1 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 because he was short he could not see over 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 the lost.”
This week might I ask you to pause and reflect on where you have influence and then on WHO you have influence.
Yesterday I introduced a strategy for evangelism and outreach called the Zaccheaus Principle – Jesus took three steps as he entered Jericho and encountered Zaccheaus. He SAW him, SPOKE to him, and ACTED (had dinner with him).As we dig together into this Zacchaeus Principle, be thinking of those places and people who you can speak TO and DO things for in order to join God in seeking and saving the Lost.
There is always a real challenge when preaching on a passage that seems to fit into the "Top 10 Most Famous Bible Stories." Honestly if one is critiquing, I didn’t follow the pattern to the summer series. I didn’t answer the question “What Would Jesus Say to the Spiritually Curious" - rather I shared a strategy from the life of a spiritual curious story on how to join God in seeking and saving the lost.
Who is within your area of influence that has already climbed up the sycamore tree and you only have to simply LOOK UP and recognize the person? That is, who do you know that is trying get a better look at how to change the course of their life?
So right NOW…WRITE DOWN at least one name of a Zacchaeus in your life and make a commitment to SPEAK to that person this week with an attempt to direct the conversation toward Jesus.
I’m not asking you to distribute a tract or confront the person with a megaphone and threats of going to … well you know. I’m simply asking you to acknowledge the individual who has already showed signs that he/she is interested in the peace, joy, and abundant life you possess.
But that is not all. Write down one more name. A name of someone who probably has NOT climbed up the sycamore tree of your life, but one you are hoping will. Write that name down and this week faithfully pray that you’ll recognize a change in that person and a willingness to begin the discussion of WHO Jesus IS.
FINALLY, I’m becoming more and more addicted to modeling Faith at Home. If you have been inspired to do any of the above consider leading your family in the same exercise around the meal table or before bed tonight.
Bruce McEvoy
Pastor of Family and Serving
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1 comment:
I was really touched by this message on Sat. night. I guess because it is an area God has been growing me in for the past couple of years.
I did feel that you answered the question, Pastor Bruce, "what would Jesus say to the spiritually curious", because I think Jesus often speaks so loudly through his actions.
This was what touched me. He would say, I know your name. I see you. I care about you. I want to spend time with you. You are valuable. I am what you are seeking.
Yet, He wouldn't say it in His word; He would say it so loudly in HIs actions.
I think that is what touched me. I have grown in reaching out to those God places in my life that have invited me in in some way, but I would like to grow in showing others, by my actions like Jesus did, that I want to spend the time with them. Instead of passively waiting for the relationships to present themselves, I want to be like Jesus and look for them.
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