On our refrigerator sits an invitation to the Montcalm Community College Foundation Scholarship Celebration. Inside the card it politely states, "You are cordially invited to attend this special celebration to honor the donors and the recipients." I am both humbled and proud to say I am neither a donor nor a recipient. The invitation was addressed to my wife, Kathleen, whose academic achievements are being recognized and honored.

Invitations. We’ve all received them during the course of our lives in one form or another.

As children, we may have received invitations to birthday parties, school dances, sleepovers, or baseball try-outs. As adults, we may have received invitations to weddings, open houses, sporting events, graduations or religious confirmations.

Invitations may solicit our presence at a celebration. And they can beckon our participation at a special event or fundraiser for a social cause. Some are formal and others are not. Each is different because each gathering is different. For example, an invitation to have dinner with friends is different than an invitation to a business lunch. Just the same, an invitation to a baby shower is going to be different than one to a bible study. However, each requires a formal or informal response, (s’il-vous-plait).

Invites come to us in many different forms as well. Some on paper, some by email or text, some by word of mouth. On Friday, as I was walking Daisy around Baldwin Lake, D. and M.’s dog was barking up a storm. Some might see this behavior as a warning to intruders. But her body language told a different story. Pressing her front paws against the glass door, she was jumping up and down, wagging her tail with great excitement. This little dog wasn’t warning us but inviting us to play. Since I needed the exercise, we declined the invitation and kept walking.

Invitations may lift us up, because they affirm that we are included in something beyond ourselves. Or they may put us on the spot because we must decide how to respond. We are giving the choice to say, “yes, we will attend” or “regretfully we are unable.” Each RSVP comes with its own set of pressures and problems. As you may know, the more you decline an invitation, the less likely you are to be invited to the next event.

What if God treated us in the same way? What if all the times we reject God’s invite to be a part of His family of love caused God to stop reaching out to us? Thankfully, that’s not the case. Like we learned last week, God’s love for us is fiercely loyal.

God continues to love us for who we are and seeks us out wherever we are. I remain constantly humbled knowing that God continues to invite me, a sinner, to be a part of His loving and healing peace. He wants me, and you, to be a member of His family, to take part in His kingdom. Why would anyone decline such an invitation?

Invitations do more than simply gather us together. They give us purpose. They invite us to move out of self toward God and toward others; provoking us to listen to and learn, and eventually growing in the way we love God and one another.

Case in point. Kathleen and I accepted an invitation not too long ago, from a woman seeking to build stronger relationships with people in Greenville. She does this is by inviting different people to her house for potluck suppers. These people don’t know each other. The only thing we seem to have in common is the fact that we accepted this crazy invitation to what we soon called, “the forced friendship club.”

As we passed around the potato salad and grilled chicken, amazing things began to happen. Laughter. Joy. Smiles. This is fellowship at its simplest and yet most profound. We were different, yet one, sharing the Spirit of grace and love with fellow strangers. At this table bridges were built, relationships were formed, and God’s kingdom blossomed, all because a group of strangers were brave enough to accept a crazy invitation. This is the Spirit of God at work.

You may have come here today for one reason or another. But long before you got out of bed this morning, God sent you a special invitation, engraved with his own breath and blood. Inside it states, you are cordially invited to celebrate the radical story of grace and redemption through Jesus Christ. You may accept it or reject it. But you can’t deny that it was not handed to you.

By saying yes, you will be called to do some pretty radical things yourself; life changing and transformative things. For God has never made a person he didn’t love and have a purpose for. You may not get to choose what you’ll do for God or believe you are good enough for the task at hand; yet you are invited to come, for God has never made a person that Jesus Christ did not die for.

In accepting God’s invitation, your response affirms a willingness to extend love to others, to open the door to those whom the door has always been shut or slammed in their face. By saying yes, you are willing to be a bridge builder, reaching out to the even the least of these.

You may decline or ignore the invitation. You may choose to build walls instead. Walls keep people out. Walls divide and isolate us from the truth. Walls impede growth. Whether they’re built willingly or unknowingly, Jesus wants all walls to be torn down.

Today’s gospel story is the perfect example (Read: Matthew 19:13-15). Matthew tells us that some people bring their children to be blessed by Jesus, but his Disciples try to build a wall around him as if they need to protect him, or wish to possess him for their own. Jesus admonishes his students and welcomes the children to him. For Jesus turns no one away. This is radical grace. This is the Good News.

It may be hard for us to understand, but in 1st century Palestine, children had no value, and certainly no right to be around the V.I.P.’s. But He who knows the value of life sees their faith, and their willingness to break from traditions and customs, and blesses the children; bestowing upon them the kingdom of heaven. In one peaceful and loving gesture Jesus tears down the walls, and constructs a bridge between God and humanity.

Jesus is our host, he invites us the celebration in His father’s house- he wants us to come together as a family might gather for a wedding feast. He wants us to bring our music, our children, our gifts. He wants his joy to be our joy, his peace to be our peace, his love to be ours. His is an invitation to participate, to be included, to become a part of something wonderful. We are the only barriers standing in the way.

Our decision to become a member of God’s family affirms our call to support all our brothers and sisters; to cook for them, to eat with them, to listen to them, to talk to them, to sing and to cry with them, to clean up the mess and wash the dishes with them, and most of all, always to seek the best in them.

To call ourselves Christian… is to be called His… TO BE Christian is… to be His. It requires us to show up to the family events. When we do not attend, we are missed. The jobs we are called to do are left undone. And the joy we would bring is absent. The moments we would share, gone. And the kingdom of God left incomplete.

Our blessed and divine host is calling to us to Come Together and be the Church. He is cordially inviting us to come to him, as we are, in all our humanness and muck. This invitation, however, requires an RSVP. Will yours be a ‘regrets only’ response? Or will your name be on the list? That’s a decision only you can make.

​Summer is over and fall is upon us. Yet between the hot days of yesterday and the cold nights to come, a spirit of spring lingers in the air.
 
Like the new buds of color that pop out from under the melting snows, there is a certain newness happening that is filling our home with both joy and anticipation, as well as with deep, sleepy yawns and tired, grumpy children.
 
Yes, it is that time of the year again when kids wake up after a long summer recess to begin a new season of life and learning. For the first time in our family's history, Kathleen and I will have a child in elementary, middle, and high school. Now each can spread out their roots without the worry of a sibling stealing their light. 
 
With each new school year brings a bit of anxiety and trepidation. And not just with our kids. I can still taste the salty tears I shed after dropping off Fiona for her first day of preschool. As she now walks herself into her new life at Greenville High School, her mother and I weep tears of sadness and joy.  
 
Then, like now, I lean hard on the strength of God to get me through this experience. The Psalmist writes, “Commit to the way of the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it” (Psalm 37:5). 
 
There is newness in the air at church too. As we welcome back the 11:00 am service, we look forward to see how the new blossoms of summer will continue to flourish and bear good fruit into the years to come.  
 
On September 18th, we will celebrate our annual Come Together Sunday. With the support of the Deacons and Trustees, the Christian Education Board has been hard at work to prepare a full schedule of learning opportunities for all ages. If you’d like to participate or have an idea that would strengthen our faith and fellowship, please do not hesitate to let me know.  All ideas are welcomed and all possibilities are explored.
 
Two years ago our church took a chance by turning in a new and different direction. As I stood before the congregation to candidate as your Sr. Minister, I read from the prophet Isaiah who offered this advice, “Remember the rock from which you were hewn.” I gave the same advice to Fiona, as I did with Colleen, Sean, and Kathleen as they each nervously began a new school year.
 
My message that day was to remind you that we look backwards only to see where we are going. Jesus came into this world to redirect our attention back towards God so we will be focused on what we have been called to do: be kind, love justice, and walk humbly with God at your side (Micah 6:8).
 
It might often seem like climbing a mountain. But just as mountains point towards heaven, so to must be our focus always be. God is our rock. Heaven is our goal.  

It was a day that is not easily forgotten. I was awoken by a frantic phone call from a friend. The sun was barely up. And the city of Los Angeles was eerily quiet. It took me a moment hear what the voice on the other end of the phone was saying. By the time I turned on the TV, the second plane had just crashed into the South Tower. Kathleen, who was 8 ½ months pregnant with Fiona, woke up. And together we watched our world forever change. 
 
For those of you who were around 15 years ago, you have your own story about this sad and tragic mark on our country’s history. Because of it, a part of our lives are woven into those of the nearly 3,000 who were taken from families, friends and communities around the world. Yours, mine, theirs…each one of our stories contribute to the greater narrative of where and how we have come to be the beloved children of God.
 
On days like the one we experienced on September 11th 2001, it’s easy for us to wonder if God even knows we’re here. As I watched that great dark cloud bury Wall Street and choke millions of people fleeing from Manhattan, I can see how people might deny God’s existence, or question God’s providence and power. I’m sure some of you, when in facing your own personal tragedies, have thought, “Where was God when this happened to me?”
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I cannot pretend to know why God allows these things to happen. No systematic theology can ever do any justice to such pain. All I know is my own story, my own questions of faith, and my need for reason and hope. As it does for many of you, my story begins with a Supreme Being who, throughout the history of time, has been good and faithful.
 
No one knows why God allowed planes with real people aboard to crash into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Many preachers have told their congregations it was divine justice for our national sin. Others preached the real presence of evil and the prevailing darkness that is taking over the world. As some cry for war and revenge, others pray for peace and reconciliation.
 
What I am sure of is this: We need not fear. For the Bible assures us that God’s word is faithful. God does not forget us, or abandon us. Instead God remembers us, and seeks us out to save from whatever we’ve gotten ourselves into. That too, remains a mystery to me.
 
The words of the prophet Jeremiah speak of a God who is persistently and fiercely loyal to the life and people He brings into being. This is a God who says, “I will fulfill the promise… I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.”
 
Such affirmations show us the character of God, of the works of God and the ongoing providence of God. Everything, everywhere, comes into fruition because of God’s remembrance, and steadfast love.  God does not forget.
 
The event on September 11th, just as everything that has led up to this moment, has not escaped God’s sight.  God knows what will come and when. The future does not surprise God and in fact, fits into the plan for his glory and the good of all people. Knowing this, Jesus reminds us with his ominous warning, “Keep awake for you do no know on what day your Lord is coming.”
 
Have you seen that bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is coming. Act busy.”  I think it’s kind of silly. Are we to buzz around like bumble bees for no reason, just so it looks like we’re doing something? I don’t think so. Are we suppose to read it as some kind of warning sign, that cripples us to live in fear as we wait for the end times. I doubt it. 
 
We don’t know now anymore than we knew on September 11th 2001.  But long before then, the Apostle Paul reassured us that our faith has made us ready for the day the Lord shall return. Our faith in a God who remembers us. And knows we are here.
 
Therefore we must remain vigilant so our faith does not fall asleep. We must actively participate in it…not by fearing others but by caring for one another… constantly seeking peace, not division, retaliation, and war.
 
In other words, we should not to worry about the end time, but instead live life today as God’s children; doing what is right and just. It’s in our acts of righteousness that our faith becomes “faithful” to the God who loves us and saves us from ourselves.
 
Henri Nouwen writes, “The many disasters in our world, and all the tragedies that happen to people each day, can lead us to despair and convince us that we are the sad victims of circumstances. But Jesus looks at these events in a radically different way. He calls them opportunities to be living witnesses of God's unconditional love, opportunities to testify and participate in God’s Kingdom and redemption. This is how we look beyond the passing structures of our temporary existence to the eternal life promised to us.”

Placing our faith in a system or an institution that can be attacked or destroyed has historically led to the downfall of every great empire. But the faith that is placed in the indestructible grace of God, it too becomes unbreakable and everlasting. So what is there to fear?
 
As long as we exist in a broken world, we will live with plenty of anxiety. But we need to look no further than the divine story of Jesus to find our strength, our peace, and our hope. Through our faith in Jesus we build up the Kingdom of God. Through him we preserver and overcome the obstacles and enemies who try to knock us down.
 
As the saints, sinners, and stewards of the church, Paul urges us to hold fast to the fiercely loyal steadfast love of God in Jesus Christ. “Therefore,” he says, “encourage one another and build each other up.”   
 
September 11th 2001, was a day that reminded us all that we can’t do it alone. As Christians, and as a country, we must defend each other and lift each other up. We must help each other from getting discouraged or depressed, by offering hope and forgiveness and reconciliation. We must stand together...united, not divided.  
 
To borrow from the ancient wisdom found in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken.”
 
As you leave here today, on this special day of remembrance, remember you have been given this assurance: When your faith is woven with God’s steadfast love, you inherit a power that not even death can conquer. Fear is erased so that life is lived abundantly.
 
You are a beloved child of a God who is fiercely loyal and faithful. The one who remembers us and sustains and saves us each time the world comes crashing down upon us.


Works Cited:
The Bible (NRSV). Isaiah 56:1-2; Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Ecclesiastes 4:12.
Bartlett, David L. and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word, Year A. Vol. 3 Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
Nouwin, Henri. Bread For The Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.
Indermark, John. The Greatest of These: Biblical Moorings of Love. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2011.

"Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world."
​Annie Lennox