Thanks for the Invite
Have you ever had a moment where you missed the invite? Someone’s wedding or birthday party, an event that it seems like everyone else is going to except for you? That’s a terrible feeling of being forgotten, overlooked, and left out.
Though we will have times where we feel this way, we have the example of Jesus as the ultimate inviter. This is so powerful, illustrated in his interaction with Zacchaeus in Luke 19. While you might recall from Sunday school that Zacchaeus was a wee-little man (and a wee-little man was he), we know more about him than just his lacking stature. He was a tax collector, a good one at that, the leader of the tax collectors who had become very rich. He was good at his job. A job that included turning against his own people and dishonest gain.
Now, I think as a guy who worked with numbers, when Zacchaeus heard that the Messiah had come, he needed to see it with his own eyes. His problem being that the crowd was in the way of him being able to. So he climbs up in a tree to get a good view of Jesus, and as the Savior comes near, he addresses Zacchaeus and invites himself over for dinner. This might seem like an odd move in our culture, but in this moment, this would be a great honor.
This invitation by Jesus leads to a transformation in Zacchaeus, and the same is true for us! Jesus invites us into a relationship with him, no matter our past, our struggles, or anything else. Jesus desires to know us and for us to experience life with him. The pattern of following Jesus is one of responding to his invitation and, in turn, inviting others to follow him.
Look at the setting in which Jesus extends the invite to Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus had information about Jesus, but that wasn’t enough. You see, Jesus invites us not just to know about him but to actually get to know him. Revelation tells us he “stands at the door and knocks” (Revelation 3:20). Jesus is a gentleman, not forcing his ways into our lives but welcoming us into them.
His invitation isn’t dependent on us. Zacchaeus was hated by his countrymen. He was about as dirty, rotten, and a scoundrel as you could find in the eyes of those around him, but Jesus welcomed him. This is a constant theme throughout Jesus’ ministry. He invited socially unimportant fishermen to be his best friends. He honored women in a culture where they were considered property. Jesus welcomed children to himself in a world that didn’t think of them as individuals. Ephesians two tells us salvation comes ONLY through God’s miraculous grace. This gift of an invitation is not something we earn, but it is something we receive.
Jesus also exemplifies his mission in this moment. Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.” During the early days of the Church, some haters gave them the nickname, “Christians”. While they meant it as an insult, these Jesus followers took the name, which means, “little Christs,” as a compliment. The question for those of us who call ourselves Christians today is, who are we inviting to know Jesus? Are we intentionally seeking the lost? This was Jesus’ last instruction to his followers and the model he created with his life.
