God invites you
I expect you have all received invitations. Sometimes they are to parties. Sometimes they are to special occasions. Sometimes they are to belong to a group that has a job to do. Sometimes they are to do a particular job. It is often exciting and flattering to receive an invitation.
When we think about the Christian story it is all about an invitation. The invitation comes from Jesus. Just think about the encounter Jesus has with the fishermen on the banks of the Sea of Galilee; he invites them to leave their boats and come and follow him. This is exactly what they do. Just think how flattering the Christian faith is – for it is a personal invitation from God himself to come and be part of his people.
Or think about the final commands of Jesus to his disciples. They were commanded to go to all nations and invite them to become disciples to Jesus, followers of Jesus. This is exactly what the disciples did. They went out into the world and invited people to become followers of Jesus Christ. You can see this happening in the Acts of Apostles.
What about us have we heard the invitation Jesus makes to each of us and having heard the invitation have we set off on the journey he invites us to take, to follow in his footsteps and become his disciples. As we set out on this journey he invites us to under take are we letting the Holy Spirit take us and make us into the people of God. When we meet together on the Day of Pentecost to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit we shall recall that God wants to take hold of us and make us into the people God wants us to become.
Having heard and accepted the invitation God has made to you are you now prepared to go out and invite others to journey with you. For yes the invitation is personal but it is not so personal that it is just for you. The invitation is yours but yours to give away. Rather I guess like being invited to a party and being told you can bring a friend with you to the party. It is all too good to keep to yourself it is to be share with others.
