Invitation
Originally scheduled for November 6
If you live long enough you will eventually find yourself
targeted with an invitation to dinner. The invitation will come from
a firm you’ve never heard of; the dinner will be free; and it will
be at an expensive restaurant. It is so exclusive that a reservation
will be required. Of course, those of us who are a little older,
recognize it as a pitch — a sales pitch, of course.
They may be
selling any of a number of things. You may get an invitation to hear
a presentation about a timeshare apartment — you too can own two
weeks in Hawaii. It may also be about funeral arrangements; after
all, all of us are going to die so everyone’s a potential customer.
It may be about a service to manage your retirement income. The
opportunity may be a very legitimate one, or it could be from a
bunch of shady operators intent on deceiving. One thing is certain,
however: the evening will feature a high-pressure sales pitch.
People often regret making the decision to buy; there are companies
devoted to selling those timeshares you by. They make money too. Not
a good idea if you are easily buffaloed into making a purchase.
Contrast that, if you please, with God’s invitation. You don’t have
to be on some special mailing list to receive God’s invitation. In
fact there is no monetary qualification at all — the only
requirement seems to be that you have to be a sinner. So far as is
known, this is easy to do.
A high-pressure
sales pitch? No, God doesn’t act that way. As the old hymn puts it,
“softly and tenderly Jesus is calling.”
There
is a meal involved; not at a fancy restaurant, though. It’s simple
meal, and the menu never changes.
That meal, of course, is
communion. Christ deals with prophets, not profits. So the meal is
simple; bread and the cup. The bread represents Christ’s body,
broken on the cross for your salvation. The cup represents his
blood, shed to erase your sins. The only thing resembling the sales
pitch is this: he asks you to examine yourself beforehand. So as you
partake this morning, look deep inside yourself and see if there is
anything that your Lord needs to cleanse, or you need his help in
dealing with. Then with a clean heart and honest intent, partake.
