From Inclusion to Invitation

He [Jesus] said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14: 12–14).

“Thank you for including me.” “Thank you for inviting me.” These are two similar phrases with significantly different meanings.

“Thank you for including me.” You say this when a group that you are not a part of allows you to participate in their activities. You say this when your boss lets you sit in on a meeting of people higher up than you. The phrase conveys a sense of inferiority. You say, “thank you for including me,” when you feel that you have no business being involved. “I was not invited, I had no reason to be invited, but I was allowed to participate, nonetheless,” you think.

“Thank you for inviting me.” You say this when you receive–wait for it–an invitation. You say this when you were asked to be a part of a group or an event. Your involvement with a group or an organization is no accident when you are issued an invitation. The phrase conveys a sense of equality and welcome. You say, “thank you for inviting me,” when you feel that you belong.

In our lives and in our church communities, we often settle for being inclusive rather than invitational. As the church, the message we often give to the world is this: “We are inclusive.” But if that is where we stop, what we are truly saying is this: “We have our own community and if you happen to stumble into it, we will allow you to participate.” If this is our message, those on the outside, especially those rejected by society–the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind–will always feel that, though they may be included, they never truly belong. After any involvement with the church, they will walk away and find that they are forced to say, “Thank you for including me.” 

But, as individuals and communities, Jesus calls us to be more than simply inclusive. “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,” Jesus said. More than simply including the outcast should they wish to be involved, the church is called to move toward them and invite them into the truth and community of the gospel. In other words, we do not wait for the outcast to wander through our doors (or onto our Facebook Live services). Instead, we invite them into the community and life of grace in the same way that Christ has done for us. 

So, as individuals and as communities, may we no longer settle for being inclusive. Rather, as people who have experienced the invitational grace of God in Christ, may we, in union with the Holy Spirit, extend the same grace and invitation to the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and anyone in between. May we be individuals and communities of invitation. Amen.