Party!

Let me ask you a question, okay? Can you be holy and still enjoy your life?

Okay? Can you be holy, like kind of really holy,

like kind of really serious about God, and enjoy your life?

You see, I met a guy who, John, as a non-Christian, he said to me,

I believe Christianity is true, but I can't become a Christian

because I'd have to give up sleeping with my girlfriend.

That's what he said.

I met another lady, we'll call her Pam.

She's a Christian.

She said, I'm worried about getting too serious about my faith

because Christians who are serious about their faith

have like this whole list of things they shouldn't do.

And I want to have fun, so I don't want to get too serious.

I know it's true, but I don't want to get too involved.

And with both of those kind of people,

and that may be even some of you here today,

I know it's definitely been me at times,

the implication is if I follow God too seriously,

if I get too holy, in inverted commas,

then that's going to restrict my life in some way.

It's like saying kind of, come and be a Christian

and amputate your leg, and it will be fun.

You know, that's not very appealing.

But we're looking at this series in Deuteronomy,

and this series in Deuteronomy is how God has brought

the people of Israel to the promised land,

this land of incredible blessing.

And Moses is giving a final pep talk before they're going in.

And what he's going to say is,

this is, I've saved you.

This is how I want you to live now as my people in this land.

And around you, there's going to be a whole load of people.

And when they look at you, if you keep following me,

they're going to see something so attractive, so intriguing.

You're going to be this holy people to me

that people are going to want to say,

who's the God that you follow?

Because there's something about you which is different.

That's what Deuteronomy is really about.

And today, I want to look in three things

at how God wants to make us these kind of holy people

who can enjoy life with Him.

So we're going to talk about tithe, party, and invite.

Okay?

Tithe, party, invite.

Simple.

So have your bulletin with me, open with me.

And look at verse 22.

It says,

Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce

every year.

Okay?

Basically, this says,

Tithe.

Okay?

Now, we have a lot of misconceptions about what tithing is.

So I want to give you a little bit of background

to help you to understand what's going on in this context.

Okay?

I want you to picture this.

It's a farming community.

Okay?

Not much of that goes on in Hong Kong.

But this is a farming community,

and your income is to produce what you get.

So what you get from the land,

there's no welcome or park and shop.

Okay?

Everything you get for your life,

your wealth comes from your land.

And so giving away the tithe,

and the tithe simply meant tenth,

was a part of giving away the very thing

that was sustaining your life.

And there were three types of tithe.

I don't know if you knew that.

There were three types of tithe.

One tithe was called the priest's tithe.

Basically, it went to the Levites,

who were kind of like the church staff of the time.

They made sure the religious system was working well.

Okay?

That's one tithe.

There was a second tithe,

which was a party tithe.

And this goes to kind of having this amazing family meal together.

We're going to talk a bit more about this later.

And the third tithe was the tithe,

what I call the poor tithe.

It's basically every three years,

you were to give so that those who had no access to the land,

who weren't landowners,

could benefit and be blessed.

Okay?

And scholars kind of debate whether

these tithes were three completely separate tithes,

because if they are,

they add up to about 23% of income.

Okay?

And even if they're not necessarily all completely different,

what we know from another parallel passage,

Deuteronomy 12,

is this,

that the Israelites would not just bring the tithe.

They'd also got to bring burnt offerings,

sacrifices,

special gifts,

free will gifts,

and even your firstborn cow and sheep.

Okay?

So,

what's happening,

Old Testament believers didn't give just 10%.

Okay?

They didn't give 10%.

They gave far more than that.

So,

what's going on?

Imagine the scene.

Okay?

There's your average Israelite.

Let's call him Ian.

Okay?

Ian the Israelite.

So,

he would be going,

one time a year,

he'd go up with his donkey,

and on his donkey would be olive oil,

wheat,

bottles of Chardonnay,

lamb chops,

beef steaks.

He'd take them all up with him to the place of worship,

which later on would become the temple in Jerusalem.

Okay?

And he'd do all of this,

and he'd bring it all,

and he'd give it there as worship to the priest.

And he'd do it with his whole family was there,

and the whole community was there,

and it was this great festival.

I mean,

it looked like a mix between,

just picture the scene.

You've got all these animals,

everything.

It was more like a mix between a farm,

a slaughterhouse,

a butcher's,

and a festival.

It wasn't a nice church service.

Okay?

This was a fun,

exciting activity.

And God commands this.

Okay?

Which is a little weird.

Why does God command this kind of bringing of everything up to the temple?

Well,

in the culture around,

tithing wasn't unusual.

Okay?

Other people,

other than the nations around them,

also did tithes,

but they were actually more like a government tax.

Okay?

So,

just to kind of keep the administration running.

And you know how we love taxes.

Right?

Um,

you know,

because with taxes,

you're always thinking,

can I find a loophole to pay less?

Right?

What's the minimum amount I can get away with?

I mean,

just ask Donald Trump,

Lionel Messi,

anyone storing their money in the Cayman Islands,

or Mossack Fonseca.

Okay?

We're all,

taxes are not our fun favorite thing to do.

Right?

You know,

this year,

I actually got,

I got two tax bills.

I got the first tax bill,

came through,

and it said,

$365.

And I was like,

yes!

I then got a second tax bill.

Which wasn't $365.

And said,

oh,

the last tax bill was just making up what you didn't pay last year.

Here's the real one.

And I went,

no.

Because,

it's my hard-earned money,

and they're taking it before I can even enjoy it.

Right?

That's tithing as tax.

But Israel was to be different.

Their tithing wasn't a tax.

The difference was,

their God wasn't the government.

Their God was the one who was the source of all their material blessings.

And so when God tells the people,

I want you to come and give this,

it's a call to,

a couple of things,

it's a call to perspective,

and it's a call to joy.

To actually enjoy.

Perspective,

he's calling people to recognize,

everything you've got,

everything you've got,

is a gracious gift from God.

You know,

the act of giving,

it says in verse 24,

you have been blessed by the Lord your God.

You know,

if you have nothing to give,

right?

You have nothing to give.

You haven't been given anything.

If you've been given something,

you have something to give.

And so,

when you looked in your bank account,

or your barn,

as it would have been,

and you're then sorting out,

okay,

I'm going to give a tenth of this,

it's this reminder,

I've been blessed,

with enough that I can give.

And you know,

the temptation,

when you kind of hold on to your money,

is always to think,

for them it would have been,

my great agricultural techniques,

have got all of this stuff in this barn.

Aren't I great?

I deserve to keep this for myself.

And it's really interesting,

the richer you are,

often the less tax you pay.

Do you notice that?

Like,

think of Google,

Apple,

Amazon,

in fact,

most large countries,

they're all trying to get out of paying tax.

Because when we feel like we've got something,

and we're not free to give,

we always feel like we want to hold on.

And what happens is this,

when you give,

it unlocks gratitude.

And gratitude releases joy.

You know,

Jesus says,

it's more blessed,

that means happy,

fulfilled,

content to give,

than to receive.

And we know that.

You know when you give a present,

and you see the joy in somebody's face,

when they give it.

That is actually more satisfying,

than just getting it yourself,

than after a day or so,

kind of wanting another one.

Right?

You see,

I've seen,

when your hearts just want to hold on to things for ourselves,

we become entitled.

I've seen a mom,

slaving in the kitchen,

cooking dinner,

and a child's waiting for her to bring her food,

telling her,

hurry up.

I've seen this.

And then she brings it,

and the only comment the child makes was,

okay,

you can go now.

And you know,

sometimes,

I've also seen it where,

you know,

they've produced all this food for you,

and then there's complaints,

that there wasn't enough dessert.

And there weren't enough potatoes,

or rice,

or pasta,

or they wanted something else.

Right?

Have you seen that?

Have you been that person?

Yeah?

You see,

what happens when you feel entitled to something,

you don't express gratitude for it,

and you don't notice how much you've been given,

and how much you're blessed with.

But what,

and you know,

entitled people are always complaining.

You notice that?

They're never happy.

And when God says,

I want you to give,

what he's saying is,

I want your heart to recognize how much I've given to you.

And out of gratitude,

give back a portion,

out of appreciation,

because that's going to release your heart from entitlement.

Because you see,

everything you have is gift.

You know,

kids who always want to keep the toys for themselves,

always feel hard done by,

when they've kind of got to let go of it.

But the ones who are generous,

there's a contentment about them,

when they let others share with it.

So God's saying,

if you want to enjoy,

as part of God's holy people,

you've got to give.

But let me,

let me just kind of give a little,

um,

proviso on this.

This is the Old Testament,

right?

This is the Old Testament.

So should New Testament Christians tithe?

What do you think?

Should you give 10% to the church or to anything?

Well,

the New Testament

has no command for you to tithe.

There isn't a command for you to tithe.

Did you know that?

Here's what Tim Keller,

Pastor Tim Keller says.

People have often asked me,

you don't think now in the New Testament,

believers are required to give away 10%,

do you?

And he says,

I shake my head and say no.

And they give a sigh of relief.

But then I quickly add,

I'll tell you why you don't see the tithing requirement

laid out in the New Testament.

Think.

Have we received more of God's revelation,

truth,

and grace

than Old Testament believers or less?

Usually there's an uncomfortable silence.

Are we more debtors to grace

than they were or less?

Did Jesus tithe his life and blood to save us

or did he give it all?

He says,

tithing is a minimum standard for Christian believers.

We certainly wouldn't want to be in a position

of giving away less of our income

than those who had so much less of an understanding

of what God did to save them.

What he's saying is this.

You don't need to tithe.

But if that's a relief to you,

then you've never understood

what giving is all about,

what the tithing was meant to be about.

The New Testament says again and again,

when the gospel works in your life,

when you realize how much God has given you,

then that always bears the fruit of generosity,

whether that's to the church,

whether that's to your family,

whether that's to the poor around you,

whether that's to gospel ministry like with Amelia,

it always responds with that

because God loves a cheerful giver.

You know, some of us give,

and I can put my hand in this category,

but we're miserable givers,

because we see giving as like a tax

that we kind of want to get out of,

but we've got to do

because that's what we've got to do.

But you don't understand that when you give,

God's saying,

I want to release joy to you,

to release you from entitlement,

to see how much I have given you,

and it to be a blessing.

Gospel generosity and gratitude

are like an inseparable married couple.

You can't have one without the other.

Okay.

So let me ask you the challenge.

Are you in a regular rhythm of giving?

Whether it's to the church,

whether it's to anything outside,

whether it's the poor,

whether it's those things.

If you're not,

you may be missing out on joy in Christ.

But if you are,

can I ask you,

how often do you give thanks that you can give?

I find this convicting.

How often do I give thanks

every time I go to give,

whoever I'm giving to?

Because what God wants to do,

if you want to find that pleasure

in the grace of God,

get in the habit of every time you give,

give thanks that He's been so generous to you.

And when you start doing that,

you'll begin to see His grace

and His love in your life

in new and exciting ways.

Gratitude is a beautiful thing.

But this isn't a sermon just about money.

Because the holy people give,

but the holy people do something else.

They also party.

I love this.

I haven't heard many sermons on partying.

But this is great.

Because giving is not just here about our joy.

This giving, this tithe,

was about building a God-centered community together.

Okay?

Look in verse 23.

Eat the tithe of your corn,

new wine, and olive oil,

and the firstborn of your herds and flocks

in the presence of the Lord your God

at the place He will choose

as a dwelling for His name,

so that you may learn

to fear the Lord your God always.

Did you see what he said?

Eat.

Did you get that?

That's a command.

Okay?

Eat, he says.

And he says,

eat all this great stuff,

like lamb chops, steaks.

You know,

think of all this large amount of stuff

that Ian, the Israelite,

is bringing up.

They're taking up.

They give it to the priest.

And then as a portion,

he says,

now,

the priest gives some back to them

and says,

now go and have fun.

Go and have fun.

He says,

basically,

enjoy this in the presence of God.

Enjoy it.

Okay?

I didn't know if you've had that command before.

But,

and he says,

if you've got too much stuff to take,

like,

you're thinking,

I need a degree in logistics

to be able to bring all this stuff up to Jerusalem.

He says,

basically,

change it into money.

Verse 26,

spend the money to buy plain congee.

Is that what he says?

He says,

spend the money to buy whatever you like.

Okay?

Wagyu beef in truffle sauce,

rosemary crusted lamb chops,

marinated in red wine,

chocolate pudding,

whatever,

anything your heart desires.

Anything you wish.

It says,

literally,

that means whatever your soul asks for.

Okay?

Whatever your soul asks for.

And he says,

then you and your household,

eat there in the presence of the Lord your God,

and rejoice.

What's he saying?

He's saying,

meals

are about

belonging

and strengthening yourself

as part of a community.

And this community is a community

that God is wanting you to find joy in.

I,

I visited India once.

And,

it was an amazing experience.

It was just a great time.

But,

we,

when I was in India,

we had curry

three times a day.

Breakfast,

lunch,

and dinner.

I know,

Vijay,

you're,

you can tell me afterwards.

But,

after a few days,

I have to admit,

I just never wanted to see another curry in my life.

I mean,

it was good curry,

but,

like,

three times a day.

You know,

I like my muesli.

And,

I was salivating over the thought of having anything that wasn't curry.

When I,

when I got back home,

to the UK,

I enter the house of my door,

and I could smell,

a roast lamb dinner cooking.

And,

you know what?

I knew I was home.

Because,

food,

is one of those things that make you know that you're home.

Right?

That you belong.

That you're welcome.

It binds you together as a family.

Like,

so many of my Hong Kong friends.

Do you know,

I've asked them,

how do you know your mom loves you?

And,

they say,

because she makes chicken soup for me.

there is something,

very powerful,

about food,

which brings you together,

brings a sense of welcome,

belonging,

and closeness.

And,

God has designed it like that.

And,

when God says,

I want you to eat,

and rejoice together in my presence.

You see,

it's in his presence.

It's not just together.

It's a worship experience.

I want you to taste,

experience a taste of what it's like to be at home with me.

To be at home with me.

Together as my family with me.

I want you not just to hear about my love from a sermon.

I actually want you to literally taste my love for you.

In a meal.

Every day.

And,

that's one of the reasons why,

as a church,

we want to have a regular rhythm of eating together.

Did you know?

That's,

it's,

it's one of the reasons why we have community lunches.

It's one of the reasons why we have food in our community groups.

Food,

food,

binds,

unites,

is a worshipful,

can be a worshipful experience when you're doing it for the glory of God.

With gratitude in your heart.

Thanking him for what he's given you.

Some of you are gifted in cooking.

Some of you are gifted in organizing parties.

Some of you have homes,

but you've never realized that actually God has given you those things as part of the body

to enable us to be the community that God wants us to be.

And so if you have those gifts,

you need to use them and invite people and go and eat meals with people.

In this community.

There's also a flip side.

If you don't ever eat or drink coffee or whatever with people in this community,

you're never going to truly feel at home here.

You're never going to truly feel at home here.

That's why when people come in and out of church and don't connect,

it's never going to be your home.

You're going to have your home somewhere else.

And God says,

I want you to know my home with me,

with my people together.

So there's a challenge.

Eat with people.

This week,

eat with people as worship to him.

But the second thing is,

and this is really extraordinary,

he says,

do this,

eat,

so that you may learn to fear the Lord.

Did you see that?

Have you ever thought of the connection between eating and fearing God?

Because this is what it says.

Now think about it.

Fear is the heart response when you hold something so precious.

Like if I give you a Ming vase,

I have a Ming vase,

I say,

here's a Ming vase,

now hold it.

You know a Ming vase is so priceless

that if you drop it,

you know there's that fear

of something,

you fear hurting it in some way.

And fear of God is in a similar way,

that sense of knowing he is so precious

and so awesome

that you don't want to do anything

to in one sense hurt him.

You're not going to break God like a Ming vase,

but there is something of his preciousness.

You do not want to hurt him by sinning.

And so,

when he says,

I want you to eat together

so that you may see how precious

and valuable I am,

he's saying,

I want you to see

that everything that is good in your life

comes from me.

And the more precious I am to you,

the more you will fear me

and the more that you will love and obey me.

So when you eat

and you eat together,

here's one thing.

If you want to find that pleasure in God

through this meal,

give thanks.

Okay?

Give thanks.

Now,

I had a revelation

about six months ago

because I'm used to saying grace

before a meal.

Whoever says grace before a meal?

Anyone?

I was brought up like that.

I had a,

here's how I used to say grace.

I used to say,

thank you Jesus for this food,

I'm in.

Eat.

Eat.

It was a religious ritual to me.

A few months ago,

I had this revelation.

When I sit down and eat

and there's this food before me,

this is a personal gift

of a God of grace

to me,

telling me that he loves me.

This is grace on a plate.

Right?

Grace on a plate.

And,

I have become so taking it for granted

that I've stopped treasuring

and savoring him

in these little moments of life.

Because when you do that

and you see how thankful you can be

that he's given you so many things,

then it stops your heart

from just being discontented all the time

when you don't get what you want

because you see he loves you.

So build in that habit of grace,

that habit of saying thank you.

Simple.

But that's how you can find

some pleasure

in knowing the love of God.

Now,

some of you are kind of thinking,

ooh,

food.

Great.

That now helps me to indulge

in everything that I wanted to.

But there is a twist to this.

And I want you just to think about this

for a second.

We are called to eat together,

to enjoy God's goodness,

to thank him for all these things.

But there's a twist

because you can go through

the whole Bible story

and tell it through the theme of food.

Do you know that?

I challenge you,

go and read the gospel stories

and you'll see food is everywhere.

What causes Adam and Eve to sin?

Food.

Food.

Right?

You see,

God has created this banquet

in the Garden of Eden.

He says,

every tree you can eat from.

And what do they say?

Yeah,

but I want that one.

I don't want what you've given me.

I want that one.

You see,

all sin

is seeking to satisfy

natural God-given

appetites and cravings.

In a way that God has said,

no,

that's not the way to do it.

At a time when he says,

no,

not now.

God says,

wait,

you want it now.

God says,

no,

you say,

I'm going to get it anyway.

Right?

In Hong Kong,

there's a lot of partying.

There's a lot of drinking.

There's a lot of eating of meals.

There's a lot of laughter

on the outside,

but on the inside,

there's a lot of emptiness.

There's a lot of loneliness.

There's a lot of hurt.

We overeat.

We overdrink.

We comfort eat

to fill that emptiness.

Anyone done that?

You know,

you're feeling a bit down

until you get a bar of chocolate.

We do these things

because we use food

to replace God

as the source of our joy.

And we look to his gifts

rather than looking to the giver

to provide what he says,

I will provide you with.

And so we are like Adam and Eve

saying to the God,

the host who has provided

all these things,

whether it's financial,

whether it's the food,

and we say,

you can go now.

Just give me this stuff.

You can go now.

And I'll call you

when I want dessert.

I'll call you

when I need you

to help me with my kids

getting into the school.

I'll call you

when I need you

to help me get a boyfriend.

I'll call you

when you need to help me

get a better job.

But I'll do the rest

for myself.

If someone invited you around

and said,

you know,

you invite somebody around

to your house for a meal,

you put on this amazing banquet,

and then they come to you

and they say,

okay,

you can go now.

I'm going to eat this.

And then they go

and raid your fridge

when you told them not to.

Would you invite them back again?

Like,

they would be the kind of people

I'd be avoiding.

Right?

But I realize

when I take everything

that God gives me

for granted,

I am just like that.

Daily.

And I want to get things my way,

but I don't want to recognize

Him as the source of things.

So I go elsewhere

and I expect Him

to provide for me now.

And when He doesn't,

I'm like,

God, how do you love me?

I can't believe

you don't love me

because you didn't give me this.

But all the time,

He's providing

and providing

and providing

and I don't realize it

because I've taken it

for granted.

and that's very much

at the heart

of what the Bible

says sin is.

Do you know Romans 1 says

sin was

we didn't give thanks

to God.

We didn't give thanks

to Him.

We wanted it our way.

And do you know

what the amazing thing

about this story,

if you traced it through

with meals,

when Jesus comes,

what's the greatest accusation

that is made against Jesus?

He eats and drinks

with sinners.

That's what they say to Him.

He eats and drinks

with ungrateful,

disobedient sinners

like you and like me.

And you see,

there's something

as you look in this picture

of the community

in the Old Testament

which was pointing forward

to the church

that He was going to create

later on.

And there's something

that we forget

when you look at this family meal,

when you look at the way

God has set things up

in this celebration,

unless you're Jewish,

anyone Jewish?

Not too many hands.

You're not invited.

You weren't invited to the fact

because you're not part

of the family.

I'm not part of the family.

You know,

you don't have the WhatsApp invite.

You're left out of the group.

And frankly,

if I was somebody else,

I wouldn't want to invite

somebody who's ungrateful

and feels entitled like me

who takes everything for granted.

But that experience,

I don't know,

have you experienced

that being left out

before from a group,

from a meal?

You know,

you come to church

or you come to work

and nobody wants to speak to you.

Everyone has their own little circle

and you're on your own.

Well,

that's what the Bible says spiritually.

That's what we're like.

We're outsiders

because we deserve

to be outsiders.

but Jesus is the one

who comes and says,

I eat and drink with you,

with sinners like you.

You know,

the words of Revelation,

he says,

I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone opens the door,

what will happen?

Do you know the verse?

I will come in

and I'll eat with you.

I'll pay that place of belonging

and welcome.

When you were left outside

and I wanted you

to be left outside,

I have brought you in

and I brought you

into relationship with myself

so you can enjoy my goodness.

If you keep chasing

after everything else

to satisfy you,

you're going to be left empty.

We will do communion later.

What is communion?

It's a meal.

It's a meal which is meant to say,

this is how much it costs me

to invite you.

It costs me my whole life

to invite you

so you can join in

with a family meal.

Heaven and the new creation,

what's it described as?

A wedding feast,

a banquet

because God wants you

to be there in the meal.

If you're not a Christian,

the challenge to you is

God says,

I want to invite you

to the meal.

Are you just going to say,

I want your gifts,

I want the food

but I don't want you?

Or are you going to say,

you are the host

and I want you

and when I get you,

I get everything else.

The gospel says,

calls us to be

a holy,

generous,

giving people

who are enjoying God

in His way

as worship to Him,

partying in a regular rhythm

of partying.

But the last thing is,

invite.

Okay?

Because this is not

a self-centered

kind of

parting from myself.

Verse 27

says,

don't neglect

the Levite

living in your towns.

At the end

of every three years,

bring all the tithes

of that year's produce

and store it

in your towns

so that the Levites

and the foreigners

and the fatherless

and the widows

who live in your towns

may come and eat

and be satisfied

so that the Lord

your God

may bless you

in all the work

of your hands.

Okay?

So here's this community

which are enjoying

the celebration

and the blessings of God

and then he says,

it's not meant

to be just kept for you.

This is not a holy huddle

just for you.

Because in the land

there were immigrants,

people who didn't have

families to celebrate with.

There were the fatherless

and the widows

who weren't able

to join in them

because they had nobody there

who could bring them to.

They were those

on the outside.

And Israel was called

to be distinctive

because their enjoyment

with God's blessings

was meant to overflow

to others

so that they could find

a home and belonging too.

You know,

this is the story

of the whole church.

This is the story

of how God

brings people

into his family

and then in Acts

it says,

the church came together

and they were rejoicing

with glad hearts

praising God,

eating meals together

in each other's homes

and then it says,

and people were added

to their number daily.

There is something

of eating

that is a context

for mission.

One pastor

tells a story

of how he went

to Honolulu

traveling

3.30 in the morning

and he's hungry.

So he goes down

out of his hotel room,

goes down on the streets

trying to find

somewhere to eat

and there's nothing's open

and then finally

he ends up

and he finds

this little

kind of seedy bar

on the corner

and he goes in there

and he goes to sit down

on the kind of greasy stool

by the counter

and he's looking at it,

looking at the menu

and just then

as he's looking

at the menu,

in walk

about eight

sex workers

and they come down

and they sit

all on either side

of him

and he's thinking,

I hope my congregation

don't see me now.

And as he's sitting there

kind of trying

not to look

too interested

in anything,

he overhears

a conversation

and one of the ladies

says to her friend,

he says,

hey,

it's my birthday tomorrow

and her friend

says to her,

Agnes,

which is the other

person's name,

why are you telling me that?

Why should I care?

What do you want?

A birthday cake

or something?

The Agnes replies,

hey,

don't be so mean to me.

Like,

I'm only just saying,

I wasn't asking for anything

and the conversation

carries on

for a little while.

Eventually,

the ladies leave

and all that's left

is this pastor

with the barman

and he says to,

the pastor says

to the guy,

hey,

what do you think

about holding

a birthday party

for Agnes tomorrow?

The barman goes,

wow,

that's a great idea.

I'll get the cake.

So what they do together,

they organize

this birthday party.

Next night comes,

word's gone out,

the bar is packed full

of sex workers

and all kinds of people

like wall-to-wall

prostitutes everywhere

and this pastor

in the middle of them.

It's Lark,

they shut all the lights off

and then Agnes walks in.

They turn on the lights

and then suddenly

everyone starts singing

happy birthday to her.

You should have seen her face.

She's stunned.

Somebody carries Agnes

over to the stall,

sits her down

and then they bring out

the birthday cake.

At that moment,

Agnes loses it.

She's crying,

just tears falling down her face

and everyone's saying,

cut the cake,

cut the cake,

go and get on with it,

cut the cake

and she says to him,

hey,

do you mind if I just

take this cake

to my mom?

Because

I've never had

a birthday cake before

and the pastor's like,

well,

okay,

sure,

it's your birthday cake

and he's like,

oh,

she just lives

a couple of doors

down the road

so Agnes goes off

with the birthday cake

and they're left in there,

this guy with all these,

all these people in there

and he says,

he says he just felt

the thing to do

was at that moment

to pray.

So he prays and says,

God,

please,

we pray for Agnes,

we pray that you'd heal her,

we pray that you'd do

a restoration in the work,

in her life

and then after,

at the end of it,

he opens his eyes

and the barman's

looking at him

and saying,

what are you?

Are you a preacher

or something?

And the guy says,

well,

yeah,

not really,

you know,

and he said,

listen,

which church

do you go to?

And the guy says,

in that moment,

I go to the kind

of church

that throws parties

for prostitutes.

The barman answers,

that kind of church

doesn't exist.

If it was,

I would go to it.

What's the point

of that story?

You see,

that's the kind of church

Jesus died to create

and it may not be

sex workers.

It may be people

in your office.

It may be people

who are just around you

but people

who are on the outside

who are lonely,

who are hurting,

who are desperate

and the church

that God has died

to create

is one that is not

just living,

eating with its own tribe

but is welcoming others

to experience it.

I sat in Friday

in Starbucks.

I was doing a Bible study

with somebody

and all the time,

I could see someone

just eavesdropping

on me.

At the end

of our conversation,

I go to stand up

and this woman

turns around

and says to me,

hey, hold on a second.

Can I ask you a question?

And I said,

yeah, sure, fine.

She said,

I'm lost and confused.

I don't know

where to turn.

I've been looking

for someone

to answer my questions

and I don't know

where to go

and then,

as I've felt

no one to ask them,

then you guys sit in

and you come

and sit next to me

because you see,

this city is filled

with lost people

and the thing is,

when we just eat

with the people

we want to eat with,

when we just hang out

with the people

we want to hang out with

and we don't see outside,

we've lost the gospel

because Jesus,

we were the outsiders

and Jesus went over

and reached out

and invited us in.

And you know what?

Some of us,

we're so wrapped up

with our lives

that we don't see

the people around us.

So here's my challenge.

Who are you eating

with this week?

As a community group,

my challenge is for you

this week,

this month,

organize a party,

organize a food,

a barbecue,

whatever it is

and think of who

the people

you can invite

who you don't

normally invite.

Pray for who

those people

that God has placed

around you could be.

because you see,

a holy people

is a generous people

but a people

who come together

and feast together.

They also fast together

but they feast together

and then they invite

others to join in.

At your workplace,

the greatest missional context

you may have

is to invite someone

for a meal,

for lunch,

your colleague.

who are you eating with?

Because

and who are you

gratefully thinking

God has blessed you

with so much stuff?

Can we lead

a community

of thanksgiving

and grace

which extends that

for others

to enjoy?

Let's pray.

Father,

thank you

that you have

invited us

to the greatest meal

of all.

A meal with you.

A meal

where we are welcome.

We belong.

I pray

that we be a church

which is not

so wrapped up

in ourselves.

Lord,

I realize

as a church

so many of us

including myself

we just go

and eat with the people

we want to eat with.

We hang out

with the people

we want to hang out with.

We eat the community lunch

just with the same people

and we don't see

the people sitting next to us

that we could invite

to join us.

I pray

challenge us,

convict us,

help us to see

that the world

needs to see

a community

which is not

simply about ourselves

but is enjoying you

and enjoys your grace.

Please make us

that kind of people.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.