When Commands are Invitations
It was summer. We were camping. And it was raining. Every day.
My wife and I were in Austria. It had been wet for a week and our tent was wet, our clothes were wet, our rucksacks were . . . you get the picture. When you get to the stage that every morning you’re choosing between putting on wet clothes or really wet clothes, things are pretty miserable.
At the time one of my cousins lived near our campsite, and so I rang him to see if he wanted to meet up for dinner.
“Are you wet?” he asked.
I affirmed that at that moment, this was a very accurate summary of our deepest sense of ourselves.
“Come and stay at my apartment,” he said.
We didn’t need to be told twice. It was the most wonderful command anyone had ever given me—because, really, it was an invitation.
Invitational Commands
God’s commands, too, are actually invitations. And realizing this revolutionizes our attitude toward obeying them.
Take Psalm 2:11–12: “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.”
Three commands in three clauses, followed by a grave warning about the consequences of disobedience. But that’s not the end of the psalm:
“Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (v 12c)
That’s a promise, and that promise makes those commands also an invitation. Do you want to be blessed—to know the happiness, contentment, and security of life lived as well as it can be? Well, then come take refuge in God’s Son. Kiss him as your Sovereign and he will link arms with you as your Friend.
Yes, God is telling us to do something. But he is also inviting us into something—into blessing. His commands are like that.
Come to Me
When the Son walked on this earth, his ways were the same as his Father’s. Consider his famous words in Matthew 11:28–29 and ask yourself: Is this a command or an invitation?
“Come to me, all you labor and who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
It’s a clear command: Come to me. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me.
It’s also a glorious invitation: find deep soul-rest as we come to Christ and live with Christ.
To give a command requires authority. To issue an invitation requires generosity. In the Lord Jesus we see authority and generosity perfected. And understanding that Jesus never issues a command that is not also an invitation changes our relationship to him and our view of following him.
“To give a command requires authority. To issue an invitation requires generosity. In the Lord Jesus we see authority and generosity perfected. And understanding that Jesus never issues a command that is not also an invitation changes our relationship to him and our view of following him. ”
We see this in real time in the account of one of the most famous characters in the New Testament—the little man who climbed a big tree.
Get Down, I’m Coming Over
Zacchaeus lived for himself. He trampled upon others. He ignored God’s commands. It gained him a lot of money and very little happiness. Even though he kept God at arm’s length for years, Zacchaeus found himself so drawn to that very God who walked through his city that the small tax collector scrambled up a tree just to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
But Zacchaeus got more than he bargained for:
“When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.’” (Luke 19:5)
That’s a bold command! Not many people would have the temerity to tell someone to get out of a tree and to stipulate the speed at which they must do so. Not many people would tell someone to host them for the rest of the day.
How does Zacchaeus respond?
“He hurried and came down and received him joyfully.”
Zacchaeus understood. This command was an invitation—an invitation to welcome Jesus in, to walk through life with Jesus alongside him. So he obeyed, and he did so joyfully.
Not Because You Have to
Zacchaeus did not stop there. Having welcomed Jesus into his home, he “said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold’” (v 8). Zacchaeus would have known that God’s law commanded honesty, generosity, and restitution in financial dealings. This was not new information—it was just that before this day, Zacchaeus had always resisted those commands.
But not after seeing Jesus. After that encounter, Zacchaeus willingly gave away what he spent his life up to that point grabbing hold of. This is repentance—joyfully obeying Jesus because he understood that in Jesus he had all he needed. Zacchaeus was a living enactment of the truth of Psalm 16:2: “I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’”
When we know that Jesus is all we need then we give Jesus all we have. When we understand that Jesus has invited us to come to him, we are glad to obey all he asks of us.
In other words, as soon as you see a command over your life as also being an invitation into life, it transforms your attitude to obeying it. You no longer obey because you have to, but because you get to. Of course that does not make it easy or stop it being costly (just ask Zacchaeus). But it does make it joyful.
What is the Invitation?
Think about a way in which you are struggling to obey Jesus at the moment. First, let’s be clear that he has the right to issue you that command, and you do not have the right to refuse, to excuse, or to negotiate. But now let’s dwell upon the way that his command is in some way an invitation to you:
Can you see how obedience would lead to greater satisfaction or security in him?
Can you see how obedience would loosen your attachment to a false god you are prone to worship?
Can you see how obedience would enable you to be part of the way the Lord is building his church in his world?
And if the answer to all those questions is “No, not really” then simply look at Jesus—at who he is and what he is like—and see that he only ever wants your best. He wants it so much that he died to open up eternity to you. Whatever command he gives you, he is holding out an invitation to you—an invitation to take refuge in him, to find that he is the good you need, to joyfully repent and joyfully obey your Lord and Friend.
Perhaps you need to hear this today. Perhaps there is a sister or brother who needs you to remind them of this. Perhaps there are children in your home who you help to see that God’s commands are also invitations. Because this realization changes everything about obedience—and brings a joy that no earthly treasure can rival. Just ask Zacchaeus.
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