Luke 19:1-10 “Hide and Seek”

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Everybody getting excited for Christmas?

Yes.

Yes.

Woo, that was an easy answer, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

This morning, we are going to talk about a Christmas story, okay?

Okay.

About a very tiny person at Christmas named Jesus.

That's right, Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus, Christmas story about Zacchaeus, right?

Not what you expected?

I know that it's a Christmas story, Zacchaeus' story, because I saw Zacchaeus in a Christmas tree on the way in this morning.

Can you look up there?

You see that?

Did anybody see that in the Christmas tree by the nursery?

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Zacchaeus climbing up in a Christmas tree.

That's how the story goes, right?

No.

Oh.

Well, you should look for that tree on your way out today, okay?

And Miss Angela gave me a very big book.

Did you know Zacchaeus was a very small person like many of you?

But I have a very big book about this very small person.

That's pretty cool, huh?

We can look at that later.

But I wanted to read Zacchaeus' story from the Bible instead, okay?

Can we do that together?

Do you think some of you, maybe some of you older kids, help me read this story for us?

You want to help us, Cooper?

Let's see.

We'll let you read a couple verses first, okay?

It starts right here.

This is Luke chapter 19.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

You can turn there in your own Bibles if you'd like.

Starting at verse 1.

Just read a couple verses.

I'll help you out.

He entered Jericho.

He entered Jericho and was passing through.

And there was a man named Zacchaeus.

And he was a chief tax collector and was rich.

Very good.

So what that means is that Zacchaeus had gotten a lot of money stealing it from other people.

How do you think they felt about that?

Yeah.

Do you think they liked Zacchaeus very much?

No.

No.

Nobody really liked to be around Zacchaeus.

Okay.

Does somebody else want to read a couple verses?

You want to try for us?

Go ahead, Caroline.

Where do I start?

Right here at and.

And chief tax.

And he was.

And he was seeking to see who Jesus was.

But on account of the crowd, he could not because he was small.

Oh?

In?

In?

In?

Stature.

Stature.

Very good.

So what did he do, Lily?

Can you read at verse 4?

So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him.

For he was about to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him,

Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down, for I must stay at your house today.

One more.

So he hurried and came down and received him joyful.

So Zacchaeus was excited for Jesus to come to his house.

But what did all those people who didn't like Zacchaeus think?

Were they happy about that?

Should Jesus be with Zacchaeus?

When they saw it, they all grumbled.

He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.

And what happened when Jesus got to Zacchaeus' house?

Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord,

Will you read the last verse for us, Cooper?

For the son of the man came to seek and save the lost.

The son of man came to seek and save the lost.

Do y'all like that story?

Who in that story came to seek and find Zacchaeus?

God.

Yeah, Jesus did.

That's right.

When nobody else was looking for Zacchaeus,

Jesus was looking for him, wasn't he?

Have any of y'all ever played hide and seek?

Yes.

Yeah?

Okay.

Y'all pretty good at hide and seek?

Yeah.

I bet some of you are really good hiders, aren't you?

Yeah.

You know what?

On my computer, I have a game of a class dojo.

A hide and seek game?

A dojo.

And it's also like a thing that teachers use in high school.

I go to Challenger Elementary if you don't know that.

That is so helpful.

And you love to play that game, don't you?

And Dojo Islands is the game.

And there's this little board that says hide and seek.

And if you go to it, it starts a game of hide and seek.

You can play hide and seek in person.

You can play hide and seek on the computer at your school.

It is a great.

And I bet, have you ever had a really good spot

and you've stayed there so long

that maybe you started to feel kind of alone

or uncomfortable.

Maybe it got dark.

And you kind of started wanting for somebody to find you

so that you wouldn't be alone anymore.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's kind of how Zacchaeus felt.

Zacchaeus was feeling alone.

Nobody wanted to be with him.

He was feeling lost.

And he kind of wanted somebody to find him.

Didn't he?

He was looking for Jesus.

And the Bible says Jesus came to seek.

He was the one counting, right?

He came to seek and to save the lost.

He came to find us and rescue us

so that we will never, ever, ever be alone in the dark again.

Isn't that awesome?

That's why Jesus came to be born at Christmas

to seek out Zacchaeus and you and me.

Isn't that wonderful?

I love that Jesus loves us like that.

Can we pray and thank Jesus for that?

Jesus, thank you for how much you love us,

that you never leave us alone,

but you come and you find us no matter where we are.

And we're thankful for that.

And we pray that we would, especially this Christmas,

rejoice that you were born to save us.

Thank you so much.

And we thank you in your name.

Amen.

All right.

Now you can go back to your seats

and get to listen more about Zacchaeus and Jesus

unless you're going to kids' worship.

And if you are, Miss Katie will meet you

just out the back of the sanctuary.

There she is walking right out the back middle

if you're going to kids' worship.

Let all of them make sure they find the right place.

We are discussing this Advent season

why Christmas.

Reasons that Jesus tells us

why he came and was born.

Last week, we saw Jesus came for fulfillment, right?

For fulfillment of all of the Old Testament promises,

the requirements of God's law.

Jesus came to fulfill.

This morning, in that last verse of Zacchaeus' story,

Jesus explains that he came to seek

and to save the lost.

That statement of purpose in coming

is actually here an explanation

of how salvation came

to such an undeserving person as Zacchaeus,

someone you might not have thought

Jesus would come to.

He was a spiritual outsider,

a social outcast.

And how could he become an insider

in Abraham's family?

Finally, this passage says,

because Jesus came

to seek and save lost people

just like him.

That's why I mentioned hide and seek

to the kids.

In some ways, God and people

have been playing this game

for a very long time.

Just think back through the Bible story

with me for a minute, okay?

I'm gonna mention a few stories

where we see this,

people hiding, God seeking.

But you can probably think of others.

You can send them to me later

and tell me all of the good examples

you can think of.

But all the way back in the garden,

this starts.

When sin first enters the world,

what happens?

Adam and Eve, in their sin,

immediately try to hide from God,

don't they?

It's the very nature of sin

to separate us from God.

They try to sow fig leaves

for themselves to cover themselves

and it says they hide among the trees.

But what happens when they're hiding?

God comes

and he asks the first question

recorded in the Bible.

It's in Genesis 3 at verse 9.

What does God say?

Where are you?

You ever played that game with your kids?

And you walk around,

you already know where they are.

Where are you?

Where are you?

God, knowing exactly where Adam and Eve are,

calls them out,

seeks after them,

and so begins a game,

if you will,

that people in God have been playing

to this day.

Hagar is Sarah's servant

who gets run off

in utter despair

after having a child with Abraham.

She is helpless.

She is hopeless.

She is in the wilderness,

face down to the ground

when God comes and finds her,

restores her,

because she says,

he is the God who sees me.

When no one else seemed to see her

or want her

or care about her,

Yahweh did.

David thought he had hidden from God

after committing adultery

with Bathsheba,

murder of Uriah.

It seemed as though his sin

had gone unnoticed.

He'd gotten away with it.

But God sent the prophet Nathan

to David to expose his sin,

eventually to restore him,

rather than leaving him

distant from God,

in his sin,

God comes after him.

Maybe the most famous person

to run distant from God

is the prophet Jonah.

He famously ran the other direction

when God called him

to the Ninevites

and thought he would hide from God

in the belly of a ship

until God chased him down

and sent a storm

and eventually rescued Jonah

by sending what?

A whale

that brought him back

to God's path

to the Ninevites.

The prophet there serving

as a picture of God's people

who had also lost God's heart

to be a light

to the nations.

In fact,

God's people wandered

so far from him

and his design for them

that they were taken

into exile

out of the promised land,

scattered across the Middle East

for decades.

A lot of dark days,

a lot of lost people,

but what did God do?

God came and gathered them again,

didn't he?

He brought them back

from the nations

and he planted them

in Jerusalem again.

Time and time again, see?

The hound of heaven

has pursued his people,

has won them back to himself,

has not let them go.

And all of that

through the whole Old Testament

leads, of course,

to the coming of Jesus,

the first Christmas.

God breaking in

and dwelling among us

so that we can see

most clearly and vividly

that seeking heart of God.

It's actually embodied

as the Son of God himself

lives among us,

among people

who've been so far away

in so many ways.

And we see and we say,

yes, this is what God

is like, isn't it?

God with us.

He's always said

this was what he was like,

that he would seek after us

and be with us.

Yes, God with us, Emmanuel.

And Jesus shows us,

for example,

with the woman at the well.

And we saw this recently

in the Gospel of John,

in her story.

She's not looking for Jesus

at all, is she?

In fact, she would rather

her sin not be exposed

any more than it already is.

She's ashamed of it.

But Jesus gently

and persistently

exposes her,

reveals himself,

and rescues her

and her village

of undeserving Samaritans.

The seeking God

has come as a man

into the darkness

of our world

and our hearts

to look for the lost.

Jesus says, if you will,

ready or not,

here I come.

And the light of the world

shines in

to find us

good news

of great joy

for all people,

a savior,

the light

coming into our darkness.

It keeps happening

with the Apostle Paul

who's hiding from Jesus

in a little bit different way.

He's intentionally hiding

as far away as possible

from Jesus

in his religious zeal,

his obedience

and persecution

of this church.

But Jesus finds Saul

on the road to Damascus

in the midst

of his self-righteous pride.

His pride,

the light shines

and it humbles him

and it saves him

and then sends him

on his mission,

doesn't he?

Zacchaeus is not

the only example

of this hide-and-seek

narrative in God's word.

People keep hiding.

God keeps seeking

and now here at Christmas,

grace keeps winning

in Jesus.

Jesus.

People hide from God

in many different ways,

don't we?

I want you to think

about that for a minute,

what it looks like

in your life.

We were created

to live close

with God.

That's what he made us for,

to know him personally,

to trust him deeply,

to obey him consistently

that this was what life

was to be about.

To know and love him.

It's where we belong,

so to speak.

So being lost, then,

is really any way

and any time

that we are distant

from God.

When you drive around

a city in India,

as I've had opportunity

to do recently,

you can feel

a spiritual darkness.

Everywhere you look,

Hindu temples,

some really big

and fancy,

some as small

as dog houses

with little statues

inside.

Hindu gods

and goddesses,

idols that you can

stop by

and ask for help.

It's easy to assume

when you're there

that their idols

are different from ours.

but when you listen

long enough

to why,

for example,

some of these

Hindus have recently

been persecuting

the Christians

around them,

you'll actually realize

it's not much

about the little statues.

That's really not,

it's not the,

it's not primarily

religious,

their reasons

for doing that.

they're motivated

by a desire

to keep things

in life

the way that they are,

to maintain

their political control,

their social power,

their economic success,

all of those things

so that they can keep

their lives going

the way that they enjoy

and have the things

that they want

so that they can feel

fulfilled.

now those idols,

I'm very familiar

with those.

I recognize them.

I see those same ones

on the streets

of Huntsville.

I'm thinking that

that's where I'm going

to find life

apart from Jesus

by controlling my body

and how I look,

by maintaining

my possessions

and not letting anything

in life that I like

change.

I want life

the way that I want it

and it makes me

feel good,

right?

I know that idol.

We bring those idols

into this sanctuary

on Sundays,

I dare say.

See,

just like some of these

biblical characters

we've talked about,

we can hide from God

in a lot of places.

We can hide from God

in our selfish pursuit

of success,

can't we?

All the while thinking

that what life is about

is actually getting enough

and having life

work well enough

that I'm happy

and significant

and don't really need

to depend on God

or be close to Him

day by day.

Fine if you want to,

but maybe I'll be good enough,

I won't really need that.

We can be lost

or distant from God

in our depression.

perhaps still driven

by our deep shame,

we might despair

of His care,

of His presence with us,

even of His existence.

Many of us regularly hide

from God in our work

and busyness,

don't we?

We're just so caught up

with thinking about other things

and focused on what we're

scrolling through

all of the time,

there's too much else

to think about

to really focus much on Him.

Did you know you could hide

from God

even in church?

That's a big way

that Paul did it, right?

You can come in this building

and plenty of people

are very regular

at doing that,

at going to church,

but they are very distant

from God

because church,

for them,

is actually a place

of religious performance

where maybe if I do enough

and do well enough

and look good enough,

I'm yet again affirmed

in the fact that

I don't really desperately

need to draw near to God

to have a relationship

to day by day

actually know Him

and depend on Him.

I can just go do

that church thing

every once in a while

and I'll look good.

How about you?

How do you sometimes

feel lost,

distant from God,

alone in a dark world?

Are you either intentionally

or maybe accidentally

hiding from God,

secretly longing to be found,

wanting someone to show up

and break into the struggle

that you actually feel

but often try to cover up?

I'm convinced

that's how Zacchaeus felt.

It says he wanted

to see Jesus,

at least from a hiding spot

in the sycamore tree.

He'd have been able

to get up there.

He'd also been able

to kind of stay hidden.

I think in part,

Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus

because he'd heard

that this rabbi

was different,

specifically different

toward tax collectors.

None of the other religious leaders

gave them the time of day.

They didn't want to be

anywhere near Him.

They certainly would not

have been caught

in their presence

in their homes

but I think Zacchaeus

had heard about this Jesus.

Apparently,

one of his disciples

was a tax collector.

Rumor had it

that he was all the time

eating and drinking

with tax collectors

and other sinners

and so Zacchaeus

heard that

and he had been

left out

and hated

and sent off

as unclean

for far too long.

I think he was interested

in someone

who wouldn't

treat him that way.

Sure enough,

he meets Jesus

and Jesus not only

comes to his house,

Jesus brings

salvation

to his house,

doesn't he?

Because,

good news for lost,

desperate,

hiding Zacchaeus,

Jesus came

for people

just like him.

Y'all,

I hope

that you don't think

Jesus came

for Zacchaeus

and not for me.

I hope you don't hear

Jesus came to seek

and save the lost

and think,

well that's good

for them out there somewhere.

Friends,

this is good news

for us.

Wherever we might

be hiding from God,

however we're experiencing

that distance

from him this morning,

however we are lost,

Jesus came

to seek

and to save

the lost.

He wants to bring you

back close

to him.

He says similar things

in other places.

Mark,

Mark 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

Jesus is eating

with tax collectors

and sinners

and the religious leaders

say,

why is he doing this?

They didn't understand

and Jesus said,

here's what you need

to understand.

Those who are well

have no need

of a physician.

It's those who are sick.

I came not to call

the righteous

but sinners.

Jesus came

expecting you

to need him,

not hoping

that you wouldn't.

That's actually,

that would be the danger,

not being too bad,

too desperately

distant from him

but in some ways

being too good,

too confidently close

that you don't even think

he's necessary.

Are you actively

admitting your sin?

The idolatry

that looks bad

to everybody else?

Even the idolatry

that looks good

to other people?

Both of those,

are you turning

to Jesus

to rescue you

from both of them,

from anything

that would keep you

from him?

He's here for that.

He's here to meet you

in that moment.

John 12, 46,

Jesus says,

another way

of his saying

why he's come,

I've come into

the world as light

so that whoever

believes in me

may not remain

in darkness.

What hope

this should give

the most discouraged

or hopeless

of us?

You can admit

the darkness

in you,

the darkness

around you

because that's

why Jesus came.

Jesus didn't come

to recruit

an all-star team.

He didn't come

to find those

who were performing

well already

who had the spotlight

on them

and pay them enough

to come over

and be on his team.

That's not what Jesus did.

That's college football.

That's what they do.

Listen,

Christmas is a rescue mission,

not a recruiting trip.

It's very different.

Jesus came

to seek the hiding,

to find the lost,

to save the sinners.

Praise the Lord.

You don't have

to attract his attention.

Your stats don't have

to be good enough

for him to pay you

to be on his team.

It's not how he works.

He's come to rescue you.

Remember,

he's embodying

the heart

of this seeking God.

Where does God

seek lost people?

It's all over the place.

God seeks us

in the heights

of our success

and our pride

and our self-confidence.

He knows we're lost there

and he comes after us

and in the depths

of depression

and despair

and discouragement.

He seeks those

with broken minds.

He seeks those

with failing bodies

who feel like

they can't even

keep it together anymore.

They don't know

how many days they have.

The Christ of Christmas

comes to the fields

of humble shepherds

as well as to the courts

of kings

and wise men.

He comes after

all those lost people.

even perhaps

especially

to those

that no one else

is looking for

or wanting to be with.

Jesus comes.

He comes for those people.

If that's you

and you think

nobody has ever

wanted to come for you,

Jesus does.

He has.

He'll come back

for you again.

He comes not merely

to locate people

like that

but to love them,

to rescue them,

to bring them home

because we are feeling

if we're honest

most days

we're feeling

some of that darkness,

some of that aloneness,

some of that longing

for fulfillment

and things

to be made right

and that is where

Jesus meets us

right where you are

in sin,

in pain,

in emptiness.

Open your heart today

to receive him.

He has come.

It's where he met Zacchaeus.

Right?

This is the point

of this story

that Jesus meets

Zacchaeus right there.

He seeks him out

even better than Zacchaeus

is seeking him

and that Zacchaeus

has money, right?

It's one of the very few

things we know about him.

We know he's short

and he's rich.

Zacchaeus had money

that he had gotten

because he was hoping

it would make him happy

and significant

and what happened

is it was leaving him empty

and searching.

He was looking

for Jesus

and then Jesus

brings salvation

to his house.

What happens?

Notice.

Zacchaeus now has

a better source of life,

doesn't he?

Of joy,

of significance,

of satisfaction

and everybody can see it.

Nobody misses this

in Zacchaeus' life.

The guy who was greedy

and stealing

is now generous

and sharing, right?

Instead of scheming

how he can get more,

Zacchaeus is scheming

how he can give more.

Give this stuff

to the poor.

By the way,

four times more

back to that guy

I took advantage of.

A little bit more

over here to them.

Give it away.

Friends,

Jesus meets us

where we are.

He seeks us out

in our lostness

but he doesn't

leave us there

as the same person

because we no longer

find life and fulfillment

in the same place.

Just like Zacchaeus,

when we get

life and fulfillment

in Jesus,

we now scheme

how to give it

to others.

How do we give life

to others?

As followers of Jesus,

we go where he goes.

Where does Jesus go?

He goes seeking

after the lost.

We go following him

after the least

and the lost

and the littlest

and the lonely

and the left out

because that's where

Jesus goes.

They are on our radar.

They are in our sights.

We're to proclaim

the excellencies

of him who called us

out of darkness

into his marvelous light,

the kingdom

of his beloved son.

Is that what marks

your life?

Is that where I'd

find you this afternoon?

Are you following Jesus

toward tax collectors

and sinners?

Are you shining light

into darkness

that you know

all too well?

In India,

perhaps because

the darkness

is a bit easier

to see,

Christians are always

talking about

the urgency

and the priority

of sharing

the light of Jesus

with family members,

with people

in their village,

with whoever

it happens to be

that's right there

and some of that,

to be fair,

is because

those people

might be ones

who would persecute you.

But mostly,

it's because

there's a new life

that we didn't have before

that we now have

to offer others.

We can offer them

a relationship

with a savior,

not a religion

of self-performance

and working your way

up the mountain

to the gods.

No,

we have something

to offer life

that is new

and so it is an urgent

and constant priority

for them.

It challenged me.

My brothers and sisters,

the darkness,

the idolatry,

as I said,

is the same here.

It's hiding

a darkness,

a lostness

that we know

very well

ourselves.

So the need

to follow Jesus

towards those

who are lost,

towards those

who are hiding

is equally

an urgent priority

in Huntsville.

Even if the people

around you

have three kids,

two cars,

and a middle-class

lifestyle,

that's not what

brings you

into relationship

with Jesus.

We need Jesus.

We need to know

of our own emptiness

and our need

for him.

Don't be fooled

by external resources.

Jesus comes

to seek

and to save

Zacchaeus

and he's already

wealthy.

That's not enough

for Jesus.

He's not going

to leave Zacchaeus

lost in his

richness.

Jesus came

to seek

and to save

undeserving you

and me

and he sends

us on that

same mission.

Why Christmas?

Because we

and many others

hide

and need

to be found.

we and many others

sin

and we need

a savior.

So Jesus

came

not just to earth

to be born

but all the way

to the cross

to die

so that you

can know

that no matter

how far away

you are

from him,

no matter

how lost

you feel

and how

impossible

it seems

that God

could even

see you

because you

can't even

see or imagine

him

that you're

never too lost

and never

too far away

for him to

find you

and save you

and bring you

home.

He sat

with his disciples

on the night

that one of them

betrayed him

and he took bread

and he broke it

and he gave it

to them

as I

ministering

in his name

give this bread

to you

and he said

take and eat

this is my body

given for you

do this in

remembrance of me

and in the same way

after supper

he took the cup

and said

this cup

is the new covenant

in my blood

shed for many

for the forgiveness

of sins

drink from it

all of you

for as often

as you eat this bread

and drink this cup

you proclaim

the Lord's death

until he comes

you proclaim

in fact

that your hope

is in his dying

in your place

this is not

the table of Southwood

or the Presbyterian church

it is the Lord's table

so if you trust

that not because

of anything

that you have done

but only because

of his amazing grace

that you were lost

and now are found

then you please come

and celebrate him

with us this morning

if in your heart

the verdict

is still out

on Jesus

perhaps you're

interested in him

it sounds interesting

and you're considering

that wonderful

but you're just

not sure yet

we're so glad

that you are here

this morning

we're glad

that you're able

to hear his heart

his purpose

and why he has come

to rescue people

just like us

we invite you

to come forward

and back

to these tables

let us pray

to stay with you

or to stay

where you are

in your seats

is just fine

but we want you

to know something

that if you stay there

while we're celebrating

together

it's not because

we're better than you are

it's not it at all

we're all hiders

we're all hiders

who desperately

desperately

need a God

who will come

seek after us

who keeps seeking us out

and keeps setting

this table

and keeps inviting

us back to him

he's doing that

for you this morning

as well

let's pray

and we'll come celebrate

Jesus thank you

that we can now

draw near to you

would in these moments

would you help us

to do that

in our hearts

knowing that you

have already come near

to meet us

that is the good news

of Christmas

you haven't stayed

far away

you have sought us out

we don't have to climb a mountain

we don't have to pass a test

we just have to admit

that we're lost

apart from you

that we're hopeless

without you

and here you are already

to welcome us home

we thank you for that

do that through common elements

remind our hearts

strengthen our faith

in this truth

we ask it in your name

amen

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