Pastor Bruce told an unforgettable story yesterday to illustrate loving the unlovable…
There was a pastor in Hawaii, his name was Tony. One night he couldn’t sleep at all, just tossing and turning and finally he just got up and went for a walk. He ended up at this hole-in-the wall coffee shop and sidled up to the counter and said, “just give me a coffee and doughnut.” So here he is at 3:30am, at a mom-and-pop joint, with his coffee and doughnut. In walk some prostitutes, loud and rambunctious, dressed like prostitutes, and they sit on either side of Tony. So here he is, a pastor, at 3:30am, at a hole-in-the wall, with three prostitutes. They’re talking animatedly, and then one prostitute says at one point, “You know, it’s my birthday tomorrow.” And the others tease back, “What do you want us to do, throw you a party, get you presents, what?” And the first woman says, “No, no, no, I was just saying that it’s my 39th birthday.” And after a while, they leave, just as abruptly as they came. The pastor turns to the short-order cook and asks him “Do those girls come in here all the time?” And he replies, “Yea, yea, yea, every night, 3:30am, when they’re done with their shift (sidenote: i guess prostitutes work in shifts?!), they come right in here and get some food, every night, same time.” Then Tony asks, what about the girl whose birthday is tomorrow, does she come in every night?” And the cook answers, “Oh, Agnes! Yea, Agnes comes in every night, 3:30am, like clockwork.” Then the pastor proposes,” What if we were to throw her a birthday party at 3:30 tomorrow? I’ll go buy some decorations and we can get a cake and when they come in, they’ll be so surprised! How about that?” The cook thought quizzically about it for a moment and then offered, “That’s a crazy idea. But I think we should do it.” And so the next evening, Tony pulls up with decorations and soon after, prostitutes come pouring in to attend the party. (apparently, word had spread!) They get everything ready and then at 3:30am, in walks Agnes and her friends and everyone screams, “Surprise!” A dumbfounded Agnes blows out the candles and when asked to cut the cake, she pauses, staring at it, and then asks,” Do you mind if I take this cake home to show my mom? I’ve never had a cake before.” And of course, Tony graciously tells her to do so and off Agnes runs with the cake and then there Tony is with a room full of prostitutes! So what does one do?! Tony take the opportunity to say, “Well, I’m a pastor at church here and I would like for us to pray for Agnes.” Suddenly, the cook chimes in, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you’re a pastor?! What kind of pastor are you?! Here you are, in the middle of the night throwing the prostitutes a party…I thought maybe you were trying to get a quickie in there or get a freebie or something. If you’re really a pastor, then I want to know of what church; because I’ll join that church” And Tony told them which church in Hawaii he pastored and that night, he gained some followers.
The point of this story? Get out of the rules and get into LOVING PEOPLE. If more people showed their love like Tony did, I bet you that we would have a lot more people going to church.
Bruce said that we get into trouble when we compare ourselves with others. Just like Cain and Abel ended up embroiled in envy and spite and violence, so will we suffer if we delude ourselves by thinking that our sin is greater than God’s love. Our acceptance isn’t based on our sins; it’s based on God’s love. Oftentimes, we don’t accept ourselves. And that makes it impossible to accept others. But if we use God’s love towards us as the guideline for how we are to love others, then we should love everyone.
Religion by rules is what got the world into so much trouble. It’s faith by living sacrificially that is what God wants for us. Jesus crossed the universe to show us His love. So do we have to get up. Oftentimes we sit at home thinking, “Woe is me, nobody loves me.” So, do something about it. Reach out to your community, grab a cup of coffee with someone, look for the love, build the love.
Small groups are not meant to be bible studies for Christians. They’re meant to be times to outreach and form relationships. It’s all about the relationships formed.
Again: Get out of the rules and get in to loving people. We cannot mess up so much that He doesn’t still come running after us.
