You’re Invited

I remember when my oldest daughter, Zoe, was planning her tenth birthday party. It was going to be a slumber party, and as parents, we always let our kids decide who they wanted to invite.

When Zoe brought us her list, there was one notable name missing: her sevenyear- old little sister, Gracie. We asked why Gracie wasn’t invited. Without hesitation, Zoe replied, “Because she’s annoying.” I think every oldest sibling understands exactly what she meant.

So we broke the news to Gracie. As you can imagine, she was devastated. She cried. She begged. She followed her sister around the house all day. Finally, after hours of persistence, Zoe gave in and told her she could come after all. I think every oldest sibling understands that part too.

The truth is, most of us know what it feels like to be uninvited. Maybe it was a birthday party. Maybe it was a group of friends. Maybe it was a team, a job, or a relationship. Whatever the situation, being uninvited hurts.

It leaves you wondering, what’s wrong with me? Why wasn’t I good enough? Why wasn’t I wanted? For some people, those questions don’t disappear when childhood ends. They follow us into adulthood. We sometimes begin to believe we aren’t good enough for God either.

That’s why I love the story found in Luke 7.

Jesus is having dinner at the home of a Pharisee named Simon. It was the kind of gathering where all the right people were invited…the religious people, the people who seemed to have it all together.

Then the party gets crashed. An immoral woman from the city walks in uninvited. She wasn’t supposed to be there. Everyone knew her reputation. Everyone knew her past. Everyone knew the mistakes she had made.

She carried with her an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt at Jesus’ feet and began to weep. Her tears fell on His feet, and she wiped them away with her hair before pouring the perfume over them.

The room was filled with judgment. Simon thought to himself, “If Jesus were really a prophet, He would know what kind of woman this is.” But Jesus saw something everyone else missed. While everyone else saw her failures, Jesus saw her faith. While everyone else saw her past, Jesus saw her repentance. While everyone else wanted to keep her at arm’s length, Jesus welcomed her close.

Then He spoke the words she probably never imagined she would hear: “Your sins are forgiven.”

Think about that for a moment. What changed this woman’s life?

It wasn’t shame. It wasn’t condemnation. It wasn’t another person reminding her of all the ways she had messed up. It was grace.

Somewhere along the way she had heard Jesus’ invitation. Maybe she heard Him preach that very day. Maybe she heard the words Matthew records: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” She believed the invitation was for people like her. And it was.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus invites the people others reject. The weary. The broken. The ashamed. The doubting. The overlooked. People with baggage. People with regrets. People whose lives didn’t turn out the way they planned.

People like her. People like all of us. The good news is that Jesus is still extending that same invitation today. Not because we’ve earned it. Not because we have everything figured out. Not because our lives are free from mistakes. But because God’s grace is bigger than our failures.

No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, Jesus invites you to come to Him—to find forgiveness, to find rest, and to find the kind of hope that only He can give.

His invitation is still being extended. And once we’ve accepted His invitation, He calls us to extend that same invitation to others. Maybe the person who most needs that invitation today is someone God has already placed in your life.

Don’t keep the invitation to yourself.

There is always room for one more.