You’re Invited!

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ask, church, evangelism, faith, fear, invitation, invite, simple, stranger

One of the things that has been fun about living in a new community is being able to operate under the radar for a little while.  I had not started my job yet when my oldest child began her first week in her new school.  That meant I was able to go to the bus stop in plain clothes – where my collar did not cue in the other parents as to what my occupation is.  It was a wonderful experiment because I was able to quickly see how or whether people talk about their faith in this new community.

By the second day, one of the moms introduced herself to me.  She was incredibly friendly and helpful, trying to ascertain how much we had begun to integrate ourselves into the neighborhood.  Within five minutes, she mentioned how I might enjoy bringing the kids to vacation bible school at her church this summer.  She followed up that invitation by asking if I had started looking for a church home.  At that point in the conversation, the cat was out of the bag.  Not only did I have a church home, I was that church’s new pastor.  As I walked home that day I was impressed by her natural and quick ability to do the simple and powerful:  invite me to church.

There is a duo that I have come to love called the Skit Guys.  They do funny skits that poke fun at us church-going people while also exposing, challenging, and encouraging us in our weaknesses.  Some of my favorite skits, like this one, challenge why people do not ever think to invite others to church.   They make the invitation part seem so simple.  At the new bus stop, I realized how right they are.

Photo credit:  www.christiantoday.com/article/church.asks.too.much.of.us.thats.why.we.dont.invite.our.friends/47064.htm

So, this week, I invite you to do the same.  Maybe your child has been at the bus stop all year, but you never broached the “religion” topic with another parent.  Maybe you had a casual chat with someone at the hair salon or barber shop, but you did not think to mention your church.  Maybe you were at a bar or a restaurant and were talking politics and religion, but never asked if they have a good church home.  This week, I invite you to go for it.  Perhaps the person already has a church home and you will hear about some cool ministries they are doing.  Perhaps the person was scorned by the church and you can be a pastoral ear, sharing the times when church has been both hard to be a part of and times when church has been a blessing for you.  Or perhaps the person has been waiting to be asked.  I’m sure you will have a great story to tell if that is the case!  Good luck!

Homily – Luke 11.5-10, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman, July 18, 2013

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ask, Bloomer, boldness, fear, God, homily, Jesus, knock, search, Stanton, truth, Tubman

I have always loved this passage from Luke:  I love the image of the tired friend shouting out the door to leave him alone because he is already in bed.  And I love that the man will not back down.  Only through this annoying, persistent pleading does the man get the friend to finally get up and help him.  From the friend’s perspective, the man is annoying and troublesome, but for the man, he just keeps pushing until his friend does the right thing.

Too often we are unlike the man knocking at the door.  We worry about asking for help or bothering someone, and so we go without or we suffer.  We become paralyzed by the fear of rejection, so we cannot even knock on the door.  Or, at the first sign of adversity, we back off.  We do not want to be rejected twice, and so we scurry away.  We are unwilling to do what our gospel lesson encourages – to ask, to search, or to knock – even though Jesus promises that when we ask, it will be given to us; and when we seek, we will find, and when we knock, the door will be opened for us.  Despite those promises, we find ourselves lost in fear.

That is why today we celebrate Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman.  Truthfully, each woman deserves her own feast day.  Elizabeth helped organize the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848, and she challenged the church for using Scripture to oppress women.  Amelia, known for wearing pants – a scandal at the time – also challenged the church for its manipulation of Scripture to oppress women.  Sojourner, born as a slave, became a voice for the oppression of not just women, but black women especially.  She fought for women’s rights and for abolition, even speaking at Elizabeth’s Women’s Rights Convention, where she gave her famous speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?”  Harriet, also born a slave, not only escaped slavery, but also returned to free more than 300 people.  She too navigated the fight both for women and for African-Americans.  I suppose the reason our lectionary combines these extraordinary witnesses is because these women had no fear of asking, no opposition to searching, and no hesitation about knocking.  They were just like the man in our gospel lesson today who just kept at it until his friend did the right thing.

Today we are invited into that boldness.  We are invited to let go of whatever holds us back and to ask, to search, and to knock.  Jesus promises all will be given to us, all will be found, and all will be answered.  Amen.