(The other day my girlfriend Amy Forsythe gave a sermon on Luke 19:1-10 that inspired me so I thought that I would share.)
Jesus entered Jericho was passing through town. A man there named Zacchaeus, a ruler among tax collectors, was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but, being a short man, he couldn’t because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When Jesus came to that spot, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay in your home today.” So Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus.
Everyone who saw this grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.”
Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this household because he too is a son of Abraham. The Human One came to seek and save the lost.”
Luke 19:1-10
You can almost hear the children’s song as you read this story can’t you?
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little was he…..
It brings back memories of Vacation Bible School as a kid in Red Oak, TX. Zacchaeus is one of my favorite stories in the bible and it has a theme that we see throughout the bible. The theme of the Underdog. The downtrodden. The least of these. It’s a theme we see throughout Gods word and I think it has to do with a characteristic that is Godly and not really talked about a lot.
You see in the New Testament Church that the Apostles didn’t expect the people of the world to come to them and ask:
“Can you tell me where I can find a place to worship?”
It’s nowhere in the bible. People didn’t check out a church in the scriptures. You see this movement of the church. That the church is not just a place, as it seems to be today. It’s mobile.
They embraced people where they were, because they learned it that way. That’s the way that Jesus did it.
We know this is true because of stories like Zacchaeus. In this story Jesus embraces Zacchaeus, but he does more than that doesn’t he?
He calls him by name.
“Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay in your home today.”
Imagine the composure of Zacchaeus in this moment. He’s a tax collector which means he was about the furthest person from being elected, “Mr. Popular.” He was despised by all of his home. He stole and did manipulative things with people’s money.
Jesus however doesn’t see any of that. He embraces Zacchaeus because Zacchaeus is loved by God. That is the only requirement for being embraced by Christ. Doesn’t matter what he has done or even what he’s going to do. The only thing that matters to Jesus is that Zacchaeus belongs to him.
Now insert yourself into this story.
It doesn’t matter what you done or even what you will do.
The only requirement for Christ to embrace you and call you by name is that you are his child.
Amazing. Simply Amazing.
I mean that is so awesome that you can’t describe it with mere words. Words just cheapen that type of love. It’s so……:)
So, in that fashion embrace the world as Christ embraced you. Don’t decide on whether or not to embrace by who they are.
Just do it.