SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: March 13, 2015
Date Preached: March 15, 2015
Church: OPBC (AM) Sunday
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Title: His Purpose – Why did Jesus Come ?
Text: Luke 19:1-10 (NLT)
ETS: Jesus gives witness to God’s love thru His actions!
ESS: We must give witness to God’s love thru OUR actions!
Background on Passage:
After 3½ yrs of preaching, teaching and ministry, Jesus was making His way TO Jerusalem! He was working His way to the place where He knew He would ultimately give His life on the Cross.
Now by this time, Jesus was a ROCK star! A man whose very presence demanded attention, but NOT because of His inflated ego, but rather it was because of His humility, teaching and the fact He was willing to get involved with and touch the lives of those around Him even when the world had washed its hands of them!
By this time, Jesus had already changed thousands of lives and word had spread far and wide about Jesus! So, wherever Jesus went, there was ALWAYS a tremendous crowd there to meet Him and follow Him around! The KJV uses the word ‘multitude’ on many occasions to describe the crowds that followed Jesus.
Now Scripture tells us that the religious leaders of the day were NOT happy with all the attention Jesus was getting. They were the religious leaders and the people should be paying attention to THEM, not this son of a carpenter…not this untrained, unskilled teacher wanna be…
In the eyes of the religious leaders, Jesus was the competition! He was the enemy! Even though they saw with their own eyes the great things Jesus was doing, they were still convinced that HE was the enemy and they wanted to KILL him!
But at this time Jesus was making His way TO Jerusalem and on His way, Luke tells us of several stories that reveal the purpose and nature of Jesus and His mission…none relate this more than the story of Jesus meeting Zacchaeus. Stand with me as we read Luke 19:1-10 from the NLT…it will be on the screen as well.
Read passage here…Luke 19:1-10 (NLT)
1Jesus entered Jericho and made His way thru the town. 2There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the CHIEF tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore/fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. 5When Jesus came by, He looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” He said. “Quick! Come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” 6Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7BUT…the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. 8Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” 9Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.
Now many people see this story as a one time event. They see it as a picture of the mercy and love of Jesus being shown. But there are NOT many who will look at this story and relate it to their own walk with Christ!
This morning I want us to look at this story from the perspective of JESUS… and then I want us to put ourselves in Jesus’ place! When we read this story we can see:
A Clear Calling - The World Is Seeking After Jesus (v1-4)
1Jesus entered Jericho and made His way thru the town. 2There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the CHIEF tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore/fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
Have you ever had a desire for ‘something’ but didn’t know really what it was? Think about it now… have you ever caught yourself standing in front of your refrigerator with the door wide open OR your cabinets with the doors wide open…
You were LOOKING for something but really didn’t know what you wanted or what you were looking for…all you knew is that you WANTED something.
I’ve been there and tried to ‘fill’ that desire with chips but that wasn’t it… tried to fill it with cookies, but that wasn’t it… tried to fill it with ANYTHING but I ended up bloated & frustrated… My body would get filled by my DESIRE would never get quenched!
Do you realize that this is a spiritual picture of the world today. They are standing at life’s refrigerator door KNOWING they want something… that they desire something but don’t know what it is. They try pouring themselves into their job… but that does not satisfy.
They try climbing the social ladder, but that leaves them wanting. They try mind altering substances such as alcohol or drugs, but that does not meet their need… they are still left with that feeling of being empty and needing to be filled.
The same was true in Jesus’ day and this is why Jesus was sent into this world! Jesus came to this world with a very specific focus! His focus was to let the WORLD witness the creator God… A God whose desire was that His creation to know Him, His love, mercy and redemption.
In our passage this morning we find Jesus on the road to Jerusalem for the final time before He was crucified. He had spent over 3yrs revealing God’s love in many ways thru meeting physical needs and revealing spiritually how God wanted to touch lives!
Jesus had made His presence known by teaching and ministering to those around Him, regardless of where He was—
Jesus had turned the water into wine…at the wedding in Cana
Jesus had been a healer:
cleansing lepers
straightening withered hands
causing the paralyzed to walk, jump and run
given the blind their site
given the deaf their hearing
given the mute their speech
Jesus drove out demons on MANY occasions
Jesus had fed thousands with 5loaves and 2fishes…and gathered up 12 baskets of leftovers! Imagine that, God’s leftovers are MORE than we have to begin with…
Jesus had power over the elements:
He spoke to the winds and waves calming the storm
He walked on the water
Jesus made His presence known and he EMANATED God’s love in all He did. Even when Jesus could’ve condemned and judged, God’s love shone forth! The woman caught in adultery, the Samaritan woman at the well, and even OUR passage today…this cheating tax collector…
They were sinners but Jesus shines forth the love of God in a manner the world OR the any religious leader had NEVER seen before!
Knowing that Jesus showed God’s love, do you fully understand what that means for us as believers? Acts 1:8(NLT) tells us we are called to WITNESS to the world about JESUS!
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be MY WITNESSES, telling people about Me EVERYWHERE – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Believer YOU are called BY God to make Him known to the world! Just like JESUS did it when He walked in this world! We have a calling and that is to make Him known!
Jesus did this in many ways! Now we may NOT be able to go about healing the sick, but what we CAN do is share what Jesus has done for us in our life! We can share HIS love with the world around us!
We can share how Jesus had CURED our sin sick soul and saved us from eternal destruction! There is NO better testimony about God’s grace than the ONE you possess about how He has changed your life!
Jesus led by example… His life made God known to those around Him! We too are called to lead by example and make God KNOWN!
But what good will it do pastor? No one listens to the Gospel anymore… this ole world is so sinful, and people are so hard hearted toward the Gospel, how will anything I ever say get thru to them?
When we look at this story… these first 4 verses and I want to point out that just like Zacchaeus was LOOKING for Jesus… this WORLD is looking for God! You may not think they are… they may not SAY they are looking for God… but they are looking!
They are looking in all the wrong places…in money, in possessions, in position, in power, in social standing, in a bigger car or higher paying job… many in the world will tell you that they are NOT looking for God…that they DON’T need God or believe He is there…
BUT there is NO changing the God-shaped hole in their lives that they are trying to fill up with any and everything this world has to offer!
When we look at this passage, we see a man of the world who had it all… he had the money, the power, the position, the influence, but we can also see that he was STILL looking, still searching for something!
Truth be told, Zacchaeus was LOOKING for God, even before that is what he knew he was looking for… even before Jesus came to his neighborhood! When JESUS makes His presence known Zacchaeus takes notices and seeks Him out!
My brothers and sisters, what I want you to know this morning is that as much as we THINK the world does not want God, and many give us that impression… this world IS hungry for its Creator! Starving for its Savior! They want to experience a peace they will never find in this world!
Zacchaeus had money, friends, material things, the biggest house on the block, most likely he had the fanciest chariot… in fact if you could have been there to interview him he would have probably told you that he had all the world had to offer…but if he was honest he would tell you that there was something missing in his life.
I want us to understand that the world is watching us! We are called to SHINE Jesus in our lives! We want to show the world how awesome God truly is… not thru judgment or retribution but thru His love and mercy.
We have a calling to shine Jesus, but we also have a clear commandment as to WHY we shine Jesus before this world!
A Clear Commandment – We must seek out the seekers (v5-7)
5When Jesus came by, He looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” He said. “Quick! Come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” 6Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7BUT…the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
Now I don’t want you to misunderstand me, the people in this world MAY be seeking God, but they are NOT going to knock you down to get to Him. We are called to GO and SEEK them, to reveal HIM to the lost…
People may give you the impression by their outward appearance and their words that they have it all together and that they don’t NEED God… in fact many will argue intensely about their independence from God… but the fact remains they are still seeking something to fill the void in their life!
Their hearts are seeking a peace in this life that they cannot find and the things of this world cannot fulfill! So, what is our duty? Our duty is to shine Jesus to them…let them SEE Jesus in our lives!
We have a calling that requires us to love those who may seem unlovable…I’m talking about:
The bum on the corner begging for money,
The prostitute on the street,
the druggie in the gutter,
the homosexual practicing a life outside of God’s order,
the adulterer who turned their back on their family,
the thief who has stolen,
the murder who has killed,
the rapist who has ravaged,
the molester who has damaged…or just,
your neighbor who has a difficult personality and makes fun of your beliefs…
Every example I just listed are part of what Jesus called ‘the harvest’. Jesus said that the HARVEST was ready… that we are called to GO harvest that which is there!
In our passage this morning we have seen how Zacchaeus was LOOKING for Jesus, but we can also see where Jesus was READY for the opportunity when it happened. Our calling leads to our commandment from Jesus.
The Great Commission tells us that we are to GO, share Him, make disciples and baptize those in the world! What the Great Commission says is that we must look for the opportunities to share… “as we are going thru life…LOOK for the opportunities for sharing Jesus!”
Jesus saw Zacchaeus and took the opportunity to introduce Zacchaeus to God. He let Zacchaeus see the God who loved him, not the God of rules and judgment, but the God of reconciliation and redemption!
Zacchaeus saw that God WAS loving and that he was important to God...but it took Jesus stopping and taking the time to meet with Zacchaeus!
So how does this apply to ME or you? It means that we live EVERY day LOOKING for opportunities to share God with the world around us! BUT…don’t just LOOK for the opportunities God provides you must ACT on those opportunities!
Jesus was not only willing to go with Zacchaeus, he takes the initiative and invites himself into his home. The disciples with Him are recorded by Luke as saying; “He [Jesus] has gone to eat with sinners!”
BUT I also want us to notice what v7 tells us: “…but the people were displeased…” It was NOT just the disciples who were angry, it was the crowd who had been following Jesus too. To them, Zacchaeus was an outsider…one who had turned his back on God’s chosen people…one whose life had NOT sought to know God.
They were distressed because Jesus was going to dinner with a traitor…and I can almost hear someone say, “Even God would not do this…!” After all this man is a cheat, a thief, a liar and a coward. This crowd was NOT happy!
Why? Well Zacchaeus was a rich, Jewish man who many considered both a traitor and thief. Now HE was schmoozing up to Jesus? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?
Jesus was the man they believed to be the Messiah, the man who would deliver their nation from the Romans and he was going to eat with such a traitor, such a sinner, how could he do this?
Does this sound familiar? This sounds a lot like the church today. We all love Jesus up in this clean, sanitary sanctuary, but get us out in the messy world… we don’t seem to relate to the Jesus of Scripture.
What do I mean? I mean Jesus came to reveal God to the world, to bring salvation and redemption… He came to bring it to those who needed it the most… those who did not know His grace and mercy!
I have seen SO many times when a person was looked down upon by so called ‘believers’… looked down upon because she wore the wrong clothes to church… looked down upon because he sat in the wrong pew in church… looked down upon because they seemed different and out of place!
Jesus ever met a person He did NOT want to see saved and made a part of His kingdom. It did not matter WHO Zacchaeus had become, what mattered to Jesus was introducing him to God.
How many times has our attitudes and judgmental glances caused others to feel unwelcome? How many times have we judged from the outward appearance? How often have we ever welcomed someone like this into our church home and made them feel welcome.
I can tell you I see a LOT of smiles and handshakes when a visitor comes into our church. A lot of wonderful fellowship being passed around from church members to the visitors…
BUT…I also see that once the ‘newness’ of their coming wears off [2 or 3 wks down the road] that those smiles and handshakes turn into a passive look on their face and a courteous nod in their direction.
Then after a time it becomes ALL but indifferent to their very presence. This reveals to them that you don’t want them there!
This is the exact attitude WE have to rid ourselves of here in our fellowship! WE cannot just LOOK for the opportunities but we must ACT upon those opportunities and love on people and show the love of God to them.
The world is watching and searching for answers…
WE are called to go TO the world and share what we know about the truth…
Finally this morning… we must understand that we have…
A Clear Charge – Be intentional to reach the lost (v8-10)
8Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” 9Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.
When we model the love of Christ before the world, many will turn like Zacchaeus and give their hearts to the Lord. When we model the love of Christ… the world will NOTICE!
Here’s a truism about the God and what happens when God get a hold of your life. God changes people! Like the old song, I once was BLIND but now I SEE! I was LOST but not I am FOUND! IN other words, God has gotten a hold of my life and I am SO CHANGED!
Look at who Zacchaeus WAS and now look at what God has done in changing His life! Not only was he willing to give ½ of his wealth to the poor… but he vowed to make right EVERYONE he had cheated! He would repay them 4x what he cheated out of them.
This reveals that when God gets a hold of your life, you are radically different! I have heard some people say that after they got saved that there was not a lot that changed, that it did not alter who they were or how they approached life. To those people I want to say, WHAT??? ARE YOU SERIOUS???
When God saves, He saves to the uttermost and when he changes a life it is radically changed! And the picture our Scripture paints for us this morning is that God is willing to save ANYONE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE… it does not matter where you have come from in this life… His desire is to see you saved and redeemed!
Like Jesus OURs is a true calling in that the world is seeking and we have been sent!
Like Jesus OURs is also a true commission because as the world is seeking, we too must seek to seize every opportunity to reveal God in our lives…
Finally like Jesus OURs is a clear charge to see people come to Christ. God is willing and able to save…so why are we not being what He has called us to be?
God will save those who turn to Him… we cannot make them turn, but we are called to go to them and reveal to them the love that turned our hearts!
Jesus makes is abundantly clear as to WHY He had come… in v10 Jesus says, “…for the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost!”
WE have the same mission as to why we are here, we are called to look at v10 and follow the steps and example of Jesus.
Give invitation…
