"#saved" Pt.1

Hi, this is John O'Zanting, lead pastor of Evolve Church, and this is the Evolve Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

Whether you believe that or not, it's all good.

Because I always love that in this space are people who are somewhere in process.

People who at at some point, maybe years ago, made a decision to be all in in how they perceive this man called Jesus.

And other people in the room that have recently come to this understanding of faith and what that means to them.

And every Sunday, people in the room who are like, I'm not sure what I believe.

I just like hanging out here.

And that is cool.

Actually, we we love that.

And you're everybody's welcome here.

And as we start off a brand new series called Hashtag Saved, our goal this month is to talk about the subject of salvation and to unpack that in a Bible way.

That wherever you're at in your faith journey, if you're all in, new in, kind of in, not even sure where you stand, not even sure God is real, we want to help you understand this person named Jesus and why he came to earth and what that means for us.

So I want to pray and then we're gonna dig into um to part one.

God, thank you so much for this opportunity to just be here together.

We never ever want to take it lightly.

That in the middle of uh fear pushing at our world, in the middle of disease uh generating some of that fear.

God, that there are faith-filled men and women um gathering in secret today because hundreds of people who know you and follow you are sacrificing their lives every year for their faith.

And God, here in Canada, we can actually just publicly gather and sing your name and speak your name without any fear of retribution.

And so we just hold that um with awe and love today.

And God, we invite your spirit um in our lives to just speak to our hearts, speak to our minds, speak to those deep places in our in our in our soul that we uh maybe overlook or or push down.

God, that you just bring to the surface newness today, freshness, hope, vitality, life, healing, all that you are.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Um, this series is gonna run for about four or five weeks, um, most likely five.

That's kind of where we've landed.

Uh kind of bring us right to the week before Easter.

And uh you're gonna hear from myself as a part of this series and also from Bennett on week three of this series.

And we're really, really excited to kind of unpack some stuff that we haven't really talked about in this space yet.

Um, but part one, I want to kick things off by celebrating something that I love deeply.

And I hesitate to use the word love because like I love my wife and I love my children and I love Jesus, but I also love skip the dishes.

I just like just full transparency, full moment of vulnerability, okay?

I I love skip the dishes, I love everything it stands for.

I I've also opened up my heart to include Uber Eats because I feel like I just I don't want to be exclusive, like I wanna, do you know what I mean?

But but I love I love skip the dishes.

I love sitting on my couch with my sweatpants on and no shoes or socks because when I'm home, I'm bare feet.

That's just that's how I roll, don't judge me, okay?

This is a safe place.

I'm being vulnerable here.

Bare feet, you know, favorite cozy t-shirt.

And I love just like grabbing my phone, pulling open that app.

And isn't it a beautiful thing that from the comfort of my own home, I don't have to travel, I don't have to fight traffic, I don't have to prepare that food, I don't even have to leave my current situation, the comfort of my own home, I don't have to change my clothes, all the benefits of a great meal with none of the work.

Is it just me?

Like I I thought it's 2020, people.

I thought you know, when I made that statement, this is what when I was writing these notes, when I when in my mind today, yes, this is what I was when I when I all the benefits of a great meal with none of the work.

I pictured this place going mental.

I pictured the room just standing on its feet, erupting in cheers, and you really let me down.

You really, really, it's a good thing I believe in forgiveness.

And why is that possible?

Why?

The no travel, no fighting traffic, no preparing food.

All because of a fantastic delivery service called skip the dishes.

Can I get an amen?

This man, this person, Jesus, he's for everybody.

I I love to have conversations with people where they push back against that and they're like, no, no, Jesus is exclusive.

You have to do these things or or be this way in order to receive Jesus' love.

Christianity is exclusive, Pastor John.

And I'm like, actually, that's not true.

Jesus is for everyone, absolutely everyone.

In September last year, we had an opportunity as a church community to walk alongside of a family who had lost everything they owned in a house fire.

And they were newcomers to Canada, and the things that they did own had been given to them.

Uh, and they lost everything.

They lost all their possessions, all their clothes, all their furniture.

They lost everything.

And we had such an honor and a privilege to come alongside this family as a church community, uh, to give them furniture, uh, to buy them new mattresses, and uh it was it was just incredible.

Um, is that my skip the dishes order?

Yeah, come on in.

Yeah, come on in, bud.

Just give it up for this guy here.

I um you couldn't have timed it any better, really.

I just I love that he's gonna go home today and he's gonna tell this story for weeks to come.

He's gonna talk about the delivery.

Uh I tipped you, don't worry, for this extra step.

But I appreciate you uh just bringing me my booster juice smoothie.

Look at that.

You're you're a good man.

So, yeah.

Give it give it up for this guy right here.

So, right?

I wasn't sure you were gonna make it, but uh I'm glad you're here.

Thanks a lot.

Have a good one.

What's your name, bud?

Mitch.

Thank you, Mitch.

All right, give me a second here.

Um, for those of you listening on the podcast, uh skip the dishes just delivered a smoothie from Booster Juice.

So it's uh green something or other.

Oh yeah.

You see what I'm talking about?

That's that's good for business right there.

Um, I didn't forget.

I'm good, I'm good.

So, my favorite part of working with this family is that their next door neighbors have become friends.

And the family we've got to work with uh are following Jesus, they're Christians, and their next door neighbors, they're good friends, identify with serving a different religion.

And they lost everything in their fire, and they went to their uh their kind of place of faith, and they said, We've lost everything.

And their place of faith sadly said, Um, if this happened to you, it must be the will of God.

Uh, so you're gonna have to figure it out.

And so, brokenhearted, they came to their neighbors and said, We don't know what to do.

And their neighbors said, without even asking us, this is my favorite part, their neighbors said, Don't worry, the Christians will help you.

Jesus loves everybody, and just with absolute confidence, they were sure that what we had done for them, they would do for these other people, even though they don't identify as following Jesus.

And I and I do want to finish that story off by saying, in fact, we had the opportunity as a church community to love and bless this other family with brand new mattresses, new furniture.

Um, and uh, we worked with another church in the city to get them like towels and toiletries and and um help them replace their clothing.

Um, why?

Because Jesus loves everybody.

Everyone, absolutely everyone.

Don't worry, the Christians will help you.

Jesus loves everyone.

Now, some of you don't believe that.

Some of you think that Jesus, there's an exclusive peace.

And so I love this verse from 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 4 through 6.

1 Timothy 2:4–6

If you don't have a Bible with you, uh they're gonna put it up on the screen behind me.

It says, He talking about God, he longs, longs for everyone to embrace his life and return to the full knowledge of the truth.

God's desire, his longing is for every person to find their way back to him through Jesus.

It goes on to say, For God is one, and there is one mediator between God and the sons, I'm gonna add, and daughters, the sons and daughters of men.

The true man, Jesus, the anointed one, he gave himself as ransom payment for everyone.

Everyone.

And now is the proper time for God to give the world this witness.

God's desire, get this, church.

God's desire is for every single one of his kids to be restored.

And he made it simple.

I love that he made it simple.

You don't have to travel, you don't have to fight traffic, you don't have to prepare for it, you don't have to leave your current situation, you don't have to change anything about yourself, including your clothes.

All the benefits of a great relationship with the Father, with none of the work.

Jesus did it all.

Why?

All because of a fantastic delivery service named Jesus, an incredible, sufficient, paid for in full delivery service named Jesus.

Jesus is for everyone.

Everyone.

This word save or saved, if we look it up in the dictionary, you know, one of the definitions of our English word saved is like to preserve for a later time.

Like when I save money, it means I'm holding I'm holding on to it because I'm gonna need it eventually.

But I love that that the saving that Jesus does isn't like preserving us for a later time, it's actually like setting us free for right now.

It's not holding us back for something in the future, it's releasing us for today.

And I love that.

The Greek word sozo or soterios, it has these kind of uh references when we talk about what it means to be saved.

It means uh to give life.

Jesus came to save, to give life, Jesus came to deliver, Jesus came to restore, Jesus came to liberate, Jesus came to heal, save.

And I love that that's Jesus' MO.

Matter of fact, he himself used those words in Luke 19, verse 10.

Luke 19:10

In the Passion translation, it says, the Son of Man, this is Jesus actually speaking about himself.

He says, The Son of Man has come to seek out and to give life to those who are lost, or to save those who are lost.

In the message translation, that same verse, for the Son of Man came to find and to restore the lost.

That's why Jesus came.

Another beautiful translation that I love, it's called the Voice.

It says, For the Son of Man came to seek and to liberate the lost.

And you can see all these different unpacked meanings in these different translations, but they all mean the same thing.

Save.

Jesus came to seek and to save lost people.

And the beautiful thing about it is we don't have to tell people that they're lost.

We don't.

They already know.

Their own soul, their own conscience, their own imagination is constantly reminding them of how lost they are.

And it's why they scramble for anything that looks like peace of mind.

It's why they scramble for anything that kind of feeds that, scratches that itch in their life.

They feel lost and they're waiting to be found.

They just haven't fully understood that it's it's Jesus.

He's not for some, he's for everyone.

And from day one, this community, this church, you know, we're about a year and a half in, and we're we're so in awe of how that message of Jesus seeking, restoring, liberating, healing, setting people free, going after lost people.

That's been at our foundation from day one since we started this beautiful thing.

Evolve was planted as an expression of Jesus' church in this city, Edmonton, on the foundation of Jesus.

Seeking out, finding, giving life, restoring, liberating, and healing lost people.

This is who we are.

Not because of what we're good at, but because of what Jesus paid for for every single person.

Even last week, as we've kind of leaked out this news that in April we're gonna be starting a second service on Sundays.

You know, for a year and a half we've been meeting together in the rec room at 10 a.m.

and we've all loved it.

Why?

Because it's felt like family.

But families grow.

Sons and daughters have kids, moms and dads have grandparents, grandkids have kids, moms and dads become great-grandparents.

And I remember saying this on our first year anniversary.

At what point, grandma and grandpa, are you like, okay, that's enough?

Right?

No more babies.

At what point do never?

Thank you.

Thank you, Cheryl.

Never, right?

So then why do we as God's family think it's okay to reach a point where we're like, this is good?

I love coming to the rec room.

If we go to two services, does that mean we're gonna go to three, Pastor?

Does that mean we're gonna need to find another place to meet?

I really like coming to the rec room.

This isn't for you.

You missed a good spot to go.

Amen.

And you're like, well, who's it for?

It's for lost people.

That's why we gather.

We leave here on Sundays and we scatter out.

We meet in small groups, we meet at homes, we share meals together, we serve together.

We always will.

But we'll always come back.

Not in and of us just a safe place, just for us, but for a deeper conviction that Jesus is for everyone.

Everyone.

We're gonna make room for more.

I love meeting at the rec room too.

I like blitzing out of here, eating some French fries and playing Crossy Road right after church.

I love it.

We're gonna stay here as long as we can until you help us build our own rec room or something else, right?

Come on.

Challenge accepted, thanks, James.

Challenge accepted.

Let's go, right?

Um, I love it here too.

But but in my in our hearts from the very beginning was uh multiplication, and that's how we've seen God work in our story.

You know, it was Nicole and I and our three kids.

We moved here from Winnipeg with a heart and a vision to plant a new church, but it was just the five of us.

Multiplication.

Look, you all showed up.

Lots of you stayed, lots of you keep bringing people.

Some of you are here for the first time going, what have I gotten myself into?

It's all good, it's all good.

Jesus is for everyone.

This past August, um, Nicole and I were in a season of just sort of re-evaluating what God's done as a part of this story.

And I actually had a lot of moments in in the first year of planting evolve that I would call dark, dark moments.

And you're probably like thinking, is Pastor John O capable of dark moments?

And the answer is yes.

Um, and then it would always be when I was driving somewhere.

I would be in my truck, and this flood of perception from our past would just kind of hit my heart, and I would like I would have to pull over to the side of the road just weeping because of what I was terrified about or how I felt I disappointed people, and just like messy stuff, right?

And August to September last year, I was so grateful to have the right friends to kind of give me space to speak into that and to guide me with wisdom to how to pursue Jesus all over again and invite God's spirit to heal and to restore and to bring life and to bring freedom.

And this is what Jesus does.

And I'm so glad I created some space to go to the Father with that sort of darkness and invite God into that.

I put it this way: I'm so grateful that at any moment in any and every season, Jesus is still giving me new life, still delivering me, still restoring me, still liberating me, still healing me.

He's doing the same for you.

Making things right between me and God was a one and done.

Jesus paid that price in full.

That was a one and done.

Okay?

Making all things new in me is a beautiful and messy process.

And that's what he invites us into.

There's always margin, always grace, always time to circle back to Jesus, to come back to the truth of his freedom, to come back to the truth of his healing, to come back to the truth of how he liberates and how he sets free.

Always.

Jesus is for everyone.

As I was getting ready and kind of just reading through Luke 19, chapter 10.

Sometimes when I read a Bible verse, I like to read it in context.

So I like to look what's before it and what's after it.

And I think in your own Bible reading, there's wisdom in that.

We can we can pull a verse out of the Bible and build an entire doctrine around it.

Um, and so this verse, Jesus came, the Son of Man came to seek and save that which is lost.

I decided to read it in context.

And and I was kind of like, oh man, that verse is actually a part of one of my favorite stories about Jesus.

And so I'm gonna read it.

Luke 19, verses 1 through 10.

Luke 19:1–10

In the city of Jericho, there lived a very wealthy man named Zacchaeus, who was the supervisor over all the tax collectors.

That's an important detail.

He wasn't just a tax collector, he was the tax collector's boss.

Tax collectors were hated in Jesus' time because they were known to be thieves, to rip people off, to take more than what was owed them.

And so Zacchaeus is not only a wealthy man, but but he's also a hated wealthy man.

Get this.

As Jesus made his way through, another translation says, Jesus was passing through this area.

Okay?

Jesus made his way through the city.

Zacchaeus was eager to see Jesus.

Do you know people who are lost are eager to see Jesus?

They are.

Zacchaeus kept trying to get a look at Jesus, but the crowd around Jesus was massive.

And Zacchaeus was a very short man and couldn't see over the heads of the people.

Man, can I relate to that?

Except the opposite.

I'm a very tall man, right?

Um, and so this picture of Zacchaeus being hated for what he did, but desperate to see Jesus, kind of pushing at this massive crowd of people, and all he wants to do, what does the Bible say?

All he wants to do is I just want to see this man.

I just want to see him.

So he ran on ahead of everybody and climbed up a blossoming fig tree so that he could get a glimpse of Jesus as he passed by.

When Jesus gets to that place, Jesus looks up into the tree and says, Zacchaeus, hurry on down, man.

Come on, I'm appointed to stay at your house today.

So he scurried down the tree.

And came face to face with Jesus.

Side note, rabbit trail.

If he was face to face, does that mean that Jesus was short too?

I don't know.

That just had me thinking.

He came face to face.

Anyways, as Jesus left to go with Zacchaeus, many in the crowd complained.

Look at this of all the people to have dinner with.

Can you believe it?

He's going to eat in the house of a crook.

Zacchaeus joyously welcomed Jesus and was amazed over his gracious visit to his home.

Jesus stood in front of the Lord and said, Half of all that I own I will give to the poor, and Lord, if I've cheated anyone, I promise to go back and pay four times as much as I stole.

Jesus says to him, This shows that today life has come to you and your household, for you're a true son of Abraham.

The Son of Man has come to seek out and to give life to those who are lost.

A few thoughts from Zacchaeus' story.

Number one, where shame and brokenness see Jesus as distant and unapproachable, Jesus is actually making plans to stay with you.

Where your shame and your brokenness puts a wall up and says, This Jesus for everybody, to me, he's distant and unapproachable.

Actually, Jesus right now is making plans to come and stay with you.

And as we read Zacchaeus' story, it's this interesting at the beginning of the story, Jesus is passing through this area.

He's working his way through it.

But when he meets Zacchaeus, he says, actually, full stop.

I'm making plans to stay right here with you.

And I love that this is who Jesus is.

This isn't just a snapshot or a piece.

This actually speaks to Jesus' character and who he loves to be for everyone.

Where we see Jesus as distant and unapproachable, he's a flyby, right?

He's just he's on the peripheral, he's making his way through.

Jesus says, actually, nope, I'm coming to your house to sit with you, to love you, to be present with you, to journey with you through your pain, not to fix you, not to teach you out of your situation, not to make sure that you do all the things I know, just to love you, to be present with you.

What changed?

Jesus is making his way, he's passing through, and then all of a sudden, he's staying for dinner.

What changed?

Zacchaeus.

He kept trying to get a look at Jesus, but the crowd around him was massive.

That's what changed.

There was a person who was just trying to get a glimpse of their savior.

That's what was different.

Listen up, regardless of where you're at in your faith journey, Jesus was, is, and always will make plans to stay with you, to sit with you, to dine with you.

Always.

Number two, people have had their eyes open to their own shortcomings from the very beginning of time.

And have always responded with shame and feeble attempts to hide.

Always.

From the very dawn of creation, men and women have always been aware of their own shortcomings, and then they make these desperate, feeble, awkward attempts to try and hide.

Shame does that.

Let's go back to the very beginning.

Creation, Adam, Eve, Genesis 3, verse 7.

Genesis 3:7

They eat of the tree that God asked them not to for very good reasons to protect them and love them, but they did it of their own accord.

And at the moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.

So what'd they do?

They sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

God didn't do that, they did that.

All of a sudden they're aware of where they fell short, and so they turned to a fig tree, grab these big furry leaves, and cover up their shame.

It's interesting to me that when you look up fig tree or fig leaf, actually, in the dictionary, the two definitions are it's like the leaf from a fig tree, but it's also this an expression or a pejorative or a derogatory metaphorical word, meaning a flimsy or minimal covering for anything or behavior that might be considered shameful?

Think of ancient art.

They spend how many hours crafting this magnificent, magnificent sculpture, and what do they carve over genitals?

Let's be real.

A fig leaf.

What does Zacchaeus climb up into?

The moment he wants to see Jesus, the Bible specifically says not just a fig tree, but a blossoming fig tree, which means that there's flowers and buds and massive leaves, and in his desperation to see Jesus, he still needs to hide.

He still needs to cover his embarrassment, he still needs to cover his shame.

And this is where our world is at, people.

All of us in this room included, making feeble and desperate attempts, a desire to see Jesus, but I'm so ashamed.

I know my own shortcomings.

You don't even need to tell me.

He runs out ahead, climbs up this blossoming fig tree so he can get a glimpse of Jesus.

You know, whether we're far from Jesus or claim Jesus as Savior and Lord, we all make flimsy and feeble attempts to cover up our behaviors that we perceive to be shameful.

We hide.

We do a good enough job of this on ourselves.

We don't need other people to tell us.

We're all great at this.

The shame, the fear of Zacchaeus.

Not just a big leaf, but an entire tree of big leaves to try and hide his shame.

Think about the social implications of the boss of tax collectors showing up in a crowded room.

Think about the social implications of stepping into a room where you're going to be judged, stepping into a room where people are going to stare at you, talk about you, whisper about you.

Well aware of his sin.

Well aware of his poor reputation.

And so there's this tension between a desperation to see Jesus and a desperation to not be seen by Jesus.

If I could give a definition to a lost person, that's it.

This tension of I so badly want to look my Savior face to face, but I have to hide because what if?

What if?

I love that as we look at point number three, it's this Jesus wades right into the middle of our shame, makes himself at home there.

That's the response.

That's Jesus.

Okay?

When Jesus gets to the tree, he looks up into the tree and says, Zacchaeus, come on down.

I'm appointed to stay at your house today.

And the disciples are like, wait, uh, this wasn't on the calendar, Jesus.

So we were just passing through today.

Um, we've got an appointment in Bethlehem.

We've got to go see your mom.

She's cooked us.

No, I am appointed to stay here with you.

I was passing through, but I'm not anymore.

Regardless of the opinion of other people, Jesus stays put.

Regardless of the pushback from the crowd, right?

This massive crowd, this is not a little crowd, it's massive.

The Bible actually unpacks that.

It's massive.

And this massive crowd of people all gathered around Jesus, celebrating him, and you're the man, and we love you, and you're gonna set us free.

And you healed my uncle from leprosy, and they're just like celebrating, pushing in.

Massive crowd.

Jesus says, Zacchaeus, I'm coming to your house for dinner, and then they're like, Oh, well.

Right?

How quickly they how quickly religious people turn.

How quickly toxic religious people turn.

How quickly?

The crowd complains, look at this of all the people to have dinner with.

Like you're there part of the crowd.

But did you climb a tree?

And sometimes the public things we do in the name of Jesus are actually a mask for the shame and the weight and the things we're trying to hide.

It's not just a fig leaf that covers up our shame.

It's religious duty, it's volunteering, it's showing up early.

We do a lot of things to kind of appear a certain way, but they still serve as masks to cover up our brokenness, to cover up our hurt, to cover up our shame, to cover up our embarrassment.

Come on.

Just me.

But Jesus wades right into the middle of our shame.

And he makes himself at home there.

That's Jesus.

And lastly, number four, Jesus loves us as he finds us.

But he never leaves us there.

He loves us as he finds us, but he never leaves us there.

Because an encounter with Jesus makes us new.

That's what it does.

I want to invite you to just stand to your feet with me.

Our musicians are just coming back up, and we're just going to sing through a song called What a Beautiful Name that most of you are probably going to be familiar with.

But this encounter with Jesus, making all things new, I love that the Bible says that Zacchaeus joyously welcomed Jesus and was amazed over his gracious visit to his home.

That's what amazed him.

He was amazed that Jesus shared a meal and loved well.

Notice it doesn't say that Zacchaeus was amazed that Jesus pointed his finger in his face and told him all the things he was doing wrong.

What amazed Zacchaeus in this encounter with Jesus was just his graciousness, his hospitality, his ability to love well, see Zacchaeus in the middle of his story, sit with him in his home.

And then the Bible says Zacchaeus stands up in front of Jesus and his immediate response is renewal.

His immediate response is transformation.

His immediate response is, I'm aware of my stuff, but I'm going to be different because of you, Jesus.

I choose to be different today.

I choose today to give half of all that I own away to the poor.

I choose today that if I've cheated anybody, I'm going to pay them back four times.

Jesus didn't have to dictate his response.

His own heart did that as he encountered Jesus.

His own habits, his own behavior, his own reputation was instantly transformed.

Why?

Because Jesus loves us as he finds us.

But he doesn't leave us there.

An encounter with him makes all things new.

And then we arrive back at the Son of Man saying, Zacchaeus, this shows that today life has come to your home.

Life has come to your home.

And Father, that's what we desire, and we want life to come to our homes.

We want life to come to our marriages.

We want life to come to our workplace.

We want life to come to our relationships.

We want life to come to our homes.

Because we believe, Father, that it's you, Jesus, that you've come to seek out and to give life to those who are lost.

In Jesus' name.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit EvolveCurch.com.

We hope to see you soon.