The Jesus Affect- Interruptions

If you have your Bibles, I want you to open them this morning to Luke's Gospel, chapter 19,

and I want to continue the series we began last week, the Jesus Effect.

We're thinking about how Jesus impacts our lives, how he changes them.

Everyone he ever came in contact with was different after having had a Jesus encounter,

and so that's the line of thinking we're following again this morning.

As we look at chapter 19, the Gospel of Luke,

and we're going to examine the first 10 verses this morning in this passage.

Now, it will seem unrelated, but just bear with me for a moment, and you'll see how it ties in in a second.

Some of you are retired, and others of you, most of you, are still in the workforce, right?

When you go to work, how many of you work off an agenda?

You, in the morning when you get to the office, you make out a to-do list.

Can I just see your hands? How many of you have a to-do list?

Maybe at home you do that.

How many of you don't have a to-do list?

A lot of you in this service apparently don't have one,

but I see some who are doing this.

A lot of you are not going to say, right?

You just don't know whether you do or you don't.

When I was working all the time, every day when I would get to the office, I'd get there about an hour or four, most folk in our office,

and when I'd get there, I'd use that quiet time to establish an agenda.

I'd write out everything I wanted to accomplish that day,

and then because I'm so OCD, I would go through at the end of the day,

and I would check off those things that I had done even as I went through that list.

I also meshed that with my calendar.

I'd look at my calendar and say, well, I've got to be here at 10 or there at 12,

or this is going on this afternoon,

and so I'd blend those together,

and some days were pretty light,

and some days were average,

and some days were really, really heavy,

and it's that way.

It don't matter what you do in life.

We all have those kind of days, right,

where they're kind of pressure packed,

and we know I've got to be here at this time,

and I've got to get this done,

and so what's the enemy of the person who lives by an agenda?

What's the enemy?

You know what that is?

Single word I'm looking for.

Anybody know?

It's the word interruptions.

You know it.

You probably just didn't say it, right?

It's that interruption,

that thing you hadn't planned for,

that thing you hadn't counted on.

It wasn't in your agenda,

but it happens nonetheless,

and at times it's a mild, annoying interruption,

and every other time it can just devastate the schedule you may have laid out.

Sometimes you recognize in the end that interruption was a godsend.

It was a blessing,

but oftentimes we're honest about it.

They're annoying when we get interrupted in what we plan to do for the day.

Well, I want to just say to you,

I don't think anybody knew more about interruptions to what their agenda was than Jesus.

I mean, Jesus just every day of his life,

when you read the Gospels,

you find he's interrupted.

Mark is my favorite Gospel,

and Mark uses one word,

the King James translates it one way,

others' translations another,

straightway or immediately,

and that's because Mark is the action Gospel,

and so when you come to the Gospel of Mark,

it says straightway Jesus did,

blah, blah, blah,

and then straightway Jesus did,

blah, blah, blah,

and then straightway Jesus did,

and it's because he's moving from one thing to another,

to another,

to another.

You probably have difficulty finding this,

and a better example of it,

than in the Gospel of Mark,

chapter five.

Jesus,

it's the story we looked at last week,

he goes on the Sea of Galilee,

to the southeast region of Gadara.

There,

he's got something he wants to do,

obviously,

or he wouldn't have gone to that place.

When he steps out of the boat,

he's confronted by this demoniac.

Remember the story we looked at last week?

Jesus didn't go looking for the demoniac,

the demoniac came rushing to Jesus.

Jesus spent several hours there in that location,

he talked to the man,

he cast the demons out,

they go to town,

they get the townspeople,

a big crowd comes back,

they see what's happened to the man,

they're now more afraid of him than they were before,

and they ask Jesus to leave.

Have you ever thought about that?

Why was he going to Gadara?

And then they ask him to leave,

and he accommodates him,

he gets back in the boat,

and he goes away.

Whatever he had gone there for,

at least in his mind,

or the disciples man,

it never gets accomplished,

unless he had the foresight to know,

this demoniac is my business there.

He made it his business,

but it appears to be an interruption,

right?

He leaves there,

and he goes back across the sea,

and this time he comes to Capernaum,

and when he gets to Capernaum,

guess what?

There he meets this man named Jairus,

who is frantic.

He comes running up,

huge,

massive crowd,

apparently thousands,

that's not an exaggeration,

apparently thousands,

certainly hundreds,

but probably thousands of people,

had gathered to see him,

as they so often did.

That first year of his ministry,

I mean the masses just came out of the woodwork,

to see Jesus.

And so when he gets there,

Jairus comes running up,

I've got a little girl,

she's sick at home,

she's about to die,

would you come to my house?

Well,

I don't know what his agenda was for the day,

but no doubt he had one in his head,

here's where I'm going,

but Jairus suddenly interrupts him,

and he's off to Jairus' house.

On the way,

this crowd is so massive,

they're pushing and shoving,

a woman reaches down,

and touches the hem of his garment.

Jesus immediately knows,

power has left him.

He turns to the crowd,

and he says to his disciples,

somebody here touch me,

who touched me?

Peter turns and says,

Lord,

who hasn't touched you?

Peter thinks,

you've got to be kidding,

right?

I mean,

everybody,

they're about to stampede us to death.

And so,

he deals with the woman,

with the issue of blood,

he later then,

has someone come and say,

hey,

no need to go to Jairus' house,

she's dead.

Another interruption,

right?

Keeps him from getting to Jairus' house,

what appears to be on time.

But he goes anyway,

and then he raises this girl from the dead.

Can I tell you something?

That's typical,

I believe,

of what Jesus' life was like.

I think he spent most of his time

dealing with people who interrupted his agenda.

I want to show you another illustration of that.

Look with me to Luke 19,

Luke 19:1

verse 1.

He entered Jericho

and was passing through.

The only thing you can make out of that,

if Luke is telling us accurately,

and I believe he is,

Jesus didn't really have business

that was on his schedule in Jericho.

You agree with that?

That's yes and no and don't know,

right?

He's come to Jericho,

he's simply passing through.

You don't know this yet,

but in a second you're going to find out

there is a huge crowd again

that is assembled to see him.

If you look on down to verse 28,

just look down the page of verse 28,

you see the heading there above verse 28,

the triumphal entry.

That's where he's headed.

He's going to Jerusalem.

He's going there to die.

This is his ultimate purpose.

He's been sent to die for humanity,

to save humanity from their sins

by dying on the cross.

He's going to fulfill his father's command.

It's the most urgent business he has.

So he's passing through Jericho

and was passing through,

verse 2 says,

there was a man named Zacchaeus

who was a chief tax collector

and he was rich.

So out of nowhere,

Luke introduces us to this character

who's not named anywhere else in scripture

and his name is Zacchaeus.

This is what we know about him.

He's got lots of money.

He's rich.

And the other thing is,

he's a tax collector.

Can I tell you something?

That one fact

gives us a pretty clear picture

of who Zacchaeus is.

Imagine that in years to come,

I pray this never happens,

but imagine 100 years from now,

20 years from now,

the Chinese somehow overtake America

and they are dominating our land.

They're occupying our land.

They have a military presence here.

They're not interested in moving to the United States,

but they're going to dominate our country.

And so they set up a government

and they want to raise taxes in America

not to support the American government,

but the Chinese government.

And so they find agents in America

who are willing to raise taxes

be responsible for gathering taxes from Americans

to send to China.

That's what is happening in chapter 19

with this man, Zacchaeus.

The Greeks had overthrown Israel.

The Romans had overthrown the Greeks.

It's occupied by foreigners.

There were certain blessings.

They were protected.

They were able to do business.

They were able to travel.

They were protected by their neighboring enemies.

But the downside was

they have no voice in government.

The Romans are appointing the leaders

and the Romans are raising taxes

and they're doing it

through their Hebrew fellow citizens.

The Hebrews would go and apply to the Romans

to be these tax collectors

and they would make bids

and whoever would get the bid

would get the job.

This is a chief tax collector, Luke tells us,

which means he has other tax collectors

who are under him.

Can you imagine that there's someone here

in Pickens County

and he's the person who is assessing taxes

and he's taking the money,

putting a cut in his pocket

and sending the rest of the money to China?

How do you think you'd feel about that guy?

That's how they feel about Zacchaeus.

He's a traitor.

He's a cheat.

He's a scoundrel.

And so whenever you read about tax collectors

in the New Testament,

it always puts them right in there

with the most immoral of the immoral.

They're sinners in their thinking

in the eyes of God.

Well, look, if you will,

the very next verse, verse three.

He was trying to see Jesus,

speaking of Zacchaeus,

he was trying to see who Jesus was,

but he was not able because of the crowd

since he was a short man.

Now, here's where you understand

there's a huge crowd.

He's not able to see Jesus.

He wants to see Jesus.

We also find he's a short fellow.

Now, why the curiosity about Jesus?

Well, I want to tell you something.

That's the reason for the crowd.

Everywhere he went,

everybody wanted to see Jesus.

If Jesus were alive today

and doing the things he did

in the New Testament era,

I want to tell you something.

Everybody in this auditorium,

whether you're a believer or not,

everybody in Pickens County

would want to meet Jesus.

Well, why?

He calls people with withered hands

to suddenly have a whole hand.

He took people who were verifiably crippled

and he made them walk again.

He calls people who were blind

and could not see a thing.

Their eyes were open

and they were made whole.

People who were deaf could hear.

And remember Jairus?

His daughter is graveyard dead

and Jesus raises her

back to life again.

You can understand clearly

why anyone who heard about Jesus coming to town

would immediately flock out to see Jesus.

His only problem is he's short.

Now, I want to just say

there are advantages at times

to being short.

This last week,

we were staying at these friends' house

down at the lake

and they got a dock

and I don't know why they built it this way,

but they put an iron bar across this dock

that's about five feet, eight inches tall.

Unfortunately, I'm six feet tall.

And so, twice,

I banged my head in that thing, right?

There's an advantage at times

to being short,

but there are also, obviously,

some disadvantages

at times to being short.

If you're in a crowd

and you're wanting to see over the crowd,

it's a disadvantage.

It's an advantage to be tall.

Last night,

we had our 51st reunion

in Seneca

and high school reunion

and when we gathered at the end,

they said,

let's get a picture of everybody.

So, you know how that went down, right?

All the short people get on the front.

Some of them kneel down.

The mid-sized folk,

they're in the middle.

The tallest ones,

they're in the back

and they're looking over the tops

and everybody is cool with doing that

because it's the courteous thing.

It's what you normally do.

Here's the question.

Why didn't they let Zacchaeus

come to the front of the crowd?

I mean,

y'all ever go into a parade?

You look behind you,

there's a kid behind you,

there's somebody short behind you.

What do you do?

Sure, would you have to come up here and stand?

And they get in front of him.

Why didn't they do that with Zacchaeus?

Because they hate Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus is not,

they don't even want him in the crowd.

They don't want him to be a part of this parade,

let alone to give him a front row seat.

Well, what does he do?

Look at verse four.

So running ahead,

he climbed up a sycamore tree

to see Jesus

since he was about to pass that way.

Now that's pretty clever,

don't you think?

He wants to see Jesus.

He wants to maybe speak a word to Jesus.

We don't even know that.

He just wants to see him.

Just all these tales he's been told.

Who is this Jesus?

What does he look like?

What's he doing?

So he thinks,

hey, you know what?

He's moving in this direction.

I bet if I run down here a distance

and I climb up in that tree,

he's going to pass by

and so he puts his plan into effect.

He goes down,

he climbs the tree.

Now it's a clever plan,

but let's just be honest about it, right?

It's a little bit,

what?

Weird, right?

I mean,

what grown man

climbs trees

to get to see people pass by?

So it's a clever plan,

but it's a little bit

on the weird,

unusual side.

Well, look at verse five.

When Jesus came to the place,

he looked up

and said to him,

Zacchaeus, hurry

and come down

because today

I must stay at your house.

So Jesus

is walking through this crowd.

I mean,

they're talking to him.

They're wanting to reach out

and touch him.

They're asking him questions,

no doubt.

He's moving along slowly

and he gets down the way

and finally

he comes to the place

where here is Zacchaeus

perched up in this tree

and I can just see Jesus.

Now you got to use

your imagination

and this is not

adding to the scripture.

It's just allowing it

to come alive

because all these

are real stories.

If you'd have had

a camcorder,

you could have videotaped

everything I'm talking about

if they'd had a camcorder

in that day.

It's real history

unfolding for our eyes.

So he gets down

to this tree

and he looks up

and I can just see

Jesus thinking to himself.

Can't you?

Boy, that's kind of weird.

Little short guy

is up in the tree

and he looks up at him

and he calls him

by name.

As far as we know,

he'd never been introduced

to Zacchaeus.

Didn't know Zacchaeus.

Could be God just instantly

because he is the son of God

told him this is Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus could be,

could be that he's heard

the crowd laughing at Zacchaeus.

Look at that little nut

up in the tree.

Look at that little guy

up in the tree.

He is so crazy.

Zacchaeus would do anything.

But you know what Jesus says?

Zacchaeus,

why don't you,

and listen to this,

not just come down,

quickly come down.

Boy, get out of that tree.

I need to go home with you

and lodge with you today.

Well, I just got to tell you,

I don't know how it was

at your house.

If you were one of my children

and you were coming along

and you asked to go

to somebody's house

and they hadn't invited you,

boy, you got to talk into, right?

My son used to be

the world's worst.

He'd come and say,

Daddy, Jonathan Dierman's mom,

Elaine, said that I could

go home with him today.

My first question always was,

did they invite you

or do they invite you?

And if he said,

well, I kind of asked him

if I could go,

then the answer's always

going to be no, right?

If Mary had been there

and Jesus had been a little boy,

he'd have got scolded.

You don't invite yourself

to somebody's house.

I mean, that's a little weird

seeing a guy up in a tree,

but it's also a little weird

to say, hey, buddy,

I haven't met you yet,

but come down

and take me to your house today, right?

How about feed me?

If you don't think it's weird,

send me out to church

because I'm going to go

to your house for lunch, right?

So, a little bit weird,

but that's what Jesus does.

Look at verse 6.

Quickly he came down

and welcomed him joyfully.

You know what Luke's saying to us?

I mean, you put that,

those phrases,

quickly he comes down,

joyfully.

Yes, Jesus.

Yes, Jesus.

By all means.

I live down on South Main.

Let's go there now, right?

I mean, he's thrilled.

It's his way of saying,

Zacchaeus was giddy.

I mean, he's past just being okay with it.

He's excited.

In fact, I can almost see him

puff his chest out a little bit,

can't you?

I mean, of all the people here in Jericho,

Jesus is coming to my house, right?

And so, off they go

to Zacchaeus' house.

Well, how'd the crowd react?

They weren't nearly as thrilled.

Look at verse 7.

All who saw it began to complain.

He's gone to lodge with a sinful man.

Jesus actually loses some credibility

at this point

with the religious folk of the day.

Can I tell you something?

And you already know this

because I know you've read

the New Testament many times.

When you read the New Testament,

the Gospels especially,

you're bombarded by this same idea

that you find here in this verse

we just read.

They're always giving grief to Jesus

over the company he kept.

And they're always raising suspicion.

Did you not know this man was a sinner?

Jesus, I thought you knew everything.

I thought you,

some say you're the Son of God,

you're the Messiah.

Now, don't you know who this man is?

This man is the tax collector.

He's the chief of sinners.

Why are you going home with him?

Now, I'm just gonna throw this in

as a free bonus, okay?

Isn't it amazing

how lost people were attracted to Jesus?

Have you ever thought about it?

I've thought about it a whole lot.

Because I gotta be honest with you,

I'm fearful lost people

are not always attracted to me.

In fact, I look at a lot of church people

throughout my ministry

and we seem to kinda repel them,

don't we?

But Jesus was like a magnet to them.

There's something about Jesus,

he was so comfortable with them.

I don't mean he liked their lifestyles,

no indication of that.

But I'm gonna tell you something.

There was something about Jesus,

they saw something in him,

he was so loving,

so kind,

so compassionate.

He didn't let their actions

and attitudes get in the way

of his loving them

to the point that they were

comfortable with him.

And I got news for you,

I've seen a lot of people

who are not very comfortable

with church people.

I mean,

we kinda give them the hives at times.

Have you ever noticed that?

You can see it when you begin to ask them,

would you come to church?

Eh, no, I don't want to.

You have them over for hot dogs,

they're okay.

You go out in the backyard

and you have a cookout,

they're okay.

But go to the church?

Eh, I don't know, man.

So,

Jesus was comfortable

with lost people

and then as a result,

lost people were comfortable

with Jesus.

Look at verse eight.

They're home now,

they've had dinner,

a conversation has ensued,

we don't know what it was,

but I want you to notice

verse eight.

But Zacchaeus stood there,

they would eat their meals

in a lying position

on the floor.

Zacchaeus stood there

and said to the Lord,

look,

I'll give half

of my possessions

to the poor Lord

and if I have extorted

anything from anyone,

I'll pay back

four times

as much.

Now,

I'm fearful

that when we read

these stories,

we become so accustomed

to reading them,

we've heard them

so many times,

this is one you've heard

since you were a little bitty kid,

that it goes in one ear

and just out the other.

But I really want you

to think about it

and I want you to think

about putting yourself

in Zacchaeus' shoes.

We're not talking

about a tithe,

we're not talking

about half of his

weekly income

that week,

we're talking about

a man who is an adult

who's worked

all of his adult life

and he has been

amassing wealth,

just like all of us

in this room.

Now,

some of you

are better at that

than others

and some of you

have amassed more

than others

but all of us,

especially those my age,

you've worked

your whole life

to surround yourself

with a lot of stuff,

right?

He's giving away

half of his stuff.

Half of my possessions

I give to the poor.

If you have children

and you have a will

you thought real carefully

about,

now what do I want

to do with my money?

When I die,

I'm going to give

half to this child

and half to that child

or I'm going to

divide it into thirds

if I've got three children

or you know what

you're going to do

with your money

but I'm going to tell you

something,

that's a major decision.

You don't come about

that flippantly

because you recognize

this is my life's earnings.

We're talking about

his 401k,

we're talking about

his checking account,

his savings account,

money's got hid

out there in the shed.

We're talking about

everything he's got,

all of his possessions,

his houses,

his land,

if he owns land.

Half of everything

I'm going to give away.

Big deal.

But then he says this,

Master,

I'll tell you something,

if I've cheated anybody,

now understand

he's not talking about

that which he was paid

by the Roman government

to perform this service

of collecting taxes,

but he's talking about

that additional

that he just stiffed them for,

okay,

where he took advantage of them.

He says,

anything I've taken advantage

of anybody,

I've extorted them

of their money,

I'm going to pay back

four times

out of that remaining half,

I'm going to pay back

four times

what I took.

Now here's a guy,

here's what's phenomenal about it.

Here's a guy

who all his life,

he's been in the amassing mode.

He's been in the collecting mode,

no pun intended.

He's been gathering for himself

and only for himself

and now suddenly,

suddenly,

he's in the giving mode.

You can't just say

he's generous,

I mean he's given away

half of everything he got

and he's making restitution

four times

what he's taken.

It's incredible.

I mean,

who does that?

How does that happen?

Look at the very next verse,

if you will.

Verse nine.

Today,

salvation has come to this house,

Jesus told him,

because he too

is a son of Abraham.

There's the explanation.

Jesus says to these people

who are standing there

with their mouth agape,

what did Zacchaeus just do?

I mean,

he just gave away

almost every,

what did he do?

Jesus said,

let me tell you what he did.

Salvation has come

to this house today.

Now,

I want you to be sure

to get this.

Jesus is not saying,

wow,

Zacchaeus,

you gave away

half to the poor.

You're now concerned

about the poor

and not just yourself.

You've become an honest man,

a man of integrity.

You're giving back

four times

what you've stolen,

you've extorted.

Wow.

You know what?

You've earned

your salvation.

Not what he's saying

at all.

What he's doing

is giving explanation

to why

Zacchaeus

has done

what he's done.

Salvation,

Jesus has this ability

that we don't have.

He looks

into Zacchaeus' heart.

He doesn't have

to see him

walking out.

He didn't have

to see him

take a pasture

out of the hand.

He doesn't have

to see him kneel.

He knows Zacchaeus

has had a change

of heart,

that something

has transformed him.

He's a new man.

He's not the same Zacchaeus

that Jesus walked home

from that sycamore tree with.

He's different

in every way.

He's got a different heart,

a different soul,

a different spirit.

And so now

he says

to Zacchaeus

and to those watching,

let me tell you

what's happened here.

Salvation has occurred here.

This man has been saved.

God has transformed

his life.

He's not the same

old tax collector

he used to be.

He is a son

of Abraham.

Now finally

look at verse 10.

For the son of man

has come to seek

and to save

the lost.

Jesus says

I know about

the salvation thing.

That's why I've come.

I've come

for people

just like Zacchaeus.

Can I tell you something?

Jesus is telling us

this is my agenda.

My agenda is

to see people

radically transformed

for God.

To see people

who are godless

become filled with God.

To see people

who are lost

be saved.

Can I just tell you

quickly in passing

that ought to be

the mission

of this church

and every church

that bears the name

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our mission

is not to fill buildings

to build buildings.

Our mission

is not just

to see how much

money we can give

to missions.

Our mission

should always be this.

Our mission

should be

to see people

radically changed

by the gospel

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To see Jesus

somehow touch

people's lives

and make them

different creatures

all together.

together.

I was a pastor

full-time pastor

for 40 years.

You know one of the things

the long-eyed pastor

that disheartened me

the most?

Every year

you're probably not aware

of this as a church member

but pastors and staff

will know this.

Every year

you get a letter

from the association

and they say

give us this information

and you pass it

to the association

and the association

passes it

to the state convention

and the state convention

passes it

to the national convention

and they ask you

things like this

how many people

were baptized?

How many people

joined the church?

How much money

did you give?

How much money

did you give

to the cooperative program?

How much money

did you designate

to missions?

How many were involved

in music ministry?

How many were involved

in youth ministry?

How many were in

since you get the picture?

You know

of those forms

that we filled out

for 40 years

I never had once

them ask this question

how many people's lives

did you see

miraculously changed?

Maybe they just thought

well pastors

wouldn't be able

to answer that

because it's rather subjective

but I want to tell you

something

when somebody

is radically changed

like Zacchaeus

has changed

you got to see that

don't you?

Don't you?

Have you ever seen

anybody change

like Zacchaeus?

I've seen people

change like that

I can begin

to list people

who I've seen

were changed like that

we know them

here's the problem

they don't want to know that

you know why?

Because that's going to be

a much smaller number

than those other numbers

we like to report

those people

that are really

radically

I mean

Jesus comes in their heart

and he saves them

and change them

that's going to be

a lot smaller

but we're aware of it

when we see it

you've seen it right here

at Pickens First

you've seen that person

who they came in

they trusted Christ

and boom

boy

God just did a work

a marvelous work

in their life

so here's what I want you

to do with this message

and I want you

to do something with it

I want you just to

hear it

I'm going to give you

four assignments today

okay

here's the first

I want you to start

reacting to interruptions

to your agenda

differently

than you ever have

in the past

now I hope you'll

write these down

because if you don't

write them down

you won't be able

to do them

and I want you

to do them

okay

I don't want you

just to hear them

I want you

to do them

I want you

to go out

beginning today

as soon as the

service is over

I want you

to begin to do them

I want you

to start reacting

to interruptions

to your agenda

differently

and here's how

I want you

to do that

when an interruption

in your agenda

your plan

for the day

occurs

I want you

to immediately

ask yourself

instead of

getting mad

instead of

getting a little

peeved

instead of

being annoyed

I want you

to ask yourself

this question

could it be

that God

is singling

me out

through this

interruption

because this

person

is my agenda

for the day

could this be

a divine

appointment

could this be

the reason God

has put me

exactly in this

place that I am

now

I mean God

knew

I had these

plans

God knew

this is what

I was going

to be doing

today

right

he always

does

so if that

interruption

occurs

shouldn't we

be asking

ourselves

if we

want to be

somebody

who is

on God's

agenda

rather than

our own

agenda

could it be

that God

has allowed

this interruption

to occur

because this

is the new

plan that God

has given

me today

I mean this

guy right here

on the side

of the road

this gas can

in his hand

who needs

some help

maybe he's

my agenda

maybe God's

redirecting my

path

and this guy

has become

my agenda

for the day

I'll tell you

this and I'll

pass on to the

second thing I'll

have you do

I know you

think your agenda

is important

and I think my

agenda is important

and I want to

get it done

I like checking

off those things

but I want to

tell you something

God's agenda

always trumps

our agenda

do you know

that

you may think

you know best

about you

but I'm going

to tell you

something

God's agenda

always trumps

your agenda

here's the second

thing

I want you to

start and you're

going to think

I'm crazy

when I tell you

this but write

it down anyway

I want you to

start looking

for men

up in trees

I want you to

start everywhere

you go

looking for

people

up in trees

Jesus

saw

Nicodemus

or rather

Zacchaeus

forgive me

Jesus saw

Zacchaeus

and he

immediately

knew

that's a

needy guy

right there

I mean he

put it all

together

in just a

matter of

moments

and he

knew

Zacchaeus

needed him

so Zacchaeus

come down

out of that

tree

I need to

go to your

house

you need to

take care

of me

today

I want you

to start

looking for

people in

trees

you say

what are you

talking about

preacher

well how many

of you when

you were kids

looked for

four leaf clovers

now some of you

young ones

are going to

probably say

what's he

talking about

right

when you're an

old guy like

me when we

were kids

we didn't

have a lot

to do

so we'd

go in the

yard and

we'd look

for four leaf

clovers

you got a

yard that had

a lot of

clover

I've seen

kids that

spend hours

looking for

four leaf

clovers

how many

of you ever

found a

four leaf

clover

a lot

look here

a lot of

people

good for

you

I think

some of

you are

lying

okay

I feel like

a real dummy

because I

want to tell you

something I've

never found

one

I was at a

picnic

the reason I

use this

illustration

I was at a

picnic with

some church folk

a long time

ago and

somehow

we're in an

area where

there's a lot

of clover

and we got

this blanket

on the ground

and me and

Regina and

this other

couple sitting

there and

I said look

at all this

clover I

wonder if we

could find a

four leaf

clover and

this woman

says oh

sure we

can find

some easy

and I

said really

and she

said oh

yeah she

stands up

I stand

up and

she looks

here at

this patch

of ground

about three

or four

foot wide

and she

says I

see two

right now

and I

said where

she says I'm

not going to

tell you

you find

them so

I looked

for about

ten minutes

I ain't

found nothing

right and

so I said

where are

they and

so she

bent over

and she

picked up

two four

leaf clovers

and gave

them to

me I

got another

friend friend

at Brushy

Creek he's

got a bag

full of

Indian

arrowheads

I've

occasionally

looked for

those from

places I'd

be places

battlefields or

something where

I think maybe

there would

be some I

don't have

one arrowhead

and you got

any arrowheads

here's somebody

got one

there in the

back

can I tell you

something

I am good at

finding one

thing

well several

things food

for one

but another

is I'm

pretty good at

finding deer

because my

wife and I

started years

ago in the

evenings we

had a place

down the

lake for

13 years

and we

would get

out on

Friday nights

about 7

o'clock and

we'd ride to

8 and I

knew I'd

found some

in one area

and I'd go

back to those

areas and I

found new

areas and we

got pretty

good at

finding deer

and so those

years we lived

the lake one

Saturday night

I found

Friday night

I found 43

deer okay

I was down

the lake this

last week

staying at a

friend's house

I found 50

deer one

night 15

of them were

bucks 8 of

them 8 points

or better big

deer right

you say that's a

lot of it it is

my wife's good

at it she's as

good at it as I

am you know

why because we

look for deer

just like that

one guy looks

for arrowheads

just like that

one guy has

spent a lot of

time looking for

clovers I'm going

to tell you a

truth in life you

can believe this

you find what

you're looking

for

did you know

that you will

find what you

really and truly

look for Jesus

said the same in

Matthew 7 7

about prayer

you will find

what you seek

for what you

look for

you know what I

believe about

Jesus you know

why he had so

many interruptions

because he was

willing to be

interrupted and he

was always looking

for people up in

trees he was

always looking to

that guy who

seemed out of

place he was

always looking to

that guy that

others thought

man that guy's a

little weird

that guy's been

cast aside by

society you know

where you'll find

them you'll find

them in school

cafeterias they're

the guy or gal

over there eating

by themselves

it's that guy at

work you'll look

at when you look

at him he looks

down she looks

down when you

look back up and

move on they look

back and they're

watching you they

isolate themselves

there are people

with needs in

their life and

they want somebody

to reach out to

them but they're

afraid to ask

I want you to

start looking for

people who are in

trees third thing

I want you to learn

to use Jesus

approach to helping

people and I just

got to tell you this

will be the hardest

one for you to do

because it's so

foreign to our

thinking here's how

we want to help

people we see

somebody with a

need and we rush

in and try to be

their savior let

me buy you

groceries let me

do this for you

let me do that for

you come over here

to this come to my

house come to my

cookout instead of

letting people know

man I need you

when you do for

somebody you know

what happens it

leaves them thinking

boy he is such a

nice guy they think

better of you when

you help them but

when you enlist the

help of people you

know what always

happens I've seen

this being a pastor

so many times it

makes them feel

important it makes

them feel good about

themselves it makes

them feel needed it

feels to them like he

wants me to be a part

of what he's about so

when he says would you

let me go home with

you and you feed me

today he's thrilled to

death he's thrilled to

death because it's

Jesus coming to his

house and he's going to

be able to help Jesus

but in Jesus allowing

him to do that for

him by Jesus saying I

really do want to be

involved to you not

just superficially it

opened the door for

Zacchaeus to receive

Christ into his heart

and finally here's the

last thing I want you

to examine your

salvation I know a lot

of you are thinking

well preacher that's

pretty easy I've been a

member of first pickings

for X number of years

I was baptized right

up in that baptismal

pool or I was

baptized out at this

place Lake Hartwell

somebody told me last

night I was talking to

and you can recall the

date and the time and

everything about it but

that's not what I'm

asking you did you join

the church or did you

sing in the choir or are

you a deacon or have

you taught in school

what I'm asking you to

do is we're going to

require a lot of soul

searching and

transparency but it's

in your best interest

you do it and that's

to ask yourself has a

change like occurred in

Zacchaeus ever occurred

in me because I'm going

to tell you something

when salvation comes to a

house to us it always

leaves breathtaking changes

I don't mean that

everybody comes from a

moral background and

suddenly becomes moral

but I'm going to tell

you something if you're

the most moral person to

ever live in pick in

South Carolina when

Jesus comes in your

eye it still radically

changes the most moral

of people it's an

inside change you've

heard me show my

testimony when I got

saved I was only 14

years old so when a ton

of weakness that I had to

get rid of in my life

and I'm going to tell

you that day I received

Christ I became a

different person it was

as radical as the

changes in Zacchaeus life

I knew going forward I

would sin against God and

I did and I have and I'm

ashamed of that but I'm

going to tell you

something there's never

been a moment in my life

that I've ever thought for

a second that I wasn't

different than I was

before I received Christ

he changed me he changed

Zacchaeus and that's what

Jesus saw I'll tell you

ladies and gentlemen

Jesus turns to the crowd

you've just witnessed

salvation salvation is

cut this is a child of

Abraham he has faith in

God do you is there

anything about your life

that is just radically

changing people and it

doesn't even matter what

other people do you know

that change has occurred

you know if not I want to

tell you something you

ought to really be talking

to God about your

salvation because the

older I get the more I'm

convinced when Jesus

comes into a man or a

woman's life a young

person's life it's not

just a handshake and a

fill out card and a dunk

in a pool it leaves a

lasting effect you think

differently your heart's

different you're different

because God now lives in

you let's pray Lord I

pray you would convict men

and women today who may be

delusional of their

salvation I would not

cause anyone Lord

purposefully to doubt for a

moment that they know you

if they really know you

but if they have been duped

into believing they have

been saved when they have

not been saved when they

just Lord embraced an

idea but they didn't

embrace you I pray oh

God that you'd convict

them and bring them to

the stark realization

they need you and they

can find you this day

Lord you're just as

available to anyone in

this room as you were to

Zacchaeus so if there are

men and women who turn in

these next few moments and

they cry out to you and

say God save me I pray you

do that I know you will

hear their prayer Lord

save them today and for

those of us who have been

changed and we've been

transformed and we know

that help us to make your

agenda our agenda to not

be out there just doing our

thing but to make people

sinners our agenda in life

to bring them to faith in

Christ have your will and

way in this service we ask

it in your name the

instrument

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love you

love you

won't

say

love you

alright