Experience Ultimate Wholeness
Luke 19:1-11
Over the past six years in pastoral ministry I’ve had the opportunity of officiating at more than sixty funeral services ranging from elderly people to infants, from victims of accidents to those whose deaths were a welcomed relief at the end of a long road of suffering. As I’ve prepared for these services I’ve sat with families who painfully grieved the loss of a their loved one who had lived a prosperous life and I’ve been with families who were glad that their family member was gone because of how terrible of a person he or she was.
I’ll never forget one of the first funerals I ever officiated in when a family member shared with me about the horrific abuse that this man had put her family through and asked me to hurry up and burry the man so that they could get on with their lives.
I’ve sat at the death bed of those who looked back with few regrets at a life well lived and I’ve mourned with those who looked back with deep regret at the many mistakes they had made. Some of the most difficult people to console on their death beds are those who are consumed by regret and disappointment. Their stories are filled with one “if only” after another.
If only I hadn’t married so young.
If only I’d taken another job.
If only we had waited to have children.
If only I hadn’t divorced.
If only I had kicked my habit.
If only I had called and said I’m sorry sooner.
If only I swallowed my pride.
If only… If only… If only.
The reality is that no life begins with “if only” statements. Life begins with anticipation, vision, and with dreams.
Do you remember what it was like to be a child? How would you have answered the question at the age of four, “What are you going to do with your life when you get older?” I was going to be the President of the United States. Maybe you were going to be a firefighter, a police officer, an astronaut, a doctor, a professional athlete. I’ve never heard a child say, “When I grow up I want to be an incomplete, unfulfilled, discontented nobody who has never managed to reach my potential.” No way! Boldly and openly, we announced our dreams to anyone who would listen.
But somewhere between four and seventy-four most of us face some detours. We make choices that wreck our worlds and leave our idyllic dreams shattered and our futuristic vision destroyed.
And one day we wake up and realize that it’s too late. Somehow in the routine of daily living we’ve lost the opportunity to be who we wanted to be or do what we wanted to do. And for the most part those detours are of our own making. They’re detours caused by sin.
Sin. If you were with us last week, you’ll remember my insistence on what a deadly serious matter sin is. It’s all around us. Somehow we have become so desensitized to it that the church is now arguing over homosexuality and abortion, things that were once considered sin by all and not only is the church justifying these actions but it is elevating to positions of leadership those who are in support of them. It’s time that we wake up and understand what a holy God we serve. Sin is not something to be taken lightly! We serve a God who has no sin and as God’s children we’re asked to renounce our sinful ways and live the lives that Jesus lived while he was here on this earth.
What I’m going to ask you to do today is something that most Christians have never before done. You see, most people, including the millions who have now seen Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” understand that they’re sinners. Most people, including many who would never claim to be Christians, would agree that Christ died for their sins.
But the problem is that while we all know the truth, very few people allow the truth to actually make a difference in their lives.
We’ve literally have millions of people who claim to be Christians whose lives are no different because of their faith.
You see Christianity, isn’t about obtaining forgiveness from our sins so that we can go out and continue to live our lives the way we want to live them. Church isn’t a place where you can go and say “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done this week” and then wake up Monday morning the same way you did last week.
The whole point of Christianity is that you and I are to be on a journey. A journey during which we become more and more like Jesus. People have often said that the church is a hospital for the sinner. Yes, that’s true, but we’re a hospital where we’re taught how to be healthy not where we’re bandaged and told to go out and do the same thing that brought us there in the first place.
We don’t need to live lives that are full of regrets. There’s no reason to wake up one day and realize that we’ve wasted our lives. The message of the Passion of Jesus Christ is that there is hope and wholeness that can be ours through the suffering of Jesus. Do you remember the passage we read two weeks ago from Isaiah 53? The prophet wrote these words: upon him was the punishment that made us whole. The suffering that Christ endured was endured so that you might be made whole.
What I want you to go away from here this morning understanding is that Christ didn’t just die so that you might be forgiven for your sins, Christ died so that you might have life. Jesus suffered what he suffered so that you and I might be able to fill that vacuum that’s inside each of us for wholeness. He died so that we might be able to find the completion and peace in life that we’re searching for.
Our scripture lesson this morning is a familiar one. It’s a story that many of us heard growing up. In fact there was a song about this man that you may have sung if you attended Sunday School as a child.
His name was Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus lived in the first century and had one thing in common with us. He was searching for something more in life.
Now to those around him, Zacchaeus was a low-life – a tax collector. Combine the greed of an Enron Executive with the presumption of a television evangelist; throw in the audacity of an ambulance chasing lawyer and the cowardice of a child molester. Stir in a pinch of a pimp’s morality, and finish it off with the drug peddler’s code of ethics - and what do you have? A first century tax collector.
These guys were at the bottom of the food chain. The Roman government permitted the tax-collectors to tax almost anything they wanted to – your boat, the fish you caught, your house, your crops, as long as the government got their fair share – the tax collector could keep the rest.
As you can imagine, Zacchaeus was not well like. But who cared? He had everything money could buy. Zacchaeus lived in the nicest neighborhood in town and had one of the largest most luxurious homes around. What more did he need?
Sound familiar? It’s the same trap that we as Americans fall into – somehow thinking that we can satisfy our need for happiness with more things. If only we had a little more money or a little better home or a… you fill in the blank. We’re so caught up in the pursuit of happiness and completion that we fail to realize the obvious: Those who have all the things that money can buy will tell you that none of them have provided ultimate happiness. Temporary, perhaps, but ultimately, wholeness and happiness don’t come from anything we can attain here on this earth.
Zacchaeus knew that. He had everything – but it was as good as nothing because something was missing. How do we know that? Because one day he went searching. The story tells us that Jesus was on his way through Jericho when Zacchaeus went to find him. Zacchaeus, the head tax collector, perhaps the most wealthy man in town, went out searching for this peasant who didn’t even have a place to lay his head. Zacchaeus, who was the envy of many because of everything he had, was looking for a man whose life style was diametrically opposed to his own. Why? Because he knew that Jesus had something that he didn’t have, something that couldn’t be bought… wholeness. There was something about this man that made people gravitate toward him. There was a sense of peace and contentment, of authenticity and integrity that made people want to be near him.
So Zacchaeus set out to find him… and nothing would stop him, not even the fact that he was short. The story tells us that the crowds were so large around Jesus that Zacchaeus couldn’t see him, so Zacchaeus ran ahead to a sycamore tree and climbed it so that he could get a front row seat to the action. You know the rest of the story… on his way by Jesus stopped, looked up at Zacchaeus, told him to come down because he was going to his house that very day, and Zacchaeus was so moved by his encounter with Christ that he gave half of his possessions to the poor and vowed to pay four times the damage to anyone he had cheated.
Ever feel like Zacchaeus? I know I do. I find myself searching for happiness, for wholeness, for contentment, and for fulfillment in places where if I were to really stop and think about it, I would know never provide what I’m looking for.
My prayer for you this morning is that you want more than so many other Christians have settled for. My prayer is that you want a faith that actually brings wholeness and completion to your life.
If you and I are going to come to know the abundant life that Jesus died that we might have there are three things we’ve got to do - three things that Zacchaeus did in order to find Jesus…
1. Admit Our Brokenness… The only way to find wholeness and completion is to recognize that we’re broken people ourselves and to understand that our pursuit of happiness and wholeness in the things that this world has to offer will end in failure. That’s why so many people die with so many regrets, because if we spend our lives serving ourselves, then we miss the meaning of life all together. We’re broken people who are in need of healing.
Zacchaeus knew this – every one else would have thought he was happy but Zacchaeus knew he wasn’t – and so recognizing his own brokenness and the vacuum inside of him, he reached out to someone who could complete him.
2. Recognize Your Barriers… What is it that’s in the way of your becoming whole? When Zacchaeus encountered the crowds he could have easily turned away and given up saying, “I’ll have to see Jesus next time,” but instead he saw the crowds and decided to find a way around the situation.
This morning you may be here and you may want to find wholeness, you may be searching for contentment and peace but there are things that are in the way. What’s in your way of reaching Jesus? Maybe it’s your craving for money; maybe it’s your desire for success; maybe it’s your pride; maybe it’s that addiction that you can’t seem to kick; or maybe it’s a life full of regrets.
What ever it is recognize that it’s there and finally…
3. Find a Way to Jesus… Think about it. Zacchaeus’ situation seemed hopeless. Here was a short man behind a massive crowd. Most of us would have given up. But not Zacchaeus. He was so determined to see Jesus that he climbed a tree. He found a way around the barrier that was between him and the one who could make him complete. And because of his persistence, Jesus came to Zacchaeus’ house.
“The Green Mile” is a movie that is set in a 1935 scene. The character Tom Edgecomb, played by Tom Hanks, is the lead guard of death row in a prison in Louisiana. The area of the prison is called “the green mile” because of the long lime-colored floor that the inmates walk when going to the electric chair.
In the movie, we’re also introduced to John Coffey, played by Michael Clarke Duncan. John is a slightly developmentally disabled seven foot man who had been falsely accused of murder. At one point, Tom discovers that John possesses a mysterious gift: he can absorb another person’s disease and cure them. Later in the movie, the prison warden’s wife is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Paul arranges for the guards to transport John to the woman’s home. As the guards escort John inot the house, the warden’s wife is screaming. When John nears her bedside, he leans over and says, “I see it.” As the warden witnesses the action, John places his mouth next to hers. The inside of her mouth begins to glow. It appears as if a stream of bugs is moving from her mouth to his mouth. The room becomes bright. The crystal shatters. The house shakes. Suddenly, the woman becomes quiet. The disease has left her body. Then suddenly, John falls over and begins to cough loudly. He has taken her sickness upon himself. The warden’s wife is made whole because John has absorbed the pain.
You see, that’s precisely what Jesus did during his passion. He took your pain upon himself and offers you the gift of healing and wholeness in return.
What do you need to do to have Jesus come to your house?
Admit your brokenness… Recognize the barriers that are preventing you from finding Jesus… and then do whatever it takes to get to Jesus.
He’s waiting. He wants to make you complete. He wants to bring healing and wholeness to your life. And he wants you live life freely and a life of peace and joy and completion.
Let us pray…
