Lessons From A Little Man Series

“Lessons from a little man”

Luke 19:1-10

“Jesus came to seek and save the lost.”

Sunday Morning Sermon

Intro: (Start with Title and Text)

Have you ever lost something? Not just misplaced something – have you ever really lost something? I know most of the time when I lose something – I can’t find my wallet, can’t find my keys – I usually yell for my wife. She’s the best at looking and finding stuff. I lose things she finds them – it was apart of our wedding vows. I remember working at Wal-Mart back when we were in school and they have “CODE ADAM” – when a parent realizes that their child is lost they simply tell the closest associate and everything stops – until the lost child is found – when they first started this – even the registers stopped. Wal-Mart cared so much about the kids that their cash flow stopped.

Discussion:

The Bible if filled with stories of people looking for something – especially the New Testament – Luke 15 comes to mind – Lost Coins, Lost Sheep, Lost Son

-- All three the reaction is the same when you find it – you call everyone and celebrate over the found coin, the found sheep – over the son who comes back.

I wonder what would happen if when I was looking for a certain tie, or I lost the remote it would know it’s lost and it would find me. Work with me for just a second – you lose something and the something lost knows it’s lost and comes looking for you – wouldn’t that be great? You accidentally lose the remote in the couch, you start looking and it finds its way out of the couch, back into your hands.

Some of you know this we have a small mix breed dog – we’ve had her almost as long as we’ve been married. We’ve never lost her – she’s been arrested twice, but we were always willing to bail her out. One time she was gone over night – we were just horrified. We looked everywhere, called out her name – we were empty. We got into the car and I looked in the mirror to back out of the drive way – I saw something I didn’t see before – a sign – DOG: FOUND, Small sandy blonde hair, for more information call: I jumped out of the car and called the number to find that it was our dog SANDY. What a relief it was to have her back. We went to the pet store and bought her the best canned food, a nice collar and several toys – When you have back something you’ve lost – you are truly grateful

Jesus is about a week from the cross – about a week from the separation from the heavenly father, about a week away from being mocked, questioned, stripped, and the crown of thorns pushed down on his skull. He meets – he sees someone who is seeking him out. A little man.

Turn with me, if you have your Bibles to(Advance) Luke 19:1-10 (Read)

I see a couple of lessons we can learn from the little man --- the wee little man.

(Advance)

Lesson # 1:

I. When you seek out the savior – you will find him

a. Zacchaeus

i. He was a wee little man

ii. And a wee little man was he

The truth of God’s word in a kids song. He was not only a short man – he was like the kid who picks his nose – the one who gets caught picking his nose – yeah, no one wants to be friends with him. Zach wasn’t any different.

iii. He was socially an outcast

iv. He was a cheater – a liar – he was selfish

Tax collecting was done through percentages – the person collecting a tax would add a certain percent to the amount owed and keep it. So if I owed 1000 dollars in taxes – the person collecting the tax would knock on my door and tell me that I owed 1100 dollars – I pay all of it, and they pocket the extra 100 dollars.

b. When you cheat people: Two things happen

i. You get rich – collecting something that costs you nothing it will make you rich.

ii. You will be hated – people won’t like you. The quickest way to get people to hate you – abuse their money and their time.

It didn’t start out this way – Zacchaeus – the Hebrew name means clean/innocent – But over time – it was just easier to cheat, it was just easier to lie, it was just easier to hide the truth, smudge the paper work, cheat the time clock. The wee little man, found himself full of this world, and empty inside. He had the cars, the large house, the white picket fence – living the American dream before it existed, but he was empty inside. (Advance)