Invitations

The Rev. Joseph Winston

January 20, 2008

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
We have just finished that time of the year when people normally open up their
homes to guests. Thanksgiving back in November with all of its food makes it the
perfect time of the year to invite people over for a meal with friends and family.
Christmass in December is yet another date when families come together. It might
be that everyone drives to Grandma’s house to open up the presents or it could be
that the siblings rotate the duties of hosting the family’s annual Christmass party.
By definition, New Year’s Eve on December 31 is the last day of the year for
parties. Countless numbers of hosts and hostesses throw parties that look back on
what happened during the year while looking forward to the next year.
Even in this day and age, being invited into someone else’s home in an honor.
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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This simple action of extending an invitation shows trust because once we are
inside the doors we become member of the family. We have the privilege of par-
ticipating in the discussions and offering our opinions on all sorts of issues. All
the time that we are in the house, the guest hopes that our dialog on these subjects
will not embarrass them. Polite company eats and drinks what is placed before
them and does not try to be a burden on the host. Finally, when it is time to go
home we realize something has changed between the host and us. In some small
way, we have become members of their family.
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus invites John the Baptizer’s disciples over to
see where He is staying. Andrew and an unnamed disciple of John take Jesus up
on the offer and follow Him home. While the text does not specifically tell us the
exact address of Christ’s abode, we can make and educated guess that they visited
the village of Nazareth because a little later in the first chapter Nathaniel exclaims,
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46)
Our familiarity with the Christian message makes it very difficult to see the
truth of Nathaniel’s statement. Great people come from great places and ordinary
people, well they come from everywhere else.
Think about how most people select medical care. Everything being equal,
when given the choice between seeing a doctor at the Texas Medical Center in
Houston verses a doctor that only practices in small town like Liberty or Day-
ton, almost everyone will decide to see the Houston doctor. There are many valid
reasons for making this choice. After all, the Texas Medical Center is the largest
collection of doctors and health care professionals in the world. This prestige at-

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tracts a certain type of person, one who is able to thrive in a very competitive
environment. This means that the best of the best come to the Medical Center and
it is from this location that they practice medicine. If you have a hard problem,
you will be able to find a specialist in Houston. On the other hand, other factors
motivate doctors that live here. They might like the atmosphere of a small town
or they might want to be a physician that really knows their patients. These at-
tributes do not mean that doctors here are incompetent, after all they too passed
their boards. These differences just indicate that the doctors around us are not the
same as those found at the Medical Center.
The same reasoning applies to the selection of a Savior. When given the option
of having an all powerful and an all knowing god that is everywhere verses a God
that lives as a human in a tiny house found in an insignificant little village, most
people will choose the powerful god any day. It always seems that we need a god
with an unlimited amount of force. With an infinite amount of power, our god
could blast His way into any sticky situation and save us. With all that knowledge,
our god could solve any problem that might come up. By being everywhere at the
same time, our god could keep us out of all the trouble we might find ourselves in.
The God presented in today’s Gospel lesson Jesus who lives with us as a human is
very limited. After all, He lives just like we do. He tires after working and needs
to rest. He does not have the answer to everything and has to ask for help. He is in
only one place and must have assistance. There is one other significant difference
between the two Gods. By living here among us, this weak and limited God has
the chance to establish relationships with other humans.

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 When we look carefully at the two choices set before us, we will soon see that
one god completely removes the need for humanity while the other God values
us. The god that contains all the medieval attributes like omniscient, omnipotent,
omnipresence can and will do everything by himself. This god’s power does not
need anyone to help their neighbors. This god’s intellect does not require other
people to solve problems that people have. This god’s ability to be everywhere
removes the need for parents and grandparents. The God presented in today’s
Gospel lesson needs us to help Him. That is why Andrew and the other unnamed
disciple of John the Baptizer were invited over to Jesus’ house. Jesus wanted to
call them into God’s ministry of helping others. In order to be successful, God has
given us all the attributes necessary to be successful. God has provided us with
the ability to help our neighbors. God has given us intellect to solve the world’s
problems. God has furnished us with family so that no one is all alone.
The integration of believers into God’s family and the love of others are the
two major themes of the Gospel according to St. John. Just before today’s lesson,
the narrator tells us, “To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave
power to become children of God” (John 1:12 RSV). That is what has happened
to you and I. We now belong to the same family. Jesus is our brother and His
Father is our Father. We are related not because of genealogy or marriage rather
the Father has adopted each of us because of His love for Jesus. There is one rule
in this family. We are to love one another just as Jesus has loved us (John 14:34,
15:17).
There are many practical ways that we can show this love to other members

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of the family. We can feed the hungry. We can clothe the naked. We can heal the
sick.
However, if we only help those who are already Christians we are missing a
key point of Christ’s commandment. He tells us that our love must be modeled
after His love for us. Jesus loved us before we knew Him. Jesus loves us when we
reject Him. Jesus loves those who hate Him. This is how we must love the world.
We must love people before they are Christians. We must love the people who
reject Jesus. We must love the people who hate Jesus.
This is the cost of Christianity. Jesus calls us to share in the suffering and the
pain of the entire world.2
In the almost 17 months that I have been here, here that we have done as a
church to show our love for the world:

• we have participated in a fundraiser for a child with multiple needs,

• we have raised funds in one Souper Bowl,

• we have sent our offering to the synod every year,

• and we have given our pocket change to people in this community.

While this effort is commendable, there is so much more that we could do to phys-
ically show Christ like love for the world. This is especially true in our outreach.
For the last two years, our membership has been slowly declining. In January
2006, we had almost twenty-three people in worship. One year later in January
2
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, (Harper San Francisco, 1954), p. 100-101.

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2007, our attendance is down to about eighteen people. The numbers for this
month will be near twelve people. If the general trend continues, there will be
six people in worship on January 2009.
It is true that God could be telling us that we need to disband and move our
efforts elsewhere. From talking with the congregation, this does not seem to be
what is happening. Instead, it appears that we cannot or will not invite people to
join Christ’s family. It seems that we only want people who are exactly like us and
apparently we are in pretty short supply.
Think back to Christ’s invitation to John’s disciples. “Come and see,” He said
(John 1:39). To these men, Jesus said, “Come and see where the Word that existed
before existence lives.” To those who would follow Him to the end of the world,
He said, “Come and see where the Savor of the universe lays His head.” To those
that would die that others might live, He said, “Come and see the Lamb of God of
God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus came into this world
because He wants us to live with Him. He is here with us today for the exact same
reason. He wants you and I to stay as His brothers and sisters.
This miracle of Jesus happens not through power, or wisdom, or by being
everywhere. Instead, the gathering of all the saints into the Father’s family happens
because of love. Jesus loves you. He has shown this love by forgiving each and
every one of your shortcomings. He has laid down His life for you so that we all
might live forever with all the other believers.
It always has been a gift to be invited into someone else’s home because once
we walk through the doors we are family. Andrew and that unnamed disciple of

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John received that present from Jesus almost two thousand years ago. Jesus invited
them into His house and then into His life. Andrew could not keep the Good News
that God lives among us to himself. He told others what had been first shown to
him. He told his brother Simon Peter, come and see (John 1:41). Come and see
how Jesus wants you in His family.
We live in a part of the world where most of the people do not know what it
means to be a Christian. It is even possible that a few of these individuals have
incorrect ideas on what we really believe. It might seem as if the gap between
them and us is so great that a trained professional like a pastor or a priest only
can bridge it. To those who would have this type of thoughts, Jesus simply says,
“Come and see.”
This calling by Jesus to come and experience first hand what it means to live
with God is how we invite people into Christ’s Family. This is what exactly what
Philip told Nathaniel. Come and see the Messiah (John 1:46). Today we proclaim
the same message to everyone.
Come and see how we study the Bible because it shows us God’s love for
everyone. Come and see how we offer forgiveness to all people no matter what
they have done. Come and see how we treat each other with love. Come and see
how Christ is with us in His meal.
Come to our home and see Jesus.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”3
3
Philippians 4:7.

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References

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, Life Together, (Harper San Francisco, 1954).