Unexpected Part 1 | Jesus Knows You with Chris Schlotterbeck

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected

or to give online, go to connect .hcv .church

or give .hcv .church. If at any point during

this message you feel called to make a change

in your life, text CHANGEME to 9700. Thank you

and enjoy the message. So good to see you. So

glad you're here. If you're joining us from home

or at HHC, thank you for welcoming us into your

space. Many of you don't know how special you

are. You got to see our announcements. The Sky

Bible's working. Our first gathering didn't have

any of it. No technology. Everyone was so sad

and just depressed. I'm just kidding. It was

an incredible time. But it's always good to have

words to sing to, and it's always good to have

announcements. But this morning, I want to open

with a simple phrase, and I want to challenge

all of us to commit it to memory and practice

it while you're driving in your car, while you're

getting a shower in the morning. But more importantly,

before you walk into school, before you walk

into work, I want you to repeat these three simple

words to yourself over and over again. Are you

ready to hear them? Come and see. Come. And see,

let's all say it together. Come and see. See,

we're keeping it simple today. Come and see was

Jesus's invitation to Andrew and John, two of

John the Baptist's disciples that we can read

all about in the gospel of John chapter one.

John the Baptist had just baptized Jesus and

told these two men that Jesus was the Messiah.

So they began to follow him. When Jesus noticed

these two men walking behind him, he turned to

them with a question. And Jesus' question, what

do you want? What do you want? Wasn't just for

Andrew and John, it's for all of us. He asked

us to reflect on our desires and our motivations.

See, what are you genuinely seeking by following

Jesus? And when we are clear about what we're

after, our hearts are then open to receive what

Jesus offers. Andrew and John wanted to know

if Jesus was truly the Messiah. They accepted

his invitation to come and see, and they found

their answer. And it changed their lives forever.

Jesus' invitation still stands today. He asked

each of us, as he did Andrew and John, to come

and see for ourselves and then to decide whether

to follow him. See, following Jesus isn't just

a one -time decision. It's a daily choice. Following

Jesus becomes our life. It becomes our mission

as Jesus challenges us to invite others. into

this abundant life that we now live. Now, of

course, there are always going to be people within

our sphere of influence that questions our decision

to follow Jesus, that questions our decision

to become a part of the church. Just like Nathaniel

questioned Philip when Philip told him that Jesus

was from Nazareth, Nathaniel said, can anything

good come from Nazareth? Can anything good come

out of the church? Are there really good people

in the church? And though this is said in our

community quite often, I believe our response

shouldn't be to argue. It shouldn't be to correct

them. It should be simple. Come and see. Join

me on a Sunday. Come as you are. No dress code

required. No judgment. you will be welcomed.

Okay, well, where do you go to church? What are

the times? Well, I go to the Hub City Vineyard.

Wait, did you say vineyard? Is this a wine tasting

church or something? What kind of a church is

this? Well, it's a hippie church. Hippie church?

Are you in some kind of a cult or something?

Like, do you want me to call someone for you?

No, no, no, I don't need help. I had an encounter

with Jesus, and now I'm simply inviting you to

do the same, to come and see. Now, you may have

heard in our announcements that today, just like

every first Sunday of the month, is Start With

Why. And if you don't know why we are called

the Hippie Church, you can join me directly after

this gathering at the Welcome Hub, and I'll tell

you all about our community of faith. This morning,

we are kicking off our Easter series, The Unexpected,

by discussing an unexpected invitation Jesus

extended to a man named Zacchaeus in Luke chapter

Luke 19 · chapter mention

19. And over the coming weeks, we're going to

be looking at unexpected traits of Jesus, events

that happened in Jesus' life. and assignments

that Jesus gave that were unexpected throughout

the month of April. I want to begin by reading

in Luke chapter 19, verses 1 through 3, which

Luke 19:1–3

reads, Jesus entered Jericho and made his way

through the town. There was a man there named

Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in

the region, and he had become very rich. Jesus.

See, Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. He

was curious. He was interested. Maybe he had

heard about Matthew, the tax collector's invitation

to follow him. Maybe he had heard about all the

signs, the wonders, and the miracles. See, I'm

willing to guess that Zacchaeus knew just enough

about Jesus that he wanted to get a glimpse of

this radical traveling teacher who was spending

time with people just like him. With people just

like him, the outcasts, the forgotten, those

cast off by society, which leads us to our first

thought this morning. You see, unfortunately,

sin produces shame. Sin produces shame. Again,

back to Luke 19, 1 through 4. Jesus entered Jericho

and made his way through the town. There was

a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief.

Everyone say chief. Tax collector in the region.

And he had become very rich. See, quite often

when this story is taught, everyone focuses on

how small or short Zacchaeus was. When in reality,

the title chief tax collector is not found anywhere

else in the Bible, except in this context, which

means Zacchaeus was probably in charge of tax

collection for the entire region. He wasn't just

collecting for a town, but an entire region that

he would then send off to the government in Rome.

And notice what it says about Zacchaeus. He had

become Very rich. Which again reinforces that

Zacchaeus, he was a thief. And he was only focused

on himself. He had become rich by taking or stealing

money from his own people. Right? A tax collector

could tax everything they wanted to on a common

person. They could tax their food. They could

tax their animals. They could tax their carts.

They could tax their homes. They could tax anything

they wanted. And because of this, Zacchaeus was

an outcast. He wasn't accepted by the people.

He wasn't accepted into the temple. He was forgotten.

But let's continue. Zacchaeus tried to get a

look at Jesus, but he was too short. to see over

the crowd. And notice, yes, he was too short,

but more importantly, the focus of Zacchaeus

should be that he was a chief tax collector and

that he was very, very rich. So he ran ahead

and he climbed a sycamore fig tree beside the

road for Jesus was going to pass that way. And

I find it interesting that Zacchaeus climbed

a sycamore fig tree. Because if we travel all

the way back to the first book of the Bible,

we will discover that fig leaves off of a tree

have a very deep connection to this story. Adam

and Eve had just eaten from the apple from the

tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And this

is what we read in Genesis 3, 7 through 8. At

that moment, their eyes were opened. And they

suddenly felt shame at their nakedness, so they

sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

Adam and Eve, of course, felt naked for the first

time because they now recognized their sin. They

now saw their mistakes, their bad choices, that

they were living, in fact, in sin. They weren't

obedient to what God had told them. And when

sin came into the world, there, of course, is

shame. And where there is shame, there's the

human nature within us to hide. Right? It's a

fight or flight mentality that's inside of us.

And for many people, when living with shame and

guilt, they choose to hide. Let's continue. When

the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man

and his wife heard the Lord God walking about

in the garden. So they hid. Adam and Eve were

hiding in a tree. Who does that sound like? Now

back to Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus hid from Jesus in

a sycamore fig tree. Zacchaeus wanted to see

Jesus without being seen by Jesus. He was curious.

But something inside of him told him he needed

to what? He needed to hide. Zacchaeus knew that

he had sinned. He knew that he was stealing and

thieving from the people, that he was an outcast.

But I'm willing to bet that he wasn't so sure

about this Jesus either. And I get it. Listen,

if you don't know Jesus, And maybe you're gathered

here or you're watching online. Our natural instinct

is to hide. Is to put on a mask. Is to pretend

that everything is okay. Because Jesus, Jesus

can be overwhelming. I mean, we can literally

walk into a worship gathering and begin weeping

for no particular reason. We can walk into a

worship gathering, be convicted, and fall to

our knees. We can... gather together and sing

and worship and begin to laugh and cry at the

same time. Jesus can be overwhelming, especially

when it comes to our past. Because when we think

about the mistakes and the choices, many of us

carry around a lot of guilt and shame. And is

Jesus, is Jesus really just going to forgive

me? Yes. Yes, he will. Look at Romans. 619 from

Eugene Peterson's message, paraphrase, I'm using

this freedom language because it's easy to picture.

You can readily recall, can't you, how at one

time, the more you did just what you felt like

doing, not caring about others, not caring about

God, the worse your life became and the less

freedom you had. And how much different is it

now that you live in God's freedom? Your life's

healed and expansive. in holiness. Zacchaeus

wanted to see without being seen, which leads

us to our next thought. Jesus calls us by name.

Let's continue with our story, Luke 19, 5 through

6. When Jesus came by, 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. I love

how Jesus stops, looks up through the branches

of the tree and calls Zacchaeus by name. This

is probably the first time in a very long time

that Zacchaeus heard his name being spoken. See,

Zacchaeus instead would have heard thief, traitor.

Trash. No good. Scum. But Jesus is radical. And

Jesus speaks his name because his name means

something. Zacchaeus actually means pure and

innocent. Pure and innocent. And dare I say,

your name means something. Personal name means

more to you than you would ever know. And the

audacity of Jesus to walk up to a tree, look

up to the most hated man in town, and then call

him by name, inviting him to come out of the

tree. Now, don't get me wrong. Zacchaeus was

probably initially fearful of the crowd because

there was a crowd following Jesus. They were

gathered with him. And he was probably fearful

that someone would hurt him. But Jesus sees Zacchaeus

for not what he has done, but for what he can

become. He sees past the mistakes. And Jesus

speaks his real name. And then he begins to peel

back the different layers of fig leaves that

Zacchaeus had been covering himself with. Jesus

then decides. to invite himself over for dinner.

It was time for Zacchaeus to come out of the

hiding, to get rid of the leaves and to experience

abundant life. And someone gathered here this

morning, someone watching online, you need to

hear this today. Jesus doesn't fixate on your

past. He focuses on your potential. The past

is gone. But the future is bright. Jesus sees

us. He calls us by name. And then he says, I

see your potential. Let's spend some time together.

Who would we become if we simply stop trying

to do it our way? If we get out of the way and

actually begin to follow the way of Jesus? And

church, hear me. He calls you. By name. See,

when Jesus sees sin, he doesn't run from it.

He's not afraid of it. He doesn't ignore it.

You know what Jesus does? He calls it out. And

unfortunately, that's why so many people hide.

Because they don't want to be called out. But

notice the urgency in the invitation. Right?

He says, Zacchaeus, get down here. Right away.

The NIV translation writes, Come down immediately.

Like, get out of that tree. Now, notice Jesus

doesn't say, come down when you're good and ready.

Take your time. Jesus doesn't say, come down

when you stop stealing money from people. Jesus

doesn't say, go ahead and fix your mess, Zacchaeus,

then you and I can hang out. Jesus says, get

out of the tree. I'm coming to your house for

dinner. Now, we don't naturally do this as people.

We don't feel comfortable inviting ourselves

to dinner at someone's house. Dare I say maybe

we should start. Because I believe we don't invite

ourselves to dinner at someone's house because

then we might actually have to be honest about

it. who we are and who our life is, and we might

have to open up and get rid of some of them fig

leaves. Because, see, Jesus, he doesn't want

us to fake it. Jesus is interested in all of

us. He wants to meet us in our mess immediately.

And notice, Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus with what?

Joy and excitement. Joy and excitement. So this

morning, ask yourself, are you full of joy and

excitement? Which leads us to our next thought.

Jesus, he spends time with the outcast. But notice

the response of the crowd, Luke 19, 7. But the

people, they were mad. They were angry. They

were displeased, it says. He is gone to be the

guest of a notorious sinner. They grumbled. And

the other translation says they muttered. They

mutter, mutter, mutter. While we find Zacchaeus

full of joy and excitement. So Zacchaeus, he's

full of joy and excitement. The crowd, they get

angry, jealous, and frustrated because this man

of God is now hanging out with an outcast. This

man that is scum and is a thief. If this man

of God was really from God, he would know who

he was. Sounds familiar because we read this

in Matthew 9 -11. But when the Pharisees saw

this, they asked his disciples, why does your

teacher eat with such scum? See, my question

to you this morning is, how do you respond? How

do we respond? Do we consistently look at people

for who they are in God's eyes? Or do we look

at people through their sin, their mess, and

their struggles? Because I know I've been in

conversations where people describe others because

of their addictions or their divorce or their

abuse. But Jesus looks past all of that and he

challenges us to do the same. Because, see, we

have to be careful not to misrepresent Jesus

to others. What does Jesus look at? He looks

at the potential, not the past. The crowd knew

Zacchaeus by name, but called him by his sin.

The crowd knew Zacchaeus by name, but called

him by his sin. When Jesus knew all about his

sin, but calls him by his name. God sees our

potential, and God desires that we reach out

to people just as they are, which leads us to

our next thought. See, radical love leads to

radical repentance. Continuing in our story,

Luke 19, 8 through 9, meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood

before the Lord and said, I will give half my

wealth to the poor Lord, and if I've cheated

people on their taxes, I will give them back

four times as much. Jesus responded, salvation

has come to this house today for this man has

shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. So

for those of you in a relationship with Jesus

this morning, I want you to rewind. I want you

to go back in time when you met Jesus for the

first time. How did you respond when Jesus called

you by name? Zacchaeus. He gave away half of

his wealth and more because he wanted to repay

anything that he had stolen four times as much.

His life was changed. And we much remember Zacchaeus,

he was only focused on wealth and power. That's

why he did what he did, chief tax collector.

But when he meets Jesus, what is it? Radical

change. He gives it all away. Why? Because actions

speak louder than words. Don't tell me what you

did 10 years ago. Tell me what you're doing now.

This was Zacchaeus' response to radical love.

And notice, Jesus says, salvation came to that

house. Where are you today? What did you bring

into this gathering? For many of us, we carry

through those doors stress and anxiety from a

crazy week. Some of you may have walked in just

feeling lonely and forgotten. Some of you may

be at the end of your rope feeling empty. You

can't give anymore. Maybe you're here and you're

addicted. Maybe you're here and you're questioning

life. Listen, Jesus is inviting you, calling

you by name. just like he did Zacchaeus, to come,

to get rid of the fig leaves and reveal your

true self. And listen, I just want to be honest

with you. We're closing with worship at the end

of this gathering. God already highlighted that

to my heart, and I've already shared it and planned

it with the team. But some of you, as I was sharing

that list, you just felt it in your heart. You

felt the pain. And I want to challenge you when

we worship, get up here. You say, Chris, well,

why do I have to come forward? Because that's

a step of faith. Some of you need to bring all

that garbage that you're calling yourself, that

you're naming yourself, that you're grabbing

a hold of, and you need to lay it down at the

feet of Jesus and experience true freedom. And

that's a choice for you to make. But it's a choice

of experiencing. abundant life, 2 Corinthians

7 .10, for the kind of sorrow God wants us to

experience leads us away from sin and results

in salvation. There's no regret for that kind

of sorrow, that kind of conviction. That's hope.

But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results

in spiritual death. And friends, we don't want

to walk into that, which leads us to our final

thought. See, if we were able to ask Jesus a

question, a simple question, what is your mission?

I believe he would answer it with these simple

words. I came for the lost. Jesus came for the

lost, Luke 19 .10. For the Son of Man came to

seek and save those who are lost. And I've read

this story time and time and time again. And

I've often thought those words that Jesus spoke

were just kind of the end of the story. It was

the closing to this encounter that he had with

Zacchaeus. But now as I read it this week, I

believe they mean so much more. This church is

Jesus trying to communicate to us his mission.

Why he came to this earth and what we are now

called to do. Jesus came to seek, to pursue,

to search for the one that is lost. And friends,

if you're in a relationship with Jesus, we're

called to do the same. We're called to pursue

relationships with people that are outcasts,

that are forgotten within our society. How do

I know that? Well, Luke 5 .31, Jesus said, healthy

people, they don't need a doctor. Sick people

do. I have come to call not those who think they're

righteous, but those who know they're sinners

and need to repent. So this morning, who do you

more relate to in this story? Do you relate more

to the crowd and you get upset and frustrated

because of second chances? Or do you relate more

to Jesus and desire to see more and more people

come home? And welcomed into the kingdom. Which

leads us to our simple action steps. Come and

see. Come and see. Who has God put on your heart

this morning? Who has God laid a burden on you

to invite and include within our community of

faith? John 1, 45 -46. Philip went to look for

Nathanael and told him, we have found the very

person Moses and the prophets wrote about. His

name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.

Nazareth? Can anything good come from Nazareth?

Can anything good come out of the church? Come

and see. for yourself. Who has God put on your

heart? And this morning, when you leave here,

as many of you know, Easter is two short weeks

away. When you leave here, you will be given

a little Jesus with Easter invite cards. And

I want to challenge you that whoever it is God

put on your heart, Will you put a card in their

hand? Will you invite them to come and see? Come

and see. And for those of you that wonder, why

would I do that, Chris? What is the point of

it? I want to take you to another story, another

encounter that a person had in John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

the woman at the well. And this is what we read

in verses 28 to 30. The woman left her water

jar beside the well and ran back to the village,

telling everyone, notice what she said, come

and see. A man who told me everything I ever

did. She removed the fig leaves. Could he possibly

be the Messiah? So notice what happened. After

she shared three simple words, come and see,

the people came streaming. from the village to

see him. Who has God put on your heart? Which

leads us to our next step, pray. Luke chapter

Luke 10 · chapter mention

10, verses one through three, the Lord now chose

72 other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs

to all the towns and places he planned to visit.

These were his instructions to them. The harvest

is great, but the workers are few. Notice what

he told them, pray. To the Lord who is in charge

of the harvest, ask him to send more workers

into the fields. Now go. Pray. Pray for the workers

to go out and to share the good news. I want

you to pause for a minute. I want you to look

to your left. I want you to look to the right.

I want you to look behind you. I want you to

look in front of you. Now chances are you saw

a bunch of dirt bags. And for those of you that

don't understand why I just called you a dirtbag,

you can listen to last week's talk. But all I

want you to do is, I want you to think about

all those faces you just saw, and I want you

to begin to pray for them to go. Because they

are the workers. We are the workers. And we've

been given this opportunity to share this good

news that God has put inside of us. But we need

to pray bold prayers of faith. And remember,

you don't have to be intimidated. You don't have

to argue your faith. You don't have to learn

apologetics. You don't even have to read through

the Bible. You can share three simple words.

Come and see. Come and see, which leads us to

our next step. But sometimes God wants us to

invest. Don't be selfish. Don't try to impress

others. Be humble. Thinking of others is better

than yourselves. Don't look out only for your

own interests, but take an interest in others

too. See, sometimes God gives us opportunities

to serve others before we share with them, before

we invite them to come and see. And maybe those

individuals just need someone to listen to them.

Maybe a person, right, just needs to be encouraged.

Maybe God will give us an opportunity to get

our hands dirty and help someone move. Maybe

God wants us to cook a meal for someone or a

family. Maybe God wants us to share a meal by

inviting ourselves to someone's house for dinner.

But we have to be willing to invest in others.

And quite often when we invest in others, then

that conversation opens up for us to say, come

and see. Which leads us to our final step. Church,

you've got to invite. When Jesus came by, 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 noticed

the response, quickly came down. and took Jesus

to his house in great excitement and joy. Even

when he invited himself to dinner, Jesus invited

himself to dinner, and Zacchaeus is still excited.

Back to John 1, 45 to 46, Philip went to look

for Nathanael and told him, we found him. We

found the Messiah. His name is Jesus. Can anything

good come from Nazareth? Come and see. Come and

see. Come and see. Three simple words that could

change someone's life for eternity. Did everyone

hear that? Three simple words that could change

someone's life for eternity. And some of you

are thinking, well, is it really that urgent?

Yes. It's really that urgent. And many of you

know we have a series coming up in May to follow

up our Easter series called Inked. And Red, I

did this during our first gathering. Come up

here, Red. Red has this tattoo on his forearm

that I want him to show you real quick. And if

you look at his forearm, there's a clock. And

notice it's all... Because when it's all zeros,

that clock has stopped. But we have the opportunity

by inviting people to come and see that their

clock won't stop at death, but they will live

on for eternity. Is it urgent? Yes, it's life.

Or death? Are you willing to share three simple

words with others? Come and see. Will you stand

with me? Now listen. We're about to worship.

We're about to sing. And I believe that God's

going to download people into your heart as you

worship. But also, for those of you that brought

something into this place, this is your opportunity

to experience freedom. And sometimes it takes

a step of faith. Now there were several words

of knowledge that I want to share with you before

we sing because I want you to get up here and

give prayer if this is you from our prayer team.

You have nerve damage that extends from your

calf to your toes, creating numbness or tingling.

You have tennis elbow in your right arm. You

have pain in the back of your neck, two to three

inches below your head. The lower left side of

your stomach, you have pain. You have a growth

on the lower part of your abdomen. Your right

leg in your hamstring, you're experiencing tightness

and pain. And maybe you're here and you're broken

hearted because someone in your family betrayed

you. If any of those are you, as we worship,

come and experience Jesus and get some freedom.

Amen? So Holy Spirit, move in this place. Change

us. Make us more like your Son as we sing together.

it out.