Lose Your Lonliness Series

Lose Your Loneliness

Habits of Happiness Part 6

Luke 19:1-10

Steve Meenho Kang

www.evergreencommunity.org

Happiness is a choice.

If we want to be happy, we must choose to be happy.

And today we will talk about the importance of losing our loneliness.

We are living in the age of communication.

We have cell-phones, emails, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Yet sometimes we feel that there is no one to talk to.

We are living in the age of technology, yet sometimes we feel so distant from others.

We are living in the age of stimulation, yet sometimes we experience so much loneliness in our soul.

So many of us struggle with loneliness.

A survey from 2021 says that 46% of Americans feel lonely, while 47% feel left out.

People are social beings and we need others to rely on, to connect with them, and to thrive in life.

But it is difficult to have meaning relationships with others and even more so during this pandemic.

We are in a time of social distance, COVID isolation, and preventative measures.

Loneliness is real.

Loneliness is normal.

Loneliness is pervasive.

Even some very socially connected people can feel deep loneliness at times.

Therefore, loneliness is a common problem.

It is the painful awareness that we lack meaningful contact with others.

It involves a feeling of inner emptiness which can be accompanied by sadness, discouragement, a sense of isolation, restlessness, anxiety, and an intense desire to be wanted and needed by someone.

So how should we handle our loneliness?

Here are some common answers.

“If you only knew that God loves you, then you would not feel lonely.”

“If you marry someone who loves you, you would not feel lonely.”

May I dare to challenge these statements.

We need more than just the simple answers.

According to the passage that we read today, Jesus confronted a tax collector named Zacchaeus.

Through what Jesus said, we can learn that we need to experience three kinds of love in order to overcome the problem of loneliness.

I. We must receive love from others (vv. 1-7).

Some people call this ‘the need love.’

The need love is the love that says this:

“I want to belong. I want to be cared for. I want someone to take my hand. I want someone to put his arms around me. I want someone to come and give me a hug.”

This is the need love.

And we all need this kind of love.

Just like our bodies need water and food, we all need the need love to survive.

Verses 1-2 say this.

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.

Jesus entered Jericho, which was a very wealthy town.

In Jericho, there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a “chief tax collector.”

He held a higher office in the Roman tax system.

This was how the system worked.

An officer gained his income by extorting more money from the people than what he had to pay the Roman government.

Evidently this system worked well for Zacchaeus because he was a wealthy person.

However, during that time, tax collectors were put in the same category with prostitutes.

They were considered as terrible sinners.

It was because they were collecting taxes for the Romans.

They were considered traitors.

Therefore, even though he was wealthy, he was lonely.

He had a longing for the need love.

Verses 3-4 say this.

3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

Zacchaeus heard about Jesus.

And when he heard that Jesus was coming to town, he went out to see Jesus.

However, there were so many people ahead of him.

He also was vertically challenged.

He could not see Jesus.

He, therefore, ran ahead of the crowd, and climbed a tree to see Jesus.

Verses 5-7 say this.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

When Jesus reached the spot where Zacchaeus was, He stopped.

And He told Zacchaeus that He had to stay with him.

Zacchaeus came down from the tree immediately and welcomed him gladly.

Now, “all the people” complained that Jesus was staying with a sinner.

Zacchaeus was a tax collector.

He was despised by others.

He had no friends except other tax collectors.