The invitation
by Emma Strelan
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The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life … Amen. Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:17,20).
Read Revelation 22:1–11
Youth camps, ultimate frisbee, beach volleyball, camping, strawberry picking, backpacking Europe. These are some of the things I always liked the idea of but never bothered to actually consider doing until I was specifically invited by a friend to join them.
How many things in life would you not have done if you hadn’t first been invited?
Fittingly, the end of the Bible, while wrapping things up, is also an invitation. But to what? And by whom?
Firstly, we have the invitation from the Trinity to come and drink the water of life.
And secondly, John (on behalf of the church, I assume) ends his letter with the invitation to ‘Come, Lord Jesus’.
What a beautiful way to finish what is, for most, a very scary and confusing book of the Bible. An ending of relationship. Because relationship is invitation – love offered without compulsion.
It began in Genesis with God’s invitation to Adam and Eve to join him in ruling the earth and building the population. But Adam and Eve didn’t return that invitation. In fact, they were so fearful after their first act of sin that the last thing they were going to do was invite God to come!
But here in Revelation, at the restoration of all things, redeemed humanity can, without shame, cry: ‘Come, Lord!’
Recent studies indicate people in Australia might be quite interested in coming to church and finding out about this whole Christianity thing; they just haven’t been invited yet (source: National Church Life Survey). Let’s extend God’s invitation. Let’s show people they don’t need to fear a perfect God because of their own imperfections any longer. The gift of the water of life is free.
Lord God, you are always inviting us into relationship with you. Help us to take up the invitation daily and put aside any fear, reluctance or complacency getting in the way of that life-giving invitation. Amen.
Emma works as a freelance videographer in Adelaide, and she recently joined Lutheran Media as its Production Assistant. Emma also studies theology and is heavily involved in youth camping ministry around South Australia. In her free time, she eats a lot of cheese, attempts to grow vegetables (the tomatoes have been the best success so far), and has committed the majority of her ‘casual reading’ time this year to getting through War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
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