"Starting Over" Have the longing!

                                 "Will lots of money make the difference"

Question:  How many of us hear would like to win the Atlantic lottery jackpot?  Any takers!!  If you did, how would you handle your windfall, what would you do with the money?  We know money won’t buy you happiness folks, but a friend told me that it could buy you a really big Yacht and that would allow you to sail up real close to it. 

Isn’t it ironic that Jesus is always trying to get up close to the sinful rich man?  In fact the writer for Luke’s Gospel seems to be preoccupied with the poor and the rich.  May I suggest that Jesus loves to be among the sick, poor, lost and sinful rich rather than the seemly healthy righteous?   The question I would like you to think about this morning is this:  Where and with whom do you like to hang out?

Nov 3, 2013 Psalm 119: 137-144, 2 Thessalonians 1: 1-4, 11-12 Luke 19: 1=10

Zacchaeus is short in stature and it appears that the people around him are crowding him out, as he desperately seeks to see the face of Jesus.  Can’t you just imagine it, here is this wealthy tax collector scrambling to get a look at the man they call the messiah.  Zac was seen by the crowd as a cheat, and a scoundrel and I suppose they would feel he is just trying to push his way into the lime light.  He is just not your average tax collector though, for he was one of the Chief collectors and they were especially known for collaborating with the Roman authorities and for taking advantage of others, to make a good profit for themselves.  But there is something different about this little man and Jesus personally calls him out of the tree.  May I suggest Jesus senses that Zacchaeus is sincere in his quest to seek him.    He not only calls him down but invites himself to his home for the night.  Can you imagine Jesus inviting himself to your home?  Would you be as excited as Zac was?   Zac is overwhelmed and hurries to welcome Jesus.  The key for us here is to see Zacchaeus, who by the way might be your neighbor, not with the eyes of the crowd, as the sinner, thief, scoundrel, but to see him as one in the crowd, just one of the crowd, like your or I, seeking the face of Jesus, and when he finds him, it changes Zacchaeus’ life.   Do you know the first three lines of the hymn “Seek and Ye Shall Find”.   Sing it aloud.  

This is so important for us to understand folks.  Many church folk somehow have come to the conclusion that seeking Jesus and knowing him only by what others say is all that is necessary.  Many in the church have not personally found the face of Christ yet.  May I suggest that it is because many feel afraid that if the resurrected spirit of Christ were to touch or fall upon me I will lose some of my freedoms?  That knowing Him in a deep intimate way will restrict me from the things I enjoy in life.  Folks these thoughts do not come from your spiritual nature, which contains your true or inner self but from the human nature or false outer self.  The false self is the one we project to the world, or the one others label us by, such as in Zacchaeus case.  The false or small self gets its strength from egoic illusions or false reality such as:  lots of money will fill me with joy or make me happier.      Want to know about “The Egoic Mind” may I suggest the link at the bottom of the message.  or read "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle  
Nothing could be farther from the truth and nothing will give you more freedom than following the leading of your spiritual nature, your inner or true self.  The self that seeks God’s love and forgiveness and the ability to see one’s self as I truly am.  Not as the crowd sees you and not as that projected, protected, phony, pretender self but as an authentic child of God who, by the way will always love you not matter what folks. 

Seeing Jesus through the eyes of others is not enough for Zac nor should it be enough for us either.  Getting to know Jesus through the eyes of a provider from a pulpit or through the eyes of others is just the starting point, the beginning.  Zac has not yet acknowledged himself as needing Jesus, nor does he understand Jesus’ offer to save Zac from himself.   In the beginning Zac is just like us, Jesus knows he is not being totally honest about himself, but once in the presence of Jesus he tells all and is transformed.  Zac is stirred to makes a commitment that if he has taking advantage of anyone he will correct it four fold.  Just saying the words though does not make it so for Zac or for us.  It is now up to Zac to walk the walk and to fulfill his commitment to Jesus.   Will he backslide, more than likely, and if he does will Jesus hold that against him, No!   Nor will he hold it again me or any other.  Jesus’ love and forgiveness is the love of God and it is unconditional folks, we are always being sot after, never abandoned nor will we ever be seen as the unlovable or the unforgiveable.  

 When we find Jesus and he speaks to our hearts.  It may takes years of being confronted with our sinfulness until we finally submit to His will. It is not about a perfectly cleaned house, it is about house cleaning as we go and it is a never ending job.   Let us never forget that Jesus doesn’t give up on us either and as ironic as it may sound it was our sin that attracted him to us in the first place.   When we recognize our mistake, let us try right then and there to admit immediately to it, lay it down and make the commitment to turn away from it, then move on. There will be more to come.    I have a suggestion for you, give God thanks not only for forgiveness but for the very thing that lead us there, our sin.  Why, because without sin there is no amazing grace and therefore sin should be seen as a blessing not a curse in your life.   As ironic as it may sound we need to give God thanks not only for the good things but for the mistakes because if we can see them, admit to them, they bring us into a closer relationship with our true parent, God.      

If you were reading the Gospel of Luke from the beginning in one setting, you would definitely not expect this story to end happily for Zacchaeus.  Luke had some pretty harsh words for the rich and righteous people of his time before this story comes along.  Very early in the writing Jesus blesses the poor and condemns the rich.   “Woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation”.  In Chapter 12 he tells the parable of the rich farmer who hoped to build bigger barns in which to store all his crops, but that very night dies and is called to account by God.  A few chapters later he tells the parable where the beggar Lazarus is in heaven and the rich man is in hell.  In chapter 18 there is the story of the rich young man seeking eternal life who is told to sell all he has and give it to the poor.   He walks away saddened by Jesus comments.  Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to face certain death but has time for Zacchaeus the tax collector, whom most would have expected Jesus to rebuke.  In the eyes of those who uphold their righteousness Jesus is always welcoming the wrong people.  As we recognize our humanness and its folly, lets us seek so we too shall be found.   The question for us today might be:  how am I doing with my seeking?    

Read about "The Egoic Mind"
http://www.theworkbook.org/egoic.htm