“Some churches try to sell you on the idea of Jesus Christ, and Trinity invites you to meet Jesus Christ.”
These are my teenage grandson’s words in response to my question about why he had announced that he intended to join Trinity once he got his driver’s license this fall.
All I could muster in response was, “Those are powerful words, Jackson.”
Indeed.
This got me thinking about the word and the workings of invitation. We really are called to make invitation a verb in the active voice. What are the ways that each of us can be sure that our faith work is inviting people to meet Jesus Christ in their lives and in their experiences with us at Trinity? We know that we are called to be “fishers of [people],” (Matthew 4: 19) to accept the “great commission” (Matthew 28: 16-20) to bring the good word to the world.
Yet, sometimes we make it all too complicated; sometimes we make the invitation conditional, or even exclusionary. And at those times, we no longer are faithful to Jesus’ clear intention.
I know that I love my life at Trinity because in so many ways, Trinity helps me invite people—friends, relatives, strangers—to join in meeting Jesus Christ in our lives. Whether through arts, music, a shared meal, the preaching of the gospel, quite meditation, engagement with community events, worship, reading the Bible or a book in a group, or joining together to serve, Trinity gives me—and each of us—numerous opportunities to invite. And in the act of inviting, I too meet Jesus Christ in this community.
Yes, through each of us, “Trinity invites us to meet Jesus Christ.” Let it be so.