"out On A Limb"

Matthew 19:1-10 “Out on a limb”

1. Let's us look at who Zacchaeus is :

• Zacchaeus is is known as the Patron Saint of Tree Climbers

• Zacchaeus was a a "wee little man" (or, as the the Bible says "short in stature").

• Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector -His location was Jericho

• The tax collectors could charge the people whatever tax bill they wanted as long as their Roman overseers got paid the appropriate share.

• Whatever was left over got pocketed by the tax collectors as profit, and no one in that system would have profited more than a man like Zacchaeus. It's no wonder, then, that tax collectors were among the most hated people in first-century Israel.

2. Note what happens in the story

• The Bible says, 1Jesus entered Jericho and he was just passing through Jericho 2A man was their in Jericho by the name of Zacchaeus; who was a chief tax (Over many districts) collector and was wealthy.

• 3He wanted to see who Jesus was passing by, but being a short man he could not see over the crowd so Climbs a tree 5When Jesus got to the tree he looked up and said to, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must abide at your house today."

• .Now the crowds didn’t like this 7All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a `sinner.' "

• Look what happened as a result of Jesus going to his house 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."

3. Something’s I noticed in the story

• I noticed that Jesus came seeking Zacchaeus on his way to Jerusalem. "The Son of Man came to seek

and save the lost," says Jesus

• I noticed that Jesus came looking for a person who was out on a limb

• I noticed Jesus wanted to abide at his house today not tomorrow today is the day of salvation

• I noticed that there was a transformative healing of the whole person and not a part

• Zacchaeus was changed

• I noticed that Zacchaeus’s transformation benefited those around him vs 8 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

• I noticed that the whole community benefited from that conversion And when we invest

ourselves with others, that investment often translates to fruit that benefits the whole community.

5. Church Let Us consider the ones out on a limb There's an old saying that goes all the way back to Ignatius of Antioch in the first century: "Where Christ is, there is the church."

• Christ is in the ghettos, if Christ is in the ghettos then the church should be in the ghettos

• Christ is where there are hungry, thirsty, rejected or imprisoned people. If Christ is here then the church should here where there is the hungry, thirsty, rejected or imprisoned ones.

• Christ is at the dinner table of a family who's having a hard time making ends meet. If this is where Christ is then the church should be here as well.

• Christ is with a mother who's the victim of domestic violence.

• He's with frightened homeless people during their first night in a shelter.

• He's even with a tax collector in a sycamore tree. If we want to seek him, these are the places we are most likely to find him.