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Invitation
I was a stranger, and you invited me
in. Matthew 25:35
A
man looks across the street at his friend Sunday morning. As he watches his friend climb into the
car with the children, the questions begin to float through his mind:
"What do these people do at the Lutheran church? What is a
Lutheran anyway?"
He
considers the action of his friend.
He and his family are in no way weird or fanatical. They never talk strange religious talk or
act as if they are somehow better than everyone else. They are just like him in many ways. “Why do they go to the Lutheran
church?” “What is it about the
church that is so important to them?”
When
he asks his friend, the friend simply replies, "God’s grace is
everywhere and is happening all of the time. I just want to make sure that I am
reminded of that; so that I see it when it happens. I also want to be a part of it."
"What
is grace?" the man asks.
"Grace
is something done for the sake of another person, with no strings
attached," he says. "Come
on over to my place this evening.
We’ll grill out, and we’ll talk.
Maybe, you can come to church some Sunday, not to join, but just to
see what this grace thing is about.”
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Friends
Bring Friends To Jesus
The experience of God's loving touch in one's life is
a gift the maturing disciple feels compelled to share with others.
One way our faith becomes active is when we put into words what God has
done for us. Words of witness and acts of genuine hospitality
directed toward our friends, relatives and neighbors create the opportunity
through which the Holy Spirit brings others into a relationship with Christ
and his church.
The
biblical model for evangelism is relational: friends bring friends to
Jesus. "Come and see" are the operative words and find
frequent expression in the Gospels, the story of the early church, and in
the tradition of the church over the centuries. The disciples plant
seeds and invites; the Holy Spirit works the miracle of faith and
conversion. Part of a disciple's job description is to invite others
often.
-
ELCA Called To Discipleship
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Sharing with
Friends!
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How Do We Share?
Reaching
people with the gospel of Jesus Christ has never been easy. In
every age, the Christian church has faced challenges spreading the good
news in our communities. Not the least of our difficulties has been
the means through which the message of Christ has been shared. What
is the most effective way to introduce Christ and His congregational
ministries to those nearby? How do we best tell people about who we
are, what we believe, and the way that they may participate with us in
God's ministry in the world?
Experts
tell us that the best means of spreading the Word to our communities is
through hospitality, friends inviting friends into discussion and
fellowship. "Go forth into all the
world!" the gospel encourages us. But how? How do we become
Lutherans who invite, people of the Word who
reach out and bring in those who are missing the good news of Jesus
Christ?
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In
short, the answer is: Hospitality. It is the neighborly
sense of celebrating, inviting, welcoming and serving others, complete
with all the smiles and heartfelt greetings we can muster.
The
writer of Hebrews put it well when writing:
“Do
not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have
entertained angels without knowing it.”
Hospitality
is not a difficult thing and is the very cornerstone of human
community. Every time we gather for a cookout, dinner at a friend's
house, or simply hang out with someone we enjoy, we are expressing
hospitality.
As
disciples of Christ, we are encouraged to put the other person first, to
discover their hopes and needs, to serve, and to offer hospitality. Hospitality is the centerpiece of
inviting. In this way, we will
make disciples one person at a time.
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How Doers
Share The Good News!
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What If We Are
Doers, Not Talkers?
There are a few notable exceptions, but for
the most part Lutherans are doers.
Lutherans have the largest social ministry network in the
nation. Children, the homeless,
the mentally ill, and the sick have been healed by the “doing” ministries
of our national church and our local congregations. We are great “doers” of the good news
of Jesus Christ. Perhaps, it is
because we only know how to talk with our hands that when asked to say
why we have faith in Christ our mouths just hang open and our eyes
provide a dumbfounded stare. We
are doers. We are not
speakers. How then are “doers”
supposed to learn how to speak the very convictions that lead them to
“do” love? We need to think
backwards.
I have been accused of being backwards a
great many times, but I am not talking about that. If “doers” want to know what good news we
have share, then we have to think backwards. We must start by looking
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at our actions. What are we “doing” that Christ is obviously
using to “show” his unconditional love?
If we can pinpoint what we are doing, then we will know what “good
news” we are passionate about.
Let us take the example of my grandmother,
Helen. She made sure to bring food
over to anyone who was in grief.
If someone died, she was there with a week’s worth of
casseroles. Though she probably
did not realize it, my grandmother was passionate about Christ’s promise;
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (NRSV, Matt.
5:4). Had she realized what Christ
was up to through her actions, she would have had words to share. She could have easily talked about what
she was passionate about. She
could have invited others to join in her passion.
What do you “do?” What words of scripture inspire you to
“do?” Share that passion. Invite other to “do” this work of love
along with you. That is how
“doers” share.
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Thank
you to Lutherans Invite for the “Sharing with Friends” article (adapted
slightly for this context). Visit
Lutherans Invite here: http://www.lutheransinvite.org/
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