Are You Lost | Jeff Gokee

Hey everybody, my name's Jeff. Everybody say

hi, Jeff. Hi, Jeff. You guys are so kind, so

kind. So my name's Jeff. I've been married for

around 30 years, been a pastor for that same

period of time. Got three kids, 26 married, 23

just got married, and I have a 16 -year -old

daughter still in the game, still playing the

game, but so grateful to be here. I run a non

-profit called, a parachurch non -profit called

Phoenix One, and we help church staff and spouses

get healthier. I don't know if you know this,

but it's not easy being a church staff. working

for a church sometimes because all of you all

have so many wonderful needs and we want to care

for you and they want to care for you. And sometimes

they need a safe place to go away and they need

to go like, hey, I need some help. I need to

talk to somebody. So that's what we do. It's

a weird job, but I love that I get to do it for

all intents and purposes. I'm like a pastor to

pastors and their spouses. But really, really

grateful to be here. We're going to be in Luke

19. So if you have your Bibles, go to Luke 19,

verse one. love for you to stand as we read the

word of God. Luke 19, verse 1, if you're able

Luke 19:1

to stand. Luke 19, verse 1. He entered Jericho,

Luke 19:1

he being Jesus, and was passing through. And

behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was

a chief tax collector, and he was what? He was

rich. And And he was seeking to see who Jesus

was, but on the account of the crowd, he could

not because he was small in stature. So he ran

ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree to see

what he could see. Remember that one? Okay. For

he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus

came to the place, he looked up and he said to

him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for I must

stay at your house today. house today. So he

hurried and came down and received him joyfully.

And when they saw it, they all grumbled, they

being the people. He has gone to be the guest

of a man who was a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood

and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half

of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have

defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.

And Jesus said to him, today, salvation has come

to this house since he also is the son of Abraham.

Everyone read verse 10 with me. For the son of

man came to seek and save that what was lost.

This is the word of God and everyone said, amen.

Grab a seat. 2010, I went on my first trip to

India. I got the opportunity to lead a pastor's

conference for a thousand Indian pastors. One

of the most incredible experiences. of my life.

I say often that I felt like I met Jesus again

in India amongst the poor, the watching them

worship. I mean, we went to a leper colony and

we got to worship together and lepers don't,

many of them don't have fingers. So they just,

and they're worshiping God and they're weeping

and crying. And I'm like, who am I? Like they

just, I was so humbled by the people. of India,

pastors who are coming up with whip marks, cane

marks on their back because they preach the good

news of Jesus Christ. And here I am in my...

cozy church here in America. I was just really,

really grateful for the work that they were doing,

the work we get to do here in the States. But

through that process, got to do a lot of work

with that organization. And then my wife and

I had talked before we went that we might want

to sponsor a child, like this place, this organization

had an orphanage. So we thought, let's sponsor

a child. My wife and I have always had this desire.

since we were first married of adoption. So that's

always been an open thing. But so we found this

little girl, her name was Wasunta. They started

telling us her story. And what had happened is

two weeks prior to her showing up, which is when

we showed up, her mom and her father had left.

and what they had done is they had abandoned

their two kids. And Wasunta was taken in by a

neighbor and they were raising her to sell her

on the black market. She's what's called a black

beauty in the Indian culture, which means she

goes twice as much money on the black market.

And so they were raising her as a slave in the

home and they would lock her in a closet and

she would scream. Well, one of the other neighbors

that was next door to them heard her screaming,

this neighbor was a believer. and went and rescued

this little girl and took her to the orphanage.

Two weeks later, I show up and I meet this little

one. Her name was Wasunta and she was very squirrely.

Very squirrely, very angry. And I was like, that's

our girl, right? So sponsored her. But through

the time that I was there, started feeling like,

well, maybe the Lord would want more. And so

I... I met with the man and said, hey, is there

an opportunity for adoption? And they were like,

I don't know, maybe. And so I went home and we

hired an international adoption attorney at the

time. India was a closed country. go through

that whole process. We're Skyping her. We've

actually like, we're helping a family to be able

to raise her. You know, she's going to a different

school, like all the things, going through doctor's

appointments and everything. And so a year later,

I come back. I was so excited to be with her.

She's sitting on my lap. And there's a couple

of things you eat in India a whole lot. One of

them is curry. The other one is chicken. Eat

a lot of chicken, right? And so she's sitting

on my lap and we're eating chicken. and finish

it off the bone. And then she starts eating chicken

bones. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

No, no, no, no, no. And then she gets mad and

she finishes eating the chicken. She shoves them

in her mouth and chewing them, eating them and

storms off. And I go to the guy who's like, she's

living with, and I'm like, hey, what's the deal

here? Like, what's going on? All right, why is

she doing this? Why is she not living? He goes,

look, your little slave girl is still living

like a slave. She steals mangoes. She runs away.

She makes herself sick. She hides food. It goes

bad. She still hasn't come to understand that

she's a daughter. And it broke our hearts. And

I think what Luke is trying to do in his gospel

and all the gospel writers are trying to do is

this. They're trying to go, look, a lot of us

are living that way. Jesus now enters into that

narrative, into that culture with a people that

are really feeling, alone. And so Luke, especially,

he's known, his gospel is known as the winged

ox because he starts off in the temple with the

sacrifice. And then he's going to pull that all

the way through because what he wants to show

you is who Jesus is. That Jesus doesn't just

talk, he does. He cares. He loves. And so what

we see is Jesus moving in and through the villages.

caring and loving people. In fact, in this section

of scripture, which is chapter 915 through 1944,

it's called the gospel of the outcasts. Because

what Luke wants you to pay attention to is look

at all the people that didn't, the society saying

you don't deserve anything. And yet Jesus meets

them. And what Luke wants you to do is to be

introspective. He wants you to go, how many of

you feel that way? Look what Jesus does. How

many of you feel outcast, alone, lost? And watch

what Jesus does. Look and watch what Jesus does.

Look at the ministry he does. And one of the

people he wants you to pay attention to is a

man named Zacchaeus. In verse one, it says he

entered Jericho and was passing through. Anybody

know where he was passing? He's passing through

Jericho to where? Anybody know? He's going to

Jerusalem. Anybody know why he's going to Jerusalem?

To die for the sins. Past, present, and future.

So he's on his way. He's at the height of his

popularity. Jericho is like a resort town. It's

like Palm Springs, highest levels of taxation,

lots of wealth in that particular area. Jesus

is passing through here. There's a huge crowd

that's around him because they found out this

guy gives a dinner and a show and he heals people.

And so they're like, I want that. So they keep

following him from town to town, kind of wanting

his attention. And here's what we find in verse

two. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus

and he was a chief tax collector and he was very

rich. We learned two things. He was what kind

of tax collector? Chief tax collector. And he

was also rich, right? What had happened was Zacchaeus

tax collectors would get hired by Rome. So Rome

is captured, kind of is over oppressing the Jews.

Rome's over them. Rome hires a Jew to then collect

money for them. As you can imagine, the Jews

are not too happy about this. Now Zacchaeus has

made a pretty good business out of this because

not only was he a tax collector, but he's now

the chief tax collector, which means he's got

a great business model, got a bunch of other

tax collectors underneath him. And what Rome

had said was this, look, you can take the tax

for us, but then anything you wanna charge above

and beyond, go for it. I want you to imagine

this for a moment. that you show up to your tax

person and they say the US government is charging

you this amount of tax. And your response always,

every spring is like, ugh, right? Then your tax

collector, prepper, whatever, accountant goes,

and then I'm going to take an additional 15 %

just because, because I want it. You hate that

guy, right? You were like, no, no, no. If I see

you out in public, I am going to take you down.

Now you find out that guy has a boss and he's

the chief tax collector. I really hate that guy.

That's Zacchaeus. They hate him. In fact, if

you read through all the gospels, you'll come

to find out tax collectors are very hated. And

here's the really interesting thing about Zacchaeus.

How many of you, when you named your kids, kind

of had a purpose behind it? The name was important.

Raise your hand. right? We named our child Cooper,

which means barrel maker. No reason at all. We

just thought the name was cool. So it wasn't

that important to us. But for the Jews, very,

very important. It was about legacy, heritage,

land, future, who we believe. They're like praying

to Yahweh and going, listen, you've given us

this son. And we feel like we need to name him

Zacchaeus. And guess what Zacchaeus means? Clean

and pure. Clean and pure is Zacchaeus' name.

Here is a man who has gone so far away from his

namesake. So far away from his namesake to pursue

after what I'll call the American dream. Up and

to the right, money, power, influence. He's in

cahoots with Rome. How has he drifted so far

away from his namesake? I think many of us are

the same way. I think many of us have been trying

our whole lives to be something or someone. hoping

to show up and make a thing, make a name in this

world only to find ourselves desperate and alone.

And what Luke wants to say is Zacchaeus is an

archetype for humanity. And he wants you to see

yourself as Zacchaeus. He wants you to see like,

what have you been striving for that's so pulling

you away from who God has created you to be?

That now you're kind of alone, lost, depressed.

In verses three through four, we find this. And

he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on the

account of the crowd, he could not. Remember,

the crowd, they don't like Zacchaeus because

he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and

climbed up into the sycamore tree to see him,

for he was about to pass that way. Zacchaeus

has everything you could ever want. And yet something's

not right. Something is disconnected. He is objectively

alone and he is completely obsessed with trying

to figure out, look, this is not working. I have

pursued after this my whole life and it's not

working. Maybe, just maybe this man who loves

sinners, maybe I could just get a look at him

because this is not working. I feel alone. I

feel depressed. I am tired of living this way

and I need to do something about it. I want you

to see the movement. He recognizes something's

off in his heart, soul, and mind, and life. How

about you? Are you aware that there is a disconnection

that is happening in your spirit? that has moved

you away from who God has really called you to

be. I was listening recently to a podcast from

a lady named Dr. Lisa Miller. She's at Columbia

University, I believe. And she's a researcher,

psychologist. And she was talking about this

diagnosis called dysthemia. Dysthemia impacts

about 5 million Americans. And here's what dysthemia

is. It's a low -grade depression. It's this feeling.

And by the way, you can only get the diagnosis

if you've been feeling this way for two years.

And here's the feeling, meh. Kind of wake up

and it just kind of feels gray. Kind of feels

like, man, something's not right. She described

it like it's a hole in the heart. It's a hole

in your soul. You're just kind of feeling off.

And I think that describes a lot of us. Just

something's. Not right. Something's off. Zacchaeus

is like, something's off. I've run and pursued

after this and something is disconnected in me

and something is just off. And here's what she

found. What most Americans do to fix that feeling

of meh, that low grade depression, grayness in

their life is achievement. Influence, power.

stuff, hobbies. It's the brochure that our culture

has pitched to you that said, listen, if you

feel that way, we can make it all go away. We

can make you better. And they are making billions

of dollars off of convincing you that you can

fix that thing in your soul, in your heart with

stuff. With an identity, with a friend group,

with a zip code, with a politician. Literally,

culture has convinced us that a politician will

fix stuff. This is insane. And it's not working

and we're getting sicker. Here's what they desire

and what I think so many of you desire is a deep

yearning. for a deep connection in your life.

There's something inside of us that knows something's

wrong and we don't know how to fix it. And so

the culture just goes, hey, here you go. Here's

a shiny gift. And if you open it up, how many

of you love when that Amazon package shows up

to your door and it's like Christmas morning?

Something inside of you, that dopamine hits and

you're like, everything's gonna be okay. And

it's lying to you. This is a part of what we

call the postmodern complex. Here's the lie that

was pitched to you. Here's the lie that Zacchaeus

at some point in his life bought into. If I have

all this stuff, if I have money, power, the right

social group, I know we got a lot of teens in

here. If I just accomplish what mommy and daddy

want in my life and that my friend group will,

I just have to do this and this and I can fit

in. then everything's going to be okay. If I

get accepted to the right college, if I move

to the same ZEPCO, if I have enough money in

my 401k, I'm going to be fine. And it's lying

to you. We are getting sicker and sicker and

sicker. The aloneness, the isolation is at an

all -time high. And yet we keep biting on that

algorithm. That it's making them billions of

dollars and the local church needs, Christians

need to say, no. No, it's not working. We need

to say, no, it's not working. It's not fixing

the problem. And we're drowning in our insecurity

and our aloneness and our stuff and our status.

And we become very sick. We don't look like the

Acts 2 community. Acts 2 community, Acts 4 community

was free. Because here's what happened. They

encountered the spirit of God and they went like,

none of it's mine. I don't really care. We share

all things in common. I just want Jesus. I just

want to know that he loves me and he sees me

and he knows me and I've accepted that in my

life. And so what I can't help but do is just

give it away. See, our culture just goes like

this. How do I keep all this stuff to myself?

Because if I give it away, then I won't have

anything. But when you meet Jesus and you fill

that hole in your soul with his gospel truth

in your life, you are free. You are free. And

what Zacchaeus is wondering is, what does it

look to be free? Because I'm not free. I'm lost.

And so the movement he makes is so interesting.

He does something about it. Here's what I want

to say to you. Are you tired of feeling this

way? Do something about it. Here is a man that

everyone hates and he shows his face in public

and he sees a problem and he goes, I don't really

care. I just need to get in a tree because I

just need to see him. Some of you just want to

see Jesus. Maybe that's why you're here this

morning. You just want to see him. Get a little.

Taste the glory. Just get a little picture of

him. And that's what Zacchaeus does. But I want

you to see how absolutely and utterly bizarre

this is. Imagine for me for a second, there's

a giant tree outside of this church and Elon

Musk is in it. Because he heard that Pastor John

can bring the thunder. can bring the word. And

he's like, I want to know about that. Like, what

are you doing as you're walking past that tree

when Elon Musk is up there? You're like, are

you joking? Is that Elon Musk? Do you know how

embarrassing that would be for Zacchaeus? Do

you know how embarrassing that would be for Zacchaeus?

They're like, what's he doing in that tree? How

desperate are you to be loved? that you risk

everything to see Jesus. He's desperate. Are

you desperate? Are you desperate to finally go,

hey, look, none of this stuff is actually solving

the problem for me and I'm done with it and I

don't care what anyone thinks. I don't care what

my partners think. I don't care what anyone thinks.

I just want to see Jesus. He is willing to literally

humiliate himself to see Jesus. The son of Korah

in Psalms 42, one says, as the deer pants for

the water, so my soul longs for you. The vision

he wants to give you is that this is what it

feels like. It just feels like I'm like a deer

and I'm in the woods and there's no water and

I need to find out or I'm gonna die. Do you feel

that way in relationship to Jesus? Like literally,

I'm gonna die without him. Like literally, nothing

is satisfying my soul. Nothing, I've tried. And

it's not feeling it. And I just need Jesus. Paul

in Philippians 3 says this, I've done everything.

He literally says, if you want to see a Jew,

I'm a super Jew. I've done everything. But he

goes, I give it all up just to know. That word

is from the Hebrew word translated into Greek.

The Hebrew word is yada. The first time we find

that showing up is Genesis 4, 1, when it says

this, that Adam knew his wife. Not just know

about his wife, he knows his wife intimately.

Paul is saying, That's the kind of relationship

I want to have with Jesus. Nothing matters. I

don't wanna just know about him. I wanna know,

know him intimately. You know, I get to teach

in a lot of different churches and I'm so grateful

I get to do that. And I ask the question all

the time, what are we all doing here? What are

we all doing here? Is this just some religious

impulse? We just doing this because it feels

good that hopefully in eternity we get to heaven

and the Lord's like, okay, let's talk to your

church attendance here. Okay, we missed a few.

I know Lord, I got to excuse. Is that why you're

here? Are you here to encounter Jesus? To hear

about how he loves you? He cares for you. He

knows you. To not just know about him, but to

intimately. Know him. Yadah him. This is what

Zacchaeus is beginning the process of going.

None of that matters anymore. It's not working.

I'm tired of being alone. I'm tired of being

in this dysthymia that has clouded my life. I

want to be free. And I think that guy has the

answers. I think he knows something that I don't

know and I need. Verses 5 through 6. And Jesus

came to the place. And he looked up and he said

to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I

must stay at your house today. So he hurried

and came down and received him joyfully. Can

you even begin to feel what Zacchaeus feels?

In the midst of a crowd. Jesus looks up in the

tree and he knows his name. He knows your name.

The people call him sinner, but Jesus knows your

name. He sees you. He is intimately involved

in your life. He says in the Psalms that you

were fearfully and wonderfully made, that he

has numbered the hairs on your head, that you

are not just some cosmic accident that shows

up in this world, that you belong and you matter.

And he sees you. He sees you and he knows your

name. You matter to him, the King of Kings and

the Lord of Lords. You're not obscure. I think

so many people go, Jesus is for all those other

people, but I got to earn my way to the table.

False. He knows you. And some of you have been

working your whole life to be known, only to

this morning, maybe just realize that he intentionally

knows you. And if you believe that, that changes

everything. Because I think a lot of us are just

up in some tree and we just want to get a peaky

peak of Jesus. We hear he's good. Maybe that's

why you're here and I'm grateful you're here.

But Jesus wants something so much more. He wants

this yada relationship with you. He wants intimacy

with you. That's why in John 15, I in you and

you in me. John 17. John 15, I'm the vine, you're

the branches. He's trying to say, abide in me.

Again, in the Greek, abide means intimacy, union,

wedding night language is abide. He wants so

much more from you, for you, than you just to

know a bunch about him or to get a peek about

how glorious he is. He wants you to get out of

the tree. Because what he does next is so beautiful.

He looks at Zacchaeus and he goes, I know your

name. I know your name. And then he says, but

I want something more. I want to come to your

home. I want to be with you. Here's what I want

you to hear. God is not offended by your humanity.

God is not at a distance. from you. He knows

you. Hebrews 4 says this, what a great high priest

we have who sympathizes with our humanity. So

many of the reasons why you're still stuck in

a tree is because you believe that God has got

his finger in your chest instead of his hands

wide open to receive you. In Revelation, it says

this, the Spirit says this, I stand at the door

and I knock. I think in our minds, sometimes

we have Jesus as like a CIA operative and just

waiting for him to kick down the door into our

lives and come in and rescue us. He already did

that. What he's now waiting is for you to actually

believe and receive it. Do something about it.

Because it's an open invitation, Zacchaeus. You

can stay in that tree if you want, but I'd like

to come home with you. I'd like to have dinner

with you. Andrew Murray wrote one of my favorite

books called Abide in Christ. It's out of John

15. And he says this, abiding in Christ is meant

only for the weak. Anybody feel weak? And so

beautiful suited for their feebleness. Anybody

feel feeble? You should. You should feel weak.

You should feel feeble. Does not the demand of

something great or thing that we lead a holy

and devoted life. No, it's simply weakness entrusting

itself to the mighty one to be kept. The unfaithful

one casting self on the one who is all together

trustworthy and true. He is not offended by your

humanity. He is not offended by your humanity.

He knows, you know, God's never like caught off

guard by your sin nature. Do you know that? He's

not like, what? I can't believe that. That's

why he sent Jesus. He's fully aware that you

and I are hot messes. You're a hot mess. I'm

a hot mess. And he's like, I'm knocking at the

door of your heart going, I know you're a hot

mess. And I think here's what a lot of us are

doing. Lord, hold on one second. I got to clean

it up in here. I'd love to hang out with you.

I got to clean up this place before I even let

you come in. He's like, I just want to come in

and help you with the mess. That's what he's

saying. He's like, kids, I know you're a sinner.

I'm going to come in to your home and eat with

you and be with you because I'm not offended

by your humanity. And guess what happens as a

result of that? Verse seven. And then the crowd

saw it and they grumbled. He has gone to be a

guest and a man. of a man who was a sinner. You

see, what the crowds love to do is continue to

keep you in your box. What Satan would love nothing

more is to keep you in your shame. Those secrets

that you hide in your heart, what Satan would

love you to do is just to stay there. Oh, that's

right, I am a notorious sinner. Oh, that's right,

I'm undeserving. The crowds are always. going

to do this. The people are always going to, they're

not going to understand the grace that he gives

to you, that all of your good deeds that you

keep bringing, Isaiah says, are filthy rags before

a holy God. And yet we keep bringing them. We

keep thinking like, if I just do more, if I just

show up to church more, if I just serve more,

if I just do more, then I'll eradicate this feeling

that I have in my heart. And God's like, stop

it. You can't do it. You're a sinner saved by

grace through faith. It's not because of anything

you've done. It's the gift I want to give to

you. And the culture will not allow for this.

They do not understand this. The illogical grace

of Jesus will always, always be offensive to

people who can't understand the extreme love

of Christ. Always. Here's what I say. Let them

talk. Let them talk. You know, Zacchaeus is finally

at a place where he's like, just keep talking.

Call me whatever you want, but he knows my name

and he wants to be with me. And that's enough.

That's enough. At 41, I really had become everything

that everybody wanted me to become. Led big things,

gone around the world. When I was a... Sophomore

and senior in Christian high school, I won best

Christian in the school. I have two plaques that

acknowledge this goodness in me. Anybody got

plaques in here? I got that cheddar, okay? You

know, I've been a pastor my whole life, most

of my life, but I didn't know how much he loved

me. And at 41, I finally went. this isn't working.

Zacchaeus is going, this isn't working. The invitation

to you is like, this isn't working. And I've

been trying to figure out what it is to take

Jesus at his word that he says he's knocking

and he wants to be with me. And I want that for

you too. I'm not perfect, I mess up all the time,

but I feel it now. Zacchaeus feels it. Verse

eight, and Zacchaeus stood and said to him, behold,

Lord. The half of my goods I give to the poor,

and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I

restore it full forward. You see, received grace

turns to repentance, generosity, and restitution.

Here's what happens. All the stuff that defined

him, the house, the power, the business, everything,

he's just like, I'll just give it all up because

it doesn't matter anymore because I have you

and you know me. And I've been living this lie

my whole life, trying to fill this hole in my

heart, and it hasn't worked. Whatever I've done,

have it all. I don't care anymore. What would

it look like for you to love Jesus so much to

look at your bank account and go, it's not mine?

That's reckless. That's gospel. It no longer

has a bondage over you. no longer controls your

life. The market no longer controls the way you

think because you're like, I'm loved by Jesus,

he's in control. How can I bless? And if I've

done anything, I just wanna make it right because

you saw me, you know my name and you came home

to me and I wanna do whatever I can to make up

for it. And here's the really cool thing, Jesus

actually doesn't even come and say, hey, listen,

real quick, I'd love to come to your home. I

think it's gonna be a great time, but you're

gonna have to make up for a bunch of stuff that

you did wrong. So you're gonna have to pay this.

You're gonna have to make up for this. And then

I'll come. He doesn't do that. You understand

when the prodigal returns home, the prodigal

returns home with a prayer. Father, forgive me.

I've sinned against heaven and earth. I'm not

worthy to become your son. Take me on as a slave.

He stands in front of the father and the father

does not even acknowledge it. He just says, you're

home. This is what happens with Zacchaeus. You're

home. verses nine and 10. And Jesus said to him

today, salvation has come to this house since

he also is the son of Abraham. And this is the

linchpin of Luke's whole gospel. For the son

of man came to seek and to save that which was

lost. But here's the thing about it. You gotta

know you're lost. You gotta know you need Jesus.

You gotta know you can't fix it on your own.

You gotta recognize that all of that is gonna

do nothing for you. And you have to finally go,

I need you. I need your rescue. I need your kindness.

I need your grace, your mercy that covers a multitude

of sins. I'm done doing it my way. So year three,

I go back to India. And we've been Skyping her,

Wasunta, the whole time. She sits on my lap.

And we eat two things. What are those things?

Nailed it. You guys listen. Thank you. She eats

her chicken. I'm eating my chicken. And she puts

the bones down on the plate and she runs off

and she goes and she plays. I looked to the man.

I said, what happened? He said, oh, my friend,

your little slave girl finally came to understand

that she's a daughter and it's changed everything.

I think most people are still living like slaves

when he knows your name, that you're a son and

daughter of the most high God, that you are fearfully

and wonderfully made, that he says that he knit

you together. Students, I really want you to

hear this. He knit you together in your mother's

womb, and the culture is going to try to continue

to rob you of that. They're going to tell you

you have to do a bunch of stuff in order to be

a somebody. But he knows you don't live like

a slave. You're a daughter, you're a son of the

most high God beloved. And he is knocking and

saying, I wanna be with you. I know how sinful

you are. That's why I sent my son, Jesus, that

he who knew no sin became sin so that we all

might become the righteousness of God. I want

you to hear this. When God looks at you, He sees

his son, Jesus. You don't have to prove. You

don't have to pretend. You just get to live into

the grace and mercy and then reciprocate that

back out to the world. You are not in bondage

anymore. You are free, free indeed in Jesus Christ.

Zacchaeus knows this, feels this. And what Jesus

does next is he said, I don't just talk, I do.

And he went and died for our sins. And he resurrected

three days later as he promised. And he stands

in victory. And he looks to you and to me and

said, receive this grace, receive this mercy,

receive this gift, not because of anything you've

done, but because I love you. And I know your

name. Get out of the tree and come home. Let's

pray. Father God, we love you. We're thankful

for this gospel truth that we get to live into.

Who are we that you are mindful of us? The son

of man that you would care for us, the psalmist

says. We stand in absolute wonder of your goodness

and your love and your grace and your mercy.

Help us, Lord. Spirit, you are helper and we

need help. Many of us are caught into deep bondages

and we feel so ashamed. Help us to get out of

the tree, to come home, and for you to receive

us, to receive the free gift of grace that you

offer to us through faith. We bless you. We thank

you. We celebrate you. In the name of the Father,

Son, and Spirit, everybody said, amen.