In prepration for this I listend to a Keller sermon called With the Powerful on Google podcasts. I leaned havely on this sermon, so that one is also worth checking out. I also listend to another sermon from Bethel Redding - that one was terrible and not worth checking out.
He may have heard about Jesus, there might have been a bit of a buzz around him, and maybe he had heard some of the stories how He is treating those on the fringes of society. How He is confronting the religious people and being kind to the leaper and prostitutes.
But because he was short, he couldn’t see over the crowds. They were in his way to see Jesus. So he puts himself in a bit of an embarrassing situation by running ahead and climbing up a tree. Back then, wealthy people didn’t run, nor climb tress, but Zacchaeus didn’t care, he was determined to see who Jesus was, even though the crowds were stopping him.
You see the crowd is right. Zacchaeus is a sinner. He isn’t a good person. He is also rich, so he has power and access to all the things. Jesus even said in the chapter before this one, that it is impossible for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Zacchaeus by any standards isn’t right with God.
Those in the moral majority know it (Keller). They mutter and look down on him. They think they are better than Zacchaeus, they know they are better than Zacchaeus. And that is what makes Zacchaeus unique in this story.
Zacchaeus knows he is lost and in need of saving. He is seeking Jesus to see who He is. The crowds don’t know they are lost and in need of saving, instead they are comparing themselves and saying they are better, after all they have done all the right things. Earlier in Luke Jesus tells a story about one lost sheep and the 99 who are safe, but here it ends up that there is one safe person and the 99 are lost, and they don’t know it. (Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.)
Luke 11, to be generous to the poor.
Here we see this encounter has changed who Zacchaeus is, and it’s interesting to note the order.
This vow is not made as a precondition of Jesus’ acceptance, but as a result of it. Jesus does not require Zacchaeus to change before he takes up residence with him; Jesus takes up residence, and his presence evokes a transformation within Zacchaeus. (Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.)
Zacchaeus who was once in love of money has found a new love. He is doing what John the Baptist told the tax collectors in Luke 3, For them to produce fruit in keeping with repentance (3:8), to not collect any more money than they are required (3:12-13).
And see what Jesus says in verse 9 “Today salvation has come to this house”. In verse 5 Jesus says “I must stay at your house today” and here we have salvation coming to this house. Jesus is salvation. This is different to other religions (Keller). Muhammad is not salvation in Islam, Buddha is not salvation in Buddhism, but Jesus is salvation in Christianity. Christianity is about Jesus, He is the one who saves. It is not by being good, it is not by following some religious path, it is by being found by Jesus that saves. Zacchaeus didn’t invite Jesus in to his house, Jesus did that. He invited Himself into Zacchaeus home, and he was transformed because of it.
And see what Jesus tells him, “this man, too, is a son of Abraham”. No matter whatever the crowds think, Jesus says He is a son of Abraham. This means he has taken on the same traits as Abraham, like how a child takes on the same traits as their parents. Abraham was like the greatest example of a man with faith. He believed in the promises of God, and his faith was counted to him as being righteous. And here we have Zacchaeus also being counted among that number. He has the faith like his great forefather Abraham many years ago.
Jesus came to save us, to bring us back to how we are meant to live, not controlled by the things we seek after, not controlled by what the crowds think, but to be free to live for God. Seeing money and experiences for what they are - gifts from God, and reordering them correctly under the God who gives them.
But only those who are lost will see they are in need of help. Only those who know they haven’t lived how they ought, only those who want to face up to their regrets and guilt, only those who put aside their own self-righteousness will be saved. If you don’t you will mutter with the crowds and keep comparing yourself to others, looking down on those you think you better than. Know that you are lost, know that you need to be found. We are all in need of saving.
And I have good news for you, if that is you. For Jesus came to save those who are not complete, those who haven’t made it, those who are not well put together. He came for the lost, the outcast, the ones who need help.
So my advice to you, is to see Jesus for who He is. Do what Zacchaeus did. He put himself in an embarrassing situation by climbing a tree. Now, you can’t climb a eucalyptus tree to see Jesus today, but you can see him in the Bible. One commentator said
We have access to read these scriptures today. Reading the Bible will be weird, it will be embarrassing. You may have to start coming to church and join a Life Group where we read the Bible together. And people will mutter.
They might say “this is a phase”, they might ask “are you better than me now?”, they will look down on you. Probably every Christian in this room has one story about someone muttering about them and their faith. But don’t let the crowds stop you. Do everything you can to see who Jesus is. Don’t let your pride drive you deeper into lossness. Lean into being a nobody, it is the nobodies Jesus came to save. It didn’t stop Zacchaeus. He knew he needed help. All Christians know they are not well put together, they know they have done wrong, and that it is only in Jesus and not their actions that makes them right with God.
Country singer Colin Buchanan is mainly known in Christian circles for his kids songs, but he does do some other stuff, in one of this songs for adults he says:
In religions you are working at trying to get to God. People try seeking Him and then get angry that God owes them for all the seeking they have done. In the gospel, God is seeking you, He come down and saves the lost, and that is transformative and freeing.
The heart of God is one that seeks to save the lost. God always wanted people to come back to Him, so He came down, to draw us back, because we were lost.
“Have you ever dared to think that God is not just?” These words come from the 2003 movie Luther, about the life of Martin Luther. Luther goes on to tell an older monk, “[God] has us born tainted by sin, then He’s angry with us all our lives for our faults, this righteous Judge who damns us, threatening us with the fires of hell!”
The old monk responds. “Martin, what is it you seek?”
“A merciful God! A God whom I can love. A God who loves me.”Cited in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 3 (Theological Perspective). [[I then went and saw the clip and added the rest of the scene to the end of this talk, as I thought it acted as a good bookend to where I was heading.]]
Do you sometimes feel that? Have you thought that? That God is up there looking down on our actions and so He is looking down on us because of our actions.
Do you think God is keeping stock of our good and bad thoughts and actions and like a mean grumpy judgmental Santa Clause who is writing a list and he is going to give us what we deserve? But then to offset this, do you try and be good? You think, I have done some bad things, but if I do some good, it will offset what I have done. Like carbon credits. There is some sort of holy credits system that we can trade in? You donate some money to a good cause, you might put up with that annoying workmate, or you tell that person what they want to hear so they think you are a nice person, even if you disagree with them but don’t want to hurt their feelings.
You might think, I’m OK, because I have obeyed the Australian government and haven’t broken their laws. Because the Australian laws are so close to being perfect I am sure there is some sort of jurisdictional agreement or treaty we have with heaven that means if we don’t break Australian laws then God will think we are good, right? Besides you probably are better than other around you. You know some people who are worst than you, right?
In our story we are told that Jesus has entered Jericho. This was the last major city before Jerusalem. It was about 24 km from there (Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary. Thomas Nelson.). This is just before the Easter story kicks off with Jesus in the end dying on a cross. This event might have happened maybe 10 days before Jesus is killed (Keller), so we are close to the end of the story.
And we are introduced to Zacchaeus and we are told two things about him. He was a chief tax collector and he was wealthy. This fact may bounce off us a little. If this was a stage play and this was how a character was introduced, we are meant to boo and hiss at this point.
Tax collectors were outcasts. They were Jewish people collecting money for the Roman occupiers. Tax collectors would make money by taking more than is required and pocking the rest. This meant his own people didn’t like like, the Romans may have even looked own on him for betraying their own people and squeezing them for their money. In the Mishnah (Ned 3:4), a collection of Jewish teachings, tax collectors are classed with murders and robbers (cited in Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.)
And not only is Zacchaeus a tax collector, he is wealthy, which means is good at his job.
Zacchaeus was perhaps like a phone scammer who was wealthy. Not only is his occupation dubious he was also good at it. You want to be friends with someone who steals credit card numbers from old people? You want to stay with someone who was rich from squeezing the working class out of their money?
Zacchaeus was an outcast, and he probably knew it. He was short so people looked down on him, but he was a wealthy tax collector, which also meant people looked down on him. He was rich, but that is all he was. He wasn’t favored by anyone.
Do you think God is keeping stock of our good and bad thoughts and actions and like a mean grumpy judgmental Santa Clause who is writing a list and he is going to give us what we deserve? But then to offset this, do you try and be good? You think, I have done some bad things, but if I do some good, it will offset what I have done. Like carbon credits. There is some sort of holy credits system that we can trade in? You donate some money to a good cause, you might put up with that annoying workmate, or you tell that person what they want to hear so they think you are a nice person, even if you disagree with them but don’t want to hurt their feelings.
You might think, I’m OK, because I have obeyed the Australian government and haven’t broken their laws. Because the Australian laws are so close to being perfect I am sure there is some sort of jurisdictional agreement or treaty we have with heaven that means if we don’t break Australian laws then God will think we are good, right? Besides you probably are better than other around you. You know some people who are worst than you, right?
“a chief tax collector and was wealthy”
Today in our passage we come to the heart of who Jesus is and why He came. We get a story with a tax collector, Zacchaeus and then a summary of why Jesus came in the first place.
In our story we are told that Jesus has entered Jericho. This was the last major city before Jerusalem. It was about 24 km from there (Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary. Thomas Nelson.). This is just before the Easter story kicks off with Jesus in the end dying on a cross. This event might have happened maybe 10 days before Jesus is killed (Keller), so we are close to the end of the story.
And we are introduced to Zacchaeus and we are told two things about him. He was a chief tax collector and he was wealthy. This fact may bounce off us a little. If this was a stage play and this was how a character was introduced, we are meant to boo and hiss at this point.
Tax collectors were outcasts. They were Jewish people collecting money for the Roman occupiers. Tax collectors would make money by taking more than is required and pocking the rest. This meant his own people didn’t like like, the Romans may have even looked own on him for betraying their own people and squeezing them for their money. In the Mishnah (Ned 3:4), a collection of Jewish teachings, tax collectors are classed with murders and robbers (cited in Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.)
And not only is Zacchaeus a tax collector, he is wealthy, which means is good at his job.
Zacchaeus was perhaps like a phone scammer who was wealthy. Not only is his occupation dubious he was also good at it. You want to be friends with someone who steals credit card numbers from old people? You want to stay with someone who was rich from squeezing the working class out of their money?
Zacchaeus was an outcast, and he probably knew it. He was short so people looked down on him, but he was a wealthy tax collector, which also meant people looked down on him. He was rich, but that is all he was. He wasn’t favored by anyone.
“he wanted to see who Jesus was”
But Zacchaeus was like the blind man in the bit just before this passage. Both these outcasts wanted to see Jesus. In verse 3 it says “he wanted to see who Jesus was”. Now I think that is an interesting line. It doesn’t say he wanted to to see what Jesus looked like (Keller). He wanted to see more than just Jesus’ appearance, he wanted to see Jesus, who this guy was actually like.
He may have heard about Jesus, there might have been a bit of a buzz around him, and maybe he had heard some of the stories how He is treating those on the fringes of society. How He is confronting the religious people and being kind to the leaper and prostitutes.
But because he was short, he couldn’t see over the crowds. They were in his way to see Jesus. So he puts himself in a bit of an embarrassing situation by running ahead and climbing up a tree. Back then, wealthy people didn’t run, nor climb tress, but Zacchaeus didn’t care, he was determined to see who Jesus was, even though the crowds were stopping him.
This is unusual, it seems a little impolite - Jesus is inviting Himself over. Normally the host is meant to do the inviting. But Jesus who was passing through, now wants to stay. He has found someone in this town who He wants to stay with, and that guy was Zacchaeus.
And Zacchaeus gladly and at once agrees. He welcomes Jesus joyfully. Someone wanted to spend time with him. He was accepted by Jesus, even if no one else was going to accept him. He was noticed and seen by Him and invited to share company with Jesus.
“I must stay at your house today”
Now, not only does Zacchaeus get to see Jesus, Jesus stops and sees Zacchaeus. Jesus stops and looks up at this little man in a tree and says “come down immediately. I must stay at your house today”. Can you hear the urgency in Jesus’ request? Right now, come down, today I must stay.
This is unusual, it seems a little impolite - Jesus is inviting Himself over. Normally the host is meant to do the inviting. But Jesus who was passing through, now wants to stay. He has found someone in this town who He wants to stay with, and that guy was Zacchaeus.
And Zacchaeus gladly and at once agrees. He welcomes Jesus joyfully. Someone wanted to spend time with him. He was accepted by Jesus, even if no one else was going to accept him. He was noticed and seen by Him and invited to share company with Jesus.
“the people saw this and began to mutter”
And “the people saw this and began to mutter”. They didn’t mutter because Jesus was breaking invitation conventions, they muttered because Jesus wanted to stay with this corrupt official. This outcast.
You see the crowd is right. Zacchaeus is a sinner. He isn’t a good person. He is also rich, so he has power and access to all the things. Jesus even said in the chapter before this one, that it is impossible for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Zacchaeus by any standards isn’t right with God.
Those in the moral majority know it (Keller). They mutter and look down on him. They think they are better than Zacchaeus, they know they are better than Zacchaeus. And that is what makes Zacchaeus unique in this story.
Zacchaeus knows he is lost and in need of saving. He is seeking Jesus to see who He is. The crowds don’t know they are lost and in need of saving, instead they are comparing themselves and saying they are better, after all they have done all the right things. Earlier in Luke Jesus tells a story about one lost sheep and the 99 who are safe, but here it ends up that there is one safe person and the 99 are lost, and they don’t know it. (Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.)
All through the Gospel of Luke we see a pattern with Jesus. Jesus is attracted to outcasts and outcasts are attracted to Him. Jesus is attracted to those on the outside, those on the fringes, those who are unpleasant and He repels those who are respectable, those who have their religion and are well put together.
The moral majority are into religion, they are those who have kept the rules, they are those who have worked hard, they are those who have been a good person, and these people are not attracted to Jesus. For these people feel superior to others. And until you see that Jesus came to save us from our self-respectability, our self religion, our self improvements of working at being a better person, then you can’t come into God’s kingdom.
Once Hannah had a few of her teacher friends over and one of them was talking to me about a whole heap of reality shows she watches, ones that seem like a real train wrecks. She is like laughing at how crazy and messed up these people were and the situations they were put in. About their behavior and how they cheat and lie to each other. I hadn’t seen any of them, but I asked her, “do you watch them because it makes you feel better about yourself” and said, yes absolutely, these people are trashy, I know I am not like them. The people on these shows are shallow, and vain and have really faulty judgement. And we watch this poor people on TV who have been exaggerated in the editing and put into unreal stressful situation and we judge them for our own entertainment, because it makes us feel better about ourselves.
I think if you were to ask people in Canberra if they are more loving or unselfish than most, about 80-90% of people would say they are better than half of the people in this town. And that math doesn’t add up (Keller). We all think we are better than some. As we all judge people on categories that we are good at or attracted to. Those on the left don’t like the right, those on the right don’t like the left. The middle class who work hard don’t like those who don’t. Those who are on the fringes of society don’t like the mainstream, because they don’t understand what their life is like at all.
And we see Jesus comes to those who know they are not respectable, those who need help, those that are looked down upon; and they are attracted to Him. And we see this with Zacchaeus.
All through the Gospel of Luke we see a pattern with Jesus. Jesus is attracted to outcasts and outcasts are attracted to Him. Jesus is attracted to those on the outside, those on the fringes, those who are unpleasant and He repels those who are respectable, those who have their religion and are well put together.
The moral majority are into religion, they are those who have kept the rules, they are those who have worked hard, they are those who have been a good person, and these people are not attracted to Jesus. For these people feel superior to others. And until you see that Jesus came to save us from our self-respectability, our self religion, our self improvements of working at being a better person, then you can’t come into God’s kingdom.
Once Hannah had a few of her teacher friends over and one of them was talking to me about a whole heap of reality shows she watches, ones that seem like a real train wrecks. She is like laughing at how crazy and messed up these people were and the situations they were put in. About their behavior and how they cheat and lie to each other. I hadn’t seen any of them, but I asked her, “do you watch them because it makes you feel better about yourself” and said, yes absolutely, these people are trashy, I know I am not like them. The people on these shows are shallow, and vain and have really faulty judgement. And we watch this poor people on TV who have been exaggerated in the editing and put into unreal stressful situation and we judge them for our own entertainment, because it makes us feel better about ourselves.
I think if you were to ask people in Canberra if they are more loving or unselfish than most, about 80-90% of people would say they are better than half of the people in this town. And that math doesn’t add up (Keller). We all think we are better than some. As we all judge people on categories that we are good at or attracted to. Those on the left don’t like the right, those on the right don’t like the left. The middle class who work hard don’t like those who don’t. Those who are on the fringes of society don’t like the mainstream, because they don’t understand what their life is like at all.
And we see Jesus comes to those who know they are not respectable, those who need help, those that are looked down upon; and they are attracted to Him. And we see this with Zacchaeus.
“Today salvation has come to this house”
Zacchaeus, in response to all the muttering calls Jesus “Lord”. That is title for someone who is above you, like a master, or ruler. He may have been a chief tax collector for Rome but he has found his King. And Zacchaeus vows to give his money to the poor and to repay with 400% interest if he has cheated from others. Zacchaeus does exactly what Jesus tells the Pharisees and the experts in the law to do, inLuke 11, to be generous to the poor.
Here we see this encounter has changed who Zacchaeus is, and it’s interesting to note the order.
This vow is not made as a precondition of Jesus’ acceptance, but as a result of it. Jesus does not require Zacchaeus to change before he takes up residence with him; Jesus takes up residence, and his presence evokes a transformation within Zacchaeus. (Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.)
Zacchaeus who was once in love of money has found a new love. He is doing what John the Baptist told the tax collectors in Luke 3, For them to produce fruit in keeping with repentance (3:8), to not collect any more money than they are required (3:12-13).
And see what Jesus says in verse 9 “Today salvation has come to this house”. In verse 5 Jesus says “I must stay at your house today” and here we have salvation coming to this house. Jesus is salvation. This is different to other religions (Keller). Muhammad is not salvation in Islam, Buddha is not salvation in Buddhism, but Jesus is salvation in Christianity. Christianity is about Jesus, He is the one who saves. It is not by being good, it is not by following some religious path, it is by being found by Jesus that saves. Zacchaeus didn’t invite Jesus in to his house, Jesus did that. He invited Himself into Zacchaeus home, and he was transformed because of it.
And see what Jesus tells him, “this man, too, is a son of Abraham”. No matter whatever the crowds think, Jesus says He is a son of Abraham. This means he has taken on the same traits as Abraham, like how a child takes on the same traits as their parents. Abraham was like the greatest example of a man with faith. He believed in the promises of God, and his faith was counted to him as being righteous. And here we have Zacchaeus also being counted among that number. He has the faith like his great forefather Abraham many years ago.
the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost
And then we have this great line, this summary statement from Jesus about His own mission. If you were asked why Jesus came, this would be a great answer, it is from Jesus himself. He says:For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10 NIV)The truth is, we are all lost from God. We have all wandered away from God. We appreciate the world He has made and the experiences we get but we do not acknowledged that all this good comes from Him. We like His gifts but not Him the Giver. We forget Him, we ignore Him. We take and consume, and live our own ways and our own ways end up owning us. We go after things like power, money, status, family but those pursuits don’t satisfy, they don’t last and they consume us.
Jesus came to save us, to bring us back to how we are meant to live, not controlled by the things we seek after, not controlled by what the crowds think, but to be free to live for God. Seeing money and experiences for what they are - gifts from God, and reordering them correctly under the God who gives them.
But only those who are lost will see they are in need of help. Only those who know they haven’t lived how they ought, only those who want to face up to their regrets and guilt, only those who put aside their own self-righteousness will be saved. If you don’t you will mutter with the crowds and keep comparing yourself to others, looking down on those you think you better than. Know that you are lost, know that you need to be found. We are all in need of saving.
And I have good news for you, if that is you. For Jesus came to save those who are not complete, those who haven’t made it, those who are not well put together. He came for the lost, the outcast, the ones who need help.
So my advice to you, is to see Jesus for who He is. Do what Zacchaeus did. He put himself in an embarrassing situation by climbing a tree. Now, you can’t climb a eucalyptus tree to see Jesus today, but you can see him in the Bible. One commentator said
Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus—and he discovered the meaning of salvation. Jesus was on his way to hang on a very different tree. And that was how salvation happened. (Wright, T. (2009). Lent for Everyone: Luke Year C (p. 80). London.)Reading on in this story you will see that Jesus was mocked, and whipped and falsely accused by the religious and powerful. He was put on a cross outside the city, to die and there He took on the sins of the world and offered salvation to all, even those dying with him. He was the ultimate outcast and He did all that for you. He took on all your wrongdoings and took that punishment from God, so that you can go free. The punishment was death, but three days later He walked out of the tomb. Jesus defeated death and offered life to all who trust Him. All of this happen because Jesus said that was what scripture said would happen.
We have access to read these scriptures today. Reading the Bible will be weird, it will be embarrassing. You may have to start coming to church and join a Life Group where we read the Bible together. And people will mutter.
They might say “this is a phase”, they might ask “are you better than me now?”, they will look down on you. Probably every Christian in this room has one story about someone muttering about them and their faith. But don’t let the crowds stop you. Do everything you can to see who Jesus is. Don’t let your pride drive you deeper into lossness. Lean into being a nobody, it is the nobodies Jesus came to save. It didn’t stop Zacchaeus. He knew he needed help. All Christians know they are not well put together, they know they have done wrong, and that it is only in Jesus and not their actions that makes them right with God.
Country singer Colin Buchanan is mainly known in Christian circles for his kids songs, but he does do some other stuff, in one of this songs for adults he says:
Seeing all my wretchedness drives me to the savoir.Call Jesus “Lord” and repent of your ways. Know that you are no better. And the good news is that this is freeing. It will change how you see others around you. There is no need to jostle for status or power. You can be generous towards those who who are weak those who are in need, and you don’t have to big note yourself. You don’t have to prove yourself to others or to God. It’s not a competition, it’s not a religion you have to work at. You are free to be generous, and it is no loss to you.
I’m no where, I got nothing, I got no one else but him.
What the lost need the most is the way
What the fool needs the most is the truth
What the dead need the most is the life
It all comes down to Jesus. (Colin Buchanan, It All Comes Down to Jesus)
In religions you are working at trying to get to God. People try seeking Him and then get angry that God owes them for all the seeking they have done. In the gospel, God is seeking you, He come down and saves the lost, and that is transformative and freeing.
The heart of God is one that seeks to save the lost. God always wanted people to come back to Him, so He came down, to draw us back, because we were lost.
This wasn’t just a new idea that Jesus brought into the world about God. Our first reading from Ezekiel 34 is to a nation that was under oppression of the Babylonian’s. In that chapter of Ezekiel God was saying the leaders of Israel, had not cared for the people, so God himself was going to care for them He was going to look for his scatters flock, he would rescue them from the nations and gather them up again. God says in verse 16:
Luke 15 about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. In all these stories, when they are found, the finder throws a party to celebrate. Jesus is a God who loves His people, and celebrates when He rescues them. That is His heart. He values us because He loves us, and paid our debt with His blood. How much will we rejoice knowing that our debt has been paid to God?
Luther’s cry about wanting a God who is merciful, a God who loves Him and one He can love - is the real God we see in Jesus. In that Luther scene mentioned at the start, it doesn’t end with Martin’s frustrations. The old monk continues and says, “Look to Christ, bind yourself to Christ and you will know Gods love, say: I am yours. Save me”
Say, "I am yours. Save me."
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.
Today salvation can come to your house. Today you can put your trust in Jesus. Today Jesus is seeking and saving people who are in need. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts (Heb 3:15, 4:7//Ps 95:7b-8a). Call out to God, call Him Lord.
I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. (Ezekiel 34:16 NIV)Before this God also rescued the nation of Israel form Egypt. Throughout history God has been a rescuing God and then Jesus comes along and says, His role is the same. Jesus tells three stories in
Luke 15 about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. In all these stories, when they are found, the finder throws a party to celebrate. Jesus is a God who loves His people, and celebrates when He rescues them. That is His heart. He values us because He loves us, and paid our debt with His blood. How much will we rejoice knowing that our debt has been paid to God?
Say, "I am yours. Save me."
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.
Today salvation can come to your house. Today you can put your trust in Jesus. Today Jesus is seeking and saving people who are in need. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts (Heb 3:15, 4:7//Ps 95:7b-8a). Call out to God, call Him Lord.
I’m not going to leave it there, in response to this, I am going to give us a chance to call out to God, and to call Jesus Lord.
If you want to, pray with me, tell God that you want to see who Jesus is, that you know that you are lost and in need of saving.
If you want to, pray with me, tell God that you want to see who Jesus is, that you know that you are lost and in need of saving.
Lord God,
I know I have wandered from your ways and I am in need of saving.
Lord Jesus, please save me. I am sorry for using your gifts without thanking you the giver.
I am sorry for the harm I have cause myself and others in living my own way.
I am sorry for ignoring you.
Please save me, for I am in need. I am lost and want to be found by you.
Help me to see you for who you are. Give me help and support and a community to help me to grow in knowing you.
I ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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