Joining The Cast - Jeremiah 10:23, 1st Corinthians 12:12-14 BREAKAWAY MONDAY

We get invitations all the time.  Maybe we receive an invitation to a party—a birthday party, a pool party, a graduation party, a summer kick-off party, or maybe a “we don’t need a reason to have a party, let’s just have one” party.  Some of us (not me by any means) may be talented athletes and receive invitations to play on an All-Star or other traveling team—myself, when it came to athletics, I was on those teams where you don’t get an invitation, your parents pay the fee and they have to put you on a team, I was one of those athletes that often was invited to keep the bench warm for those who really could play.  Even still, ending up on those teams, even a t-ball team, may come at the invitation of a friend who is playing or a parents friend, saying, “hey why don’t you bring your son or daughter—or in my case, grandson—out to play, our kid loves it.”  Maybe sports is not our thing, maybe it is music, maybe our playing has garnered us an invitation to play in the orchestra or band…maybe, not an instrument, but our voice has brought us an invitation to sing in a chorus or choir. If you use Facebook, Google+, Twitter, or any other types of social media—you probably get bombarded with invitations—invitations to accept someone as a friend or join their circle, invitations to events, invitations to like pages, invitations to view pictures, invitations to “hangout,” and the list of invitations goes on and on.  Turning to “Lights…Camera…Action…” we know that with most of the movies that we watch, the actors and actresses on the screen are there because they accepted an invitation to star in the movie.  Aren’t we glad that Robert Downey Jr. accepted the invitation to play Iron Man (it could have been Tom Cruise), or Tom Hanks accepted the role of legendary Forrest Gump (after John Travolta turned down the role)? Can we picture Belle if Kristen Stewart had not accepted the invitation to play the lead?  Our movie, television, and computer screens are filled with actors and actresses who accepted an invitation to join the cast of whatever movie we are watching.

Many of us are here today because we received an invitation—maybe it was a friend or another member of your youth group, maybe your parents or pastor or youth pastor, said, “hey I think you ought to check out this thing called Summer Breakaway.”  The staff that are here are a result of saying yes to an invitation from Ray Pearce and the design team.  We are all here because we have accepted the invitation to Join the Cast of an event called “Summer Breakaway 2013.”

There is something about all these invitations we’ve talked about.  For every party that we are invited to, there are quite a few folks who are not invited.  For those who are invited to play on a “all-star” sports team or in an “all-county” band or chorus, there are those whose skills were not quite up to par, and were not invited.  We don’t just invite everyone to “friend us” or to “hangout” when on our computers.  And for every star in our favorite movie, there are those who were not considered right for the part.  Even for Summer Breakaway, due to the limits of the campus, there were some who “auditioned” by sending in their applications, but because of the limits of dorm space on the campus, did not receive that letter inviting you to attend and be part of this cast.  When we are not invited or when we don’t make the cut, we are left with a feeling of rejection.  We question ourselves and our own worthiness.  It may cause us to break down in tears or play it cool—but it still makes us question our abilities and gifts, our worth or value, or even whether we are loved.

This week, though, we are talking about joining a cast that is without limits.  Paul tells us that those who are invited to the cast are Jews and Greeks, slaves and free.  All brought into the one cast of God’s family.  While other invitations may exclude, the invitation to from God is to include.  God invites all to come into his body through baptism in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.  All are invited—it does not matter our ethnicity or our skin color, it does not matter whether we are male or female, it does not matter whether we are young or old, it does not matter whether we dress in the latest styles or the grungiest clothes, it does not matter whether we know how to play sports, sing, play an instrument or even act.  Those things do not matter—God invites us to be part of his cast—His One Body, the Body of Christ—all we have to do is accept the invitation to let Him be the director of our lives.

Having a director is important.  Do you think Man of Steel would have been number one in the box office this past weekend if Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and the rest of the cast had accepted their invitations to be part of the cast and just walked about the set doing and saying whatever they wanted?  They could have, but the movie would have likely never made it to the big screen.

Our theme verse this week is from Jeremiah 10:23—“I know, O Lord, that the way of human beings is not in their control, that mortals, as they walk cannot direct their steps.”  Some might hear this verse and think, what’s the point of doing anything…we have no control, God is in control, our lives are not our own, we have no free will.  That’s far from the truth.  God has always been about giving us a choice as to whether to allow Him to be the director of our lives.  From Adam and Eve in the garden who tried ignore the guidance of God as their director to Jesus in the Garden who submitting to God’s direction said, “My Father, if it is possible let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want, but what you want.”

God will let us go on our own, but we will find that when we try to direct our own lives, we will always end up being less than we could be—things may seem great for a moment, but in the end, there will be nothing but chaos—yet if we decide to turn control over to God, He will make us part of the greatest cast every assembled, and, my friends, God is inviting each one of us to do just that today, right now, at this very moment.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.