Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

If you have your Bibles with you, you can open them to Luke 23. In his book The Kingdom of God is a Party, Tony Campolo tells the story of his visit to Honolulu for a Christian Conference. On his first night there, he awoke sometime after three in the morning because the six hour time difference had confused his sleep pattern. He left the hotel to find a place to get something to eat, but nearly everything was closed. Eventually he found a tiny greasy spoon style diner that was open. There was a rough looking guy named Harry who ran the place. Other than Harry behind the counter, Tony was the only person in the diner until the door suddenly swung open and the place was quickly filled with local prostitutes.

Tony felt very uncomfortable and he was just about to leave when he overheard one of the girls tell her friend, "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?”

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

Tony writes, “When I heard that, I made a decision. I sat and waited until the women had left. Then I called Harry over 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 wanta know?"

"Because I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday," Tony told him. "What do you say you and I do something about that? What do you think about us throwing a birthday party for her right here tomorrow night?"

Big, rough Harry melted with delight. He thought it was a great idea.

At 2:30 the next morning, Tony was back at the diner. He 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!" He decorated the diner from one end to the other.

By 3:15 every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place. It was wall-to-wall prostitutes...and one preacher!

At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open and in came Agnes and her friend. Everyone yelled "Happy birthday!" Tony writes, “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 sit on one of the stools along the counter we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. When the birthday cake with all the candles 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 OK if I kind of... want I want to ask you is...is it OK 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 O.K If you want to keep the cake, keep the cake. Take it home if you want to."

"Can I," she asked. She looked at Tony and said, "I live just down the street a couple of doors. I want to take the cake home, OK? 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.

Everyone just stood there motionless, she left. When the door closed there was a stunned silence in the place. Not knowing what else to do, Tony broke the silence by saying, "What do you say we pray?”

He writes, “Looking back on it now it seems more than strange for a preacher to be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning. But then it just felt like the right thing to do.”

Tony prayed for Agnes. He prayed for her salvation. He prayed that her life would be changed and that God would be good to her. When he finished, Harry leaned over the counter and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said "Hey! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?"

Tony writes, “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 3:30 in the morning."

Harry waited a moment and then almost sneered as 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!”

The fact is that God wants us to be a church like that. This is the second message in our series called Dying to Live. In this series, we’re looking into the seven statements that Jesus made while he was hanging on the cross. Each of these statements tell us that Jesus died to bring us into the kind of life that God had planned for us. As we listen to Jesus second statement from the cross, we learn that Jesus is calling us to be “a church like that.” In this second cry from the cross, we learn that Jesus welcomes outcasts.

While Jesus was hanging on the cross, Luke 23 tells us that there were all kinds of people insulting him. The Jewish leaders and the Roman soldiers mocked him. Jesus was crucified between two criminals, and even one of them insulted him. But our focus is on a conversation between the other criminal and Jesus. Let’s pick up the story in Luke 23:39.

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43, NIV)

“Today you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus was welcoming this criminal into eternal life with God. He was welcoming a man that was absolutely rejected by his society. Insignificant, worthless, scum, all these words are accurate descriptions of how everyone felt about this thief on the cross. Everyone…except Jesus. Jesus saw worth in this worthless man. He saw something worth saving. So much so, that Jesus welcomed this outcast in God’s kingdom. As I read this story from Jesus’ crucifixion, there are three ideas that almost lead off the page for me.

First of all, when Jesus welcomed this outcast, it was amazing! What is amazing about it? This guy was a criminal. He was obviously guilty. He even admitted it himself. And now he was receiving the punishment that he deserved. He would never go to church. He would never study the Bible. He would never do all of the things that a lot of Christians believe a person should do to get in good with God. He didn’t come to Jesus with any kind of impressive spiritual résumé. He simply came to Jesus and cried, “Help!”

And amazingly, Jesus welcomed this outcast into the Kingdom of God. And even more amazingly, Jesus is still welcoming outcasts into his Kingdom. I know that because he has welcomed me.

When I compare myself to these two men, I more closely resemble the thief than I do Jesus. There is sin in my life. Notice I didn’t say there was sin in my life. There is sin in my life. I am obviously guilty, just like the thief was. I can’t bring anything to Jesus to make him accept me, and yet he does.

It’s spring training time in baseball, which is really exciting for me. Opening Day is inching closer every day. But I always like to watch Spring Training. It’s always interesting to see what happens as the management examines the team as a whole. Has this rookie developed enough to win a roster spot? Does this veteran still have enough left to be a starter? Players come into spring training with something to prove. They have to prove to the management that they can add something to the team. They have to prove their value and their worth.

What is so amazing about the cross is that Jesus died for people who couldn’t prove their worth. If we could be worthy ourselves, then the cross is meaningless. But Jesus died to pay the price for our sins because we can’t do it ourselves. We can’t be good enough. And what blows my mind is that He didn’t have to do it! Jesus didn’t have to do it. When everyone stood around the cross mocking him, saying, “Save yourself!”, he could have! Every lash he received in his scourging, every time he was spat upon, every time he was beaten, every time he was insulted, with every swing of the hammer that drove the spikes into his body, every second of the six hours he hung on the cross, He could have stopped it! He didn’t have to do any of it! But he did it so he could welcome me, this worthless outcast, into the Kingdom of God!

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I’m the wretch the song talks about. And yet amazingly, Jesus opens his arms and says, “Welcome!”

When Jesus welcomed this outcast, it was amazing, but it was not surprising. It wasn’t surprising because it’s what Jesus did his entire life.

If you turn back a few pages in the book of Luke to chapter 19, you can read Jesus’ mission statement. In one sentence, it encapsulates what Jesus came to accomplish. In Luke 19:10, Jesus says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (NIV)

To accomplish this mission, Jesus spent his time with tax collectors, who were the con men of his day. He spoke with Samaritans, a race of people which the Jews would not have any contact with at all. He healed lepers, who were ostracized and forbidden to have human contact for the rest of their lives. Jesus had compassion for a woman who was caught in bed with a man who wasn’t her husband. He allowed a woman with a very bad reputation to worship him by anointing his feet with perfume and wiping them with her hair.

This is why it is amazing, but not surprising, that Jesus welcomed this outcast on the cross. Jesus’ death mirrored his life. Mark Black calls this the “great reversal.” “The outcasts are exalted and included.” Jesus’ life, his ministry, his teaching, and his death were all about welcoming outcasts into the Kingdom of God.

Which leads us logically to the third idea we can see in Jesus’ conversation with the thief on the cross. When Jesus welcomed this outcast, he set the example for his church.

Let’s think again about how this scene unfolded. The thief recognized his guilt and Jesus’ innocence. Then, somehow, this criminal recognized what everyone else had missed. The death of this innocent man actually held the only hope for his own salvation. And so this outcast said with faith and repentance, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

And how did Jesus respond? He didn’t tell the thief that he had to get his life straight before he would be accepted. He didn’t have to take care of the sin in his life before Jesus would welcome him. Jesus accepted him immediately.

Over the years, Jesus’ church, at times, has taken a decidedly different approach. When an outcast comes to the church today, he may hear, “Go and get things straight in your life. Then come talk to us.” That’s like saying you have to get clean to take a bath.

I want to tell you the story of this guy. His name is Brian Welch. He used to be a guitarist for the hard rock band, Korn. His nickname with the band was Head, but he has since left the band. Last year, Brian Welch committed his life to Christ. Head spoke to Valley Bible Fellowship, his new church family, about the change in his life. Here’s some of what he said…

“I thought I had it all, everything I thought was important when I was a kid—money, fame, pretty women—but I came to a point where I didn’t want to live.” Brian also admitted that when he first attended Valley Bible Fellowship, he was hooked on meth. Coming to church was his last-ditch effort to kick his drug addiction. He told his church, “With Korn, I got the money, all kinds of drugs of choice, everything, but this is my life now.” He pulled a Bible out of his back pocket and said, “This is the book of life right here. It’s not about religion, it not about this church, it’s not about me. It’s about the book of life and everybody needs to be taught this. It’s crazy, it’s gonna do stuff like this, like change a guy in a rock band.”

As we hear that story, it inspires us to see this life that has been turned around. But ask yourself the hard question…What happens when someone without Brian Welch’s fame, but with all of Brian Welch’s problems, what happens when that person comes to the Amelia Church of Christ? How will they be received?

A few weeks ago, we talked about the attitude of the Pharisees during Jesus’ lifetime. This was a group of religious people who had become so self-righteous and sanctimonious that they judged everybody by their own standards. And because of that, Jesus reserved his harshest criticism for this very group of people. We have to constantly guard against that same Pharisaical attitude in our church.

There are churches where, if you’re a guy with an earring, you’re not welcome. There are churches where you’re not welcome if you use a different translation of the Bible than they do. There are churches where you’re not welcome if you drink an occasional beer. There are churches where you’re not welcome if your skin is the wrong color. There are churches where you’re not welcome if you vote for the wrong political party. There are churches where you are not welcome if you play Poker, or even Go Fish! Those are extreme examples, but every one of them is true of some churches in the United States!

Now compare those examples to the example of Jesus who immediately accepted this outcast hanging on the cross next to him. There is no comparison. The church is not an exclusive club for people who have their lives all together. It is a place of grace and healing for people who have made a mess of their lives. And instead of looking down our nose at the outcasts who come into our church, we need to remember that we’re an outcast, too. A lot of us have skeletons in the closet. We have a past that we’re not proud of. But Jesus can heal any hurt and he can restore any life.

I want to tell you about my friend, Christy. Christy’s life sounds like the script of a horror movie. When Christy was a young girl, she watched as her father was shot in a drug deal gone wrong. Christy grew up with a mother who didn’t even care if she gave her daughter enough food to eat. Her teen and young adult years were filled with binge drinking, every drug you could imagine, and more sexual mistakes than you could count. Fast-forward to today. Christy is a committed Christian who ministers to young girls who feel like they, too, are rejects. Christy has a different color hair each week. It can be anything from purple, to blue, to pink, to green. Christy has all kinds of body piercings and tattoos. Think of what the Kingdom would lose if her church said, “Well, because of your past, we just can’t accept you.” Or what if they said, “You just don’t look like the rest of us, so you’re not welcome.” Christy is an outcast who has been saved by the blood of Christ…and so am I…and so are you.

When Jesus gave his life on the cross, he was dying for us to live. He was dying for us to live in God’s Kingdom, even though we’re all outcasts. And He was dying so that we would not withhold his love to other outcasts, but so that we would allow his love and grace to just pour out of us. Jesus looked at this thief, this guy who had made some horribly bad choices, this outcast, and said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” He welcomed him into God’s Kingdom with open arms. And if you’ve never accepted this free gift of grace, he’d love to do the same thing with you. We invite you to meet him and have your sins washed away in baptism. We’re all outcasts, and yet we have a God who loves us enough to give his own life for us.

Mike Edmisten