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On this final Tuesday of His earthly life, we find Jesus in full-on teaching mode, and more often than not, in direct confrontation with religious “leaders.”  As the people and their “leaders” came at Jesus with question after question, Jesus taught the way He always did … with story.  One of my favorites that He shared on His final Tuesday is of a king and a wedding banquet.  The kingdom of God is such a beautiful mystery to me, and I never tire of reading or speaking about it.

A few years ago I heard a story that brought me to tears.  It touched a sacred place inside of me and spoke plainly and profoundly of what I have come to believe of the kingdom of God.  The story may make you uncomfortable at times, but I pray it is a God-honoring illustration of the kingdom Jesus brought to us as a very real baby boy, crucified Redeemer and risen Savior!  Join with me in reading an excerpt from Tony Campolo’s book Let Me Tell You a Story, about Tony and a girl named Agnes.

If you live on the East Coast and travel to Hawaii, you know that there is a time difference that makes three o’clock in the morning feel like nine.  With that in mind, you will understand that whenever I go out to our fiftieth state I find myself wide awake long before dawn.  Not only do I find myself up and ready to go while almost everybody else is still asleep, but I find that I want breakfast when almost everything on the island is still closed–which is why I was wandering up and down the streets of Honolulu at three-thirty in the morning, looking for a place to get something to eat.

Up a side street I found a little place that was still open.  I went in, took a seat on one of the stools at the counter, and waited to be served.  This was one of those sleazy places that deserves the name “greasy spoon.”  I mean, I did not even touch the menu.  I was afraid that if I opened the thing something gruesome would crawl out.  But it was the only place I could find.

The fat guy behind the counter came over and asked me, “What d’ya want?’

I told him, “A cup of coffee and a donut.”

He poured a cup of coffee, wiped his grimy hand on his smudged apron, then grabbed a donut off the shelf behind him.  I’m a realist.  I know that in the back room of that restaurant, donuts are probably dropped on the floor and kicked around.  But when everything is out front where I could see it, I really would have appreciated it if he had used a pair of tongs and placed the donut on some wax paper.

As I sat there munching on my donut and sipping my coffee at three-thirty in the morning the door of the diner suddenly swung open, and to my discomfort, in marched eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes.

It was a small place and they sat on either side of me.  Their talk was loud and crude.  I felt completely out of place and was just about to make my getaway when I overheard the woman sitting beside me say, “Tomorrow’s my birthday.  I’m going to be thirty-nine.”

Her “friend” responded in a nasty tone, “So what do you want from me?  A birthday party?  What do you want?  Ya want me to get you a cake and sing ‘Happy Birthday’?”

“Come on!” said the woman next to me.  “Why do you have to be so mean?  I was just telling you, that’s all.  Why do you have to put me down?  I was just telling you it was my birthday. I don’t want anything from you.  I mean, why should you give me a birthday party?  I’ve never had a birthday party my whole life.  Why should I have one now?”

When I heard that, I made a decision.  I sat and waited until the women had left.  Then I called over the fat guy behind the counter and I asked him, “Do they come in here every night?”

“Yeah!” he answered.

“The one right next to me, does she come here every night?”

“Yeah!” he said.  “That’s Agnes.  Yeah, she comes in here every night.  Why d’ya wanna know?”

“Because I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday,” I told him.  “What do you think about us throwing a birthday party for her–right here–tomorrow night?”

A smile slowly crossed his chubby face and he answered with measured delight.  “That’s great!  I like it!  That’s a great idea!”  Calling to his wife who did the cooking in the back room, he shouted, “Hey!  Come out here!  This guy’s got a great idea.  Tomorrow’s Agnes’s birthday.  This guy wants us to go in with him and throw a birthday party for her–right here–tomorrow night!”

His wife came out of the back room all bright and smiley.  She said, “That’s wonderful!  You know Agnes is one of those people who is really nice and kind, and nobody ever does anything nice and kind for her.”

“Look,” I told them, “if it’s okay with you, I’ll get back here tomorrow morning about two-thirty and decorate the place.  I’ll even get a birthday cake.”

“No way,” said Harry (that was his name).  “The birthday cake’s my thing.  I’ll make the cake.”

At two-thirty the next morning I was back at the diner.  I had picked up some crepe paper decorations at the store and had made a sign out of big pieces of cardboard that read, “Happy Birthday, Agnes!”  I decorated the diner from one end to the other.  I had that diner looking good.

The woman who did the cooking must have gotten the word out on the street, because by 3:15 every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place.  It was wall-to-wall prostitutes. . .and me!

At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open and in came Agnes and her friend.  I had everybody ready (after all, I was kind of the MC of the affair) and when they came in we all screamed, “Happy Birthday!”

Never have I seen a person so flabbergasted. . .so stunned. . .so shaken.  Her mouth fell open.  Her legs seemed to buckle a bit.  Her friend grabbed her arm to steady her.  As she was led to one of the stools along the counter we all sang “Happy Birthday” to her.  As we came to the end of our singing, “Happy birthday, dear Agnes, Happy birthday to you,” her eyes moistened.  Then, when the birthday cake with all the candles lit on it was carried out, she lost it and just openly cried.

Harry gruffly mumbled, “Blow out the candles, Agnes!  Come on!  Blow out the candles!  If you don’t blow out the candles, I’m gonna hafta blow out the candles.”  And, after an endless few seconds, he did.  Then he handed her a knife and told her, “Cut the cake, Agnes.  Yo, Agnes, we all want some cake.”

Agnes looked down at the cake.  Then without taking her eyes off it, she slowly and softly said, “Look, Harry, is it all right with you if I … I mean is it okay if I kind of. . .what I want to ask you is … is it okay if I keep the cake a little while?  I mean is it all right if we don’t eat it right away?”

Harry shrugged and answered, “Sure!  It’s okay.  If you want to keep the cake, keep the cake.  Take it home if you want to.”

“Can I?” she asked.  Then looking at me she said, “I live just down the street a couple of doors.  I want to take the cake home and show it to my mother, okay?  I’ll be right back.  Honest!”

She got off the stool, picked up the cake, and carrying it like it was the Holy Grail, walked slowly toward the door.  As we all stood there motionless, she left.

When the door closed there was a stunned silence in the place.  Not knowing what else to do, I broke the silence by saying, “What do you say we pray?’

Looking back on it now it seems more than strange for a sociologist to be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner at Honolulu at three-thirty in the morning.  But it just felt like the right thing to do.  I prayed for Agnes.  I prayed for her salvation.  I prayed that her life would be changed and that God would be good to her.

When I finished, Harry leaned over the counter, and said, “Hey!  You never told me you were a preacher.  What kind of church do you belong to?”

In one of those moments when just the right words came, I answered, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for whores at three-thirty in the morning.”

Harry waited a moment, then he answered, “No you don’t.  There’s no church like that.  If there was, I’d join it.  I’d join a church like that!”

In the years since I read this story, I have dared to live it out in other contexts.  My life has been deeply and profoundly changed by each and every one of my Agnes’.  I pray that as you walk through this last week of Jesus, you will come into full intersection with the kingdom of God.  It’s a wedding feast with a wide open welcome.  It’s a birthday party at 3:30 in the morning.  God is the host.  Jesus has paid the price for the bountiful feast.  You are the one the cake is for.  Are you already there?  Are you coming?