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by on 10.27.06

on the Lord’s use of invitations

In my studies through the Synoptic Gospels recently I noticed something the Lord did in his preaching with respect to invitations. On one occasion, he quite clearly gave an invitation at the end of his message, and on another he gives what could be construed as an invitation, although it is a bit more interpretive.

The clear example is in Mt 11.28-30 ‘Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden…” This passage comes at the end of a message begun by the visit of John’s disciples expressing their master’s worries about the Lord’s direction. The Lord is quite clearly inviting people to respond to him.

The second example is at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Mt 7.13-27. The invitation aspect is somewhat less clear, but these verses are clearly outside the main body of the message and they distinguish two ways of response (5.1-15 are somewhat introductory, then 5.16 and 7.12 form an inclusio around the main body of the message). The first means of distinguishing two ways of response is the wide gate and the narrow gate (7.13-14). The second means of distinguishing two ways of response is the contrast between false prophets and [implied] true – by good trees and bad trees and their fruit (7.15-20). The third way of distinguishing two ways of response is the contrast between those who do the will of the father and those who only say they do the will of the father (7.21-23). And last, the two houses are means of distinguishing response to the Lord and his words: the man who builds on the rock and the man who builds on the sand (7.24-27). While there is no clear call in these words, the Lord is building a case that there is a right response and a wrong response to his words.

What to make of all this? Well, the fact is that the Lord used invitations in his preaching. We cannot deny this. I don’t think the Lord was manipulative, as some are, or called people to make public professions (the sawdust trail style) or such like inventions, but the Lord did use invitations.

Having the Lord’s invitations as a precedent, we should perhaps study them and give a bit more thought to employing them in our preaching. I am not one for a ‘go forward’ type of invitation. I have never really liked them. But we do need to put that urgency into our preaching and expect a response. May God grant us wisdom to discern how to use biblical, Christ-like invitations.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Filed Under: Preaching
by on 10.27.06

on the empty tomb – summary 10.25.06 message

We come to the end of the Synoptic Gospels with this message. The resurrection is the centre of Christian faith – without it, there is no Christianity. I remarked last night how I have heard preachers pontificate about what they will do in heaven, how they will sit down with one apostle or another, and get questions answered… (as if they will get right to the head of the line! At least we will have all eternity to stand in line!) What I would like to do is just sit and listen to their stories. I would like to hear the apostle John tell about the moment he saw the empty grave clothes and what was going on in his mind. I’d like to hear about what happened on the 27 unreported days of the resurrection period and some of those infallible proofs we don’t know anything about. Maybe the Lord will give us a couple thousand years for a Bible Conference with the twelve apostles (and Paul) as the speakers. I wouldn’t mind sitting and listening to all that.

“The resurrection message animates Christian living, witness, and hope. You must order your life by the reality of the resurrection.” In our message I reviewed the sequence of resurrection events as we have them from the various Gospels. One of the significant features of the resurrection events is that the apostles themselves, all of them, not just Thomas, had to be convinced by the actual appearance of the Lord to them. This fact teaches us how difficult it is to reach people who cannot see a risen Christ literally. It also teaches us how important it is for us to live the resurrection life so that people can see the truth of the resurrection in us. The second thing we covered in the message is a summary of resurrection teaching. What did the Lord talk about in the resurrection? Mainly the great commission. I didn’t realize this before, but the Great Commission was uttered by the Lord in various forms on separate occasions. Lk 24 on Resurrection Day. Mt 28 on a mountain somewhere in Galilee – couldn’t be the same day. Jn 21 by the sea of Galilee in the form of “feed my sheep” to Peter. Acts 1 on the Mount of Olives on the last day of the post-Resurrection period. Mk 16 seems to be a summary statement, summing up the main theme of the Lord’s teaching throughout the forty days. The Lord’s point in repeating all this is to teach us that this is the agenda of the post-Resurrection age. We are left here on earth to represent Christ, proclaim his gospel, make disciples of him, feed his sheep, until he comes. That’s it. No building mega-churches. Simply making disciples. We closed the message with a brief look at the disciples’ reaction to the Lord’s final leave taking – not sorrow and despondency, but obedience, prayer, and joy. They were anticipating the ministry the Lord promised them after the empowerment of the Spirit.

In the end, this ministry, the Lord’s ministry is what we should be all about. The Lord didn’t save us so “that you have life and you can now live that life to achieve worldly comfort, provide for your family and pay your bills and be happy.” The Lord saved you to serve, to live the resurrection life, and to preach the gospel.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Filed Under: Uncategorized