Training in Christianity: Invocation

“Come Hither Unto Me”

Soren Kierkegaard begins Training in Christianity with an invocation. He uses Matthew 11:28-29 to reflect not only on the character of Jesus, but also on the quality of the invitation that Christ offers to humanity. Kierkegaard says it is precisely Christ’s presence in a broken world that makes it clear that everyone is welcome to come to him. He distinguishes between attributes of the humble, human, earthly Christ and the heavenly Christ who will return in glory. Although Jesus is the same at all times, it is in his humanity that we are able to comprehend our inclusion in his invitation.

Several things jumped out at me in his invocation, first, I appreciated Kierkegaard’s differentiation between human healers who are often either quacks, or self-important. By contrast, Jesus is a healer who is able to truly heal, but yet remains utterly humble. His willingness to experience death is a demonstration that there is no limit to the kind of burdens we can bring to him. Even our existential despair, loneliness, and oppression in the face of the world is overcome by Christ’s love.

For Kierkegaard, Christ’s compassion is deeper than any human being is capable of. He says that it is relatively easy to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and build charitable institutions. Real compassion, however, means that the suffer must be invited into the presence of the privileged as an equal. Doing so means that both would inevitably be changed as a result of the experience. 

What most human beings are unwilling to do, is precisely what happened when Jesus came enfleshed into our world. Everyone was changed as a result. He was emptied of his heavenly glory and humanity was invited into relationship with the divine.

How we respond to that invitation determines whether we fully experience the rest Christ has to offer.