follow the example that scripture gives us.

And of course, we follow God's example.

So God says to come.

We read this.

Come all you who are thirsty.

Come to the waters.

And you who have no money, come buy and eat.

Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread and your labour on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

The only thing that will satisfy is if you come.

You cannot buy it and you cannot earn it, these verses tell us.

Matthew 11, 28 says,

Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

So Jesus says come.

God says come.

Jesus says come.

John 14, 6.

Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

So Jesus is the way.

And if we go to the very end of the Bible in Revelation 22, 17, we read,

The Spirit and the Bride say come.

And let him who hears say come.

Whoever is thirsty, let him come.

And whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

The Spirit and the Bride say come.

Who is the Bride?

It's you and me.

It's the Church.

The Universal Church says come.

It's the heart of the Trinity to call people.

And we have the pleasure and the privilege to be part of the work that the Trinity is doing.

Don't you find that absolutely amazing?

That the Trinity is actually saying,

Come on, church.

You are part of the same work that we're doing here.

We want you to be part of this same ministry.

And did you notice the flow on effect in this verse?

The one who hears is also to say come.

That is for every person who responds to the call to come

is also then to give that same call to others to come.

It's a mandate.

It's something that we have to be part of.

If we have accepted the call to come,

we then must,

not if you wish

or if you feel like it,

but we must be giving that same invitation to others.

Why did Jesus call us to himself?

Well, you most probably know this,

because God the Father knows that we have a serious problem

and he also knows how to fix that problem because we could not.

Many of us have problems that we're not even aware of.

And then some of us have problems that we know about,

but we know that we cannot fix.

A really simple problem often can happen with my computer.

I know very clearly when I have a problem with my computer.

I also know I have no idea how to fix it.

And so I have to take it to the geniuses,

the genius bar down at the Mac shop,

and they fix it for me.

Because I know I'm totally inept when it comes to that.

But you see, we have a much larger problem than my computer.

We know that we cannot fix the problem of our sin

by our own efforts.

Only God has the answer through Jesus.

So there's an invitation to come,

and we have the ministry of giving that invitation

if we are committed to the cause of Jesus.

But I believe that there's actually power

in this particular invitation.

There's power in this one,

not so much in the invitation to my birthday lunch

or to the weddings or anything of that nature,

even though they're really lovely invitations.

But this one, there is power attached to it.

Why would I say that there's power?

Well, if you look at John 6, 44,

it says,

No one can come to me

unless the Father who sent me draws him,

and I will raise him up on the last day.

John 16, 8 says,

Speaking of the Holy Spirit,

Jesus says,

When he comes,

He will convict the world of guilt

in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.

We see again that the Trinity is involved.

The Father, by the Spirit,

draws a person to Jesus.

So we are joining with God

as co-laborers to say,

Come.

And there's a power linked to any invitation

when you are working with God.

It's the power of God.

The one who created the world

adds his power to these invitations.

But there's also a power

that stops that from happening.

There is an enemy to a person's soul.

Satan is prowling around

like a roaring lion

ready to kill and destroy,

Scripture tells us.

In the parable of the banquet

that we had read in Luke 14,

we saw that there's an escalation

of the invitation that went out

to attend that banquet.

There was every excuse given

to stop those who were invited attending.

Some were distracted

by their real estate purchases,

others by their work,

others by their relationships.

And so the invitation went

to other people

who were ready to hear

and accept

that very special invitation

to a banquet.

And you would have noticed

there's an urgency.

near the end,

it's, you know,

a compelling,

go out and compel people

to actually come.

So what are we to do?

We're the children of God

led by the Spirit of God.

And so we are not to have

a scattergun approach

to sending out invitations.

That is,

we're not called

to just go and put

some flyers

maybe down in the mall

and hope that,

for an invitation

and hope that one day

somebody's going to pick it up

and come and be here at church

and see Jesus.

That might happen.

But that's not what

we're being called to do.

No,

we are relational people

and our invitations

are to be about relationships.

Let me give you

three really quick tips.

Pray and ask God

who he would like you

to invite

to either church

or to your community group

social event

or maybe

to your own home

to a barbecue

where you have invited

some other Christian friends

just so that

you can get to know

other people

and your friends

can get to know

your Christian friends.

The Holy Spirit

is about

the Father's work.

Drawing people

to the Father

so why not

partner

with the Father

in the work

that God

is already doing?

Open up

your spiritual eyes

and be aware

of when God

is leading you.

So ask God

who are you working

with at this moment

in time?

Who are you drawing

to yourself

and let me

invite them

to something.

That's the partnership

that I'm talking about.

Pray for the person

or the persons

that God has laid

on your heart.

We're in a spiritual battle

and we need

to take that role

very seriously.

Give an invitation

and when you've given

the invitation

then follow up

on the invitation

a few days

before whatever

the event might be.

Opposition

as we've seen

in the parable

for the banquet

opposition

will come

in the form

of distractions

just like

that banquet.

So be on your guard

be in prayer

and follow up

in love.

Now let me

quickly remind us

that church

is not

an exclusive club.

We are

always

to be on the ready

for change

and for growth.

We are

always

to have

a heart

to reach out

to others

as mentioned

right at the beginning.

To be committed

to the cause

of Jesus'

ministry.

And it is

our heart

that will test

the validity

of your commitment

to the person

of Jesus

by the commitment

to his cause.

Let me say

that again.

It is

your heart

that will

test the validity

of your commitment

to Jesus

by your commitment

to his cause.

So

who do we invite?

Let me

actually tell you

really quickly

there are four

groups of people

that are

in your circle

of influence

without even

working hard

to go and

meet people.

Okay,

the first one

is your family.

John

1,

35 to 42.

John the Baptist

is with two

of his disciples

and

he sees

Jesus

and he points

the two disciples

to Jesus.

In verse 40

it reads,

Andrew,

Simon Peter's

brother,

was one of the two

who heard

what John had said

and who had

followed Jesus.

The first thing

Andrew did

was to find

his brother

Simon

and tell him

we have found

the Messiah,

the Christ

and he brought

him to Jesus.

And then

as we know

the story

there's a

transformation

occurs in

Simon,

Jesus gives him

a new name

and that

becomes Peter

and then Peter

has this

amazing ministry

but his brother

was the one

who introduced

him to Jesus.

You see,

it seems

that it's

a fruit

of a disciple

is to have

a passion

and a heart

to bring people

to Jesus.

Don't allow

your heart

to go

cold.

Irrespective

of your age,

irrespective

of how much

ministry

you may have

already have

done,

ask yourself

who have

I

introduced

to Jesus

of late?

Be it

even in a

small way,

ask yourself

who am I

praying for

at this

moment

that I

can say

come and

see?

So the

first group

is your

family,

the second

group are

your friends.

Following on

in John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

we see

in 43

to 46,

Jesus invites

Philip to

join him

and Philip

then invites

his friend

Nathaniel.

Nathaniel

then goes

into this

little discussion

and questions,

is there anything

good that can

come out of

Galilee?

Because Jesus

has come out

of Galilee and

so he's sort

of asking

questions.

Surely we can't

trust this guy,

he's coming

out of Galilee.

And what is

Philip's answer?

It's not a

great apologetic

discussion.

What he says

is come

and see.

See,

we actually

don't need

all the

answers that

our friends

might give

us.

Jesus can

stand for

himself.

We just

need to

give the

invitation.

But there

will always

be a cost

involved.

It may be

your time,

it might

be your

money,

it might

be your

energy.

And we

may need

to lay

aside

our own

plans

when we

are about

the father's

business.

So there's

your family,

there's your

friends,

there's your

neighbours.

John 4,

28-30,

it's the

story of

the woman

at the

well.

And you

all know

this story

well.

This woman

is someone

who is

already

rejected by

her community.

She's

ostracised

and that

is why

she's out

in the

middle of

the day

gathering

water at

the hottest

part of

the day.

But she's

touched by

God when

she meets

Jesus.

And even

though she

is an

outcast in

her community,

she didn't

let that

stop her

from the

possibility

of being

shunned

again when

she goes

back to

the community

with a

message.

She ran

and told

the community

that they

must see

the man

who could

be the

Christ.

She's not

even certain

at this

moment in

time.

She's been

ostracised

by her

community

and yet

she still

has an

important

message

that she

wants her

community

to know

about.

How did

they respond

to the

person

that they

had cast

out?

They

responded

by going

and seeing

Jesus.

Friends,

this story

I think

is remarkable.

It's not

just remarkable

from the

woman's

perspective

but it's

remarkable

from the

community's

perspective

in responding

to her.

This is

the woman

who they

thought

was a

nobody

and yet

she comes

with this

message

come

I think

I've

actually met

the Christ

come and

see for

yourselves.

You see

if we

bring people

to meet

Jesus

it's

Jesus

who does

the rest.

It actually

is very

freeing

in so

many ways.

And the

fourth group

is our

work colleagues.

Luke 5

27

to 32

the passage

is the

calling of

Levi

the tax

collector.

He later

gets a

name

Matthew.

Remember

Levi

is rich

because

he skimmed

money

from the

taxes

for

himself

and the

Jews

looked down

on all

tax collectors.

Levi

was a

hated

man.

But Jesus

sees something

different in

Levi

and Levi

in turn

sees

Jesus

for who

he is

as well.

Levi

then throws

a banquet

and who

does he

invite to

the banquet?

his fellow

tax collectors.

It's his

work colleagues.

They're all

the people

that are

hated.

It's

great.

The banquet

is to

honour

Jesus

because

Levi

has found

that his

deepest

needs

have been

met

in Jesus.

He uses

this banquet

to testify

to what

Jesus has

done

and it's

a non-threatening

way

to invite

work

colleagues

to your

home

to have

a meal

and introduce

the person

who has

met

his deep

needs.

There is

great work

going on

in this

banquet.

You can

see it

all happening.

God

has changed

Levi's

heart

and his

heart has

gone out

to all

of his

friends

and so

there is

great work

going on

and yet

the Pharisees

are still

complaining.

So we

must be

very

careful

that we

do not

hinder

the great

work of

Jesus

by our

complaints

and our

criticism

when things

are not

happening

as we

might think

that they

should.

So in

a nutshell

being

committed to

the gospel

of Jesus

means that

we are

committed

to

Jesus

the church

and his

cause.

The

Trinity

is involved

in giving

the invitation

to come

and we

are commanded

to do

so as

well.

There is

special power

attached

when we

are co-workers

with God.

We have

a circle

of influence

where we

can give

an invitation

to come

and see.

Pray for

your hearts

to be warm

friends.

Warm

to Jesus

and warm

to his

mission

and in

so doing

we will

see

God's

kingdom

grow.

Let me

pray.

Our

Father we

just thank

you that

you have

invited us

to come

and Father

I ask

right now

that by

your spirit

you will

touch each

person here

who knows

you with

a person

to invite

to just

come and

see.

Father might

you give

us divine

appointments

this week.

Divine

appointments

where we

can see

your hand

at work

and that

we give

a little

bit of

ourselves

so that

our friends

might meet

Jesus.

We thank

you in

Jesus name.

Amen.