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Teaching podcast from the Eagle Community Church of Christ in Mont Belvieu, TX.
Of the invitation and hopefully, if we've been doing things the right way, you've been starting to think about who can I invite? We we talked last week about just saying, come and see. The way that disciples of Jesus just ask other people, hey, come see what this is all about. Come see for yourself and the idea is that we don't have to have all the answers, right? We introduce, we open the door to people encountering the word of god and let god work.
John Gunter:It's it's back to the the scripture talking about how you can sow and plant but god is going to give the growth. He's gonna give the increase and so, that's what we're talking about as we're preparing for the story and I want to remind you one more time. If you haven't gotten a book, we're going to start. We're going start reading August 9 for August 16, our start day. So, everybody will have read the first chapter and every, whether it's in class or in here, we'll all have read the same thing.
John Gunter:It's going to be a lot of fun. So if you don't have that, we ordered some extra books this week. You can see Katie over here. And, if we need to make four more orders, we can do that too. But we want everyone involved and this is why we're we're just telling people, hey, invite, let other people encounter the word of god and so that's where we are today still in the invitation.
John Gunter:If you got your Bibles with you, you can be turning over to Luke chapter 14. I'll have that on the screen for you as well but last week again, we just told people told you to tell people about what Jesus has done. Remember, as Jesus encounters this lady, she goes back and she tells, even though she has a past, she has a history that she's ashamed of. That's what brought her to a well in the middle of the day instead of in the cool hours of the day but even this lady said, come see this person. So, all of a sudden, the shame was gone.
John Gunter:She was no longer worried about the water. All she knew she had to do was to tell other people about Jesus. Now, and as the story went, you noticed that by the end of the story, they say, now, we believe not because of what you said or how you invited but we have seen for ourself and we understand, just as as Jesus did, not everyone accepts him and we understand that but we should never let the fear of that kind of rejection. Well, I invited them they didn't like. Okay.
John Gunter:Well, that's what Jesus did too but he kept going. That's what Paul did too. He kept going and so we should never have this this fear of rejection. We should have in our minds, how could this change someone's life? And as we've talked, it's kind of a very simple and certainly easy example of how we invite people to restaurants, right?
John Gunter:If you go somewhere and you have a fantastic meal, you are very likely to tell somebody, oh, you need to go eat at there, right? And they may or may not like it. Some of you, you ever eaten at Ruth's Chris steak? You're too rich, that's what you are. Too much money.
John Gunter:I had a buddy one time, he said there's no such thing as a $200 stake. He said there may be a $200 stake buyer. There is no such thing as a $200 stake. But if you go to a place, it doesn't matter how much it costs, You may even preempt and say, hey, it cost a lot but it's really good, right? Why would we not do the same with our lord and savior who has changed our life?
John Gunter:Yes. And so, if you know that that god has worked on you and that you've come from something and then god is constantly molding you, shouldn't we be people who say, hey, come and see. You you I don't know how god's gonna change your life. I don't know what timeline. I don't know what it's gonna look like but I what I can tell you is is that god has changed my life.
John Gunter:You ought to come and see. And it's just as easy as that. We should never go into this with a fear of I need to have every answer to every question. These people may berate me or come at me with all these things I can't answer. If they ask you something you can't answer, say, I don't know.
John Gunter:That's what I learned to do very quickly. I first started teaching Bible class. I was scared to death. The room full of Christians just going to try and stump me and run me out of the place. Public speaking will do that to you.
John Gunter:But what I found out quickly is what you learn to say. When I don't know something, I'm not afraid to tell you that. But what I can tell you is I serve a risen savior. He's in the world today, right? Amen.
John Gunter:Amen. Alright. So, have you ever been to a place where it was new to you? Anybody just love walking into a new place that you don't know where anything is? Some of you probably are wired that way.
John Gunter:I love new experiences. I want to see new things. How many of you get anxiety walking into a new place? Yes. New church.
John Gunter:And so as we're talking about inviting people, what we also want to be mindful of is what we're inviting them to. When someone walks through the door, I promise you, every church will say, well, we're a loving church. Guess what? For some churches, that ain't right. Right?
John Gunter:I don't care how much you say it. You might be loving, but sister so and so is sitting at the door with a frown on her face.
John Gunter:It doesn't have to be
John Gunter:a sister by the way, you don't get mad at me. Might not be very loving. So I I don't necessarily love walking into a new place, especially if it's a big place. I always wanna when I go in there, I wanna know where I'm sitting. And as quickly as I can get there, I'd like to do that, just so I'm familiar now.
John Gunter:And and I promise you, you guys are the same way because I could before you got here, I gotta say, well, Valentine sits here and she sits there and that right. I won't know where the exit is. I won't know the bathroom is. Yes? Yes.
John Gunter:And so, when we people into to new places, we understand there there should be some little bit of hesitance in walking into a new place. We ought to be people with our heads on swivels looking for new people. Logan asked me earlier, he said, are there any visitors here today? I said, yeah, I've already seen some. He said, how many?
John Gunter:I said, Oh, ask Ms. Sue. She'll know. But we have visitors here. I'll pick on Clint and Emily for just a second.
John Gunter:When Clint and Emily came here and I'll just offer an apology if I say something I shouldn't have said. When they came here, they were visiting. They had no plans to commit. They just came to see and I believe they sit right back there. And I remember Clint and Emily saying, I think the whole church came and introduced themselves.
John Gunter:Themselves and that's phenomenal and because of that, they're here all the time because what they they came here and they put themselves out there, right? They came into a new place. It wasn't theirs. It was ours. It wasn't familiar and and what they found is a place that is welcoming and some of you are here because of that, right?
John Gunter:And so we need to we need to be mindful of that. I've been a part of big churches where you know, you have five, six hundred people in a service and you think, how in the world? You know, you put you you put kind of this pressure on yourself. I I introduced myself to them last week and I see them over there and I don't remember their name. I wish in that church, our minister would remember everybody.
John Gunter:He would ask me about mom and dad. He didn't know mom and dad very well. They visited a couple times. My mind does not work like that. Anybody else's?
John Gunter:And so what I started doing was every time I would introduce myself to someone, I would say to them, we are going to do this again. And that takes all the pressure off. Because guess what? I'm not gonna remember your name. I'm gonna assume you're not gonna remember mine.
John Gunter:But I wanna be that welcoming person that takes away, hey, you don't have to worry about it. I'm telling you right now, you're not gonna remember my name. Now, there's no pressure. You can walk right up to me. He said he wouldn't remember.
John Gunter:I wasn't gonna remember. Hey, let's do this. And so what you become in that moment is that welcoming person, right? And so that's what we want to do. A lot of us have a lot of social anxiety into walking into, any kind of new place.
John Gunter:And so we wanna be aware of that. And we want to be not just a church that talks about being loving and open and welcoming, but a church that is loving and open and welcoming. Yes? Some of you feel a peace when you come in here because you've known a lot of the people in here for a long time. Yeah?
John Gunter:The experiences you've had, all of those things. Remember, people walking in new don't have those things. Let's welcome them in. Be looking. Be happy.
John Gunter:Don't fake it, but welcome them in just like we've been talking about. Come see. Come see what this is like. Come see how you can be involved in this very place. So this morning, we're gonna start in Luke 14 and verse 15 as we read out loud.
John Gunter:When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. That is kind of a maybe self righteous but just a pious thing to just spout off in the midst of of Jesus. I just wanna throw this out there. This is what I believe. Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of god, a very safe thing and all the church said, amen.
John Gunter:Except this group, we have to say it three times before you say amen. Amen. But he said to them, a man once gave a great banquet and invited many and at the time for the banquet, he sent his servants to say to those who had been invited, come for everything is now ready. But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a field and I must go out and see it.
John Gunter:Please have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I go to examine them. Please have me excused and another said, I have married a wife and therefore, I cannot come. Well, excuses, excuses, excuses, right? That's what they have thrown at Jesus and what what I wanna know, what I want you to notice in this is that this is a as Jesus throws us out there, a great banquet.
John Gunter:This is something that in a culture of honor and shame, you are bringing honor upon the host with your appearance and this is okay. This is a status thing. Maybe we should say it that way. That who is there is a big thing. You know, here's this important person that has come to my banquet.
John Gunter:And so when Jesus throws this out there, this is what they have in mind. Oh, this great banquet. Again, they're eating at at, at this place. And it says, everything is now ready. Everything begins now.
John Gunter:It is prepared. Let's go. Let's have the banquet. And what I want you to notice is the, are the excuses. K.
John Gunter:Did you notice them? First, I bought a field. I must go out and see it. The second, I bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. The third, I have married a wife.
John Gunter:Yes, ma'am. And therefore, I cannot come. What he didn't say was she said I couldn't come, but I can't come. But you notice all the the excuses there. K?
John Gunter:So first, I bought a field. I must go out and see it. Is that is that important? Say yes. I need to go do that.
John Gunter:Okay. I bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go examine them. Is that important? Say yes. That was a sign of a a wealthy person.
John Gunter:We've got a a big enough place that we can take in 10 more animals. K? This was a a good excuse. Alright. And the final, I have married a wife, and therefore, I cannot come.
John Gunter:It was it was normal for once you got married, for men to be excused for a lot of things for a year. Don't know why we dropped that, gentlemen, but maybe we should work that back in. So that was that was normal for the day for him to say, hey, this is a good excuse. I just got married, so I can't come. And everybody's, oh, yeah.
John Gunter:Understand. Did you notice how normal these excuses are? Not one person said, I'm an atheist, I'm not coming. Not one person said, I'm planning to rob a bank, won't be able to be there. I've got a bunch of puppies to kick later on this afternoon.
John Gunter:Every excuse, every example that Jesus chose to use here was an example of something very normal that got in the way of coming to the banquet. So as Jesus sets this up, what should get our antennas up are not just the overt bad things in life, but the very good and normal things that overwhelm our schedule and that all of a sudden take over what we're doing, and now we say no. I can't be there. That feel about right? How many of you have full calendars?
John Gunter:Yeah. I know what I'm gonna do and when I'm gonna do it. And I love every minute, but sometimes, like, I I'll tell people all the time, if it if it's not on my calendar, it doesn't exist. It's just that we're we're flying by the seat of our pants. And and that's not necessarily a problem.
John Gunter:We can all be very busy and get things done and that's that's just fine. The problem is when all of those things take precedence over the most important things. Amen. The coming together. The coming and praising god.
John Gunter:The the inviting of other people. We just so consumed and so busy with all the other that the good excuses, things that people would even understand start to take place of the most important And that's what we see this morning. All of these responsibilities were easily excused, but the things most likely to crowd out this invitation were normal things. Things that were ordinary, things that unfortunately were elevated to a rank they shouldn't have been. So have you ever had a last minute RSVP?
John Gunter:Where you walked into a place and you felt completely out of, why should I be here? I love going to conferences. I love going to church conferences and meeting meeting people and being in a place where a lot of people are, you know, centered around the same thing. We're going to worship. We're going to do all of these things.
John Gunter:But I do not like going by myself. Anybody else with that? Yeah. Like, I need to be with somebody and I prefer that somebody else had been there before. You can kinda show me around and get get some comfort out of that.
John Gunter:But but sometimes that's just not the case. And again, I I want us to just feel that for a minute. And maybe for you, you are just an extrovert and that doesn't bother you at all. Who who is an extrovert and none of this okay. She said, don't raise your hand.
John Gunter:Like, it didn't bother you walking in a new place, anything like that. I I've told the story of one of my teenagers there at Mineral Springs that she just wanted to meet everybody. We pull up to a team conference. She said, mister John, how many people you want me to meet? 10?
John Gunter:Okay. Doesn't affect my life in any way but why are asking me? But she she got up to like 20 or 25. She said, well, she came back in thirty minutes. She said, mister John, I've met 50 people.
John Gunter:That sounds horrible to me.
John Gunter:I don't know about you guys.
John Gunter:Like I I like people but it but it's more of a slower pace, right? Let's let's go. Alright, we we've met. Let's go have lunch or something. Let's let's get to know each other better but let's just meet all these new people.
John Gunter:That sounds horrible but remember, as we invite people in, we we want to open a place where they they feel comfortable but these people have have been invited to the banquet. It is now ready, Jesus said. And and what would have normally happened was these people would have RSVP'd weeks before. And all of a sudden, last minute, then they have these excuses. Now, I know no one in this room is that type of person, but we all know somebody, right?
John Gunter:Last minute, not going to be there. I have a buddy I love dearly. He is, if you make plans for anything, he's smiling, he's excited, let's do that. That sounds awesome. The day of, he's like a ghost.
John Gunter:You can't find him, you can't get him on the phone. Introverts are bad about this. So I caught you in the moment where you felt a little outgoing. And then when the day comes, you go, I ain't no why in the world would I have said yes. Right?
John Gunter:But that's what happens. I do the same thing, so I'm right there with you. Okay? And a lot of times for me, it's just the travel hall. I gotta plan this.
John Gunter:I gotta get there. And then once I get comfortable, I'm fine. But it's just that little bit of anxiety that keeps us back. But, yeah, so we we understand about that, and and sometimes that's that's the way it goes is that we all of a sudden we cancel. When I, worked with teenagers, I always said this about them.
John Gunter:They can be the most, hey, we want to do this. That sounds great. We'll sign up for it but I I started to learn very quickly and what that meant is, yes, I absolutely want to do it in parenthesis unless something else better comes, you know, comes up the last minute. That I might wanna do and so, I planned things where things got cancelled because everybody signed up and couldn't go. I moved things because this person couldn't make this date and I want everybody to be involved and so, hey, can you do this thing?
John Gunter:Yes. Okay. Well, let's do it and that person didn't show up the second date and guess who didn't move it again for him? Right? But that's what we're dealing with here is all of a sudden, we we've said, hey, we're gonna come.
John Gunter:We're gonna we're gonna be a part of this, but know at the last minute, I've got something going on. I can't do it. But what I want you to notice here, again, going back to how ordinary these examples are. A lot of times, we are very picky in our churches about kind of auditing our theology. I use auditing for my wife, theology for me.
John Gunter:Auditing our theology. So so what I mean by that is I'm very picky. If John said something I didn't like, I'm upset about that. And I want you to audit our theology but I also want you to audit your calendar. That's as important as auditing your theology because if we don't do that, then those things begin to stack up.
John Gunter:Anybody ever done a budget? How many of you, you thought, well, we need to sit down and do a budget. My wife, I think that feeds her soul to do a budget. For me, I want to roll my eyes and run. Okay, but I love having everything budgeted, but I hate going through the process of budgeting.
John Gunter:But how many of you have done a budget and especially lately, if you've done a budget and all of a sudden at the end of the month you look back on how much you spend on groceries or on eating out and you go, there's no way I spent that much money. There's absolutely no way. But that happens, doesn't it? And if you don't audit those things, if you don't budget or do that work, then you don't realize where all it's going. It's always an eye opening thing when you do a budget for the first time, and you go, oh, I could have money, but I ate it.
John Gunter:Right? I could have some money, but I just ate it this month. And so, yeah, unless you do that work, though, you don't see. And so, you wanna audit this calendar to make sure something's not overwhelming, your life and and your commitments to different things. But what we see here is that again, nobody rejects god with a terrible excuse.
John Gunter:It's all ordinary. They reject him with a reasonable one. But notice what happens when the expected guest refuse here in verse 20. Another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came and reported these things to his master.
John Gunter:Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and the crippled and blind and lame. And the servant said, sir, what you commanded has been done and still there is room. And the master said to the servant, go out to the highways and the hedges and compel people to come in that my house may be filled. And so as Jesus tells this story, the first people have rejected and we didn't read it this morning but earlier in the chapter, Jesus says, when you throw a banquet, don't just invite your friends. Now, I know that's our our go to and he doesn't say never invite your friends but you also ought to think about the other people.
John Gunter:The poor, the blind, all these people that just got invited. As he said, I think it was back in in verse 13 but now he's restating this. Now that those people said, no, well, keep inviting and the servant said, hey, what you've commanded has been done and still there is room and the master said, go out even further. That's what he's trying to get across here. Go out into the highways and the hedges and compel people to come in.
John Gunter:That doesn't mean force them. That means try to convince them that this this invitation is real. You should come. This is a real thing. It's not a joke.
John Gunter:Come eat it at my master's banquet. That's what he's saying here. Go out even further. Still, there is room. It says, for some reason, I think sometimes we we think, well, it's too full or or we just have to get the right people.
John Gunter:The master keeps saying, there's still room, keep inviting, keep inviting. Now, I don't know how many of you were here last week. We had 106 in here last week. Amen. Amen.
John Gunter:Thank you. But what I love about that is that it creates a problem. I don't necessarily love problems but I love that this creates a problem and because what I have seen is we continue to grow and then we have to make decisions. What do we do? Well, guess what?
John Gunter:God will provide. Amen? Amen. And so that's what you see here. Is that okay, keep inviting.
John Gunter:Well, there's still room. Keep inviting because there is always room at the table of god. Yes. Amen. There's always room at the table of god.
John Gunter:Still there is room. Compel them. Bring them in. Make sure they know they could come in and be a part of this. In Isaiah 55 verse one through three, come everyone who thirst, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come.
John Gunter:Buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Yes, please. Anybody else? HEB had a put out a thing this morning.
John Gunter:You can come buy anything you want. Y'all wouldn't be here at all, would you? John's gonna understand this reasonable excuse. Right? Yeah.
John Gunter:Come buy all of this stuff without price. Why do you spend your money for for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me here that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
John Gunter:So that is what god says. You can come and you can you can have all of this for free. Just come. And so, what we see here is the same invitation, the same kind of stance or posture, no money required, just come. I think we see an example of not being comfortable, and I brought up a few.
John Gunter:But one thing that I had recently that came up was when I have a new soccer team, when I put together, you know, the tryouts and everything, and all of a sudden, you've got some people who know each other and others who don't. How many of you know every person in this room right now? I I would be surprised if there was one, right? Some of us have met once, some of us have met and neither one of us said much, you know, all the things. And so every time we put together a group, it is difficult to get people together and to just kind of start intermingling.
John Gunter:A funny thing is, well, what I try to do was I try to have some team events that get people together so they know each other. I don't want you just out there practicing beside it. I want you to know someone. Just like in here, I don't want you to just come and worship in a place. I want you to know somebody else.
John Gunter:Go to lunch. Meet someone. Have somebody over to your house. All the thing. And so we had a team event to have people over and to allow them the time to do just this.
John Gunter:And so I kind of played even though it wasn't at my house. We had a team member who has a pool and all that stuff. And I tried to play almost matchmaker. Hey, have you met them? You ever done that before?
John Gunter:I ended up it was crazy, think, in in, Mont Belvieu, Texas. I ended up with two kids who don't know each other, who are both from South Africa on my team, in Baytown, Texas, from Bellevue. And so guess what I did? Mama of player one, mama of player two, you need to meet each other. You all have a lot in common.
John Gunter:Right? We we wanna be those people who are making bridges, bringing people in, and and again, not just people who are on our radar as a good fit, right? Because often when I ask you a few weeks ago, hey, who is your one? Who is the person you know right now I need to invite? Right?
John Gunter:I want you to invite that person. But as you're praying for that person, I also also want you to be mindful, as Jesus has just put in his story, the people on the outside. The people even further. The highways and the hedges. Who is it that I can invite that I I didn't even think about?
John Gunter:You don't have to feel bad about that. We just need to train our eyes to see kinda like Jesus does. I want to go further out. I want to invite. I want to bring people in.
John Gunter:So, I want us to have a big vision. Not just, oh, I remember Tom down the street. I need to invite him. I've been meaning to. John said that and put it on my mind.
John Gunter:That's great. Invite Tom. Bring him in. But also be thinking, who else? Who else doesn't fit exactly the mold?
John Gunter:Because what I wanna tell you church is that we should be a church of people from all different kinds of backgrounds. Yes? I know you just said yes because I compelled you to. Because a lot of times we like the comfortability of, hey, we're all kind of in a similar place. Yes?
John Gunter:They've got kids, we've got kids, we all kind of mesh together, We've got the same background. It can become uncomfortable when you have a different background than me and you see things a little bit differently than I do, and that can can start to clash, can it? Let's just be honest. But let me tell you this. Just as Jesus is telling this story, you don't see any of that warning when inviting people.
John Gunter:Right? Go out and invite. Okay. Well, I did that. There's still room.
John Gunter:Go out further and invite because church, if what we want is a group of people with the the same background with no issues and everybody fits perfectly, What you don't want is church. What you do want is a country club. I need to say that again. Did y'all get the first time? Because often what we want is everything to fit together perfectly but if that's what you want, if you don't want, if you're afraid of messy, you're not looking for church.
John Gunter:You're looking for a country club. Because church should be open. Church should be the place that everyone no matter where they are on their spiritual journey encounters Jesus and they begin becoming transformed. I may be on a different place than you. You may be ahead of me.
John Gunter:You may be behind me, but we're all coming to the same place, mess and all, warts and all, issues and all, encountering a savior. Yes. And so that is the desire we continue to invite, bring out. Verse 24, for I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. Now, he's saying all all those are invited and then came up with excuses.
John Gunter:Good excuses. But when Jesus tells a story, who was the one that did the rejecting? Was it the person who invited or was it the invited persons? They were the ones came up with the excuse. Right?
John Gunter:And and so what we don't see here is just this, okay, you're out because of this, that, and the other. No. It is you were invited and you said no. That is the reason you are not here is because you said no. Room was not the factor.
John Gunter:There was plenty of that as we saw. It doesn't end with kind of this pretty bow on top where everybody's just happy and eating. Now, anybody going to a banquet, something you consider a banquet lately? You have? Oh, some of you have.
John Gunter:That's good. It's been a long time. Invite me next time. Thank you. I'd love to go.
John Gunter:But but next time you're invited even even to lunch, think about, okay, what what what does this produce? Versus my calendar that may be overwhelming that and making me say no, what would it produce if I actually said yes and I go? If you've been here, I've been here a little over five years now. I've shared the story of I when I went to college, I went for an IT degree. I worked in information systems.
John Gunter:And so I worked in, what you might say, a normal job, not a ministry job. And on Wednesday nights, Katie was working in accounting. I was working in information systems. I went around to different bank branches all over the state, you know, the western part of the state of Arkansas and so I I was driving. I was tired.
John Gunter:On Wednesday night, she would say, are we going to church? And sometimes I'd say, I don't know. And I promise you, every single time that we went anyway was an absolute blessing from god. I walked away with some kind of renewed strength or energy or connection that I would have never seen coming. And had I said no, I wouldn't have gotten it.
John Gunter:I would have never received it. Now, I also think God has a sense of humor because if you heard me tell that story before, I always say, alright, yes, we're going but we're leaving early. As soon as it's over, we're leaving. Don't ever say that in the presence of the Lord. Because I promise you, when you say that, the janitor or whoever turns off the lights is sitting there tapping their toe waiting on you to leave.
John Gunter:Because that I'm leaving right after that last prayer has turned into conversations that are very meaningful, that might even change your life and mold who you are. And so what I had planned or what I thought was gonna happen completely changes and all of a sudden, I am being changed by god. Romans fifteen seven, just a simple verse. Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of god. That is very simple and very easy.
John Gunter:It is it is a very freeing thing. It's an open thing and it's a look in the mirror thing. I want to welcome someone else. That's great. As Christ has welcomed you.
John Gunter:Look in the mirror. Because it's one thing to think I wanna be a welcoming person. I wanna welcome the way Jesus has welcomed me. Has Jesus welcomed you? Do you feel like Jesus has has been there for you?
John Gunter:He has welcomed you. I want to be that same kind of person for someone else. Said earlier, I don't I don't know why but you know, when I see people around my yard now, I'm I'm that guy looking out the window going, alright, what what's happening here? Because I I grew up in in Southwest Arkansas, and my dad drives a tractor all over the yard. There's no grass.
John Gunter:But see I somebody on my grass, I'm like, hey. I don't say anything, but in my mind, say, but I immediately think, why did I think that? Right? Why am I worried about that? And so what I've started doing lately is is saying, okay, what what value does this person have?
John Gunter:I wanna make sure that if they are near my place, that if they need protection, I'm gonna protect them. What better place to be than than my place because, you know, somebody cares for them. And so, some of some of things in life are just I need to kind of retrain myself. Why? Because Jesus welcomed me.
John Gunter:Do I want to be the same welcoming person that I experienced with Jesus? Those of you who have been in church a long time, somebody welcomed you or your family a long time ago, yeah? You felt like when you walked in the room, you're walking into family, you knew them, you knew their story, you knew all of that. Do you want that for the person across that you don't know yet? That's who we should be.
John Gunter:Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. James says it this way, my brother, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our lord Jesus Christ, the lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears fine clothing and say, you sit here in a good place. While you say to the poor man, you stand over there or sit down at my feet. Have you not been made distinction among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
John Gunter:Listen, my beloved brothers, has not god chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.
John Gunter:But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law of transgressors. That should weigh heavy on us today. That should that should hit us with a little bit of force. Because I understand because I'm a human too. A lot of times we have reactions within ourself.
John Gunter:I like them but not them, that other person. Yeah? That little other person is a little easier to get along with. Maybe we've got a little more connection. That other person, not so much.
John Gunter:And maybe it's not even a rich versus poor as is laid out here, but it's just a a connection thing or something. But let's be mindful of that within ourselves. We live in a society that it is something else to own things, right? It started a long time ago. What was it?
John Gunter:Was it Lifestyles of Rich and Famous? And that Grey Poupon commercial at the same time, right? Felt distinguished. They still make that stuff? You had to wear a white glove.
John Gunter:I think they even have that stuff. But we live we live in a society where we encourage that, right? If you don't have, well, we need to look. Well, I can't believe you don't have it. Or if somebody does have, well, I'm excited.
John Gunter:Logan loves stuff, don't you, son? His pastime is looking up new stuff he needs. He's been he's been school shopping for a couple of weeks. And I think, we're gonna have to take up another collection to pay for all the stuff he wants to take to school. Because every bit of it's got a different brand on it, the one he has to have, the one that makes sense, the one that everybody will think is cool.
John Gunter:Certainly, the ones we already have are not cool apparently and nonfunctional. But we live in a society like that. And so what that leads to is this kind of thing, that we don't want to be these kind of people who look down on others. Now I have never seen anyone in this place say, hey, you sit over here, you sit over there. That that may be just for them.
John Gunter:That was an honor and shame society where place at the table meant a lot. When you come to my house, a small group, I have a chair I normally sit in. If you sit in that chair, I'm not gonna say anything. I'll just yell later. When you look, you're gone.
John Gunter:Okay? I won't do that. You can sit anywhere. And and that's the kind of thing we need to practice. Some of you, I see, will give up your seat and you'll sit in the front row.
John Gunter:Yeah? We want to be the people who show no partiality. Hey, come sit here. Even if society would tell us these people have less or maybe even society would tell us they are less. We don't want to be, those kinds of people.
John Gunter:And so I want to end with this. How many of us are watching for the people who come into this place and are sitting alone? You don't have to answer that. How many of us come into this place and are just here for ourselves? What am I going to get out of this?
John Gunter:Did Tyler lead the right songs? Did John say the right things? Did I get to be in comfort? Was the air conditioner at 68 or less? Thank you.
John Gunter:Yes, that's the right temperature. Are we here looking out for others? Are we here with our eyes open? How do I welcome you? Because that's the people we're supposed to be, right?
John Gunter:As Jesus tells a story, the door is open, the banquet is ready, bring people in. That's the kind of church philosophy idea we should have right now. We are ready, Bring people in. Yes? Do you want more people to experience the love of god?
John Gunter:Yes. So, we invite, we say, come see. And so as you go through this week, again, continue praying. If you haven't invited that person that's on your mind, keep praying about them. Pray for strength.
John Gunter:Pray for courage for you to find that open door. Do that. But again, I want you to expand that vision of not just that person that immediately came to mind, but have your eyes open in your life, with your calendar, wherever you go. Who is it that I haven't thought of? God, open my eyes to to see the fields as ready for harvest as as you've said.
John Gunter:So, can we pray that together? Let's pray as we close this morning. Our father in heaven god, we just wanna thank you again for such a a beautiful day. Lord, as we have encountered your word this morning, lord, help us to not go away unchanged. Lord, we wanna pray for all the people we may not even know yet.
John Gunter:God that maybe coming to this place that maybe maybe getting an invite from somebody we don't know from someone driving by or someone seeing us online or lord whatever the case may be. Lord, we pray that everyone gets a chance to to eat at the banquet. Lord, would you just speak to our hearts? Lord, if there are places that we are hardened against someone or if we see other people as less than or not fitting or whatever that may look like. Lord, just clear that up in us.
John Gunter:Lord, help us to welcome people as you have welcomed us. God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for putting us in a place to where we feel welcomed and loved. Lord, may we continue to seek that for others. It's in the precious name of Jesus I pray.
John Gunter:Amen. You need an invitation this morning or you need any prayers this morning, we we're gonna offer an invitation. I'd love to pray with you. If you haven't begin that walk with Jesus and need to be baptized, let's do that today as we stand as we sit.