Rhythms (Week 4)

You know that worship?

I was sitting there thinking about scripture says that the prayers of the saints, that they go to heaven, and and it's like incense or like smoke coming out of a bowl up to the Lord and to his nostrils and us worshiping the Lord together and him hearing our prayers through song.

I'm just thankful to be here today.

How about you?

I'm thankful to be worshiping the God above on high.

We've been in this series for the last few weeks and are ending our series called Rhythms.

I've told you all before about uh my study habits as a teenager and kid in school.

I made it through high school and college without reading one book.

Now that's not anything to be proud of, and I'm not bragging about it.

Um because I was basically just skirting by.

And since then I've become much more of a reader.

Mainly because I heard along the way that a leader is a reader, and so I've been figuring out how to be a reader, and you know, I've got all kinds of little things that I do to help me be a reader.

Now, last couple of years, I've been reading about 12 books a year, and the way I've been doing it is I'm an auditory learner, and so it's a little bit more expensive, but I'll buy the book, but then I also buy the audiobook, and I'll listen to somebody read the book to me as I'm reading through the book.

And um this uh this series, in large part, has been inspired by a book that I read last year called Rhythms of Renewal by uh Rebecca Lyons.

And in this book, she mentions and talks about a man by the name of Viktor Frankel.

In the 1940s, he was a psychologist in Austria, Jewish serving people, and as things in Germany, Austria, and Europe began to heat up with the rise of Nazism, he was in grave danger.

He helped different uh Jewish people to get health care at hospitals in Vienna, and ultimately he and his family were were captured and taken to concentration camps.

He ended up going to four different concentration camps in the span of three years.

And during his time there in 1942, his father died of starvation and pneumonia.

And then they were transported to Auschwitz, and his mother and brother were murdered in gas chambers.

And somehow he survived.

When he got out of the camps later in 1946, just a few years later, he wrote the best-selling book, Man's Search for Meaning.

The original title was A Psychologist's Experience in the Concentration Camps.

But it was a bestseller across the nation at that time.

It was named as one of the ten most influential books in America.

I'm gonna read you a couple of things that he said in quotes from the book.

Frankel says this a life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.

Imagine writing those words of someone who's been in the most horrific of circumstances in a concentration camp.

And then he writes this about life's meaning.

Said the meaning of life is to help others find the meaning of theirs.

Powerful words coming from someone who experienced an unbelievable challenge.

Rebecca Lyons, in the book she writes of Frank Frank Frankel, she said, Frankel's premise was that anxiety flows from a life without meaning and purpose.

When we lose meaning, we live with a sense of unfulfilled responsibility rooted in anxiety.

With meaning, though, we're free of anxiety.

Through freedom, we're given a great responsibility.

For the last four weeks, I have been telling you this.

You were made for meaning.

Remember, I said that week one?

You're made for meaning, and for us to ask the questions of ourselves, who am I meant to be and what am I meant to do?

What is God's purpose for my life and what does this year of 2023 look like for me?

And we started a few weeks back talking about that rhythms and to evaluate where we are.

And I told you that renewal starts with review, of us taking an honest look at ourselves and what our rhythms are and what our practices are and where we are spiritually, and are we being the people that God has meant for us to be and do the things that He's meant for us to do.

And the next week we talked about out of that evaluation, what are some things that we need to leave behind and to eliminate?

And I told us that the stop of sin is the start of renewal and revival in our lives.

When we take an honest look at what we're doing and where we are in life, where the things that are tripping us up, holding us back, entangling us, ensnaring us, and for us to leave it behind, but not just leave it behind, to replace it with something.

And to replace it with you and me being committed to form transforming practices in our lives by emulating Jesus and saying yes to the Holy Spirit.

Y'all tracking with me?

I know not everybody's been here every week, but but we're we're leading up to the final and last portion of this, which is to elevate, to go to the next level.

After you evaluate and eliminate the things holding you back, after you emulate and begin to start some new practices, rhythms, challenges in your life, then take things to the next level.

Why?

Because you remain for meaning, and because so oftentimes, meaning for us is how we impact the people who are around us.

What are people experiencing when they experience you?

What's it like to be your friend?

What's it like to be your family member?

What's it like to be your neighbor?

And what are people experiencing?

We talked about putting some new rhythms into our life that would genuinely renew us.

Some of those kind of examples could be to give yourself permission to play, to eat smart, take care of yourself, to get to know yourself more and get to know God.

Take a walk, be in nature, seek adventure, break a sweat, get in the gym, be the friend you wish to have.

Be vulnerable.

And take a spiritual assessment, retreat, maybe even for your marriage to retreat.

What is all this saying?

What is all this doing?

It's helping us be aware.

Be aware of what in our life is renewing us, and what in our life is a work of the enemy that's trying to steal, kill, and destroy us.

The enemy doesn't want you to flourish.

But God does.

Jesus does.

He came specifically for us to be renewed, for us to be whole, for us to be transformed.

And so as we're in our rhythms of work, rest, worship, work, rest, worship, work, rest, worship.

How does your faith, how does Jesus fit into all of those?

So thankful that Jesus gives us grace and he comes to people at any point in their spiritual journey.

We don't have to get washed up and cleaned up to come to Jesus.

And we've seen that time and time again in the stories in the Bible.

Of people desperate to come to know Jesus.

And today we're going to talk about a man just like that.

Man who lived in the town of Jericho, the city of Jericho.

It's a prominent, affluent city, a center of trade, was deemed the winter capital of King Herod.

And he had a very prominent position that made him a lot of money.

He was a tax collector.

Guy by the name of Zacchaeus.

If he grew up going to Bible school, you might have learned the song.

He was a wee little man.

Wee little man was he.

And we see that Zacchaeus, who was a person who was a tax collector, and the way that it worked is Israel was occupied by Rome.

The Romans, they were the ones who collected the taxes on the people, but for customs and the trade of goods, that was then delegated to tax collectors that were Jewish.

And let me tell you, they were not loved.

Basically, these tax collectors, including Zacchaeus, in collecting taxes, would collect way more than what they were supposed to, and they would pocket the rest of it.

Cheaters, liars, thieves.

Not only that, being representatives of the government that was their oppressor, they were just seen as these guilty, evil, corrupt people.

That was Zacchaeus.

And so that makes the circumstances of this story that much more powerful.

The fact that we're going to see in a second that Jesus didn't keep it in my arm's length or treat him the same way that everybody else treated Zacchaeus, this person who was known to be corrupt, instead, he comes to him with acceptance and boldly, publicly, speaks to Zacchaeus and asks to go to his house.

This is something that the religious people were absolutely shocked by.

Jesus.

Be willing to do that.

And so if you have your Bibles, we're going to start this story.

It's the only place where it's recorded in Luke 19.

Starting in verse 1.

Jesus entered Jericho and he made his way through the town.

There was a man there named Zacchaeus.

He was a chief tax collector in the region, and he became very rich.

He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd.

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.

Then Jesus came by and he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name.

Zacchaeus.

He said, Quick, come down.

I must be a guest in your home today.

Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.

But the people were displeased.

He is gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner, they grumbled.

Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, I will give half of my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give back four times as much.

And Jesus responded, Salvation has come to this home today.

For this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.

For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.

He says, Come down.

I'm going to walk with you.

I'm going to be with you, and I want to be a guest in your home.

Jesus, not thinking about the stakes that that would seem for him personally, what it would look like to be hanging out with somebody like Zacchaeus, a notorious sinner, instead, he calls him out and he calls him up to a new life to be renewed in him.

And as we fill in the gaps a little bit here in the story, he's there speaking with Jesus.

They've gone through his home, and Zacchaeus experiences the true Son of God, the Savior of the world, and in doing so, he's transformed.

I'll say this.

We're going to follow Jesus' example for us to go and be with those who are broken, those who are entrapped in difficulty in sin.

But we're not going to go there and see things stay the same.

If you're going to go and love someone who is in a dark and desperate place, we're not going there just to go sit in the dark.

We're going there to bring the light and to see transformation happen.

Salvation came to that home that day.

Jesus declares it.

And it doesn't just stay there in that house.

Instead, Zacchaeus makes some pretty bold claims.

He says, Hey, I'm going to give half of my wealth to the poor that I've cheated, I've taxed people unfairly, and for those that I've cheated, I'm going to pay them back fourfold.

Now, what's interesting to know is that in the Old Testament, what was actually required of him, that if you've defrauded somebody in land or property, what was actually required of him in the Old Testament was that he would give back with a one-fifth on top of it as interest for someone who was defrauded.

But he doesn't do that.

He goes way above and beyond.

He goes and gives to them what the punishment was for if you stole someone's sheep, which was that you restored them, you had restitution of a fourfold restitution.

There's such a change in Zacchaeus.

After experiencing the one true Jesus, that he doesn't just stop at what is normal, what's customary, he goes above and beyond to see renewal and restoration come.

What's it mean?

What is this word restitution?

We don't normally use this word so much in our regular everyday life unless you're going to court for some reason.

Restitution, it means to be made whole.

It means to be restored.

It means to be renewed.

And in the same way for us, in our lives, we need to be renewed and restored.

And our walk with God and our love for other people and allow Jesus to do a powerful work of renewal in us.

And then it doesn't stay with you.

It goes beyond you.

It multiplies out from you.

That others will be blessed because you know King Jesus, the Savior of this world.

That's what happened with Zacchaeus here in this story.

And for us, I think that we're at a place where once we have determined what our rhythms are, what they should look like, what we should do to have a more full and filled life in 2023, things that we need to leave behind, things that Jesus has come alongside of, and we get using him as our example and guide of how we should transform and be transformed to look more like Jesus today than we did yesterday.

And when we're focused on that for this new year, some things are going to happen.

When you're in a renewed mindset, a restored mindset, not being held back and entangled and enslaved by sin and sin nature, new things begin to happen.

One of those things is you begin to dream again.

You begin to dream again.

You recover your passion.

What is it?

What are the things you were passionate about?

Maybe when you were an adolescent or teenager.

It's funny to think about because some of the things that you were passionate about back then may very well be something that you're passionate about now.

Maybe cars or friendships or a certain activity that you like to do.

Or you're walking in renewal.

You're not drained and depleted and cut in half.

Instead, you're filled with dream, love, and compassion for God and other people.

By the enemy's schemes.

Feeling like we're just surviving day to day.

Instead, that we're creating a new work in Christ Jesus that can be a blessing to our families and well beyond our homes.

It can be renewed.

You can work with your hands.

You can learn something new.

You can take a class.

A class that you've put off for forever.

Well, when you're walking in renewal, you've got space and margin to learn something new.

How about to make a memory?

To take care of someone or something.

I love this one.

Say yes to taking a risk.

Say yes to taking a risk.

Not just for risk's sake, but for the good, amazing purpose that God has called you in your life to fulfill.

We be people who add value, who love other people.

That we're not just draining and sucking the life out of those that are around us in our community, but instead we're the ones who are adding and creating and pushing forward and dreaming for a better tomorrow.

God can do that in and through you.

And through the life of our church.

I believe that.

I believe he's beginning it.

All of this is set up by the renewal of our minds.

We've looked at this scripture every week.

Romans 12, 2.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Zacchaeus was stuck.

Down in corruption, down in sinfulness, selfishness.

But God allowed him to climb up to a new vantage point.

To a new place to see.

Now part of that's because he was short.

But I think it was deeper than that.

I think we see Zacchaeus someone who was stuck down, that was that was being pulled down by the world, by his sinful nature, and by the system that he was in and what he was doing, and God allowed him to rise up, to climb up.

And to take an advantage point.

Who in the room today needs to rise up above whatever the present circumstance is?

Who in this room needs to climb up out of whatever family is trying to drag you down and hold you back?

To rise up to a new place of faith in Christ Jesus.

To rise up to a new place for your family.

To not be held back what somebody told you so many years ago.

Some negative comment or something that somebody said to hurt you, but instead for you to rise up, who wants to rise up?

He got up and he climbed up and he saw from a new perspective.

He saw the way that Jesus saw him, not himself.

Who in the room needs to see yourself through God's eyes, not your own?

You need to see yourself not like somebody told you, and not like that parent who said something that hurt you and wounded you, but instead for you to see through God's perspective.

That he loves you.

That you're chosen.

That you're a child of royalty.

That God gives good gifts to his children.

And that he has a plan and a purpose for your life.

And when doing so, that then you can walk in the purposes that God has for you.

He has a plan and purpose for you.

God loves you.

You know how I know that He has this plan and purpose for you?

Because when you renew your perspective, and when you rise up, and when you raise your perspective, you renew the purpose that God's called for you.

You know how I know that?

Look at Ephesians 2.10, 2.8 through 10.

God saved you by his grace when you believed.

And you can't take credit of this.

It is a gift from God.

Salvation is not a reward of good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Look at this, verse 10.

For we are God's masterpiece.

Everybody say masterpiece.

He has created us anew.

Everybody say anew in Christ Jesus.

So that we can do good things He has planned.

Everybody say planned for us long ago.

You were saved.

Not because of anything you did for yourself, but because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

And when you said yes to Jesus, you were transformed and changed.

And because of that, you get to step into and walk into the purpose that God has for you that He had planned before the beginning of time.

That He planned for you long ago when you're made anew in Christ.

You know what's amazing?

Zacchaeus.

He was restored.

His purpose was restored.

You want to know why?

This is so good.

Zacchaeus.

The name Zacchaeus is derived from a Hebrew word.

Zacchae.

Everybody say Zacchae.

You know what Zacchae means?

It means pure and innocent.

Jesus looked up at Zacchaeus and he called him by name and he said, Zacchaeus.

Innocent and pure one.

Come get out because I'm in the house today, and I'm going to make you into the person you were called to be from the very beginning of your life.

Even in your very own name, it's going to be restored.

You're going to go from corrupt.

You're going to go from sinful to pure and innocent, who you were made to be.

Who's God made you to be?

What needs to be restored in you?

That you can walk in the plans and purposes that God has for you in this life.

And into eternity in the next.

Zacchaeus was restored to the person he was meant to be.

Who are you meant to be?

What are you meant to do?

Rebecca Lyons asked this question at the end of the book, and I think it's so good.

I just have to ask it to you all too.

The question is: Are my acts of creation marked by anxiety and the stress of the world?

Or are they seated in the peace and purpose of God?

Am I operating from self-expression and crowd satisfaction or from a deep well of works prepared for me by God Himself?

Are we looking outward or in the deep well of the plans and purposes that God had for you long ago?

You were made for meaning.

You were made for meaning.

Some of you walked into the room today.

And you're not operating in, you're not walking in the person who you were meant to be.

And you know that God has more for you.

And it's time for you to rise up and to see yourself the way that God sees you.

To see a transformation happen in your mind and heart.

To let go of the lies.

The enemy.

Hurt for family.

People who meant to harm you spoke to you, but then let them be replaced by the truth of Jesus Himself.

And walk in with the purposes that God has for you, not for everybody else.

Not to just satisfy the world or to be seen.

Or to go on a journey of self-expression.

Gosh.

You know what's so much better than finding yourself?

Finding who God meant you to be.

Finding the purpose that God has for you.

Finding the person that God willed you to be.

Some of you today walked in the room and you have been walking down a path, and it's time for you to rise up, to be transformed, to be renewed, and to elevate to a whole new place.

Some of you in the room are following Jesus.

You're believers in Jesus, but you've been held back and you need to take it to the next level.

By being like Zacchaeus, seeing true transformation come to your heart, mind, and house.

To take that risk, to do that thing, to repay that person.

Do you hurt?

Ask for forgiveness to extend it.

You know what it is.

You maybe came in the room today and you're walking down a path and you're just trying to figure out life for yourself and you don't know why.

You're trying to do everything to make yourself happy.

Pursuing money, pursuing career, whatever the things that are that you think are gonna bring satisfaction to you.

But today you're hearing the fact that you're not gonna have it unless you give your life fully to Jesus and He can look at you and say, salvation has come to your home today.

You're transformed, you're made anew.

Because you believe in his finished work on the cross, that he's the true Son of God, that he died for your sins and your place, and that he rose again victorious so that you can be made alive as well and live from this day all the way into eternity when you walk with Jesus face to face.

Maybe that's you today.

You need to accept Jesus and walk with him, and you need to eventually be baptized, like we're gonna experience today with these amazing kids.

Maybe that's your stuff.

Can I pray over you, church?

Father, I pray right now, all across this room, every person who's coming in here, and some with just incredible difficulties, health problems, and relationship issues, hardship at home, losses of jobs, so many things happening, Lord, that God is trying to drag them down into a pit.

But God, we say no.

And Father, I pray right now over each person in the room today, God that you would elevate them, that you would take them to a new place, God.

Because of who you are, because they're walking in your footsteps.

Father, I pray right now, all over the place, Lord, that as we give our lives, give our hearts, give our walks, give our passions, give our worries and cares to you, God, that you would be faithful to restore and change us.

Father, I pray across the room, anybody in this house today who has not accepted you as their Savior, who has not had the salvation of you, Christ, come to their home.

My Father, I pray right now that they would ask for it today.

That Lord, that they would receive your grace that they don't deserve, they can't work for it, they can't do anything for it except for to receive your finished work.

And God, I pray today that they would pray something in their heart and mind like this Jesus, save me.

I cannot do it for myself, but you can.

I believe in your finished work on the cross.

Forgive me, renew me so that I can walk with you today and into eternity.

I give you my life as you gave your life for mine.

Thank you for saving me in Jesus' name.

And everybody said, Amen.

Amen.

Will you stand to your feet as we close and worship?