If you're a Christian, You Just Gotta Invite
Text: Luke 14:1-24
Pastor James Sheldon
February 22,2009
Four steps: 1) v.1-6 Realize who invites you. 2) Rearrange your place for him. 3) Rejoice as you invite for him. 4) Radically invite for him.
This is the 4th message in a series about essential actions that God wants every Christian to carry out. The word "WIFE” helps us remember what those actions are: the "W" means we are to worship him with all our heart and all our strength.
The "I" in “WIFE” stands for good instruction from the Bible. Every Christian must know God's call to obey his commands every moment we live. Instruction.
The “F” in wife stands for "fellowship." we need good fellowship with Jesus first and then good fellowship with other believers.
And now the 4th call from God starts with the letter “E” in “WIFE”. It stands for evangelism. God calls for every Christian to be active in evangelism. Not every one is a Billy Graham, but every one of us can and should take part in evangelism. That simply means we are to tell others about Jesus and invite them to accept him. So my message today is titled: "If you're a Christian, you just gotta invite."
The last thing Jesus did on earth was call us to invite others. Mat 28:18-20 says, "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." He calls us to be active in evangelism.
His word tells us we cannot fail either!! The prophet Isaiah said, "my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isa 55:11)
To encourage all of you to succeed in good evangelism, I want to take a moment now and point out four steps Jesus would have you take in good evangelism. He wants you to succeed in doing really evangelism.
Here are 4 steps you need to take. (They are in Luke 14.)
I. First, do this: realize who is with us. Realize who is calling us and who is really should run the whole operation. To do this: go to the story and realize that Jesus is doing here.
In this Jesus first came to dinner at the home of a religious person. After all, Jesus wants to come in person and be with every person, every church and every family. Recall how Jesus said elsewhere, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Rev 3:20)
Here in this story Jesus come to the home of a Jewish leader. As he does this, some strange things start happening. For one a man with a disease called "dropsy" showed up. Dropsy is a condition that causes a person to be all bloated and weak. His whole life was messed badly up. Then Jesus, right in front of the religious folk says, in effect, "I bet you can't do this!" and Jesus turned to the man, healed the man and sent him on his way. Great story!
Realize right away that only Jesus has real, divine power to heal and change lives. Realize that evangelism is actually a form of healing! Realize that evangelism is not based human powers. It does not succeed, because of certain techniques and philosophy. Realize that evangelism starts when we come to Jesus. He is the one enters into us personally and overcomes us to deal with the problems in and around us.
And realize something else here too. Jesus next turned to the religious men and asked a question: "what if your son or your ox falls in a well?" He's asking those religious folks, "what if something tremendously important came up and you just had to take care of it? Could you do so just by obeying social and religious rules? It's clear that they couldn't.
Now apply this same truth to us. Realize that we and all other people need more than religious rules to go through life. They need the one who rules-- Jesus himself in person.
Bring this home for now: you are sitting right there now, and that's nice, but just sitting there isn't all that exciting. Ok, make this change: imagine Jesus walking through that door, coming down the aisle, and then sitting down beside you. He then moves over and nudges you gently and says, "Ok, I'm with you now." How do you feel? Personally approached? Good.
That's what Jesus did here in the story and does for all of us. So realize first, that just as Jesus came to those people back then, he comes to us now. And when he comes, he is willing and able to do wonderful things with us. He is able to make a difference first in us.
Realize this first: Jesus is the only one who can really make a difference in anyone's life. Always make a point to share him personally with others. That's the first step in doing successful evangelism: simply realize that Jesus wants to be with us in person.
II. When that clicks in place, something else will help make evangelism work for us. Here the second step you need to take is to rearrange your life and attitudes.
Here is what I mean: go back to the story again, starting at verse 7. Here most of the guests at the meal have taken special places for themselves around the table. They wanted to look fancy, be comfortable, and feel important.
You know what? This same, human nature problem happens in many places. It can happen in churches, when some members --even many pastors-- can take a high view of themselves, even start thinking that they are the most important people in the work in the church. They re-arranged the church for their own benefit.
But Jesus now says, "Re-arrange things" now. If you are going to invite other people to this church (which is evangelism.), you will need to set things up for them, help them feel special and welcomed. Be ready to re-arranging a bit.
In one church I served years ago, at the beginning of a worship service a young family came in and sat down in one pew. Moments later one man came in, walked up to them and said, "That's my place. You'll have to move." I gasped, the family moved, they left that Sunday, and never came back. See the effect of a person refusing to rearrange. People felt unwelcome.
Jesus says we need to humble ourselves. Put Jesus at the head of this church. Good evangelism means enabling people to come sit with Jesus. And we just may need to move ourselves in order to accomplish this. Jesus says from verse 10 and on, "then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
I am saying that a second, essential step you need to take to do good evangelism is to humble yourself and be wailing to re-arrange your own life.
What do I mean? Maybe you should re-arrange your daily schedule, so you visit and call people for Jesus. You may need to rearrange your finances, so you can help someone in the name of Jesus. Most of all, be willing to rearrange your basic attitude, and really put Jesus first. This is an essential step to take, to evangelize --to bring people to Jesus in this church.
III. Now third, Jesus gives another call here to help outreach. He wants us to really rejoice, as Jesus uses you to give reach out for him. The next part of the story makes this clear. Go there with me. I am starting at verse 12 now.
Here Jesus tells another parable that goes like this: "ok, what if you set a table and bring other people in to sit at a special seat--one that you gave up for them? What then?" Jesus answers that question by push the point and saying, "let me show you the long-term effect that will come about, when you really, actively invite all the people you can--all sorts of people-- to Jesus."
In verse 13 he says to invite "the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." all around us today, many people have physical problems like that. But there are many thousands more, who are spiritually poor, who are crippled in their hearts--not sure if they are loved by anyone. There are people who are lame --unable to walk with Jesus, much less walk into heaven. There are certainly the blind, who have never met Jesus and looked into his face.
Be sure of one thing here: after we meet him and bring him into our own lives--that's what we've done so far--, next he wants us to reach out and start bringing others to him. Look at verse 14, where he makes a radical to do real evangelism his way! He says, as you people you bring to him, "although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
If you share Jesus with others--especially if they are hurting and struggling --, the results won't be over-night, but they will come. Some day, up on the streets of heaven, you will see someone you talked to, you prayed with, you invited and encouraged to come to Jesus. They will be there, and Jesus will say, "Thank you. You did what I told you."
And catch what happens next in the story too. It's an "aha, I get it now" experience by one person at the table. Verse 15 says, "When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God."
I tells you, he is rejoicing that Jesus would use him--little old him--to make an eternal difference in someone's life; God rewards him at a great, eternal banquet for it.
I would rejoice! And you should too! Evangelism-- which is telling other people that Jesus wants them to come with him-- is not a dull, drab duty for Christians. It is a joyful privilege for us!
Step back and realize this: evangelism sparks real worship, because you bring others to worship with you with more voices. God is worthy of all the worship we can give. Evangelism promotes good instruction in God's truth we share with others. Evangelism builds fellowship with Jesus and with others in the eternal family of believers. All of the w.i.f.e. Elements work together.
Remember the first three steps we need to take in evangelism. First, realize that Jesus chose to come to us; he wants to walk with people and change them from the inside out, which is real salvation. Then second, be sure in order to do evangelism we may well need to re-arrange things in our lives and put him completely in charge of our attitudes and actions.
And third, evangelism gives us true reason rejoice. Evangelism has an eternal effect. So says Jesus himself, when he states here, "you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." that's good news!
So realize, re-arrange and rejoice in evangelism.
IV. Now finally, Jesus says one more thing we need to do, to succeed in evangelism. That step to take is now this: step out and radically invite.
Here is why I say, "Radically invite." Jesus tells this parable now: it's lays out what will surely happen, when we invite people with "evangelism."
Jesus says a man set up a magnificent banquet. (That banquet represents his desire to draw people to him and enjoy his royal presence forever.) But then things went haywire: people who were invited backed off and started making excuses. >> One says (in v. 18) he just bought land and needed to check it out first. >> Another in v. 19 says he just bought 5 oxen, and needed to take care of them. They were clearly turning down the invitation.
That happens today all the time. Many people have earthly interests like their jobs, their bankbook and their car. These things keep them from accepting an invitation to Christ. Satan uses these distractions all the time.
Another man here says that he just got married and so he won't come. Note something important here: families should get together and worship God, encourage each other in their faith, and lead each other to Jesus. Many of us here and many people in other churches were brought to Jesus by someone in their family or someone almost as close. Marriage is blessed by God!
But if a marriage or a family keeps a person away from Jesus, it ends up missing the purpose God intended for it, and can even lead people away from him. That's a frightening and sobering thought!
People turned down Jesus invitation, and the frustrated servant came back to the master and reported the problems. The master then said-- (here is the encouragement for us.) He said there is still room for many more at his table. He then sends us out to keep inviting others--all we can. He accepts all who come. That's the kind of "radically inviting" he wants us to do.
Don't be discouraged by people who won't come. Verse 24 says, "I tell you, not one of those men who were invited [who turned him down] will get a taste of my banquet." Just turn that statement around and realize this: everyone who does come to him will be seated at his banquet. Together we will be seated with Jesus at his table forever. "...whosever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have---eternal life." that's the radical truth. It's good news.
The call Jesus gives is clear. Just like he came into the house in this story, Jesus comes to you and is willing to enter into your life and dine with you. As he does this, you need to place Jesus in heart and so be saved, and then place Jesus at the head of your own table. You've accepted his invitation, which is great. But then you also need to invite others there with you.
Will you take this call to heart? I ask you to do so. Let's pray together. Ask God to guide us and use us, as we faithful serve him with evangelism. Ask him to lead you to people you can invite. Be ready to do so.
After all, "If you're a Christian, you just gotta invite."
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