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? 

Will You Open the Invitation?

 Walking past the table, you see the invitation that you had tossed there. It had arrived yesterday and you had not bothered to open it because you did not know who had sent it. There was no return address. Why would you receive an invitation from someone who did not even have the courtesy of putting their return address on it? Why would you consider the invitation? You pick it up again. Turn it over in your hands, looking for any clues as to what it is inviting you to attend. You wonder to yourself once again, "Who sent this? Why did they send it? What is it about?" 

Looking at it again, you toss it back on the table and walk away. Why did you not open it? Why would you just let such an invitation lie without seeing who it was from and what it was about? It seems incredible that you would just let the invitation sit there unopened. 

Have you ever done that? Have you ever not opened something because you did not who it was from or what it contained? What if you never open the invitation? What would happen? Nothing. Really, nothing would happen. You will not be arrested and jailed for not opening an invitation. You will not be out the need to buy a gift for someone. You will not know what you missed. In fact, since you have not opened the invitation, you will have no idea what you missed. So actually, by not opening the invitation, you did not even have to decide if you would accept the invitation. 

Leaving it unopened frees you from doing anything. Nothing. You have to do absolutely nothing. You can live your life as before because the invitation means nothing to you. 

That is the way that many people treat the invitation that they receive from the Lord. They receive it, toss it aside and then live their lives without having to change a single thing. What do you do with the invitation that the Lord lays out before you? When He reaches out to you, how do you respond? What do you do with the invitation the Lord has given to you? What is that invitation? 

What is the invitation to? Tune in...

An Invitation arrives.

 You go to the mailbox. It is a day like any other day. You don't have much expectation for mail. There might be a bill or two. There would probably be some advertisement, there seems to be something like that every day. How can they afford to send out so much junk mail? Then there will be the obligatory credit card application or the "you are approved" loan letter. Really? Do people really fall for that? They must, because they continue to send them out. 

You open the box, pull out the few pieces of mail that the mailman put there, and close the box. Holding your mail, you sort through it. Yep, there is the credit card application. Some things never change. There is the ad paper. Doesn't look like there are any bills today. Wait a moment, what is that? You look at the envelope. What is it?

It looks like an invitation. The envelope looks nice. There is a first class stamp on it, meaning that it is not junk mail.

 

It definitely looks like an invitation. (The sample that I put here is just a sample I pulled off the internet.) You turn it over in your hand. Looking at both sides. Who was it from? There was no return address. Who sent this to you? It is addressed to you. Your name is there. Your address is correct. 

Holding it in your hand, you go into the house. "Hon!" You call out. "Look at what we received today. An invitation." Your spouse responds, "An invitation to what?" "I don't know. I haven't opened it." Tossing it on the table, you walk away.

An invitation is so nice to receive. But if you just look at the envelope and don't open it, the invitation holds nothing for you. You need to open it. But if you just let it sit on the table, you are wasting that invitation.

During Advent, our Wednesday evening services will be following the theme, "Invitation to a Stable." We will be looking at the invitation that is sent to us. The first week, we will see what it announces. Come and join us at St. John at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1st. (And stay for the dinner served by St. John Noah's Ark. What will they serve? Lasagna!!!! yum)

Next...will the invitation be opened?