April 30, 2015 – “I” is for Invite

“On the next day Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.) Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.” John 1:43 – 46

“Come and see” is all that Philip says to Nathanael – and it works. It is a simple invitation. I am always interested in the invitations I receive in the mail for weddings. They are all so unique. Once in a while I receive a simple invitation – but usually they are ornate, packed with tissue paper, envelopes and various cards for reception information, counts, selections, etc. To me it just seems to be a waste of money. But now, the new trend is to send an initial “Save the date” invitation even before the official wedding invitation comes out. No wonder the couple getting married are exhausted by the time the wedding day comes – they have spent so much time in the details of the event that they cannot fully enjoy the day.

I find this is true with our invitations for people to come and see Jesus. We try to make it more difficult than what it needs to be. We try to bring people in with hooks: ways to pull people in with fancy programs and flashy facilities. We try to bring people in with trap doors: when they enter our doors, we try to trap them by getting them signed up for the choir, for the men’s or women’s group, or other groups. We send out fancy invitations in the mail, on our websites, through Facebook, and through signs. These are all good, and they can be effective in their own ways. But the easiest and cheapest way to invite someone to church is to do as Philip did for Nathanael: “Come and See”. The personal invitation is the most powerful invitation. But it requires the courage to talk to someone face to face – to deliver the invitation personally rather than mailing it. But, you will feel much better when they actually say yes. And some will say no – but that does not stop us from trying, just like the negative response from Nathanael did not stop Philip. He must have known Nathanael would react as he did – and yet he took the risk. But you will never know what works until you try.

Pastor Dave