Title: A Man You Can’t Ignore
Text: Luke 19:1-10
Thesis: Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost.
Introduction
Watchers of the World Series had many opportunities to see the catchy ads for the 2008 Chevy Malibu that debuted on November 1. One of the ads shows a jogger running down a sidewalk; she crosses the street, and runs into the side of a parked car. She falls down, gets up and runs into the car a second time… then the announcer says, “Coming soon, a car you can’t ignore!”
(The new Chevy Malibu is supposed to compete with mid-sized segment of the industry, have bulletproof quality, beautiful interior and exterior designs, and look like a $40,000 car but sell for less than half that amount. “Finally, a car you can’t ignore!”)
Sometimes people feel like plain, old, boring sedan automobiles… people just whiz by without even noticing that we are. Sometimes we feel like just another nondescript person, lacking in any distinctive or noticeable qualities. I think Zacchaeus felt a little nondescript. He was just another small person making his way through a world of big persons.
Who would have thought that this little man would be really, and I mean really, curious about Jesus?
1. You never know who might be curious about Jesus… or what they might do to see him.
There was a man there named Zacchaeus… he tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So, he ran ahead and climbed a tree beside the road, so he could watch from there. Luke 19:1-4
In May on 1855, Dwight L. Moody applied for membership at Mount Vernon Church in Boston, Massachusetts. His membership application was rejected. His Sunday School teacher said of him, “I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was his when he came to my Sunday School class; and I think the membership committee of Mount Vernon Church seldom met an applicant for membership more unlikely to become a Christian… still less to fill any extended sphere of public usefulness.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_L._Moody)
D.L. Moody was one of several children born into the home of an alcoholic father. After his father’s death, his mother had to place some of her children in homes where they had to work for room and board because she could not feed them. He left the home where he had been placed, because they fed him mush and milk three times a day, but his mother sent him back because he had enough to eat there.
Who would have thought that when D. L. Moody returned to Chicago he would become the founder of the famous Moody Church, Moody Bible Institute, and Moody Publishing? Who would have thought that he would become a Christian, much less, a great and influential one who has left a mark that endured over 150 years?
You never know who is curious about Jesus, but we can be certain that Jesus does not ignore those least likely to be noticed.
2. Jesus does not ignore the person lost in a crowd… or up a tree.
When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” He said, “Quick, come down! For, I must be a guest in your house today.” Luke 19:5-6
While walking his dog on a riverside path in Bedfordshire, England, a man found an ancient gold coin that was described by one expert as the single most important coin find of the century.
It was a 1,200 year-old penny that bore the image of Coenwulf, an Anglo-Saxon king who ruled between 796 and 821 A.D. There are only seven other similar coins in existence. On October 6, 2004, the coin sold at auction for $409,000, making it the most expensive British coin in history.
Of the finder it was said, “It really wasn’t an accident that this man found the coin. He has an eye for metal and coins on the ground. He is an amateur metal detector enthusiast who has an eye for metal and coins on the ground; he is always looking, even when walking his dog.” (PreachingToday.com, John Beukema, Western Springs, IL; source: “Pure Gold,” BedfordToday.co.uk, 9-10-04 and “Gold Penny Sets Record,”www.TheDesertSun.com, 10-7-04)
It is not surprising that Jesus noticed Zacchaeus. He was always looking for the one likely to go unnoticed.
• He turned when the woman touched his garment in Mark 5.
• He blessed the children that were supposed to be seen but not heard in Mark 10.
• He called Simon Peter, an ordinary fisherman whom he saw washing his nets by the Sea of Galilee in Luke 5.
• He heard the blind beggar calling out to him from the back of the crowd in Luke 18.
• He talked to the woman at the well who lived on the margins of society in John 4.
• He saw the lame man who had lain by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years in John 5.
Jesus had an eye for the person easily ignored and in some cases, openly scorned. Zacchaeus was both easily ignored and openly scorned.
3. Not everyone is pleased with Jesus’ choice of acquaintances… and associations. Luke 19:7
But the crowd was displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. Luke 19:7
This week we were reminded once again, that not everyone approves of everyone else. People are prejudicial, biased, and opinionated about other people.
Duane “Dog” Chapman, the Bounty Hunter, made the news this week. Apparently, in a phone conversation taped by his son, Tucker, Chapman repeatedly made racial slurs in reference to his son’s girlfriend, telling him that if he did not break up with her, he would loose his job as a bounty hunter in the family business. The son then sold the tape to a tabloid and “Dog” was in the Dog House with A&E. (aol.com/entertainment/television/tv-news-story/ar/_a/lawyer-says-chapmans-son-sold-tape/20071102070509990001)
The folks who lived in the community of Jericho did not think much of Zacchaeus as a person or as a professional businessman. The crowd that observed Jesus befriending Zacchaeus made no bones about their displeasure with Jesus for being the guest of a “notorious sinner.” Zacchaeus was not the kind of guy most folks wanted to be seen with in public. Those in proper society expressed their displeasure with Jesus’ choice of associations.
Why did Wally Cleaver hang around with Eddie Haskel? Why does Brad, in the LuAnn Comic Strip hang around with T.J.? Everyone knows that one bad apple spoils the whole barrel of apples. One negative influence can demoralize an entire workplace (or church). Everyone knows that birds of a feather flock together and you do not want to flock with the wrong birds. One cancer cell will affect the healthy cells around it. The bible even states in I Corinthians 15:33, “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Or, as one version translates it, “Evil companions damage good behavior.” Why would Jesus be hanging around with a notorious sinner?
Jesus answered his critics saying, “And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those [like Zacchaeus] who are lost.” Luke 19:10
He sometimes used a “health and wellness” metaphor to illustrate his purpose in life.
• Jesus said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call sinners not those who think they are already good enough.” Matthew 9:9-13
• Jesus said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough.” Luke 5:27-32 (A more familiar reading is, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” NIV)
When Jesus spoke of people being sick, he meant they were sinful and separated or alienated from God. His desire was to restore them to health or spiritual wellness.
Jesus also used the familiar “lost” metaphor to make that same point.
• Luke 15 of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son tell three similar stories of how something was lost, separated, or alienated from a shepherd, a woman, and a father.
• Lost ness conveys two images… one is that of being damned and doomed, separated from the care of the shepherd, the possession of the woman, and the love of the Father. The other is that of a person who wanders off, is misplaced, or deliberately chooses to leave the care of the Father. In either case… being found means being returned to the flock, replaced in the purse, and reconciled with the Father.
Jesus cared about sick, lost, sinful people and he knew that even the sickest, most lost, and desperately sinful could change.
4. Even the most unlikely person can change… and become a new person in Christ.
Meanwhile, Zacchaeus said to Jesus, “I will give half of my wealth to the poor and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a son of Abraham.” Luke 19:8-9
Can a person change? How do you go about getting a person to become a different person? It isn’t easy for some people to change and for some it would seem the possibility of change is very unlikely.
The Friday, November 2, 2007 edition of The Denver Post ran a headline story titled: Arrest. Release. Repeat. It was a story about a man named Carlos Eldon Alcon who has been arrested more than 90 times since 1975. He has been arrested by the Grand Junction Police Department 61 times since 1999. He is described as a “one-man petty-crime wave.” Carlos is just one of many multiple offenders of petty-crimes for whom a state task force is hopes to find a way to break the cycle of arrest, release, and repeat. Carlos is quoted as saying, “Without help, I will probably do the same things again.” (Jennifer Brown, The Denver Post, 11/02/07, pp. 1A and 17A)
Interestingly enough, this week, Time Magazine reported in an article on a three-year old program carried out at the Care Rehabilitation Center for “young Saudis captured in Iraq waging jihad against the American infidels.” Young men who express a willingness to rethink their radical extremist views are wooed back into mainstream society. They are not treated as detainees and they avoid reinforcing their radicalism, instead they are treated well and “spend their days in vocational training, psychological counseling, and classroom lectures.” To date, 700 young men have been successfully rejoined their families and reentered society. The Saudi government says the program is hugely successful and many other Arab countries are visiting to see if the model will work for them. (Scott Macleod, Time Magazine, October 29, 2007, p. 8)
But, what about Zacchaeus? What about a man who is neither a habitual petty-criminal nor an Islamic extremist? How about any guy sitting in the stadium at Coors Field hoping to see Matt Holliday hit one out of the park? What about the fan in the stands at Invesco Mile High (or at home with his eyes glued to Channel 4) hoping to see Brett Farve do his mojo and throw a bomb to win the game between the Packers and Broncos? What about the guy who gets tired of trying to see the game, because the people in front of him are standing up or waving big signs, so he climbs a tree so he can see? What if than man is very wealthy because he is in a business in which he can pretty much scalp folks at will, and do so with immunity from prosecution. What if he is just a little shady in a used car sale, overcharges a customer, or takes some liberties with his timesheet now and then?
Cans any person with a dirty little secret or a lousy reputation or an addiction or habit or history of self-destructive or abusive behavior or a person with a gossipy streak or a critical spirit, complains all the time, or is prone to angry outbursts change?
Yes, they can and do. Zacchaeus’ change appeared to be a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment decision. I suspect God was at work in his life and in the circumstances that led to his decision to turn his life around. Some decisions to follow Christ have the look of immediacy, while others are less dramatic. I have often wondered just when it was that the disciples of Christ were, as we would ask, converted? When did they actually become Christians? Sometimes God works in our lives and by his grace, we are able to make a dramatic u-turn that is not only reflected by our decision to follow Christ, but a dramatic change in lifestyle as well. Sometimes the changes come over time as “God, who has begun a good work in our lives, continues that work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.” Philippians 1:6
In either case, the work of God in Zacchaeus’ life and in our lives is one of calling us to himself.
• Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except the Father draws them to me.” John 6:44
• Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
• Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whosoever believes in me will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it. There is no judgment waiting for those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have been judged already for not believing in the only Son of God.” John 3:16-18
• And, Paul said of this work of God in our lives, “Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!” (“If any man be in Christ he is a new creation… the old is gone and the new has come.”)
Jesus demonstrates his love for people and his confidence that people can and do change, despite the voices of popular opinion and conventional wisdom.
Conclusion:
Before we go, I want to revisit the Chevy ad that points to “a car we can’t ignore.” I want us to reflect on the implications of taking the ad out of context by suggesting that there are persons, as well as a new Chevy, we can’t ignore.
1. On one hand, we have Jesus, who could not ignore Zacchaeus.
From this perspective, we understand that Jesus sees and cares for people… Jesus does not ignore the person who is up a tree or out on a limb in trouble or just really curious. Jesus picks people like you and me out of the crowd and says, “I would like to come into your life and be part of the making of a new you.”
2. On the other hand, we have Zacchaeus, who could not ignore Jesus.
From this perspective, we understand that we can hardly ignore Jesus. Of Jesus we might say, “Finally, a person we can’t ignore!” You or I might say, “I feel the need to come to Jesus and I would welcome the opportunity to become one of those who call themselves Christians.
It is a curious question we ask this morning. Are we the ones whom Jesus cannot ignore, is Jesus the one whom we cannot ignore, or both?
Perhaps the greater question is: If you bump into Jesus, will you pick yourself up and jog away, or will you take him home with you?
