An Unexpected Invitation

Why are you here this morning? What brought you here? (and the first one who says, “a car” or “my mom” or “my spouse” gets a timeout). What are your reasons for being here? Why wake up on a Sunday morning and come sit for two hours listening to people talk? Why are you here?

I think for many of us, we're here because it is what we do. We get up on Sundays and we go to church. It has become a part of our lives and a part of our weekly activities that we often do not think about why we are here. Now, when I ask the question “why are you here” I am not asking in a demeaning or flippant way. And it is not a way to talk about worship. It is a sincere question: Why are you here this morning?

We are all familiar with Paul and who Paul was and is. In fact I bet the majority of Baptist know the Paul conversion story better than do any part of the scriptures. He does after all make up a majority of New Testament. Paul or Saul (as he is called at the time) is not a kind person. He was indeed an evil person who was living the only story available to him. He was a killer and persecutor of the church. That is who he was. He was a pharisee in every form of the word and title. Saul found a role in the only story available to him, the only one he was familiar with and the only one that had a specific part for him to play. On the road to Damascus, Saul receives an invitation, if you well, to become a part of a better story, one that is an epic story. What do I mean by that? Well allow me a moment to explain.

A story is about a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it. Think of your favorite book, movie, television show, or radio show; most likely the story revolves around a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it. Now that something could be anything: for Rocky that something is to go the distance with Apollo Creed; for Castle that something is to solve a murder; for Bilbo Baggins and the company of dwarfs it is to get their treasure back from Smaug the dragon; for the Shadow it is to bring justice to criminals for the Shadow knows what lurks in the hearts of men. The something is often the character's ambition, desire, or goal that is to be achieve and sometimes might be very worthwhile and important or could be very selfish and unimportant. Thus the concept of story is very simple: a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.

The key to good storytelling is the ambition of the character. If the ambition of the character is selfish or destructive then it is not good story. There is nothing appealing about the character or the character's story. They just are. There is nothing to like about Saul. His story thus far is one of murder, persecution, and hate. He is telling an awful story with his life. In other words, what we do matters, our ambitions, our goals, our resolutions matter because they give a perception of who we are and the kind of story we are living. We often claim that the world is living a bad story but we do not offer a better one for them to live into. We shout to the world what we are against and all they see are characters who are against something (very similar to what Saul was doing). The Christian story is not about what we are against but what we are for: justice, peace, joy, love, hope, and the kingdom of heaven. Those are what we are for and what our story is ultimately about. The story God is writing is not a story that looks to remove others from our midst or our places of worship or our society. The story of God is not persecuting story, it is above all about the ushering in of the kingdom of heaven. And as we learned during advent, the kingdom of heaven is ushering in the peace, joy, hope, and love of God through Christ.

Saul is not telling a good story with his life. He is a part of a story that is not about life or about the forwarding of the kingdom of heaven. The story he is a part of is about the past and the power of a few to remain in power. Saul grew up, if tradition holds, as a roman citizen and a pharisee which means the only story he knows is one in which those with power rule while those without are enslaved. He honestly does not know any better. The story that he is fighting to stop from spreading is a story that goes against every tradition and lesson he was taught. This new story of the kingdom of heaven did not measure up to that of his current story. So, Saul continued to tell a poor story because it was the only story he knew. Likewise, I think many of us are living the stories available to us. We are very much like Saul, we buy into whatever story is available and whatever role the story has for us to play. Whether we know it or not, we long to be a part of something and we are drawn to stories that are readily available to us and not all of those stories are good for us nor do they forward the kingdom of heaven. We tell the stories we know and rarely do stop and ask, “Are these stories really something I want to be a part of?”

However evil and vile Saul is, God does not remove him from the story. Instead God offers him another role in a different story, a better story, an epic story. Traveling to Damascus, Saul encounters a bright light. The bright light comes on suddenly it knocks him to the ground and a voice cries out, “Saul, why do you persecute me?” Taken back, Saul asks, “Who are you?” The voice replies, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what do.” Blinded by the light, Saul enters into the city and a man named Ananias reluctantly meets him. The Lord tells Ananias that Saul is to be his instrument, the one chosen to take the message of the coming kingdom to the gentiles. God offers Saul an unexpected invitation to be a part of the epic story God is writing, to be a part of a better story.

We are being offered roles in this same story that began eons ago. Every day God offers us a role to play, a role that is designed specifically for us, and every day we make the choice to either tell an epic story or a “bad” story. Saul's conversion and invitation into God's story shows us the power of God to tell an epic story through flawed people. Because God is the one writing the story of the kingdom of heaven, there are no unimportant roles. Each of us have a part to play and none are being asked to play a minor role. We are supporting actors and our roles are no more insignificant than those who play to a bigger audience on a bigger stage. Just because you are a teacher, a doctor, an architect, a retiree, a farmer, or a teenager, or a child, you are being offered a role to play in this story. Just because we are small church does not mean our role is an less than the role of First or Second Baptist in Richmond. We are receiving an invitation to become an active participant in the kingdom of heaven. We are being given a better story. We just need to find our role in it.

How then do we find our role? How do we discover our part in this epic story? Well you say yes to the invitation. You accept the invitation to be a part of a better story. You make the conscious decision to step out your front door, not mind your feet, and allow God to sweep on this adventure. Second, you begin to pray about your role in this story. You pray as a family, as a church, as an individual and actively discern what role you are being offered. Third, you start living out that role, even if you are not a 100% sure what that role is, you just start living. Find ways to live out this story that is beneficial and meaningful. It can be as simple as calling a friend, making a visit, buying someone lunch, or doing some random act of kindness. Find something, an ambition that allows you to live out your role in the kingdom of heaven. Allow God to use you and trust that the story God has for you is the best story out there.

Each of you have been given a literal invitation to be a part of the kingdom of heaven in your bulletin. Take it home, pray over it, and as we continue our series, discover what role God is calling you to play in this epic story of the kingdom of heaven. You should be warned though, adventure is guaranteed but it will change you. You will not be the person you were. But at the end of the journey and your hearts testing, in Jesus' image you will wake or as Gene Shipes would say while patting his belly, “Thanks for having me.”

You, _________________,are cordially invited to be a participant in the kingdom of heaven.

Your role in this story will be ________________

Adventure guaranteed but it will change you. You will not be the person you were before.

Please accept this invitation and join us as we live an epic story together.

Sincerely,

God