Open Hearts

Do you remember the first time that you were invited to something important? I don’t know that I remember the very first time that I was invited to a birthday party, but I do have a memory of the first time I was invited to a sleep over birthday party. I was in either kindergarten or first grade. My friend Daryl only lived about a block away, but it seemed like such a special thing to sleep somewhere other than my own house.

There’s something different about a relationship that happens when you are invited into someone’s personal space right? Like in a world of acquaintances from school, work, even church — there is a kind of special bond that occurs once we are chosen to come and have a more intimate communal moment with someone. We step into the realm of that person’s personal life. A few layers of protection are peeled off. We begin to see the real person, and that allows us to be a bit more real and vulnerable as well.

When we say yes to an invitation — to a party, a dinner, a restaurant, a walk, a conversation even — we are immediately saying yes to an investment. We are at the very least investing a little bit of time. That investment of time often pays off and we invest deeper into a relationship. The more we invest, the more that relationship grows. Suddenly we go from acquaintances to friends to family. This is the way of things, and I think it’s the way of things because it’s how God created us to experience life — As a family.

The brokenness of the world has separated us all into strangers, but I’m 100% positive that God’s initial and final intention for the human race is that we truly see one another and treat one another as family.

Today we begin a short but mighty sermon series called *dun dun dun* “Invited.” This series is a look at how God has invited us into the fruitful and flourishing life of stewardship. You might be thinking… wow that sounds like it’s about money. And you’d be right! But wait! There’s so much more!

Stewardship is about recognizing the most core base assumption that we have in the Christian faith — That EVERYTHING that we have is a gift to us from God. It’s also the easiest assumption for us to forget… because it is just so simple and because we often times have worked really hard for what we’ve got and would very much like to use it for our own personal pleasure — thank you very much.

But when we remember that we have been given gifts, that God is the one who holds the deed and the title to all of our possessions — which include our time, our talent, and our treasure — then we are in the right frame of mind to consider accepting God’s invitation to a life of stewardship AKA a life of generosity.

It’s as if God has given you a job, pays you well, but invites you to become truly rich by investing in a company stock option. It’s a invitation to ownership in what God is up to in the world. Ownership in the Kingdom of God. When we own part of our work, we’re usually more likely to make sure to help the place succeed.

So that’s all the setup for the discussion that we will have for three weeks. We are going to see how we can respond to three simple but powerful invitations that Jesus makes throughout the Gospels, and how saying yes to them can radically alter our hearts, our minds, and our lives.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is heavily portrayed as the long awaited messiah of Israel. Matthew wants his fellow Jewish people to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus is the one that Israel has placed all of their hope in. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, Israel has gone from a mighty and wealthy nation, blessed by God and promised to be the light of the world — to a thorn in the armpit of the Roman empire. They had no sovereignty, no authority, no power, no wealth, and no light to shine anywhere. Their hope was that a Messiah would come and rescue them and restore the kingdom of Israel.

Jesus, as it would turn out, was and is that Messiah. But Jesus’s power didn’t show up in military might. Jesus’s power showed up in miracles and in the way that he saw the plight of the human condition and offered humans a place to overcome their situations and be restored. And for some reason — that just wasn’t good enough for some people.

Even John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, the one who baptized him and pronounced the beginning of his ministry had questions. And Jesus had some stern words of judgement against those who saw what he was capable of and yet refused to believe that he was who he claimed to be. But after making bold statements about those who refused to believe in him, he turned around and uttered these words...

Matthew 11:25–30 NRSV

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Its very easy to ascribe this invitation of Jesus to those who have not yet found their hope and salvation in saying “yes” to Jesus’s offer of eternal life. I mean, it practically preaches itself right? Jesus says “I reveal God to those whom I chose, therefore come to me all of you and attach yourself to me.” It’s not that difficult to understand on the surface.

And it’s true that this invitation is for those who do not yet call Jesus “Lord.” It’s an invitation to the flourishing and comforting life that if offered in and through Jesus. But this is not a simple one time invitation. This is an invitation that gets repeated to us each and every morning when we draw that first breath of waking air.

Jesus gives us a standing invitation to come to him, to be present with him, and to have a relationship with him. And this is the really hard part about following Jesus. It’s easy to follow Jesus when it’s new and exciting. But continuing to say yes to Jesus’s invitation to show up in our own spiritual lives and to show up in the life of the church is a whole other reality. Life gets busy. Life gets complicated. It’s easy to slip into a life of declining the invitation of Jesus to be present. It’s easy to decline the invitation of Jesus to a life of prayer.

And the thing is, the longer we decline the invitation, the easier it becomes to continue. Our hearts begin to close off. We slowly but surely put distance between us and Jesus and between us and our community. And before we know it, it’s as if none of it was of any value to us in the first place.

This is not the life that Jesus has invited us to. Jesus has invited us to yoke ourselves to him, which means that we are connected to one another as co-workers in this world.

In early agrarian societies a yoke was a physical restraint that connected animals or even slaves to one another and to their master. The yoke could be a symbol of oppression and ownership, but it also signified the reality that these animals or people had a common occupation. Particularly for animals, it meant that they were connected and able to pull a plow or wagon at the same speed, sharing the burden of the work.

Jesus’s invitation to put on his yoke is representative of these two realities. He invites us to put on the symbol that we belong to him, but also invites us into the co-working relationship and community that is the Church. As the physical manifestation of Jesus’s love in and for the world, we are called to show up for work by being active and present in the life of our local church. We are called to check in with our boss every day through the act of prayer. We are called to continue to learn from Jesus and from one another how to live and how to love.

And Jesus’s next words are almost ironic… because he says “once you show up for work, you will find rest for your souls.” And I don’t know about you… but I don’t equate working with rest in my soul. I’ve worked my fair share of really hard production driven jobs over the years. And I never got home and thought “wow, what a restful day of landscaping in 95 degree weather! Another restful day of roofing!”

But what I do know is that doing the work of God in the world does provide the rest that Jesus promises. He doesn’t promise a life of relaxation… but he does promise a life of soul rest. And soul rest my friends is something that often comes to us when we are physically exhausted from doing the work of God. Soul rest is a gift that comes to us when we can look back on what we’ve done and say “that was the work of Jesus done in the way of Jesus.”

Soul rest comes when we sit with one another and share our burdens. It comes when we engage in the real work of getting vulnerable with one another. Soul rest comes when we put ourselves out there for one another and for our world.

The United Methodist Church has held to a slogan of “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors” for a number of years now. And we practicing having open hearts by answering “yes” to Jesus’s invitation to come to him.

Worship attendance in the United States has plummeted to all time lows since 2020. What we found was that by physically removing people from the physical fellowship of the church, they became much less likely to return. When we get removed from the source of our encouragement, from the love of God expressed through community, we just naturally stay away. That’s just statistically proven at this point.

But our other source of connection to Jesus that often suffers — regardless of whether we show up to church or not — is our prayer life. We get too busy to stop and pray. The more we go without prayer, the more closed off our hearts get. Not just to God but to our world and to the people in it.

But God has invited us into a life where we give back by showing up. Our time is God’s. We are called to use our time for God’s purposes and we are called to do that work together.

In describing the nature of the church, the Apostle Paul uses the analogy of the Body. While specifically speaking into a community that is riddled with conflict over who is more important in the church, he tells them that everyone brings specific and equal gifts to table. Listen to these words:

1 Corinthians 12:12–18 NRSV

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

When we show up, regardless of how little we think we have to offer — the church is better. My Friend Michael’s slogan for his church is “It’s better when you’re here” and man I have thought of stealing that so many times, because it’s true. It’s better when you’re here.

When you’re here, when you’re present, the church is better. Your gifts, your unique you-ness makes this church more of who God has called it to be. When you’re here so much more is possible — for you and for us.

Christ has invited you to a life of prayer and a life of presence — which could simply be summed up as a life of connection. Connection to God and Connection to God’s people.

America is in what psychologists call “a loneliness epidemic.” We are more disconnected and disassociated from real meaningful connection than ever before. This is not what God wants for us. This is not what God wants for you.

If we have your address you should be receiving a commitment card. If you didn’t get one or lost it we have extras by the doors you can pick up on your way out. What I want you to do over this week is look at that left hand pane under the open heart on the inside.

Prayerfully consider how you will commit to the stewardship of prayers and presence. Will you pray for the church and our community over the next year?

Will you commit to being in worship on a weekly basis?

Will you attend a Bible study or class?

Will you take the step and join the church?

Will you attend UMM or UWiF?

Will you attend church council meetings and be involved in the business and direction of the church?

I know that not everything is for everyone. But I do believe that everyone can find at least one way to commit. There is something for everyone at every stage of their faith journey.

I hope that you will join me in finding rest for your soul, and rsvp “yes” to Jesus’s invitation to connection.