Luke 14:21 “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.”
A jetlagged Tony Campolo was preaching in Hawaii but couldn’t sleep so went to a café at 3am. In walked a dozen prostitutes at the end of their night’s work. He overheard one of them, Agnes, say it was her birthday the following day. “What do you want from me? A birthday cake?” was the sarcastic reply. “Why be so mean?” she replied, “I was just telling you. I don’t expect anything. I’ve never had a birthday party.” When they left, Campolo asked the owner, Harry, to make a cake and prepare a party.
The following night, at 3am Campolo had brought decorations and Harry had baked a cake, and word had got out so the café was packed with almost every prostitute in Honolulu. When Agnes entered, she nearly fainted. She was overwhelmed. She nipped out for a moment and there was a stunned silence. So Campolo piped up: “What do you say we pray?” And they did. Campolo led a group of prostitutes in prayer at 3.30am. When they were done, Harry said: “Hey! You never told me you were some kind of preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?” In a flash of inspiration, Campolo answered: “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3.30am.” Harry thought for a moment and then sneered: “No you don’t. There’s no church like that. If there was, I’d join it. I’d join a church like that.”
Wouldn’t we all? Wouldn’t we all love to join a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3.30am?! Jesus loved spending time with society’s outcasts – the tax collectors, prostitutes, ‘sinners’. Pious people couldn’t relate to him but those lonely folk who didn’t usually get party invites were drawn to him.
Could you or your church do something crazy like that? Go for it!
Lord, help me invite and include everyone in your party. Amen!
Leave a Reply