For A Little Guy, He Turned Out To Be A Pretty Big Man

There are people in this world who just never fit in, who never find a place, who never get invited. Charlie brown for instance. Here’s a typical scene from his life:

Charlie Brown is walking along when he approaches two girls. One of them says, “Well, what are you doing here?” Then both girls fire away at him with a verbal barrage, “Go on home! We don’t want you around here! Who asked you to come by in the first place? Nobody! Go on home!”

With head hanging low and a dark cloud over his head, the little boy trudges away. One girl said to the other, “You know, it’s a strange thing about Charlie Brown – you almost never see him laugh!”

Charlie is as popular as gophers in a garden. He is a model pariah, that is, a reject by society. Have you ever felt like that?

• Have you ever felt like the low man on the totem pole?

• Have you ever felt like an onion in a petunia patch or vice versa?

• Have you ever felt like you’re playing left out in the baseball game?

Then you know how Zaccheus felt every day of his life. He was disliked, despised, shunned, and just made unwelcome.

But here’s an event in his life that brings hope to all of those who feel like nobody cares or even likes us. Let’s read about that event as it unfolds in the life of Zaccheus. It turns out that for a little guy, he was a pretty big man.

“He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’ Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. ‘For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’" Luke 19:1-10 (NASB).

When you think about it, “For a little guy, he was a pretty big man.”

I. ZACCHEUS WAS EXCLUDED:

A. He was an odious, tax collecting, turn coat traitor! Nobody liked him.

1. “Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.” And the crowd intentionally elbowed him out, but he didn’t let that stop him; he was too big a man to sulk and whine.

2. When they saw Jesus going with Zaccheus, the crowd scorned Him, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

B. Who could blame them? There is not a lower bottom feeder than a crook who will take advantage of others by hook or crook, con or scam.

1. Tax collectors were notorious for gouging as much as they could beyond Rome’s tax requirement and they were rich in the midst of poverty.

2. And, moreover, they were traitors serving as agents of the Roman oppressors.

C. Strange, isn’t it, that God would accept the dregs of society who were rejected by the ones enjoying societal status.

1. Note His gracious forgiveness of the woman caught in adultery.

2. Recall His kindness to lepers forsaken by friend and family.

3. Don’t overlook His gentle approach to the Samaritan woman at the well.

4. And how could I ever forget how He accepted me?

D. Have you ever been excluded?

1. Dropped by a long time friend?

2. Shunned by a neighbor?

3. Cut from the team roster?

4. Rejected by someone you thought you could trust?

E. The story is told about about a little boy who got sprayed by a skunk. His parents nearly scrubbed the skin off him but they could not get rid of the odor. So for a couple of days, he had to sleep in the barn and eat his meals outside the house.

He could see his family inside the house eating at the table, laughing and talking. When it got dark he sat in the yard and watched through the window as Pa read a story to the other kids and watched his Ma tuck the others in bed. It broke his heart to be excluded, on the outside looking in.