How Often Should I Change My Heart
Luke 19:1-19:10 3/13/2005 Psalm 15:1-5 Colossians 3:1-4
For years car manufactures have been telling us to change our oil after so many thousand miles. Some recommend every 3,000, some every 5,000, and if you have the synthetic oil, it was suggested you could go up to 25,000 miles. The one thing common to all of them is a recognition that at some point a change is going to be needed.
How long do you think you should try to live before checking in with Jesus to ask Lord, is it time for me to have a heart change? When was the last time you did a heart change?
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By heart change, I’m not talking about that little thing you feel beating inside your chest. The heart is actually the part of your mind that decides what you are going to do about your behavior. When we say, invite Jesus into your heart, we’re not talking about putting a little man inside of our heart. We are talking about not making decisions to do things, without first asking, is that what Christ really would want me to do.
For instance, if somebody does you wrong, in your heart your first response is to want to get even. But if Christ is in your heart, he says chill out, and let me show you how to handle this. First let go of the anger so that you can see straight. Now let me handle it from here.
When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, we are giving Him permission to change our hearts, to change our way of thinking and our way of acting and reacting. How many of you know, there’s some parts of our hearts that we do not want to have changed? Ever made up your mind you were not going to speak to somebody for a certain number of hours or days just to pay them back for what they did or did not do. That’s a heart condition that we do not want changed.
We all know that an alcoholic or crack addict will not change until he or she has hit the bottom and genuinely wants a change. They have to admit they’re an alcoholic or an addict. Some times we are addicts and don’t know it. Just like the alcoholic uses alcohol as means of dealing with life, we can use jealousy, bitterness, envy, materialism, greed, unforgiveness, anger, lying and a host of hidden sins to deal with life.
Do you realize that some of us do not want to let go of these addictions in our hearts for Jesus Christ. When we think about a changed heart, we have to think in terms of the whole heart. What would you do if you went to get an oil change in your car and the guy changed the oil, and the filter but was short on new oil. So he tells you, I put in three quarts of new oil before I ran out. “I just put back some of the dirty oil back in to fill it up completely but you don’t have to pay me for that.” Are you going to say thanks, I really appreciate it?
Sometimes we are praying to be drawn closer to God, and yet at the same time we insist on leaving in some of that dirty oil in our hearts. What dirty oil did you bring in to church this morning? Are you going to be brave enough to let it go and admit to God you need another change today. Or will you settle for less than what God has in mind for you. Will you walk out of here today protecting your dirty oil.
I want you to know, that God does not have a problem dealing with people who carry around dirty oil in their lives. As a matter of fact the church is here to help those with dirty oil. Matthew 9:12-13 (NIV) On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. [13] But go and learn what this means: ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." If there is dirty oil in your heart, I want you to know that Jesus is looking for you.
How would you feel about a slum landlord by the name of Zach who had roach a roach and rat infested apartment building but had high rent fees and late fees. He never fixed anything, and lied through his teeth when he went to housing court. Suppose I told you he wanted to get right with God, so he gave every tenant a free can of roach spray, a free box of d-con, and cut the late fee from 35 dollars to twenty five dollars. How many of you would say, “wow that is great. He really had a change of heart?”
How many of you think that Zach was just kidding himself about getting closer to God.? We laugh at Zach’s can of roach spray, but that’s what we do when our change of heart consists of not cursing on Sundays at church but look out at home or when we’re with our friends, or our being sweet to some people but the devil to others. Jesus didn’t die for us to be one day or one location followers. I want you to know that somebody is looking for Zach.
You see Zach I can imagine that Zach is no different from a guy in the bible whose name was Zaccheaus. He too was a wealthy fat cat, who had all the finer things that money could buy. Like Zach, he made his money off of taking advantage of others. Zaccheaus worked for the Roman version of the IRS which was a whole lot worse then, than it is today. Let’s read about him together in Luke.
Luke 19:1-10 (NIV) 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. [3] He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. [4] So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
[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.’ "
[8] But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
[9] Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. [10] For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
You’ve got to understand this about Zaccheus. He was rich and he was hated by his own people. Zaccehaus was a Jew. In those days for a Jew to be a tax collector made him both a thief and a traitor. He was a thief because tax collecting was a job that went to the highest bidder. He could charge whatever fee he wanted to collect taxes. If your tax bill was $500, he could add on another $500 collection fee. He’s the father of the bankers and credit card lenders who charge you $30 for a late fee when it cost them nothing to get the check a day later.
If he demanded $1000 that’s what you paid, but if he wanted $1500 just because then you paid it just because you didn’t want the Roman soldiers knocking down your door. The more money he got from you, the easier it was for the Romans to keep you as second class citizens. There were a whole lot of people who would have liked to have met Zaccheus alone in dark alley.
The Bible says not only was he a tax collector but he was the chief tax collector, and he was very rich. This means he was good at taking all of your money and there was nothing you could do about it because he got to make up all the rules. Zaccheus may have had plenty of, but he was not a happy man. One day he heard about Jesus from somewhere somehow. Maybe he heard about the time when Jesus had accepted another tax collector by the name of Matthew and made him a disciple. Maybe he saw how Matthew’s life had changed and that people loved and cared about Matthew the former tax collector.
But Zaccheus didn’t quite know how do you go about approaching Jesus. He didn’t know how to get on Jesus’ appointment schedule. Jesus spent his time hanging around a lot of people that were considered not that important so their social calendars were not going to criss cross or intersect. Zacheus did notice that the people who really wanted to see Jesus, took the time to go find out where Jesus was. It was a well known fact that Jesus traveled up and down the roads going from village to village.
Word had spread through the city that on the way into Jericho, Jesus had healed two blind men sitting by the roadside, one of whom was named Bartimaeus. When Zaccheus heard this he made his way to the road that goes on from Jericho to Jerusalem. He wanted to see this guy Jesus for himself. Now he knew it was risky for him to go out into the crowd of the very people who would have liked to have beat the daylights out of him.
But sometimes you come to a point in your life when you want a change so bad, that you’re willing to risk whatever it takes to make that change happen. Some of you here today, are afraid to reach out and take a risk and as a result you continue to be miserable. Life is passing you by. One day you will realize that what you were afraid of losing was not worth the cost of keeping it.
Zaccheaus couldn’t take his usual escort of body guards with him. He quit trying to be somebody big. He put on some ordinary clothes and went out to be among the crowd. He had to give up his special status if he wanted a true change of heart. When he got to the road that Jesus was expected to pass by, the people were already lined up several rows deep. Now this presented a problem for Zaccheus. When he got to where he wanted to be, he faced a problem. He was too short to see over the crowd. Jesus could pass by and he would never know it.
A lot of times we think, that if I make up my mind to serve God, things are going to just fall in place. No they will not. Satan is going to throw some road blocks in your path to get you to turn around and come back to what you’re use to doing. God is going to let him, so that you can make up your mind which way you’re going to go. Zaccheus wanted something real for his life. Do you know what the name Zaccheus means. “The Righteous One.” That’s like calling the local drug dealer “The Neighborhood’s Best Friend.” Zaccheus was looking for a change of heart.
The only way he was going to get to Jesus was to find a way to rise above the crowd. Some of you could experience life on a totally different level if you’re willing to rise above the crowd. Don’t be content hanging around with people with no vision for their lives or their future. Zaccheus did not let his limitations set aside his goal. He didn’t say, “well I was born short, I guess God ought to do something special to get to me.” He didn’t wait for people to voluntarily move to the side so that he could get ahead.
He took some action on his part and started looking. Are you even looking this morning for how you need to begin your heart change? Or are you still blaming somebody else for where you are. Let me tell you something, the most important person responsible for your future is you. You have the opportunity to really screw it up or to make something great of yourself.
Zaccheus didn’t look down. He looked up, and when he did he saw a Sycamore tree with a branch hanging out over the road. What’s hanging in your life that could really lift you up if you went up after it. He forgot all about how dignified he was and ran to the tree. He started climbing that tree. You see he had not always been a rich aristocrat. He had come out of the hood just like a lot of those people present were still in the hood.
A week ago, Zaccheus would have said, “You’d catch me dead before you catch me climbing some tree along that dirty and dusty roads. Rich men don’t climb trees, we buy them and turn them into chairs and furniture to make a profit.” But he climbed the tree. Some of us won’t climb because we think its going to be too much work. We miss it on God’s opportunities in front of us because they look like work. Lazy people whether its physical or spiritual laziness miss out on a lot that could have been.
But that day Zaccheus climbed the tree, and he waited. He waited for Jesus to come along. Then it happened he could see the disciples leading the throng. No doubt Peter, James and John are probably leading the group out in front. Jesus is marching along and the crowd is so excited. And then Jesus gets right under the branch and he stops. He looks up into the tree.
Everybody’s eyes look up into the tree. Somebody yells out, “It’s that no good Zaccheus and he doesn’t have his boys with him today. Let’s beat the daylights out of him and get some of our money back. Jesus spotted the sinner’s no good soul. Jesus we can handle him from here. Just tell him to come down out of that tree, as a matter of fact let’s knock him out of the tree.”
Can you imagine how terrified Zaccheus must have been. This change of heart thing was about to get even more risky. And then Jesus speaks and says, , “Zacchaeus hurry down. I need to go to your house today.” Do you see how eager God is to accept you, even when everybody else thinks you are just awful. That’s how it is with the Lord. This is the Jesus you need to know.
When you decide that something in your life needs to change, that a few things that need to be shifted within your heart you discover like Zacchaeus did that God already knows your name, He knows your need, He’s ready to get rid of that dirty oil we talked about sooner. God doesn’t even ask you to get it together first. He says come on down.
Even though you may think or you may feel that God has given up on you, I want you to know that God will not give up on you. You need to hear loud and clear He has not given up on you. Others may have given up on you. Family or friends may have given up on you. But God’s been all around your tree, searching, waiting, looking into the branches, shaking the branch a time or two trying to get your attention. I think right there at the tree is where Zaccheus began to think clearly about a change of heart.
Right at the tree, when Jesus called him by name, when He reached out a hand and invited Himself for dinner. A change of heart begins for you, when God knocks at the door of your heart. He waits there for you to invite Him to enter your life.
In those days, for someone to go to someone else’s home and to share a meal was an intimate experience. So this was Jesus’ way of saying, “I want to be close with you. I want a friendship with you.” This was the voice of God saying to a man who felt way out on a limb, “Friend, let’s go to lunch.”
This is how a heart change will be for you too. God moves near to us in Jesus Christ with welcoming arms. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, God comes to you and He keeps coming to you and He keeps extending His love to you until you come out of the tree and you bring Him home. Have you sensed that God might be doing that within you? Drawing you to ask Christ into your life? Into your home? Into your business? Into your classroom? Into your relationships? Have you felt the gentle tugging going on at the heart level? Have people around you perhaps even been trying to point the way.
Zacchaeus was surprised that Jesus would make him His agenda. He was surprised that Jesus would initiate love. That might surprise you too. If it does you’re not alone. A lot of people have been surprised by the amazing love of God. That brings us right to another point.
When you meet Jesus there is going to be a change. First recognize that not everybody is going to be happy about you getting your life right before God. Some will be jealous, some will despise you, and some will try to keep reminding you of what a sinner you are. Second recognize that a changed heart results in some changed actions.
When Zacheus came down out of that tree a change took place in him. People said “look at him hugging on Jesus” “The nerve of that scumbag . He’s cheated so many people I want to hurt him myself.”
Now if Zaccheus had of said, “from now on I’m living for God and I’m going to build a big church and pastor it”, How many of you would have said, “wow Look what Jesus did for him? If Zaccheus had of set up a tent and started to hold revival meeting, would you be eager to show up.”
But Zaccheus shocked everyone when he said, “lord right now, I pledge to give 50% of everything that I own to the poor and anybody that I have cheated I agree to pay back four times as much. His change of heart was accompanied by an immediate change of action with his life. He was ready to remove all of the dirty oil out of his life. Not only was Zaccheus excited, everybody who heard his words were excited to.
I want you to notice that sometimes when you get saved, before you have the opportunity to tell others about Jesus, you need to make some things right. Some of us need to go and offer some apologies to people were hurt. Some of us need to give back things others knew that we took. Some of us need to forgive somebody that others know we’ve had a grudge against for a long time. Some of us need to pay back some money we owe to people.
For some of us, Jesus has stopped, looked up and called us by name. We’re hanging out of the tree. Jesus is “saying come down, I want to go to your home today. “We’re so close to responding, but for some reason we won’t come out of the tree.” It’s not worth waiting for another day in order get down, because you don’t know how much time you have left. If Zaccheus had of waited for the next time Jesus came to Jericho, he never would have seen Jesus. You see Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and he will be crucified before the week is over.
God is tugging at your heart to make a change today. But each time we don’t say yes, it gets a little harder to feel the tug. Let’s think clearly about a changed heart. Why carry around dirty oil when we can be clean.
Some people believe that God just sent Jesus into the world only to make good people better. That’s not true at all. Jesus Himself said in this part of the Bible, “I came to seek and save the lost.” Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He came for those like you and those like me who have been far from God, those like Zacchaeus who know that they’re sinful. But they long to see God anyway.
