Invitations

The Evite arrives in my inbox.  It's efficient, budget-friendly, digitally communal, and is automatically resent if I delay my RSVP.

The formal invitation arrives in that antiquated box on a post near my curb.  It requires me to walk out to it in rain, snow, sleet, or 100 degree weather (serious First-World problem).  The person who delivers it is rarely seen.  It has a stamp on it.  The font or professional handwriting is beautiful.  The crisp thick paper is nice.  The final destination of the invitation is on our refrigerator door secured by a magnet.

The phone rings.  The caller's voice on the other end is familiar, kind, and genuinely interested in how I am doing.  Then comes the personal invite:  Let's hang out.  Let's grab coffee.  Let's get dinner.  I feel special.

This morning I am thinking about the different ways we invite.  Nothing wrong with the three described.  Each has a different purpose and is warranted depending on the nature of the occasion.  

But in my heart today I am reflecting on Jesus' invitation to me, you, and the world.  Come to me and Follow me, he speaks.  I'm grateful that Jesus knows our name and that He speaks our name as He invites.  He said, "Zacchaeus," not "Hey you up there in the tree."

Jesus has the ability to invite the world to follow him, and yet, at the same time, it is also a personal invite to each of us.  He casts the net wide, but it feels like I'm the only one He catches and takes into His Hand.  How does He do that?  Who cares.  I just love that He does it.

Even though His invitation and calling is personal, it is never designed to make us the center of His attention.  Quite the opposite, actually.  He draws us close so we may join the multitude from every tribe, nation, and tongue on the earth who are worshipping and glorifying His name.  It's the ultimate party.  It's a global movement.  It's His Kingdom.  But somehow in the midst of all of it, I can still hear Him calling my name.  He is doing it again this morning.  The voice is familiar, kind, and genuinely interested in how I am doing.  

I'm relishing in this mystery today.  Oh, and He is calling your name again this morning as well.  Can you hear His voice?  Are you listening?  His kindness and goodness is there to fill your heart again to overflowing.

Ex nihilo,

R.J. Rhoden