"The Turning"
Luke 19:1-10
When I was 18 years old I became friends with another young guy named Tim.
One of the first things Tim asked me, which is something no one my age had ever asked me was: "Are you a Christian?"
Although it seemed a very odd question, I answered: "Yes."
I had grown up attending church, and although I was pretty "far out there" my faith had always been an extremely important part of my life.
As Tim and I began spending time together, though, it became very evident to me that Tim's definition of what a Christian was and my definition were quite different.
It's not that Tim ever questioned my answer to him that I was a Christian.
It was Tim's commitment to Christ which was displayed in his life that inspired me.
When I was with Tim, I felt the Presence of Jesus.
It was the first time I had ever met a person my age who was walking the walk and talking the talk.
I had never known it was possible; I had never seen it in action.
And as Tim and I spent more and more time hanging out together, I became more and more convicted and convinced that I wanted what Tim had...
...a living, personal and life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ...
Even if it meant radical change!!!
It's been said that Jesus' willingness to "be present" with Zacchaeus ends up being an act of evangelism.
Zacchaeus' encounter and time of hanging out with Jesus changes his life.
One scholar writes the following: "There's a lot of nonsense going on these days that passes for evangelism--and its nonsense because it has nothing to do with the presence of a Christian.
So much so-called evangelism these days has to do with passing on a message, a set of propositional statements.
And because its sole content is impersonal, it doesn't matter much how the message goes out--over the airwaves, or in print...or "just put the tract in their hands and maybe they'll read it."
Now, in quoting this, I am in no way saying that I totally agree with the quote.
I don't think that there is only one way to evangelize...
...and I believe strongly in handing out tracts.
This, I believe is a big part of the Great Commission.
For instance, when serving in World War 2, my Uncle Jack, who later became a United Methodist Minister...
...created a tract with some of his friends entitled, simply, "God Loves You."
One of Hitler's Body Guards picked it up off the ground one day as the war was ending and gave his life to Christ.
My uncle met the man at a Conference many years later.
He had been telling the story about making that tract when the former SS Officer came forward with tears in his eyes...
...telling my uncle that that particular tract played a big part in leading him to Christ!!!
There is not just ONE WAY to spread God's Word and plant seeds.
In any event, Alfred North Whitehead is quoted to say, "People are not as much persuaded by our reasoning, but caught by our enthusiasms."
And one of the best ways to spread enthusiasm is by being present with someone.
More than that, it's most effective if it's the kind of presence that means something, a genuine willingness to say to another person: "This is who I am"--not just "This is how you ought to be."
And most importantly "I care about you!!!"
It's an opening up of ourselves to others.
Making ourselves available.
Taking an interest in the lives of other persons.
Look at what Jesus said to Zacchaeus: He didn't say, "Stop stealing from the public with your tax methods! Stop getting rich off the backs of poor people!!!"
He said, basically, "I want to come to your house and hang out with you today."
Jesus spent time with Zacchaeus, He didn't try to master him.
He didn't try to sell him something--instead, He offered Himself for free.
He became a friend.
And we all need friends.
And everyone in the crowd grumbled, "There goes Jesus again. He's going and making friends with another hated sinner!!!"
People who knew me were pretty shocked when I gave my life to Jesus, after having spent a bit of time with my new friend--which also got me reading the Bible for the first time in my life.
At the time I was a long-haired, partying, heavy metal fanatic.
But I wasn't really happy, and I knew I couldn't live my life like that forever...or at least I really didn't want to...
...I just didn't know how to change.
At the time, I was taking a class in Public Speaking.
Each class member had to give a speech on an assigned topic every couple weeks.
The assignment for our first speech of the semester was to compare and contrast two things.
So, I brought a boom box to class along with a bunch of cassette tapes and compared what I considered to be "good heavy metal music" with what I considered to be "lame" or "bad" heavy metal music.
For our next speech we were asked to pick a hero, learn about that person and give a speech from his or her perspective.
For me, it was a no brainer: I painted my face like Gene Simmons from KISS and gave my speech as Gene Simmons.
By the time our 3rd speech came along, I had made the decision to give my life to Christ.
I will never forget the "dropped jaws" and the shocked look on the faces of my fellow classmates as I told them, "A couple of days ago I gave my life to Jesus Christ."
I went on to list all the things that I thought were wrong and Satanic about the "heavy metal lifestyle," and explained the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to the best of my ability.
Faith and repentance go hand in hand in the Bible.
The Bible makes it clear that it's not enough to simply understand that Jesus is God's Messiah and to believe in Him.
Our lives are to reflect our profession of faith.
That doesn't mean it's easy.
That doesn't mean we are going to be perfect...
...I mean, just look at me!!!
What it does mean is that we repent, which means to make the decision to change our ways--give up everything that gets in our way in order to follow Jesus.
If we were to sit down and read the Gospel of Luke from the beginning to the end in one sitting, we would definitely not expect our lesson for this morning to end happily for Zacchaeus.
I mean, in Luke, Jesus has a lot of harsh things to say about rich people before this story comes along.
Early in the Gospel, Jesus blesses the poor but warns the rich, saying, "how terrible for you who are rich, because you have already received your comfort."
In Chapter 12 Jesus tells a parable of the rich farmer who hoped to build bigger barns in which to store all his crops, but that night he would die.
A few chapters later, Jesus tells another parable, about Lazarus in heaven and the rich man in hell.
And in Chapter 18, just before today's lesson, the Rich Young Ruler walks away from Jesus sad because he is unwilling to give up his extreme wealth in order to follow Christ.
This incident leads Jesus to say to His disciples, "It's very hard for the wealthy to enter God's kingdom!
It's easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God's kingdom."
So, today, Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem to face His death when He comes across a very rich man.
And we might expect Jesus to rebuke this man, but instead, something extraordinary happens!!!
Zacchaeus is possibly the richest guy in town, and all his riches have come to him by doing horrible things to other people.
As a result, Zacchaeus is not only the richest man in town--he's also probably the most hated!!!
People say things behind his back; he's banned from the synagogue; the Pharisees won't so much as let their robes touch him.
So Zacchaeus is rich, but he's lonely.
He's rich but he has a great big hole in his heart and life.
He's rich but he's an outcaste, a hated villain.
But when he hears that Jesus is coming to Jericho--Jesus, the religious teacher Who (they say) talks to tax collectors and sinners--Zacchaeus slips out of his house and heads down to Main Street where everyone else is waiting.
But there are too many people there.
So Zacchaeus goes further down the road and climbs a tree--but it isn't long before the crowd, moving along ahead of Jesus, catches up with him.
Before Zacchaeus can do anything about it, he's surrounded.
"Just sit quietly," Zacchaeus might have said to himself.
"Maybe they won't notice me."
But they do.
And suddenly Zacchaeus is the entertainment, the warm-up act for Jesus' latest tour.
The people laugh and point.
Some of the children start to throw stones.
Zacchaeus climbs to the next higher limb, but the branch starts to bend.
The people laugh harder.
The ruler of the tax collectors is up a tree: what a sight!!!
But then they turn away because Jesus has arrived.
And Jesus looks up at the most lost and hurting person in the crowd...
...not to mention the most hated...
...the biggest outcast...
...the most horrible of scoundrels...
...and Jesus says to him, "Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay in your home today."
And we are told that "Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus."
More than likely, Jesus is the first houseguest Zacchaeus has had in a long, long, long time...
...the first visitor...
...the first person to take a positive interest in him...
...the first one to want to spend any time with him at all!!!
It's been said that Jesus "communicated more love and forgiveness and caring by staying in the house of Zacchaeus than by any teaching or sermon He could have given.
The fact that He was there said it all."
Christian presence is one of the most important things we can do for God, for other people, for our world.
And the best thing of all--any of us can do it!!!
Genuine, human presence is what folks are seeking most in our isolated world.
We need to be present to each other--in our homes, in our workplaces, in our church.
We need to take time to be "simply there."
Often there is nothing we really need to say.
The simple fact that we are with another person, that we are investing time in them--shows that we care, and gives them a feeling of self-worth--of being loved--of being with Christ!!!
And this is what changes our lives!!!
This is what makes others want to be Christians.
We become Christians when we spend time hanging out with Jesus.
And every one of us are called to be "Christ to the world."
How are we doing at this?
I was having a conversation with a person in this neighborhood a couple years ago that really convicted me.
I asked her why she had not yet come to visit our church--even though I had invited her a number of times.
Her response was: "Well, all you did was invite me in passing. You didn't stop to get to know me, so I figured you weren't sincere."
The folks in this neighborhood and community are hurting.
They are lonely, many of them are sitting on their couches day after day watching t-v...watching others live their lives.
And God is calling us to spend time getting to know them.
Can you imagine how busy Jesus must have been the day He was going through Jericho, on His way to His execution...
...mobbed by people on every side...
...when He stopped, invested the time, and spent the day hanging out and probably just listening with love to Zacchaeus pour out his life story?
There can be no doubt that Jesus had more excuses not to do that than I have ever had not to do something!!!
In seeking out Zacchaeus, Jesus shows us just how much God loves us and desires for us to be saved!!!
Again, it's not enough to just understand that Jesus is God's Messiah and to believe in Him.
Our lives must reflect what we believe.
And Zacchaeus definitely understands this as well as anyone!!!
He says to Jesus, "Lord, I [will] give half of my possessions to the poor.
And if I have cheated anyone, I [will] repay them four times as much."
And after he does this, Zacchaeus is no longer the wealthy man he was...
...in the material sense.
But remember, Jesus is worth more than all the treasure in the world!!!
Jesus is the GREATEST TREASURE!!!
Jesus is all we need.
In repaying any fraud fourfold, Zacchaeus goes far beyond what the Jewish law demands.
What's more, Zacchaeus makes this commitment not with a frown on his face, but with a light heart and a bright, shining smile!!!!
And Jesus said to him, "Today, salvation has come to this household...!!!"
The story of Zacchaues tells us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about serious commitment to God, and this serious commitment to God leads to great joy!!!
Have you experienced this joy?
It's extremely important to remember the last words Jesus says in this story: "For the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost."
It's easy to hate other people.
It's easy to grumble and sneer at those who are greedy or messed up or lost.
It's much harder, but much more fulfilling to invest our time, our presence and our love in the lives of others.
At an international church meeting some years ago, a small group of Christians from all over the world were engaged in a role-playing game.
They were trying to mimic how they came across to one another.
A church leader from Africa drew the slip of paper that said, "Act like an American Christian."
He put on a cowboy hat and went around to everyone else in the room, saying "Howdy! Sorry about your problem. Here's my card. I'll send money."
The money may have been there but the presence was not.
Listen to what the Christian from Africa was saying, "We yearn for your presence, not your dollars at arm's length."
Presence, the kind of presence Jesus has with Zacchaeus and with us is a presence which takes the time to learn what is going on in our lives.
It's a presence that seeks to understand how we live, think, feel and where we hurt.
There's another word for this kind of presence: it is "solidarity."
Solidarity means standing together--standing together with people different from ourselves, knowing how they live, feeling something of what they feel and caring for and loving them...
...perhaps even crying for and with them.
Solidarity is evangelism.
It is the presence of Christian mission.
It's how Jesus saves the world.
God calls each of us to practice being present with others.
All around us are the Zacchaeus' of the world--up their trees, at the fringes of the crowd.
Can we, will we truly be present to them?
