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Even with the fast pace of email, it is still nice to receive an invitation through the regular mail. Invitations come in different sizes, colors, and printing. Some have colorful balloons while others are printed on formal invitation cards. Yet, each invitation is an invite to something special, whether it is a party or an important event such as a wedding, invitations announce special times of celebration. Joy is usually the recurring theme of invitations whether in the announcement itself or for the occasion that is being opened for invitation.
For example, many of you have already received a written invitation to my installation as Rector of St. Raphael’s which is to take place next Sunday. Due to the status of this event, formal invitations were sent out. If you did not receive a written invitation, please know that it is either on its way or your address was not in our files or updated. Along with the written invitations, a press release inviting the community was also sent to the local newspapers.
When something joyful is being planned or has happened, as humans we want to share this joy with others through celebrations. These celebrations are markers in our lives of good things that are happening. Whether they be birthdays, weddings, installations or even the announcement of the birth of babies into this world, celebrations are unique events. They are times of great joy.
Celebrations can also be instantaneous with no need of invitations. For instance, yesterday, upon the news of the election of a bishop coadjutor on the first ballot, the Cathedral of St. Peter in St. Petersburg was filled with great joy! People stood up in one huge mass and started clapping and cheering. Then the bells began ringing to let the community know that we had a new bishop. It was a very exciting moment of spontaneous celebration.
In the scripture readings for today, we are given to invitations. The first invitation can be found in the Book of Baruch from the Apocrypha. The author, Baruch, invites us to “Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting; for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven. For God will give you evermore the name, ‘Righteous Peace, Godly Glory.’”
What a marvelous invitation we have been given. We are invited to turn away from sorrow and to enter into godly glory, which is the peace of the righteous. How many here live a life filled with peace? I am not referring to the peace of the world that is circumstantial at best, but the peace of God that comes from living a life of righteousness.
When we focus our lives on the Lord and live to please Him in all that we do, then we have entered into a life of righteous peace. Righteous peace comes from trusting in the Lord on a daily basis. It is living a life that is pleasing to God Almighty. When we choose to live such a life then we are walking in the righteousness of God. Turn to page 504 in your pew Bible. We are going to look at Psalm 37, verse 23. “Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when He delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.”
When it appears in our lives that we are being oppressed from all sides and we falter in our faith; the Lord assures us that we may stumble, but He alone will keep us from destruction. The Lord God Almighty is holding us up by His own hand. Our God is not some ether in outer space. No, we worship the God who created us and remains personally interested in our well being.
It is because of the Lord’s personal interest and continued involvement in humanity that He sent us a very special invitation. This invitation did not come in an envelope or even through email. No this invitation came through John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin. Of John, Jesus is recorded by Mathew as saying, “What then did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger
ahead of you,
who will prepare your way
before you.’
Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist…”
John the Baptist was the son of Zechariah, a priest of the tribe of Levi, which means that John was probably well educated. But because of the prophecy concerning his role to prepare the people to receive the Messiah, John’s parents chose to have him grow up in the wilderness-probably for his own protection.
Let’s look at the gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verses 76 and 77 on page 1203. The scripture reads, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.”
In our gospel reading from Luke today, we see John fulfilling the prophesy given at his birth. “The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins….”
Through John the Baptist, the Lord God sent His personal invitation to the people of Israel to prepare them for the coming Messiah. This invitation was not written in gold ink on the finest papyrus, instead it came from a man dressed in animal skins. A man who was not acquainted with the finer things in life, but who knew the wilderness like the back of his hand and could quote the scriptures from heart. This was the vessel chosen by God Almighty to send out His invitation of salvation through repentance and acceptance of the Christ.
Of Christ, John declared, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
This invitation from the Lord is still available. It has not expired. It is open to all. The Lord God continues to seek those who are willing to repent of their sins and to personally accept Jesus as the Christ. By living a life centered on Christ, we can know righteous peace in our lives. The friend of the bridegroom has sent out the invitations. What is our response?
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