I want to share with you today a portion of scripture that I hope will change your life forever. In the 19th chapter of the book of Luke, verses 1-10 reads:
“Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:1-10)
So here we have a tax collector and his name was Zacchaeus…and all that we really know about this man Zacchaeus is that he was a tax collector, that he was a man of short stature, and from scripture we also learn that he was a very wealthy man. This is significant to our story mostly because of the way that tax collectors were known to acquire their money. In Jesus’ day, tax collectors were what we would call “government employees” …they worked for the Roman authorities to collect taxes from the people. They were given a specific amount of money that they were to collect in taxes, and then the common practice was that whatever over and above the necessary taxes that the collector could extort from the people was theirs to keep. That was why they were so hated…and that was also why Zacchaeus was so wealthy. Apparently he was very good at his work, for he had acquired a lot of wealth by cheating hard working people like you and me out of their money. So you can imagine how indignant the people felt when Jesus offered to go to his house.
But on this particular day, Zacchaeus had heard that this man Jesus was coming to his town, and in fact he was about to pass by the very area where Zacchaeus was. But being a short man and because of the crowds that accompanied Jesus, Zacchaeus could not see this Man of such notoriety…and he wanted to. So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed up the Sycamore tree with the hopes of getting a glimpse of the Man that everybody was talking about. Apparently Zacchaeus had heard of the miracles that Jesus had performed, maybe he heard of the compassion He had on the people and he may have even heard about how Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead…we don’t know for sure, but from our story, we can conclude that Zacchaeus knew something about this Man…and he just wanted to see what all the talk was about. So there he sat waiting for the crowd to pass by. Can you imagine how surprised he must have been when the Lord got to the very tree where Zacchaeus was sitting and waiting, and when He looked up in the tree, Jesus ordered Zacchaeus to come down from there? And…not only was Zacchaeus surprised…but all the crowd was shocked that Jesus…this man of God…was going home with this “sinner” to have fellowship with him.
- No one is beyond the reach of God. Zacchaeus was a short man, he was a rich man, he was a liar and he was a cheat. He was in the sight of the people undeserving of the presence of the Lord in his life. But Jesus told Zacchaeus, “…for today I must stay at your house.”
Friends, don’t we do the same thing? Don’t we look at the outward appearance of people and judge in our own hearts whether that person will ever surrender their lives to Jesus? Don’t we look at that “biker” with the leather jacket and the tattoos all over him and write him off as “not savable”? Don’t we look at that homeless person on the side of the road and deem him or her as “out of God’s reach”? What about the drug addicts and the alcoholics? Or maybe it’s our boss, or our parents, or even our children? Don’t we judge a person’s heart by their outward appearance or their lifestyle? Zacchaeus was a man who was despised by the people as a Tax Collector, a sinner…but even Zacchaeus was not out of the reach of the grace of God.
I want to tell you that my God can reach down to the “gutter-most” and transform a wretched life to the “uttermost” for His glory and His honor and His praise! Friends, I promise you…if He could do it for me…as wretched as I was…He can do it for anybody who will come to Him with a pure heart!
- When Zacchaeus came face to face with the Lord of Glory, his life was changed forever! To be real honest, I have a hard time believing that a person is a Christian when there is nothing in their lives that shows a transformation has taken place. I find it hard to believe that a person is able to be born-again by the Spirit of the Living God and then go on living their lives just like they always have. SOMETHING’S GOT TO HAPPEN…SOMETHING’S GOT TO GROW…CHANGE WILL TAKE PLACE! 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” I don’t care how much you tell me otherwise, when JESUS comes into your life, YOU WILL BE CHANGED! Your life will be TRANSFORMED! You will be MADE NEW! You cannot be born-again and remain the same…it’s IMPOSSIBLE!
Check it out…how do I know that Zacchaeus was changed? Listen to what he said, “I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” Folks…this was a man who made his livelihood by lying to and cheating people. Most of the people who were there in that crowd were people he had cheated. But here he was, as soon as he came face to face with Jesus, he was making amends for the way he had previously lived his life. He was willing to give it all away! He wanted to pay back all those people he had cheated. He wanted to make his life right with God! He didn’t care what it cost him…suddenly it became more important to be in right standing with God than to be rich with the things of the world. So he gave it ALL away! He sacrificed everything when he truly came to know the Lord. Zacchaeus was a changed man!
Friends, I find it true throughout scripture that whenever a person gave their lives to Christ, they were willing to give up everything to follow Him. Tell me something…how is it that in our American Christian culture, we think that we can just tack Jesus onto the back of our lifestyle as another thing to make us look “cool” among our peers? How is it we think that being a Christian is the same as living a comfortable life? Where did this perception ever come from? How did the mentality of Believers ever change? Because I certainly don’t see it demonstrated in the lives of anyone in the Bible, and the only one who tried it was the Rich Young Ruler…and scripture says that he went away sorrowful. People all over the world are paying a consequence for placing their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. In many countries, becoming a Christian means the possibility of losing your job, losing your home, losing your wife and children…in some countries, when a person gives their life to Christ, a new Believer’s own family will be out to take their life for turning away from their religion. We need to understand that there is a COST to following Jesus! There is a sacrifice to be made! Being a Disciple of Jesus Christ is not a comfortable and easy life…and if the brand of Christianity you have is comfortable and easy, then you need to check up on your salvation…because it is NOT Biblical! And it’s NOT real!
- The whole purpose that Jesus came to the earth is found right there in verse 10… “…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Friends…we need to understand today that the whole reason…the entire purpose that Jesus left the portals of Heaven to come to this dirty, sin-filled world was to seek and to save the lost! And if you are born-again, the whole reason that you are here is to represent Him to a lost and dying world. Your reason for living is to seek and to save the lost! Friends…you can’t use those excuses any longer. Jesus commanded us to GO. He didn’t make it a multiple choice…it was a command from our Sovereign Lord! His plan and His purpose for giving you breath every day is to represent the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth. The last words He spoke before He ascended into Heaven were, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) Some of us have believed that we can sit in our comfy pews in an air conditioned churches every week and as long as at some time in our lives we recited a short prayer that someone had us to repeat, and we think that THAT is our ticket to Heaven. But I want to tell you when I read the Bible, THAT is not the case! When I read the Bible, it talks about sacrifice and obedience, and seeking God with all our hearts, and living in Him, and reading and studying and applying His Word to our daily lives. We cannot continue to believe the lie that Satan has given us…it’s time to get right with God! Time is growing short friends and we must get off the fence, and get all the way into God’s Kingdom. Eternity awaits and we will all be called on to give an account unto God. What will you say when you meet Him face to face? And even more important…what will He say to you? Will He say, “Well done my good and faithful servant”? Or will He say “Depart from me, I never knew you”? It’s a question you need to ask yourself and you need to do it now. Tomorrow could be too late. If you are willing to make your commitment to God sure and steadfast, whether it’s the first time for you, or even if you have been in church for a long time, I want to pray with you right now if I may….
Prayer:
Father, I come to You with my heart in my
hands…and I want to tell You that I am so sorry. I am sorry Father, for having
lived a lie all this time. I am sorry for thinking that I could live my life
any way that I pleased and that I imagined that somehow I would never give
account to You for my life. I am sorry Father...I repent of my sins and I ask
You to forgive me and come into my life and help me to live the rest of my life
for Jesus…according to Your Word and in obedience to You. I want to turn from
my old life and live this new life that You have called me to live. I love you
Lord and I praise you…In Jesus’ Name…Amen.
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