The year ends

 2021 is coming to a close. Looking back on the year, it would be easy to focus on the craziness known as covid. After all, there was so much that took place this year because of it. Vaccines, masks, variants, and a whole host of other things. I think about it and I think about how scared people are because of it. Will I get sick? What will happen to me? Eek! 

For me, I have not been living in fear of covid. Will I get it? Yes, I did back in January. It pushed back my 2nd knee surgery. I believe that everyone will at one time or another get covid. But it does not scare me. I trust the Lord to get me through. "But you might get put on a ventilator!" Yes, I might. But I am not going to live in fear of it. Instead, I am going to make the most of each day. I am going to live in the grace and mercy of God. 

So 2021 had many things with covid. There were many other things that took place. I had knee replacement surgery. It was challenging. Painful? Yep. Worth it? Yep. I am thankful that I had the surgeries to get myself up and going again. I am thankful for the Lord guiding me through it.

I am thankful for the year that I had to lead the people of of St. John, Clarinda, IA in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am glad that I could teach Bible class, lead worship, distribute the Sacrament, show the love of Christ, praying with folks, celebrating with people, working with Penny at Noah's Ark, sharing the love of Christ with the children, the staff and the families. I rejoice that I have been brought here. 

I am able to praise the name of the Lord for many different things. O Lord, You are wonderful. You are holy and loving and You have reached out to me with the wonderful gift of grace and mercy. 

In this year, I finished with the Doctor of Ministry program, completing my Major Applied Project (MAP) and defending it in the oral exam and then knowing that I am totally done with the program. I began in 2012 and finished in 2021. Thank You Lord!!!

I am thankful for my family, for Penny, my loving wife who puts up with me day after day and still loves and cares for me, for my kids, Rachael, Brandon, Matthew and Chelsey, whom I do not see as often as I would like, but who are special and I love greatly, for my mother-in-law Shirley Rex who we moved to Clarinda this year in September, and I am glad that we are able to help her and take care of her as she is going to be 92 this January. I have so much to be thankful for in my life.

Thank You Lord. I praise Your name. I rejoice that I am Your child. 

Please Lord, be with me in 2022. Whatever it brings, I trust You and will follow You. 

Happy New Year.

The story ends. This invite is from...

 "I don't know, dear," your wife was saying to you, "but if I was you, I would take it serious." You had just received your second invitation from someone calling themselves, "Your Father, God." You can't imagine that God would actually invite you to go to church. God doesn't work in that way. He doesn't send out invitations to people. 

But then how do you explain what you are holding. On the very day that you throw the first invitation away, the second one arrives, "to replace the one you threw away." Really? How could any of you friends have pulled this off? This is just to strange. It can't be real. Yet you are sitting there holding an invitation from God to go to church on Christmas Eve.

No. You are not going to give in. There is no way that this was from God. You refuse to give it any credance as it is just a prank being pulled by someone. Who? You are going to find out. And then you will be able to have a good laugh together.

"No, I am not going to church with you. I don't know who you put up to this but it isn't going to work," you tell your wife. Taking both invitations, you throw them in the grabage. Good riddance to bad rubbish, you think to yourself.

Just then, you phone rings. Picking it up, it shows the number but there is no identification, no name or place listed. All it says is "place not know." Great, a telemarketer, just what you need right now. Pushing the button to take the call, you think to yourself, "I am going to give this person a piece of my mind."

"Hello," you say. "Hello," a deep, luxurious voice says your name, "This is God your Father. Why did you just throw away my invitations?" Dropping your phone like it is on fire, you look at your wife...

...jerking awake, breathing heavily, you realize you have been dreaming. Was the whole thing a dream?

"What day is it?" you call to your wife. "Christmas Eve. I am getting ready to go to church." 

"Wait a minute," you say, catching your breath, "I think I will go with you."

There is a logical explanation.

 What in the world is this? Didn't this thing just get thrown away? Did not the garbage man take the garbage away and put it in the sanitary landfill (which is so much better than an unsanitary landfill). So how was it back in the mail.

Tearing the envelope open, not waiting this time, you rip the outer envelope. There inside was the obligatory inner envelope holding the invitation. On the outside of the envelope it read, "Why did you throw my invitation away?" Shaking your head in wonder, you think to yourself, who is doing this? More than that, why are they doing it.

Wait. You now get it. It is your wife. She is the one doing this. After all, who else knew that you threw the invite in the garbage? She is behind this very thing. You are going to confront her when she gets home. At least you got to the bottom of this mystery.

A little later, you hear the garage door open. With a smirk on your face, you wait for her to walk into the house. As the door opens, you look over at her. "What is up?" she asks as she walks in. Holding up the invitation, you tell her, "You are busted. I know what you are doing." She looks at you for a moment, then a smile breaks out on her face. "Really? And what is that you are holding?" 

"The invitation that you pulled out of the garbage and put back in the mail. You are the only one who could have done this." Walking over, she took the invite from your hand. Looking at it, she reads it, and then, reaching into her purse, she pulled an invitation out of her purse. "You mean this one?" she asks. "I took it out of the garbage. I wanted to hold onto it. I showed it to my hairdresser. We talked about it and wondered what it means."

Looking at her, you take the invite out of her hand. Looking at it, you realize that it is the one you put in the garbage. There are the stains from the garbage on it. Looking from it, to the new one, you are confused. What is going on? How did this one get here? "You didn't send it?" "No I did not," she replied. 

Setting down the original invitation, you take the new one, open the inner envelope, and pull out the invitation. Looking at it, you read, "You are still invited. The invitation is still open for you to come to worship with your family." That is all it said. Really? What is this? Who sent it. There at the bottom is the same thing as the other invitation...

your Father, God.

So there it is again. Is it really from God? Could it be?

Then you had a thought, where is the envelope? There would be a cancellation on the stamp. Picking up the pieces of the envelope, you put it together. The stamp was a Christmas stamp. The postmark was, what? Heaven. Really? Heaven? No state. Just heaven. That is not possible. 

Showing it to my wife, I looked at her questioning. Her eyes grew wider. Looking at me, she said, "Could it really be from God?"

I did not know.

Who sent it?

 After a few minutes of sitting there and thinking about the invitation, you realized that it can't be. "I bet it was sent by one of the guys at the coffed shop, " you say to your wife. "This is ridiculous. I can't believe that they would do such a thing. God doesn't send out invitations." Looking at your wife, you pick up the invitation, and throw it in the garbage. "And by the way, I don't think I will be able to go to church with you this week. If you want to stop by and pick me up after you are down so we can meet them at the restaurant, that would be good. But I am NOT going to church" 

Walking out of the kitchen, you pick up your coat, slip it on, grab your keys and say, "I'm going to confront those guys. This isn't funny. Why would they do that?" Soon you pull up in front of the coffee shop on the square. Yep, there are their cars and trucks. The guys are here. "I bet they are in there laughing at me," you think as you walk towards the door.

"Hey guys!" you call as you walk in. A round of greetings come from the guys. Slipping into an empty chair, the waitress brings you a cup of coffee. You have been coming here long enough she knows to get you a cup of joe. The conversation is going go as you pick it up and smell the wonderful coffee smell. Taking a sip, you know that it is good and hot. Just the way you like it. Yep, that waitress knows how you like your coffee.

"Which one of you did it?" you ask. All eyes turn to you. Conversation stopped. "I know one of you did it. Which one of you did? Or are you all involved?" Looking around the table, you see confusion and blank stares looking back at you. You look at each face, sure that one of them will crack. But there is no change at all. "What do you mean?" one of them ask. "Yeah, how can we know what we did, if we don't know what you are talking about?" another says. 

"The invitation," you say. "Did you open it?" you are asked. "I thought you threw it away." "Who was it from?" "What was it for?" The guys are throwing questions at you quicker than than you can respond. Holding you hand up, "Wait a moment. I did open it. It was an invitation from God, inviting me to a Christmas Eve church service." They all looked at you for a moment, and then began to laugh. "There it is," you think. "Now I am getting somewhere." 

"What are you talking about?" one of them ask. "Hey look," they joke with each other, "God sent me an invitation." Laughter all around the table. "Are you crazy?" one of the says. "That is crazy. God doesn't do that."

"I know, that is why I am sure that one of you, or maybe all of you, sent that to me. Which one did it?" you ask. There wasn't a word, a sound. "It wasn't me," says one. And soo, they all respond the same way. "Was it really from God?" one of them ask. "How am I supposed to know. I never have gotten a card from God before. He doesn't do that sort of thing," you say.

Discussion continues for a few minutes as they all begin to talk about this invitation. You wish you hadn't thrown it away. Why didn't you bring it with you to show them? Maybe that would have broken the silence on who sent it. But then again, as you look around, it appears that none of them are showing any sign of being the one that sent it to you. 

After eating breakfast, you head home. The house is quiet. You knew that your wife was going to hairdresser this morning. So you expected that she would be gone. Going to the garbage, you look inside. It was empty. She must have taken the garbage out. Going outside, you open the garbage can, but it is empty. Oh yeah, today was garbage pick up day. Grrr, why did you throw that invitation away? Why did she have to take the garbage out? Why did they have to be on time picking up the garbage? Didn't they know that you wanted to get that out of the garbage? Oh well, that is the end of that silly part of you life. After several weeks, it felt good to have it over.

Later that same day, you hear the mailman stop by, putting the mail in your box. Probably Christmas cards, you think. Opening the door, you reach out and take the mail out of the box. Walking into the kitchen, you are sorting through the mail. Christmas card, Christmas card, junk mail, look a credit card application, Christmas card, and...

...an invitation. You stand there, staring at the inviation in your hand. What is this?

It can't be

 ...it's from. Who was the invitation from? That has been what was on your mind for the last couple weeks. At first, it didn't bother you. It just was a simple invitation that was sent to you. Generally invitations come with a return address. This one did not. Come to think of it, you had not looked at where the cancellation of the stamp was from. Where did it come from? Where was that outside envelope? Why did you throw that away? That would have answered the question of where it came from.

Well, that is history. Here you are, ready to turn the invitation over to read it and see who it was from. Your wife was watching over your shoulder. "Well?" she asked. Holding it in your hand, you turn it over.

"You are invited to attend..." What? You can't believe it. It can't be? Could it? That never happens. It doesn't work like that. Dropping the invitation on the table like it was burning your hand, you look down at it. Your wife is looking over your shoulder. You hear here sharp intake of breath from your wife. "It can't be," she says.

You turn and look at her. "Did you send this?" you ask. "Me? No. I had no idea who it was from," she responds. "Then who?" you ask, as you look down at the invitation. Never in a million years would you have thought you would receive such an invitation. Why did you recieve it? Why would it be sent to you?

Reaching down, you pick up the invitation. "You are invited to attend the celebration of the birth of My Son on Friday night, December 24, 2021 at 11:00 p.m." With shaking hands, you read it out loud. The name at the bottom of the invitation was...

...Your Father, God.

What is happening to you?

 After last Sunday, you held your breath whenever your wife started talking about things. In the back of your mind was this thought that she might remember what you said after church last week. In a moment of weakness, you said you might go to church with her again. But she never mentioned it again. But it was on your mind. You thought about it again and again.

What did you do with the invitation? Did you throw it away? No you didn't. In fact, as the week went on, you picked up the invitation again and again. On Thursday evening, after dinner, in the quiet of the evening, you sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, you picked it up, turned it over in your hand, looked at it and...

...flipped open the flap on the envelope, reached inside and pulled out the invitation from inside the envelope. Holding it into your hand, it was upside down. As you are ready to turn it over, your wife walked into the kitchen. "Hey hon, I was thinking that after church Sunday we would go out to lunch with (and she named a couple that you knew would be at church because she always said they were there). Since you are coming with me, I won't have to come home to pick you up." 

Turning and looking at her, you realize what she just said. She no longer was wondering if you were going to go to worship with her. She just assumed it. Well, you did say that you might go with her. But you said "might." You didn't say "would." But she heard that you were going with her. She obviously was thinking about it as much as you were but just hadn't said anything about it. It had been perculating in your thoughts all week. But did you really want to go two weeks in a row? If you did that, would she expect it again and again? What if you didn't want to keep going? What if you didn't like what the preacher said? What if he said something about one of things you did that you knew wasn't right but you liked doing it anyway? You might just get ticked off. Then not only would you be upset with church, but you will have your wife upset with you too. You will have it coming and going. What were you going to do?

"Have you talked with them yet?" you asked, setting the invitation down on the table. "I was thinking..." you started, when she said, "Yes. They said they would like it." Sighing, you realize that she has covered all the bases. What could you do? Say no? Really? She would be so disappointed. "Well, I guess it sounds OK to me. It would be easier to go out with them if I went to church with you. I might as well." What did you just say? Did you just agree to go to church again? What is up with that? Are you getting weak in your old age? Why did you say that? It did feel right, but still...

"Hey, you opened your invitation," you wife says. "Who is it from?" Looking at her, you respond, "I was just about to find out." Reaching for the invitation, you pick it up and turn it over.

"Well, look at that," you say. "It's from..."

Home again

 Well, that was interesting, you think to yourself, as you take off your sweater that you had worn to church. You couldn't believe that you had actually gone to church with your wife. You had sworn you would never do that again. But there you were, walking into church with your wife. She had a smile on her face the whole time. She had even held your hand as you walked through the door. Why did she do that? Was it because she was afraid you would turn around and leave before walking in? You wouldn't have done that to her. The fact is, after you had committed to going with her, you wouldn't back down. That wasn't your style. She should have known that. Why did she hold your hand?

So here you were, back home after going to church. Going to church, who would have thought? Why did you do that? Why did you suddenly say you would do it? She had invited you again and again and you had never agreed to go with her. Why this time? Was it because of that awful invitation that you had received in the mail? Did that open you up to accepting her invite this time? 

Why didn't you just throw that dumb thing away? Life was all right before that thing had arrived. You never had to think about going to church. Having gone once, would she expect you to go again? Is she going to want you to go to church with her on Christmas? She has always asked you to go to that midnight service. It is so late. Why does she want to stay up till then? Sleep. You would prefer to sleep. 

You think to yourself, "I will just throw that thing away when I get back into the kitchen." That will end this ridiculous time. Then you can go back to the life that you were used to living. But it did make her happy to have you sitting next to her in church. You even liked a few of those songs that they sang, as long as they did not expect you to sing. Wait, did you just think that? No, you are not going back. You are going to stand firm and not give in again. Once a year is enough.

Heading into the kitchen, you look around for that invitation. It is going in the trash. That is for sure. "Thanks for going with me," your wife says to you. "It was really nice having you there with me." You look at her, the smile, the sparkle in her eyes, and you forget what you were doing. "You are welcome. I didn't mind it." What did you just say? "Maybe next week we could go together again," she says. There it is. You knew it was coming. "Yeah, maybe I will." What? Did those words come from your mouth? Stop it! Quit opening your mouth. Those words should never come from your lips. But there it was. Now what do you do? 

What are you going to do? you wonder...

Invited again

 "Honey," your wife says to you as you are sitting at the side of the bed, "What are your plans for today?" What? you think. What are my plans? "I don't know. I just woke up," you say rather gruffly. Why would she be asking you such questions at this time of the morning, you wonder. Rubbing your eyes, trying to clear your thoughts, you hear her saying, "Would you like to..." and you quickly stop listening. Yes, you have selective hearing. You like to say you are getting hard of hearing but the truth is, when you don't want to get involved, your hearing stops. You have the ability to quit listening. You just did that.

As the morning progresses, you wonder to yourself what she was asking of you. Did she have something in mind? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe you should have been listening to her. Maybe...wait a minute, what day is it? It is Saturday, right? No, wait, it is Sunday again. Was she inviting you to go to...gasp...church again? Doesn't she know that you really not interested in going to church with her? 

"What were you asking early?" you query. Hoping that maybe she was wanting to go out for luch at that new restaurant in town. You have heard good things about it. They are saying that the food is really tasty. You would love to try it out. "Were you wanting to go out to the new place for lunch?" you asked hopefully. "Yes, I was thinking that. I thought it might be a good day to try it out," she responds. "I thought we could go there after worship this morning. Would you like to go to worship with me this morning? The kids said they would meet us there." You sigh. Taking a deep breath. You wonder how you got into this mess. 

Yes, it all started with that stupid invitation. That is the problem. Whoever sent you that invitation started this whole thing. What happened to that thing anyway. You had thrown it away once and it came back. Is it possessed? Is there something more to it than you realize? Stop it, you think. That is crazy talk. But if she didn't see that invitation she would never have invited you to church. 

"I might..." you find yourself saying. What? Did you just say that? Did you just start to say that you might go with her? "Well, if you would like to, we should leave in a half hour," she responds. "I would love to have you go with me." Sighing, you look at your wife. Her eyes are bright. She looks, well, almost happy. Would it really hurt you to go to church with her? All you have to do is sit there. You don't really have to do anything else. 

"OK," you tell her. "I'll go get ready." As you head to the bedroom to get ready, you think, what am I supposed to wear? "Wear that new sweater I go you," she tells you. Did she just read my mind? No, that isn't possible. But then again, she does know me better than anyone else.

Reaching for the sweater, you wonder, "What is that invitation about, anyway..."

Free! Free at last! Really?

Sunday had moved along nicely after that shaky time at the local diner. You found yourself back in the garage getting the decorations out. Why did folks have to stick their nose into lives that was not theirs? you think to yourself. Why did that gentlemen have to invite you to come to worship anyway? Why couldn't he have just left you out of the conversation? You were perfectly happy staying home and working on your Christmas decorations instead of going to some stuffy old worship service. Your mom made you go when you were a kid and you swore when you were older you would never darken the door of a church again. You went for weddings and funerals but that was it. Sunday morning? That is the time to relax and do chores.

Chores like putting up the Christmas decorations. That day was coming and you needed to get the place decorated. What good would it be to not have the house decorated for Christmas? You have a string of lights in your hands, working to untangle them. As you thought about it, you began to think, "What am I doing? I want nothing to do with church and I am putting up Christmas decorations?" Well, you think, I am only putting up the colored lights because they are pretty. Everyone does it. It doesn't mean anything. You push the thoughts out of your mind as you get the lights untangled and hung around the house. It was a nice enough day to get the lights out.

Next comes the...no, do I really have to put that out? Standing there in the garage, you look at your nativity set. There is the shepherd and his sheep. Then the wise men. What makes them so wise? Shouldn't they have kept that valuable stuff for themselves? Of course there is Mary and Joseph, and...sigh, the baby Jesus. Why am I even putting this out? You don't think about Jesus much except if you hit your thumb with a hammer or get upset with something that is going on. "Why am I putting out baby Jesus when I don't even have anything to do with Him?" you ask yourself. 

Holding that baby in your hands, you look down at it. Didn't that guy at the dinner invite you to go to worship next Sunday? Nope, not happening...looking down at the baby. This is just a symbol of Christmas, you think to yourself. I am not being hypocritical. Pushing the thoughts out of you mind (with a few chose words to accompany your foolish thinking), you finish your decorations.

Heading inside, you decide you could use a cup of coffee. It might have been nice out, but it was still a chilly December day. A cup of java would be good right about now. You walk to the coffee maker, pick up your cup, reach for the coffee pot and stop...there it is. How did that get there? Didn't you throw that stupid thing away? How is it sitting on the counter next to the coffee maker once again.

What is up with that invitation? 

Breakfast time!

 It was a good day. You felt freer than you had ever felt before. You went about the day free from the pressure of that stupid invitation. After you had tossed it into the garbage, you went and got ready for the day. The wife was at church. So you were free for a while. Dressed, you go through the kitchen, pick up a cup of coffee, and head to the garage to dig through the Christmas decorations. There was decorating to do. Folks in the neighborhood had already been putting up their lives. You neighbor even had lights on the fence between you. That was good, because it meant that you would not have to put up the lights on the fence. Maybe it pays off to procrastinate. Maybe.

Time slips away and before you know it, the missus has returned home from church. She pulls into the drive, gets out of the car and calls out to you. "Want to go out for lunch?" she asks. You realize that you are hunger. Yes, you would like to go out for a bite to eat. 

Sitting at the local diner, you see other folks that seemed like they were dressed up. Oh, yes, they are in their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. Several of them greet your wife and you as you come in. They are all smiles. There is lots of good conversation going on. As you sit there, the family at the table next you greets you. "Wasn't that service great this morning?" the gentlemen asks. You stare at him blankly. What? What service? You wife responds with an affirmation. And they chat about what went on in church. You look down at the menu, hoping to avoid any such conversation. 

"Where were you this morning? We would love to see you in church." he says to you. With a sigh, you look up. "I was busy," you respond. Really? That is the best you could do? I was busy? You weren't busy. You just did not want anything to do with church. Besides, no one has ever asked you to be there, you think grumpily. Why would I go without an invitaiton...then you stop. You were invited. Your wife asked you to join her. Rats. Why did she have to do that? Why couldn't she just leave well enough alone?

"Well, maybe you will join us next week," he says to you. "I would enjoy seeing you in worship. You would really enjoy it." What? Really? Another person doing that. Leave me alone! you think. "Yeah, maybe I will," you say, without much conviction. Why do they have to do such things? Why do they feel the need to invite you to church? Your wife, these folks, who else is going to invite you? 

You mind drifts back to the invite you had received. You had thrown it in the garbage. You felt free from it. But now, it is back in your thoughts. What is that all about? Maybe you should look at it after all? Shaking your head to clear your thoughts, you realize the conversation has moved along. But in the back in your mind, there is the invitation...

Why keep it around?

 The coffee was good. Sitting at the kitchen table on that Sunday morning, you were enjoying your morning coffee. Some days, the coffee tasted better than others. Today, was one of those days. It tasted really good.

Sitting there, you hear your wife upstairs. Soon, she would come downstairs. You knew what was going to take place but you hoped it didn't. Maybe this week would be different. Maybe she would just go about her day without bringing it up.

Sipping your coffee, she showed up in the kitchen. "Good morning," you say. "Good morning, dear," she responds. Taking another drink of your coffee, she says to you, "Would you like to go to church with me this morning?" There is was. You hoped that she wouldn't bring that up again. The coffee that tasted so good a few moments ago, suddenly tasted a bitter. Why would she do that to you? She knew your answer to her invite to attend worship with her. It is the same week after week. Why do you need to go to church to be surrounded by those type of people. 

Setting your coffee cup down, "Not this morning," you say. Not this morning? Really. You haven't been to church with her for several years now. Not this morning? Why not just say, "Forget it, I won't ever go to church with you." But you didn't. Instead it was "not this morning." That left the door open for her to ask again. Sighing, you look at the cup of coffee, now tasting so bitter.

After a little while, she finishes her coffee, gives you a kiss, and heads out the door. "I'll be back after worship," she says. Shaking your head, you sit there.

As you hear the garage door close, your eyes fall on the invitation sitting there on the counter. How did that get there? You buried it under all the other stuff on the counter. There it sits, calling to you, "Open me!" No! you say to yourself. I have not need to open that stupid invitation sent by who knows, inviting you to something that you don't want to go to anyway. Go away! 

With a grunt, you get up, and walk out of the room. Why did you have to get that invitation anyway? Why couldn't you have just thrown it away on the day it arrived. Yes, that is what you should have done. Wait, you still could. Going back into the kitchen, you pick the invitation up and toss it in the garbage.

There, it is done. You don't have to worry about that invitation any longer.

Being stubborn

 Not at this time. Two days have passed since you thought about the invitation. You have done your best to avoid it. You haven't looked at, talked about it, or let anyone bring it up. At first, you were nervous, thinking that the person who sent it would ask you about it, why you hadn't responded yet. But no one has said anything like that. When you had mentioned it to others, they encouraged you to open it. But you didn't.

Now you don't do anything with it because you are being stubborn. People can't tell you what to do. It isn't any of their business if you open an invitation or not. What makes them think they can make you do something that you don't want to do? Why in the world do people stick their nose in your business. You were perfectly happy, content even, before that stupid invitation came. Like a golden retriever that doesn't want to go for a walk, you are immovable in the fact that you will not open that invitation. It was enough that you took it out of the envelope. Why couldn't that be enough?

Stubborn. Refusing to accept the invitation that is given to you. Yes, stubborn. There is no other word for it. It isn't that it was that bad to get the invitation. What made it bad is that it wasn't your idea. You were not part of the planning of whatever it is. You feel pressured, pushed, by that stupid piece of paper in that colorful envelope. 

Growling to yourself, you see it laying on the table, in the stack. And you think, "NO! I will not open it!" Why not? Because I don't want to. Should I? Nope! Not happening. 

Maybe I should...no, forget it.

Opening the Envelope

 The new day begins. You walk into the kitchen to get your coffee to start the day, and there it sits, the invitation that you have refused to open. You sigh, wondering why some unknown person would send you an invitation to an unknown event. Everyone that you have talked to about that invitation has asked you, "Well, aren't you going to open it?" Talk about pressure. Each one is sayind to you, "Go ahead. Open it. See what it is all about." 

Why won't they leave you alone? They keep pushing you to do something that you don't want to do. Why? Why can't they just leave it be? Do you have to open an invitation when it comes to you? Do you need to see what it is all about? What if you decide you want nothing to do with it? Can't they understand that it is up to you and not up to them? You just feel like screaming, "Leave me alone! Let me be!"

Taking a sip of your coffee, you pick it up. Well, maybe, maybe you will open it. Maybe you will see what it is all about. Setting your coffee cup on the table, you sit down. Holding the envelope in your hand, you run your finger along the edge, opening the flap of the envelope. Your heart begins beating a little faster, this just might something important. Looking around to see if anyone if the family is watching, you lift the flap. 

There inside you find...another envelope. Of course. That is the way invitations work. So you pull the inside envelope out of the other envelope. It is not sealed. And on the envelope you see, your name printed nicely. There it is. It is sent specifically to you. But it still doesn't tell you anything.

The invitation is personalized. It has your name on it. What do you do now? Do you open that second envelope, just to see what it is about and who it is from? Picking up the coffee cup, you toss the envelope down. Not at this time.

How many times do you toss down the invite? How many times do you see that your name is listed, but you do not respond to the invitation? What will you do?

Why should I open it?

 "Aren't you going to open the invitation?" your spouse asks you. Picking up the invite and turning it over and over, "Do you think I should?" you ask. "Why would I want to open an invitation from someone that I don't know, an invitation that I did not ask for?" True, most invites come without being asked for, but the fact is, you generally know when one is coming. You hear about the cousin getting engaged, so you expect the invite. The grandson is graduating from high school, so you expect the invite. The neighbor is having a party, so you expect the invite. 

But this one, came from nowhere. It doesn't even say who it is from. Why would you open such an invite? It isn't right to feel pressured to open it when you don't want to. Your spouse shouldn't push you to open it. When you mentioned it at work yesterday, your coworkers asked you a variety of questions. "Who is it from?" No clue. "What is it to?" How should I know. "Aren't you going to open it?" Why should I, it is probably just junk mail. "But wasn't it first class postage?" Leave me alone. Let me be. It is up to me if I open it or not. No one can force me to consider that invitation. 

So you leave it sitting on the table. Unopened. Unattended. Sitting there, drawing your eye as you pass it by. So you put it on the counter with other things that you will get to at some point in time. Maybe you will open it tomorrow, or next week. But not now. Not at this moment.

That is how the invitation to hear the Word of the Lord is often treated. People treat the Word of God that way. The Bible sits on the table, unopened. It calls out to be opened, but so many just pass it by. Why should I read that? Why should I open it? My life is all right as it is. The invitation lies unopened.

Will you open it? Will you see who it is from? Maybe? Time will tell.

You are invited to worship at your local church tonight (if they have Advent Wednesday services). How will you respond to that invitation?