Have you ever shown up at someone’s front door for a party
and as soon as you’re greeted by the host you realize you weren’t invited? The
tongue-tied greeting gives it away, and soon all doubt is removed when the host
hollers back to the kitchen to see if there’s enough food for another
guest. Awkward!
Or how about you show up at the restaurant where you’ve
overheard a group of co-workers conspire to have lunch and when you walk up to
the table you see there are no empty seats.
A well-intentioned invitee asks the table next to them if that extra
chair is available and they squeeze you in between two other people whom you
can’t believe were included over you.
Embarrassing!
It’s painful not to be invited. And even if you've never suffered the embarrassment
of showing up uninvited it’s agonizing to be asked by a friend why you weren’t
at the lunch, the party, the wedding, the celebration and your only honest yet
heartrending response is, “I wasn’t invited.”
We all long to be invited and when we are not we often look to disparage
the inviter. We accuse them of snobbery,
elitism, ignorance, or just being too big for their britches! We argue ourselves into believing that we
wouldn’t have accepted the invitation even if they had hand delivered it
themselves.
God has been and can be accused of many things, but no one
can bring the charge against him of not inviting. Without doubt, his invitation comes with some
terms but the invitation is open to everyone and this is no more evident than
in the life of Jesus. In fact, Jesus is
accused of being too open as he invites and accepts invitations from people
whose names were never found on invitation lists.
Throughout human history God has been inviting us through
prophets, priests, and preachers but the birth of Christ, Christmas itself,
perhaps is the most compelling of God’s invitations. You see, Jesus didn’t come to earth on a
vacation. Who leaves a perfect paradise
for a fallen planet? Jesus didn’t come
to earth on a fact-finding mission. Do
we think God doesn’t know what’s happening here? Jesus didn’t come here to judge us. We do a pretty good job at that. Jesus came
here to invite. Jesus came here to let
us know beyond any doubt that God finds no greater joy than having you at his
party. And to make that perfectly clear
he didn’t just send prophets, priests, and preachers - he came himself. This season every time you look at a nativity
scene you’re seeing a personal invitation.
The divine hand made human extending itself to all of us. A poignant reminder that you are indeed
invited to the grandest event the world will ever know.
No more awkward greetings.
No more scrambling for an extra chair.
In God’s kingdom you’re always welcomed with enthusiasm and there’s
always a seat just for you.
