Church At Home - Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

We are so glad you've joined us and we hope you are encouraged by today's message.

Hey church, how are you guys doing?

I'm praying that you had an incredible holiday season.

We want to thank you so much for allowing us to be with you in your homes for church at home.

We're really expected for what God's going to do, not only in today's service, but also as we go into the new year.

As we've been thinking about what God's going to do going into this new season, we've been thinking about you.

We've been thinking about ourselves and just kind of where we are.

And what I realize is when we we come to moments like this, kind of like the end of the year, some of us have maybe have had the best year of our entire lives.

And we're thinking to ourselves, if I can just ride this wave, if I can continue to keep this same momentum, this will, the next year will be just as good.

But if I can be honest with you, for some of us, we may be on the other side of that where we're like we're just like barely making it to the finish line with a hope of maybe if I can just turn the calendar, if I can just turn a page, that maybe that'll give me the fresh start.

That'll give me the fresh revelation, the fresh perspective, the permission to let some things go in my life.

I realize that that all of us could probably be in one of those two areas or maybe somewhere in between.

And my hope and my expectation is as we engage in today's message, as we even engage into what I believe God's gonna do in this upcoming season and series at our church, that this will be a season that, yes, I believe that God's gonna give us some vision.

You know, it it lends itself to it.

We're going into 2020.

But I also don't believe that it stops there.

I don't think it's just gonna be a vision for you, for your family, for our church, for myself, and for us personally.

Not only is God gonna give us vision, but I'm also expectant that God's gonna allow us to walk in the things that He's shown us.

That's what I believe that this year is gonna be.

It's gonna be a year of showing us, but it's also gonna be a year of us receiving.

You know, when I when I think about the different narratives and passages of scripture, there's there's a unique one that kind of stands out to me when I think about the necessity for us to kind of position ourselves to experience and to see things differently.

You know, we've all probably heard the term perspective is everything.

You know, a lot of times the way that we see something determines what we receive from it.

You know, we we kind of have seen that in our lives, and if I could be really practical as it relates to Jesus, you think about it, our our our salvation is built upon how do we see Jesus.

If you see Jesus as your savior, then he becomes your savior.

If you see him as your healer, then I believe that healing is available.

It's all a matter of perspective.

But what I also realize is that there's a lot of things, a lot of a lot of opportunities and obstacles and options that present themselves to block our perspective of Jesus.

Maybe there's been some circumstances and things that have presented themselves to us that makes it very difficult for us to see Jesus where we are, maybe even in next year.

What I want to do is I want to I want to look at this passage of scripture that I believe beautifully captures not only the way that we have to react when there's something that seems to be an obstacle, but what God does when we begin to cooperate with what he wants to do in our lives.

I'm looking at the Gospel of Luke chapter 19.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

Very popular passage of scripture if you if you've been around anything of God for any period of time.

And I simply want to read this to us to encourage us as we enter into what I believe this season is going to be for us.

Starting at verse number one, it says this He entered Jericho and was passing through.

And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus.

He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.

Somebody claimed that going into 2020.

Um and he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.

So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry down.

I must stay at your house today.

So he hurried, and he came down and he received him joyfully.

And when he saw him, they all grumbled, and he had gone into the house of this man who was a sinner.

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, half of all my goods I give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will restore it fourfold.

And Jesus said to him, Today, salvation has come into this home, since he also is a son of Abraham.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that that was lost.

What a powerful passage of scripture that really helps us to enter into this moment of a man who has some barriers and some obstacles, but he positioned himself in the way that he could have this life-changing interaction and moment with Jesus.

You know, I believe there's some things that we can learn from from Zacchaeus.

I truly do.

I believe that if we can begin to shift our perspective a little bit, maybe for us in 2019, maybe Jesus, maybe Jesus was one of our options.

Maybe we look at life as a multiple choice and we've kind of ran through the list of options that we have, and maybe Jesus was one of those options in regards to how we lead our lives.

But I believe that if we can stop looking at Jesus as a multiple choice and look at it as a fill-in-a-blank and recognize that the answer is always Jesus, I believe that it changes the way that we can begin to experience the freedom that He has for our lives.

As we go into this, I want to open us up in prayer with the belief that God is gonna not only wrap some things up for this past year, but also be a catalyst that leads us into the next year.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you so much.

God, we thank you that that your wisdom tells us that perspective is everything.

And even as we look at your scriptures, God, as we look at the barriers and obstacles, God, we see hope in all of it.

So, Father, I pray over the next few moments.

I pray for open eyes that we can see you.

I pray for open ears that we can hear you, Lord, and I pray for open hearts that we can receive the truth of your word.

We come in with expectation, God, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And amen.

You know, when I when I think about some of the challenges that I've had when I whenever I'm like trying to learn in a new city, something that probably gives me a lot more anxiety than it should is something as simple as trying to find parking.

I I know it seems very, I know it seems very, like, very weak if you if you really think about it, but but you know, like parking can be everything.

Like all of us, even if we think about the holiday season, we know what it feels like when you pull into that spot that's right in front of the store, you literally feel like it was the hand of God that moved on your behalf.

You feel like God is moving and that you are favored, that you're literally God's favorite right now.

But we also know what it feels like when you're in exile and you can't find a spot and you feel like God forsaken, and you look at it like maybe that's a sign that I don't need to go in here and spend any money.

So we we all know that tension of just trying to find that perfect spot.

And then all of us inevitably have had that moment where you park way off on the outskirts, and as you're walking all the way up to the front, someone pulls out right up front and you're wondering, how come I missed that opportunity?

See, parking is it's a big deal.

So I understand that.

So anytime that I'm going anywhere that I've never been before, I immediately begin to scout out what the parking situation was.

And so I remember meeting with a friend of mine one time, going into the city to a coffee shop I had never gone to.

Um, the the key thing I asked, like, hey man, what's the parking like?

He said, The parking is very, very, very challenging.

So when you get on the street, just find a spot and just and just walk up.

Okay, cool.

So with those instructions, based off the wisdom of my friend, I I put in the directions in my GPS and and I'm and I'm rolling through.

I I find myself on the block and my directions tell me that the destination is about a mile ahead on the right.

So I'm riding, and as I begin to look around, he was correct.

There was a lot of cars out there, there wasn't a lot of parking opportunities, so I'm starting to think, okay, where where am I going to park at?

What am I gonna do?

So I start noticing that some spots did begin to open up.

Now my map told me that we were still like three-quarters of a mile away.

But but he said, like, if you find a spot, you you better take advantage of it because you may not get it as you get closer.

So I I I took his wisdom and and I pulled into this spot.

So I get out of the car and and I start walking, and and here's the thing that I that I notice.

Like three quarters of a three-quarters of a mile, like it doesn't seem like it's that far when you're in shape.

Um it doesn't, but but when you're when you got some other challenges, that three-quarters of a mile, like man, that that that that seems like that's some distance.

So I'm I'm walking one block turns into two blocks, two blocks turns into five blocks, and so I'm looking like man, like this is this is a long walk for some coffee.

I'm I hope he's treating.

Like at this point, I'm I'm really trying to store through it, but then but here's the thing that that that kind of takes it up another level.

It starts to rain.

So I don't have any, I don't have any apparel that's gonna prepare me for for the rain.

So I'm I'm I'm like bundled up, it's cold outside, I'm trying to move as quickly as I can, it starts to rain.

And and again, in this, it's amazing how much a neighborhood can change in just a half a mile.

Like, so I literally walk through the change of the neighborhood.

Some of y'all may not know what it means, so let me let me break it down for you.

The change of the neighborhood is this that means that you're on one block and you're saying to yourself, man, this is really nice.

I wonder how much it costs to live here.

Then you get to the next block and you're saying, Man, I hope they have security around here.

What am I doing here?

Like, I walk through the transition of the neighborhood.

So now it's raining outside, I'm walking through an area that I don't feel comfortable with.

And to make matters worse, when I finally get to the coffee shop, there were about 20 spots right in front of it.

You could you could fit an aircraft carrier in front of the coffee shop.

And to take it to the next level, they also had their own parking lot in the back.

So not only was there street parking available for me, but they actually had a spot in the back.

So I ended up walking a whole lot of distance that I didn't need to walk because I thought that I got as close as I could ever get.

I ended up walking through some storms because I thought that I got as close as I'm ever going to get.

I end up walking through some uncomfortable environments because I thought that I got as close as I'm ever going to get.

I ended up parking in an environment that I didn't need to be in because I thought that I got as close as I'm ever going to get.

And what I think about what happens with us from time to time, we can look at our lives and sometimes we can feel like this is as good as it's ever going to get.

I'm just going to park out right here.

And you end up walking through some things that you shouldn't have to walk through if you could just trust and believe that God has a spot closer for you if you're willing to change your perspective.

That's that's why I love this narrative so much.

Because it challenges us to make sure that we don't get content with parking in the distance.

It makes sure that it challenges us to make sure that we recognize that that maybe God has more for us.

Maybe, maybe this was your best year ever, but what if but what if God has more?

Don't get content and park where you are, but maybe God wants to take it to another level.

But also what can often happen is this maybe it wasn't a good year.

And in a way to protect our feelings and to not allow our hope to evaporate, we stop believing for anything better because we just don't want to be disappointed anymore.

But I would say that God doesn't want you to park where you are, He has another place for you, and you just have got to believe that it's there for you.

See, as we transition and look at this particular passage of scripture, I believe there's a lot that God wants to show us in it.

See, one of the things that I've learned when I when I went to Israel a couple years ago is not only just the miracles that took place, but understanding the places that they took place.

Because we begin to see these rhythms and patterns in the way that these things move and what God is trying to do.

This incredible miracle that we're talking about right now, it actually takes place in an environment called Jericho.

Now, Jericho has some history in the Bible.

That's not the first time that we see it in Scripture.

In fact, when we back up and begin to think about who Jericho is as a city, there's a lot of activity that's been there.

Jericho is actually what we would consider to be the promised land that God spoke to Moses about in Exodus chapter 3.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

When the Bible talks about the land flowing with milk and honey, that's Jericho.

When Abram was navigating through and trying to identify the place that his family was going to be raised in, Jericho was that place.

When Isaac and Jacob they were buried, they were it was in Jericho, is where they entered in.

So Jericho has some significant influence in Scripture.

Jericho is the promised land.

We see some things that are happening here in Jericho.

When the spies are sent out from Moses as well as from Joshua, they're sent into Jericho.

You're seeing what I'm saying here.

There's some things here about Jericho.

So Jericho not only was it something that was destined for God's people, but even when they were in exile, we see that the Canaanites moved in.

We see that the Babylonians move in, that the Persian, the Greeks, the Medes, and now the Romans are there.

But Jericho had always been a reflection of the promised land and the promises of God.

You know, if I can think about it, I think that we all probably have our version of a Jericho.

That thing in our life that we're saying that this is a promise that God has given me.

And even though it may have endured some challenges and some obstacles, you recognize that God wants to do something in your Jericho.

Maybe your Jericho is your business.

Maybe your Jericho is your family.

That thing that you know that God has spoken to you, that He said that it's going to be a blessing in.

Yes, there's been some obstacles and some opposition in it, but yet you know that the hand of God is on it.

This is what we see here in this passage.

But what's interesting is what happens right before we get into Luke chapter 19.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

What's happening is right outside of the city gates, there's a blind man named Bartimaeus.

And what the scriptures tell us about blind Bartimaeus is that he hears that Jesus is in the vicinity.

When he hears about Jesus, the Bible says that he lifts up his voice in an effort to get the attention of our Savior.

Initially, everybody's like, hey man, like can you quiet it now?

You're making too much noise.

But the Bible says that he lifts up his voice even louder.

Because something inside of him said, I am not going to allow me to be this close to getting my breakthrough and allow anything to silence my praise.

He lifted up his voice and he got the attention of Jesus and he subsequently got his miracle.

That sounds a lot like the exact same thing that God's people did when they marched around the walls of Jericho, sitting in that exact same spot that Blind Bardamass was sitting in.

The actual strategy was the same.

So close to the promises of God.

But it wasn't a strategy that got him inside of it, it was their praise.

Maybe, maybe this past year, maybe you're a lot closer than you think you are.

But maybe the thing that you need to get onto the other side of the promises of God is not a strategy, not another podcast or somebody else's opinion.

Maybe the breakthrough that you need is just to lift up your voice and give God some praise because maybe that'll be the ingredients that'll get you over on the other side.

So you can understand that when when Bartimaeus lifts up his voice, that there's this amazing reaction because he sat outside the gates of Jericho.

And so what he would sit out there and do is he would beg for money.

So day in and day out, everybody understood that this is the blind man that sits outside of the city gates.

So when he ends up getting healed, like the crowd goes crazy.

Everybody is excited.

So now as Jesus is entering into Jericho, there's this massive crowd.

Everybody's following Jesus because they just saw this incredible miracle.

The people that are now inside of Jericho are now seeing from a distance all this activity, all this motion, all this movement.

And so you can imagine that people begin to wonder what's all the excitement about?

Why, why, why is all this raucous?

What's all this movement about?

Man, like Bartimaeus, he's he's got healed.

I don't know Bartimaeus.

I know I know blind Bartimaeus.

Well, I don't know blind Bartimaeus because he's not blind anymore, but I do know Bartimaeus.

We got to make sure that we're not answering to old seasons when God has done a new thing in our life.

This is this is what we see here, just understanding that God has done a new thing in my life, so I won't respond to the old things that you know me as.

So as Zacchaeus is now made aware of this incredible miracle, he he sees these things from a distance.

Now, now let me give you some information about Zacchaeus.

Scriptures tell us that he is a rich man, he's a tax collector.

Now, this is this is a this is an odd dynamic considering the context of the culture.

See, when when the when the Romans came in and they began to take rule, they began to tax all the citizens there, the Jews included.

So everybody kind of just dealt with that.

They understood that was the law of the land, but if you were a tax collector, you were not loved amongst the Jews.

To take it a step further, if you were a Jewish tax collector, they look at you as somebody who has forsaken your own race.

So you were like a race traitor as far as they were concerned.

So you have this man Zacchaeus, who was very rich, who is Jewish, but he's also a tax collector.

And the way that they often got rich is they would skim a little money off the top.

So you have this man who was not very well liked, probably very popular for all the wrong reasons in this community.

So now he's there.

But then the other thing that we are we learn about him is that the Bible says that he was a very short man.

Now, I'm I don't know, I don't know scriptures often to make fun of people, but but they thought it was necessary to highlight the fact that he is a very short man.

Like not just a short man, but a but a very short man.

So I began to research and just to try to get some context as to what that meant.

Because I'm 5'8, and by some people's standards, I may be short.

So I wanted to see exactly what standard are we measuring this all by.

But apparently, back in the biblical days that we see here in this passage, the average height for a man was about between 5'1 and 5'6.

That makes me feel a lot better about myself.

Because as far as I'm concerned, I'm like the same height as Jesus.

Um if you're taller, that's Goliath, I guess.

Anyway, so so so about 5'1 to 5'6 is the average height, right?

So that means that what many scholars believe is they believe that this man was between three and a half feet to four feet tall.

That's like a hobbit.

You know what I mean?

Like, hey, Mr.

Frodo, like he that's it's like a hobbit.

Like, so this man is only about four feet tall.

Now, now think about this.

You could arguably say that his height may have been like his biggest struggle his entire life.

Being bullied, being picked on, maybe that's why he picked a profession because it gave him some power in an environment where he felt powerless.

Nonetheless, his height probably was his biggest barrier.

But but watch this.

His biggest barrier had nothing to do with his own decisions.

Do you realize that our height, that 80% of it is determined by our parentage, is literally passed down in our DNA.

Only 20% has to do with our environments and maybe our diet.

So that means that 80% of his biggest struggle, he had no choice in it at all.

I can put it to you this way.

He inherited his biggest burden.

His biggest struggle was something that he didn't even ask for.

Have you ever been in a place where you felt like the biggest burdens on your life are things that you didn't even have any control over?

I I came from a home where my biological father walked out, and obviously there's some things you gotta work through in your life.

I I didn't ask for that, I inherited that.

Some people inherit, some people inherit poverty.

And it doesn't mean that they can't be successful, but but there's some challenges they have to overcome to even be able to enter into the race.

Some people just inherit the situation that they're in, and now it becomes a lot more of an obstacle.

This is exactly the scenario that we find for Zacchaeus, some things that they inherited.

But the beautiful thing is that it doesn't matter what you inherited when the blood of Jesus gets involved.

See, it's it's possible sometimes for us to get paralyzed and believe that we can't move any further.

But I believe this is why Jesus tells us that we need to be born again.

It doesn't matter what you're born with when you get born again, because the blood of Jesus, that DNA, is the thing that transfers purpose and value and lets you know that you can get a fresh start today.

Behold, all things become new.

But it's important for us to understand how to apply that blood to our lives.

When we look at Zacchaeus, this man who was looking at things from a distance, it's it's very difficult to get a true view of who Jesus is when we're looking from the distance.

Have you ever tried to like zoom in and see something from a distance before?

I'm an avid sports fan, and many of you guys know I was I was raised watching the Philadelphia Eagles.

Very disappointing season.

That's probably what gave me the patience that I have now.

But as a but as an Eagles fan, I would occasionally go to the games and I would sit in the nosebleed seats and I would do my best to try to capture what was going on in the game, but the crowd and the distractions and where I was sitting at, it was very difficult to see all the details.

Sometimes I couldn't even see who had the ball, so you just you just you end up just cheering when everybody else cheers.

You ever have like secondhand celebration?

Like, okay, something something good must have happened because everybody's cheering.

So I would literally just look at the jumbotron and wait for everybody else to let me know when was a good opportunity for me to cheer.

A friend of mine had ended up giving me like 50-yard line seats, like sitting like almost by where the owner's box is.

It completely changed my perspective of the game.

I was able to see everything.

Like I could see everything in vivid detail.

I I no longer had to, I no longer had to look at a jumbotron and just focus in on the highlights, but I could see the play-by-play myself because I was no longer distracted by the distance.

You see, I think a lot of times when we when we look at Jesus from a distance, we we lose him in the crowd, and then we end up having secondhand praise.

The preacher told me to put my hands up, so I'll put my hands up.

They told me that I should be happy, so I'm going to be happy, but maybe it's some areas of our lives where we're a little bit too distant from God that he actually wants to pull us in a little bit closer.

Many of us are sitting in the nosebleed seats of our faith and we're looking at jumbotrons, trying to find the highlights of what it means to follow Jesus on a Sunday when he wants to put you in a better seat every single day.

The Bible says that we were bought with a price, and that price actually puts you in the owner box.

The Bible says that we're seated in heavenly places.

Why are we sitting in a seat all the way in the back when Jesus paid the price so that we can have a close-up view of him?

He's trying to help us to change our perspective.

See, with Zacchaeus, as he was trying to get a glimpse of Jesus, the Bible said that he had desired to see him, but he couldn't because the crowd had blocked his view.

So you can imagine this moment where this small man he hears about the miracle that Jesus performs.

He sees what Jesus is doing in the vicinity, but but he's too small.

He can't see around the crowd in order for him to really get a glimpse of Jesus.

There's celebration going on.

There's people that are pressing up against Jesus, trying to get Jesus to go to their homes, probably trying to think of some people in our lives that they know that Jesus could radically change.

But Zacchaeus couldn't see Jesus.

He was in the crowd, but he couldn't see him.

You know, it's it's possible.

It's it's possible for us to be in a crowd of people that are following Jesus but not see him for ourselves.

It's possible to come to church on a Sunday and and to watch a worship leader just so excited about singing the goodness of God, but you're you're feeling empty on the inside.

It's it's possible to be that worship leader who's singing about the power of God and you're seeing God move amongst the congregation, but you're struggling in your own life.

It's it's possible to stand on a platform and preach about the power of God in the way that He can heal while you're dealing with sickness in your own body.

It's possible to be in a crowd of people that's following Jesus but but feel like you're not seeing them for yourself.

What do you do when you realize that the vantage point that I have right now, the perspective that I have right now?

Now that I I I can't see Jesus in it.

I I can't see Jesus in my marriage.

I can't see Jesus in my business.

I can't see Jesus in the life of my kids.

I'm struggling with seeing Jesus.

And for some of us, maybe that was our 2019.

Maybe there's some areas of your life where you just you just didn't see Jesus.

See how how do we how do we break free from that place?

Because I believe that Zacchaeus could have got very content with where he was.

He could have just resolved it and said, like, this is my reality.

But what scripture says is that there was something that snapped on the inside of him.

There's something inside of him that said, like, I I can't see Jesus, but I can't stay in this condition.

I believe what Zacchaeus did is he made up his mind.

I believe that the biggest journey that we will ever take has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with our mentality.

When we can simply say, I've made up my mind.

I I am not, I am not going to repeat this year that I had.

I am going to have a better year next year.

I've made up my mind.

I am not going to experience the same setbacks that I had last year.

I'm going to put myself in a better position to be saying I refuse this.

See, the Bible tells us a story about the prodigal son.

And the Bible says that as he squandered off all of his resources, that he found himself sitting in squalor.

But he came to himself.

He said, There's, I'm, I'm better than this.

God's called me for more than this.

And I believe there's something that's stirring inside of some of us right now, knowing that that my year last year, like, God's got more for me than this.

I don't need to tolerate that.

There's more in me than this.

I am not going to continue to session.

I've made up my mind that I'm not going to stay in this place.

What are the areas that you need to try to make up your mind in?

What are the areas that maybe there's some barriers and some things that are blocking your view, some things that are crowding you out that makes it difficult for you to see Jesus?

But the first thing you need to do is simply make up your mind and saying that I will not have repeat of this year.

For Zacchaeus, he was in this spot and he made up in his mind that he came to himself and said, I refuse to stay in this position because this ground is blocking my view.

What he did is the scriptures say that he broke free and that he ran ahead of the crowd.

In other words, he had to get ahead of it.

What are some things in your life that you know that you have to get ahead of it?

I gotta get ahead of this.

That's simply his talking about a little bit of preparation.

Because what I'm certain of is that Zacchaeus was very familiar with that city.

He knew where everything was, and something inside of him, as he made up his mind that I am not going to stay here any longer, that he he said, I've got it, I've got to get ahead of it.

Practically speaking, for some of us, maybe maybe the reason why we've we've struggled a little bit this year is because we've been living in reaction mode the entire year.

Just reacting to things around us, reacting to setbacks, reacting to struggles, reacting to some things.

But I truly believe that if we could begin to look at the patterns and actually get ahead of some things, it could set us up for success.

Practically speaking, I remember many years ago when when my wife and I we decided to put our children in Pop Warner.

Praise God.

I don't know why we decided to do it, but for my oldest son, Keith Jr.

and for my daughter Daenerys, we put them in at the same time.

So she's doing her little cheerleading thing, and he's doing his football thing, and they were on different teams.

And so on Saturdays, we would be in completely different parts of the city, different times, and so we're all over the place just trying to figure out the best way to manage our family.

We even went through a season where we only had one car.

So trying to drop off my son at one spot, pick up my daughter, and take her to another spot, like it was a really tough season.

So I made up my mind.

I said, we're we're not gonna have another year like that because you know what, you're just reacting.

So even though we knew what the schedule was, every Saturday we're frustrated.

We're frustrated about a decision that we already had made because we didn't feel prepared for it.

You know, I believe that where there's an absence of preparation, there's an abundance of panic.

And maybe what God wants us to do is He wants us to get ahead of some things.

So here's what I said I said, going forward, any decision that we make as a family, let's count the cost.

Let's begin to pray and say to ourselves, what is it that we feel like God is leading us to do as a family as we go into this new year?

And then counting the cost simply means this how much is it gonna cost us from a financial standpoint?

How much time is it gonna cost us?

How much energy is it gonna cost us?

Let's get ahead of it.

And now we're managing those decisions and creating disciplines to support those decisions instead of reacting to the reality of a decision that we already made, but there's panic and tension and frustration because we don't feel prepared for it.

So much of our energy is wasted on things that if we just could plan and prepare to get ahead of it, we wouldn't have to experience it.

Just practically speaking, for Zacchaeus, he knew that he had to get ahead of it.

I gotta get ahead of this crowd, and so something inside of him allowed him to discern the direction that Jesus was going into.

It says that he knew the direction that Jesus was going into.

So there was this tree there.

And as he goes and he and he runs over to the tree, you have to understand, like, for a man of Zacchaeus's influence, it was unheard of for a man of that financial success to start running.

Like, when you're rich, you don't run.

People run for you.

You don't run errands, you you get them to do it for you, like, hey man, can you go get this for me?

But Zacchaeus knew that I can't outsource intimacy.

There's there's something that I have to personally put my hands on, so I'm not gonna ask anyone else to do it for me, I'm gonna do it myself.

He he even gets a little undignified if we really think about it.

You remember how how David's wife was a little frustrated with him when he danced before the Lord?

She's like, Man, that's undignified.

But he said, but this is I'm bringing in the glory of God.

There was something inside of David that said, I don't care how this looks, my God is worth it.

For Zacchaeus, he recognized that this could be my moment.

I gotta get ahead of something.

So he broke free and he got ahead of it.

He ran to this tree.

And when he ran to the tree, he climbed it.

Kind of like a child.

Now that that doesn't seem like something that we would celebrate, but I do know that there's a scripture that talks about how Jesus commands us to have childlike faith.

Maybe our biggest barrier is that we're so mature that we don't even know how to trust God like children anymore.

My my granddaughter, she'll just jump off the steps whether I'm looking or not.

She just has this wild faith that she believes I'm going to catch her.

My oldest son won't do that because he's mature enough to know that it could hurt.

But what if God wants us to have a type of faith that says, Would you just trust me and jump because you know that I'll catch you?

When Zacchaeus gets to the tree, that tree is perfectly placed and a location where Jesus and him could have this eye contact moment.

Now, when I when I think about, when I think about the placement of that tree, I recognize that there's been a lot of people that have lived in that region.

What many scholars believe is they believe that when Abraham first came into that area, it was largely undeveloped.

So as he was beginning to establish and establish borders for his family, that it is, it's it's possible that he is the one that actually planted that tree hundreds of years ago.

So I want us to think about this.

Abraham passes through and God tells him, This is going to be the land that your family is going to one day occupy.

So Abraham begins to plant trees and produce and have some things set up for the next generation to come.

He dies and he goes away.

But then the next generation comes, the next generation comes, and that tree continues to grow from a seed that was planted from Abraham.

But that day, that tree who had endured storms, that tree that had watched that area that was dedicated to the Israelites to be ransacked, to be ambushed, to be taken from them, that tree that had been there through all these different generations.

And if I can personify it for a moment, wondering, when am I ever going to fulfill my purpose?

When am I ever going to get used?

This tree that had had the seed planted hundreds of years ago, wondering if it's standing there and if it has any value.

But on that day, a seed that had been planted hundreds of years ago was exactly where it needed to be so that Abraham's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson could stand on a seed that his great-great-grandfather had planted so that he can have an experience with God.

I believe that some of us have some seeds on the inside of us, and we may be wondering to ourselves, am I ever going to see it come to fruition?

The Bible says, despise not small beginnings.

Maybe there's a thing that God is stirring on the inside of you right now, and you're wondering, I thought that 2019 would be the year that I would blossom and see it all come to fruition.

I know that you may be growing weary, but don't you dare faint.

Because what God starts in you, I promise you he will finish it.

You stand firm and you trust in the salvation of what God's word says about you.

What the Bible says is that Jesus and Zacchaeus lock eyes, and Jesus says, Zacchaeus, I need to go to your house tonight.

He calls him by name.

Zacchaeus, he knows who he is.

He doesn't say, You, little guy.

He says, Zacchaeus, come on down, man.

I need to go to your house tonight.

The name Zacchaeus means pure, it means innocent.

So when Jesus looks at him, he didn't see him as a tax collector who was swindling his people.

He didn't see him as a man who had betrayed his own people, but when Jesus looked at him, even in spite of the flaws and the sins that was in his life, Jesus saw him as pure and innocent.

Man, what a powerful thought to consider that when God looks at us, he looks at us based on our potential, not based on our problems.

He sees us for what we can be, he sees us for who we are.

What would change in our lives if we actually began to look in the mirror and to see ourselves the way that Jesus does?

Zacchaeus comes down and he takes this encounter that he has with God back to his house.

What he wanted to make sure of is that I know that I just had a moment with Jesus, but but if it's just for me, then it's then it's then it's not really meeting this intended purpose.

He took it back to his home.

Maybe for some of us, our our next step going into this new year is not keeping Jesus to ourselves, but actually taking Jesus into our homes.

He takes Jesus back to his home and they have this conversation, and and as a result of it, Jesus says that salvation has come to this home.

Healing has come to this home.

Restoration has come to this home.

Freedom has come to this home.

Joy has come to this home.

Not just to you, but to your home.

You're going to see some breakthroughs happening with your kids that are struggling with their faith right now.

You're going to begin to see the people that you never thought would ever come to church begin to come to church.

I believe that God is going to give us the grace that we can actually see this thing that we believe translate beyond just the four walls of our own personal walk with God.

That's what we see with Zacchaeus.

He changed his perspective.

He saw Jesus from a distance and wasn't content with that.

He saw Jesus from the crowd and recognized that I can't stay here.

Because if I stay behind the crowd, I'm going to stay in bondage.

That same crowd that tried to silence blind Bartimaeus is the is the same crowd that was that was blocking Zacchaeus's view.

We got to be careful of the crowds that we surround ourselves with.

Sometimes the crowds can be the very barriers that keep us from getting into the next level that God has for us.

As he breaks free from the crowd, he has this moment and his life is radically changed.

I can't help but to think that all of this happens because of a tree.

Because of a tree.

That him elevating his viewpoint because he was able to identify this tree, this man who was who was full of sin was able to see Jesus because he was able to position himself next to this tree.

It sounds a lot like the cross when we think about it.

The Bible even refers to the cross as a tree.

And if I can be honest with you, I believe that somehow in the grace of God that He's able to take the cross, the tree of death, and somehow when we step on that, it gives us access to the tree of life.

You see, there's this process that we have in our world called photosynthesis.

And ultimately what that is, it's the process of how of how trees can absorb the poison, the toxins in our air and converts it into oxygen.

It's really powerful when you think about it that somehow the poison that's in the air gets absorbed by trees, and then the trees then convert it into oxygen and we breathe it into our lungs.

But the poison that's in the air, a lot of it actually comes from us ourselves.

As we breathe it out, somehow this photosynthesis process translates that into the oxygen of life.

So if I could be practical for a moment, I believe that Zacchaeus positions himself with the tree and he has his own spiritual photosynthesis.

That moment where his sin is exhaled from his lungs, it's absorbed by the tree and creates the oxygen that actually gives him life.

That's the goodness of our God.

I just get choked up when I think about Jesus.

I really do, but that's not what it is.

Church at home, guys, is what happens.

We're wrong.

But in all sincerity, what are the things in your life right now that maybe that maybe you need to exchange?

What are those burdens that you just need to give to the treats so you can have this radical exchange that God wants to put into your life?

My hope and my prayer is that as we go into 2020, that there's there's something inside of you that says, I know I can get closer.

He has another spot for my business, he has another spot for my kids.

I'm not going to walk through things unnecessarily because I know that God has a closer spot for me.

Let me pray for us.

Lord, I thank you.

I thank you, God, that because of the shed blood of Jesus, He seated us in heavenly places, God, that He gives us access to all that you have and all that you are.

My prayer is, God, that as we go into this new year, this new season, my prayer is, God, that that we can change our vantage point, that we can change our perspective, God, that we can recognize that you have more for us.

If it's our best year, God, you still have more for us.

If it's our most challenging year, you still have more for us.

So, Father, in the name of Jesus, we're praying, God, that you open our eyes.

Allow us to break free from any things or any crowds that are that are trying to shut you out of our lives.

God, give us the boldness to identify the things we need to get ahead of.

God, give us the perspective and the wisdom, God, the strength to break free, God, to elevate our perspective, not allow the crowds to block you out, God, not to allow the the crowds to silence our praise, but Father, recognizing that maybe, maybe we're closer than we think we are, and lifting up our voice is the key that allows us to walk into the promised land, God.

Maybe there are some areas of our lives, Lord, where we where we're coming up short, where we feel like that we've missed the mark, God, but we're thankful for your grace and the exchange that takes place, God.

You are able to inhale our pollution and exhale solutions for our lives.

So, Father, in the name of Jesus, we dedicate this year to you in preparation and expectation of next year.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

God bless you.

Let's all stand and worship one more time.

In our will build my life upon your love.

Open up my eyes and wonder.

Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those.