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?