One of my favorite local restaurants is closing soon so I gave myself permission to enjoy it more than once this week. I shared a meal with my daughter and granddaughter on Wednesday while the news media was on site gathering the community’s response to the closing announcement. I invited them to join me again when my daughter and grandson were in town a couple of days later. I made sure they knew it was simply an invitation. They are always welcomed but under no obligation. The many times I have felt torn in my mind and heart to make a decision because of a felt obligation, whether or not the pressure was self-inflicted, has taught me to voice this aloud, particularly in relationships where I am in a position of authority or influence.
“So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different.
Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.””
Mark 10:42-45 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.10.42-45.NLT
Too often when I feel I am under obligation, compelled to attend a function or event, to respond in a certain way, or I will be opposed, I am, as Jesus said to Peter, more concerned with the things of this world than the things of God.(Matthew 16:23) As a child of God, I want to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but this sort of thinking means I begin looking inward, second guessing myself, but what if the thing that has my attention is intended to serve another purpose?
What if the invitation I’m struggling with is merely a distraction meant to keep me from being fully present where God means for me to be? Can the enemy, who masquerades as an angel of light, stop me in my tracks by dangling a carrot in my way? What if this unexpected invitation is intended to simply change my trajectory? What if my first thought was not to look in a mirror but to look outward? Would I hear in the clamor a cry for help rather than a battle cry? When my plans are interrupted, how quickly am I content to move forward in a new direction?
In Luke’s detailed account of their missionary journeys, the apostle Paul was stopped by the Spirit from heading in his intended direction but came to realize God was redirecting him. This was no haphazard decision-making like flipping a coin. The harvest truly was plentiful and the workers so few that Paul felt tugged constantly toward new places where the good news had not been shared while at the same time burdened for the Jews and the new churches he helped plant. Luke speaks of the Holy Spirit preventing them from entering a region or from preaching the Word, and of constant threats on Paul’s life.
In my own life, I have seen the Spirit guide my steps, often in retrospect, through a series of small details that are difficult to explain but taken together, too powerful to ignore. Luke’s letter points explicitly to the activity of the Spirit on these missionary journeys. I’m certain, were he to be asked during a later visit with the recipients of his letters, he would have willingly shared everything he knew of the how. These stories become for us testimonies to the presence and direction of God. Sometimes what may have looked like indecision or even opposition as they traveled together clearly became the hand of God at work, orchestrating events in His Sovereignty, so that by all means, many would have an opportunity to hear the gospel preached and believe on the Lord Jesus.
“Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.
Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.
So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas.
That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”
So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.”
Acts of the Apostles 16:6-10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/act.16.6-10.NLT
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.3.5-6.NLT
“As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.
The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.
And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you.
Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.
But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 13:42-52 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/act.13.42-52.ESV
This was no passive rejection. This was aggression on the part of the Jews who hunted Paul down and stirred up the influencers of the day against him. They hatched plots to kill him on more than one occasion, and one of these plots was exactly what God used to make way for the gospel be shared in Rome.
“That night,” before he was rushed away under cover of darkness, escorted by an armed guard, “the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul.
Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.””
Acts of the Apostles 23:11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/act.23.11.NLT
When I read this account, the opposition is undeniable but hidden in between the lines of Paul’s obedience, the Gentiles rejoiced! Those who were formerly far away were being invited in to the family of God. They were no longer identified as strangers and aliens. They weren’t just being welcomed as proselytes and sojourners with Israel. They were invited into sonship. They were given the Holy Spirit.
Jesus came in answer to God’s promise to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, “that through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 22:18) Gentiles, those of us not of Jewish descent, still rejoice to know that God loved the whole world so much that He was willing to put on human flesh and become the one sacrifice for sin, absorbing His wrath and bringing victory over sin and death to all who trust in the finished work of Jesus.
“For Christ himself has brought peace to us.
He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.
Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.”
Ephesians 2:14, 18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.2.14-18.NLT
“So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners.
You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people.
You are members of God’s family.
Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.
We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:19-22 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.2.19-22.NLT
“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.
There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female.
For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham.
You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”
Galatians 3:26-29 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.3.29.NLT
Jesus, when He sent His followers ahead of him to all the towns where He would teach, warned them to let nothing slow then down, deter them, or impede their progress on the road. Go. Don’t stop to pack a bag. Don’t carry a money belt. Don’t greet anyone on the road. If you encounter opposition, pivot and keep moving forward. You have your marching orders.
So do we.
“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:18-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.28.19-20.NLT
“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!””
2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.20.NLT
If you have never accepted God’s invitation, what is holding you back? He stands at the door knocking. It’s an invitation to dine with Him. To know Him in intimate friendship, to be part of something much bigger than yourself and this world in this lifetime. You’re under no obligation to answer His knock, but the invitation won’t last forever. Today, He’s patiently waiting.
If you have trusted Jesus, the one Way to the Father, then John 1:12 says you are God’s child. You have been entrusted with extending God’s invitation to everyone you meet. The wedding feast is being prepared. Go out into the main roads, the highways, the alleys, and avenues. Go where God sends you. Go where the people are and share the Good News until Jesus comes again. Let nothing distract or deter you. Too much is at stake.
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate.
The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.
But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.7.13-14.NLT
Extend the invitation.
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