Who Is Invited?

My wife, Kristen, loves planning parties for our children's birthdays.  We have 4 girls and between them she has planned 53 parties for immediate family.  When you begin to figure in parties for friends and parties for extended family; that adds up to over 100 parties.  (If you ever need ideas, she's a wealth of information.)

Every birthday party begins with the creation of an invitation list.  Who would you invite to your next birthday party?  What kinds of people will you invite?  Why?

At this time of the year our thoughts go to the birth of the Christ child, God's Son, Emmanuel.  Considering the birth of Jesus have you ever dwelt on the people He chose to invite?  Two peculiar invites were sent out, not using the mail or human courier, but celestial messengers.  The shepherds received the best singing telegram ever sent; and the magi followed the star which was better than GPS.

Neither of these were among those you would think would be invited to the Messiah's birth party.  The shepherds were included with thieves, robbers, and cheats.  They lived solitary lives often gone for lengthy times in search of food and water for the flock, which made maintaining ritual cleansing extremely difficult.  The magi were Gentiles, heathen foreigners who likely did not worship the Creator God.  Yet it was these to whom God chose to invite to His party.

Doesn't that give you and I cause for rejoicing; for God is not a respecter of persons.  If He was willing to invite the shepherds and magi to His Birth, does He not also invite you and I to join His party?

For the full message shared on 12-02-12 at First Church of God, Racine, WI; go to:
A Birth Party - Who Is Invited?