For Haywood: Close the Gap



Many of us learned the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-100 when we were children.  We know about the "wee little man" who climbed the sycamore tree to see what he could see.  We know that Jesus told him to "come down" because he was going to his house that day.

But if that's all you know about this story, you're missing a lot!  Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and wealthy.  He was an outcast who worked with the hated Gentile government.  Also, tax collectors were notoriously corrupt.  Most likely, Zacchaeus had said no to God and to his people.

Despite the tax collector's reputation as a social outcast, Jesus invited himself to his house.  He said yes to the tax collector.  He loved him, was for him.

When Jesus said yes to Zacchaeus, the people said no, no, no!!!  They derisively said of Jesus, "This guy welcomes sinners and eats with them!"  Decent people said no to people like this tax collector.  To love him, to say yes to him, to be for him was in some way to approve of his behavior.

But Zacchaeus' time with Jesus transformed him.  He stood and said, "Half my possessions, I will give to the poor, and if I've defrauded anyone, I'll pay him back four times over!"

Jesus replied, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."

Jesus came to look for people like Zacchaeus and redeem them by his love.  Before he ascended to heaven, he gave his followers the mission of doing the same.  They were to seek and save the lost.  They were to share his love for them.

We live in a time in which increasing numbers of people are saying no to us, to what we believe, and to Christ.  Like Zacchaeus, many of them believe we've said no to them!

If we're going to fulfill our mission to seek and save the lost, we're going to have to engage people who are like Zacchaeus.  We're going to have to commit ourselves to loving them in Christ's name, to listen to them, and to show them that we're for them.  We don't have to change our beliefs or values.  Instead, we do as Jesus did: Love and accept them as they are, and share God's love with them.

Ask God to guide you to form relationships with people who don't go to church.  Not to add them to your list of spiritual converts, but to love them as they are and share the good news with them.  If more of us do that, salvation will come to many more houses!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God's Dynamite: The Battle Within

Image
"It was on fire when I lay down on it."  Robert Fulghum wrote about reading this statement in a small town newspaper.   Smoke was billowing from a second story window.  The Fire Department arrived, broke down the front door, ran up a set of stairs, and pulled a man off a burning bed.  Later, when they asked him how he got in that predicament, he said, "It was on fire when I lay down on it." Why on earth did he do that?  We don't know, but his story reveals a human truth.  We often do self-destructive things.  We testify, "People told me not to do it, but I did it anyway."  "I knew it was wrong, but I did it." The apostle Paul wrote about our human propensity to sin and self-destructive behavior in Romans 7:14-25.  Verse 15 sums up his point, "I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do and what I hate I do."   He describes an intense inner battle.  On one side is the "flesh," his
Read more

God's Dynamite: More than Conquerors

Image
One person goes through a terrible experience and emerges from it stronger, more mature, and more loving.  Another goes through a similar experience and emerges from it weaker, less mature, and bitter.   What's the difference? I think it has to do with what's in the person's heart.  It has to do with his or her faith and perspective of life.   In Romans 8:35-39, the apostle Paul asked, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?''  Is there any person or place or experience that can remove us from Christ's loving presence?  Trouble? Hardship? Danger?  Sword? Paul could answer this question because he experienced all the above and more.  He said, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."  We conquer all these things through Christ's love for us. To be sure, we can have times when Christ's love seems far away from us. In the depths of suffering in times like these, we can won
Read more

God's Dynamite: Resurrection Transformation

Image
Easter is about more than you going to heaven.  That's part of it, but not near all!  It's about your death and resurrection. In Romans 6, Paul was answering opponents.  Those opponents said that if salvation is by God's grace through faith, then you have no motivation for righteous living and good works.  Why not sin more to get more grace? Paul answered by using the image of baptism.  He said when the pastor plunged you under water, he symbolized your death in Christ.  Through faith you died on the cross with Jesus.  Your old self was a slave to sin and rebellion against God.   Paul said when the pastor raised you up from the water, he symbolized your resurrection in Christ.  Not just in the future but in the present.  In faith, you identify with Jesus' death and his resurrection.  You're raised to a new life, free from slavery to sin. So Easter is about more than personal salvation.  It's about transformation: dying to an old life and ris
Read more