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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
Jerry
Varnado,
pastor October
6, 2002 Turn
with me to Luke 19, and let's
look at a passage that raises
many questions -- and them
answers them in ways that will
encourage our hearts. Starting at
verse one: All
the people saw this and began
to mutter, "He has gone to be
the guest of a 'sinner.' "
But
Zacchaeus stood up and said to
the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here
and now I give half of my
possessions to the poor, and
if I have cheated anybody out
of anything, I will pay back
four times the amount."
Jesus
said to him, "Today salvation
has come to this house,
because this man, too, is a
son of Abraham. For the Son of
Man came to seek and to save
what was lost." Let's
begin by doing a bit of detective
work about this man, Zacchaeus.
With just the little bit of
information we're given in this
passage, I think we can
nonetheless make a pretty good
profile of him. We
are told, for example, that
Zacchaeus was a chief tax
collector and was very wealthy.
And yet it seems from the story
that he felt something was
missing in his life. Years
ago he made the decision, even
though a Jew, to collect taxes
for the Roman government, the
government that was oppressing
his own people. It would seem
that he had thought wealth was
the sure way to happiness, and
that tax collecting was a sure
way get wealthy. But now, he
apparently has begun to regret
that decision. Indeed,
it had been a costly one. Because
he had turned against own people
to collect taxes for a conquering
nation, his people no doubt had
likewise turned against him and
considered him a
traitor. It
probably was lonely counting that
money all by himself. Zacchaeus
possessed everything his world
had to offer, but surely he had
no friends, no social life and
was tormented by
guilt. Oh
sure, the tax collectors would
get together -- but that's not
quite the same as having close
friends. Who could you trust in
bunch of crooks? They weren't
people with whom you could
secrets of your soul. Zacchaeus
had no one to talk to, no one to
share life with. I
doubt even his family cared much
for him, because surely
Zacchaeus' decision to be tax
collector had made them outcasts
too. And
so this man must have had doubts,
second thoughts, about the career
path he had chosen. But how could
he get out of it now? Even if he
quit tax collecting he could
never find another job, no one
would have anything to do with
him. He could start a business,
but most of his countrymen
wouldn't do business with
him. Then,
at a tax collectors' meeting,
Zacchaeus heard about a new
prophet going around, one named
Jesus. He heard about the
miracles, that he healed the
sick, that he cast out demons,
that he forgave sins. Why
all this talk at the tax
gatherers meeting? Because one of
their own, Matthew, had given up
his tax collecting become one of
Jesus' disciples. Zack
must have wondered: "Can my sins
be forgiven? Is there hope for
me? Can I get a fresh start,
another chance? Can I have joy
and peace in my
heart?" Zacchaeus
was probably the last one in town
to hear that Jesus was coming
through Jericho. After all, he
didn't have any friends. Who was
going to go out of their way to
tell him? But
he heard the commotion and
somehow found out that this Jesus
was coming down the street. The
place was packed. He couldn't get
close enough to see, and he was
simply too short to see over
their heads. Then
he saw a tree that hung over the
street. He ran to it and climbed
up in its limbs so he could see
Jesus. He never dreamed that not
only would he see Jesus but Jesus
would see him. I'm sure old Zack
could feel Jesus' piercing,
probing, searching gaze that
seemed to peer right into his
soul. "He
called my name! He's going to eat
dinner at my house! I can't
believe it!" But
the people began to grumbled
about Jesus associating with this
"sinner." It was then that Zack
stood and said, When
Zacchaeus was confronted with the
presence of Jesus, conviction
flooded his soul; he repented and
promised restitution. And
Jesus said this: Remember
now that Zacchaeus was born a
Jew, so Jesus isn't referring to
biology. He's talking about
faith. Abraham is father of faith
and all with faith are Abraham's
children. You can read all about
that in the fourth chapter of
Romans. I
see five important things that we
need to take with us from this
story about Zacchaeus and his
encounter with Jesus. The
first is this: God Is
intensely personal. Look at
verse 5: Jesus
had never met Zacchaeus before,
but Jesus knew him -- and called
him by name. God is intensely
personal. If
you still struggle wit that idea,
listen to what Jesus said in Luke
13, verses 6 and 7: God
knows your name, your successes,
your failures, your fears, your
hurts, your sins -- He has even
counted every hair on your head!
Nothing about you is hidden from
his view -- and He still loves
you with an everlasting
love. Romans
5:8 says this: And
recall what Jesus said in Matthew
11:28: God
is intensely personal, Jesus
knows us, personally. We
all know John 3:16: Jesus
came into the world on a mission.
He came to Jericho as part of
that mission. Yes, Zacchaeus did
demonstrate an earnest desire to
see Jesus and to meet him -- and
as far as we know he was the only
one who climbed up a tree. But
Jesus then took the initiative to
begin the relationship with
Zacchaeus. This
is the way God is. 1 John 4:10
says this: So
the intensely personal God takes
the initiative to reach out to
people. The
Lord is pleased with people who
approach Him that way. What
Zacchaeus is doing here is
reflecting the first and greatest
commandment. Welcoming
Jesus gladly means giving him
permission to rearrange our lives
and our thinking. In John 14:23
Jesus said this: And
listen to these words from John
1:12: Jesus
comes to those who receive Him
gladly. A
cursory reading of text might
lead you that conclusion, but we
must understand what is
transpiring here in the larger
context of what the Bible teaches
about salvation. Salvation
is not based on what we do, but
on what God does. This is made
abundantly clear is Ephesians
2:8-9: Zacchaeus
declaration that he would pay
restitution was outward sign that
his heart had been changed. His
heart of stone had been replaced
with a heart of flesh. His
affection had turned from money
to God. Jesus
isn't rewarding his actions.
Jesus is announcing the result
what he has gone on in Zack's
heart. No
matter where He was going or what
He was doing He was always
seeking to fulfill God's purpose
for his life. What
is that purpose? Look at the
text, Luke 19:10: Now,
let me ask you this question: If
Jesus came to seek and save that
which was lost, what should the
Church, which is the "Body of
Christ" be doing in the world
today? I
thank God that through the
various ministries of Gateway
Church we have seen more than one
hundred professions of faith per
year for each for the last
several years. But I know I miss
so many opportunities to speak a
word for Christ -- and I'm sure
you do to. We
need to get God's purpose so
fixed in our minds that even in
the midst of a crowd, we will
still notice, like Jesus did, one
small sinner crying out for
God. Have
you ever asked those questions
that Zacchaeus was surely asking?
"Can my sins be forgiven? Is
there hope for me? Can I get a
fresh start -- another chance?
Can I have joy and peace in my
heart?" Maybe
you're asking them now -- or
maybe you know someone who is.
The answer to the all of them is:
"Yes!" In
fact Jesus is here now -- in this
worship service. Jesus said in
Matthew 18:20, "For where two or
three come together in my name,
there am I with them." Jesus
has come to our house. He is here
to convict and to forgive; to
encourage; to heal; to deliver;
to show us the Father; to seek
and to save! This
is Jesus who is the Alpha and
Omega, the first and the last;
the Living One, who was dead but
now, is alive forevermore; the
One who holds keys to death and
hell. Receive
Him gladly! All this is yours in
Christ, not because of who you
are or what you've done, but
because God loves you. And
because He knows what you can be
-- and what you can do -- when
your life belongs to
Him.
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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A
GATEWAY SERMON
To
seek and to save
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
Jesus
entered Jericho and was
passing through. A man was
there by the name of
Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax
collector and was wealthy. He
wanted to see who Jesus was,
but being a short man he could
not, because of the crowd. So
he ran ahead and climbed a
sycamore-fig tree to see him,
since Jesus was coming that
way.
When Jesus reached the spot,
he looked up and said to him,
"Zacchaeus, come down
immediately. I must stay at
your house today." So he came
down at once and welcomed him
gladly.
A costly
decision
Is there any
hope?"Look,
Lord! Here and now I give half
of my possessions to the poor,
and if I have cheated anybody
out of anything, I will pay
back four times the amount"
(v. 8).
"Today
salvation has come to this
house, because this man, too,
is a son of Abraham" (v.
9).
Life lessons from Luke
19When
Jesus reached the spot, he
looked up and said to him,
"Zacchaeus, come down
immediately. I must stay at
your house today."
"Are
not five sparrows sold for two
pennies? Yet not one of them
is forgotten by God. Indeed,
the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Don't be
afraid; you are worth more
than many sparrows."
"God
demonstrates his own love for
us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for
us."
"Come
to me" -- this a personal
invitation from Jesus -- "Come
to me all who are weary and
burdened I will give you
rest."
The
second thing we can learn from
Luke 19 is that God takes the
initiative."For
God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have
eternal life."
"This
is love: not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and
sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our
sins."
We
also need to learn a lesson from
the fact that Zacchaeus
welcomed Jesus gladly. He
certainly didn't understand all
that was happening; he didn't
know all that would be required
of him once he came into contact
with Christ. He just wanted to
know and please this Jesus,
nothing else seemed to
matter."Love
the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength."
(Mark 12:30)
"If
anyone loves me, he will obey
my teaching. My Father will
love him, and we will come to
him and make our home with
him."
"To
all who received Him, to those
who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become
Children of God."
Another
important thing to learn from
Luke 19 -- and this is extremely
important -- is that Zacchaeus
salvation was not a reward for
restitution."For
it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith -- and
this not from yourselves, it
is the gift of God -- not by
works, so that no one can
boast."
The
fifth thing I want us to focus on
in this passage is that Jesus
is unalterably committed to God's
purpose."For
the Son of Man came to seek
and to save what was
lost."
Questions of the
heart
An
audio tape of this sermon is
available
free of charge (U.S. requests
only).
Request
a tape by calling
or writing the Gateway Church
office.
Please specify tape number
021006a: To Seek and To
Save.
©
2002 Gerald R.
Varnado