WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.040 be back with you and back into our series talking 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:07.980 about emotions and how we can handle them according 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:12.939 to God's Word. Music is one of those things that 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:22.960 can bring up and well up emotions. One song in 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:25.059 particular really speaks to you, and then you 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:27.420 kind of just listen to that song over and over 00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:29.719 and over again. I kind of had that experience 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:34.460 this last week, discovered a new band, and I 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:36.299 just kept listening to this one song over and 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:38.719 over and over again, talking about how the blood 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:42.380 of Christ is greater than all of our worries, 00:00:43.020 --> 00:00:46.939 and it weaves in the hymn, grace that's greater 00:00:46.939 --> 00:00:49.340 than all our sin. It was an incredible, impactful 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:54.799 song. to it on repeat. But other than outside 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:59.780 of the Christian circles, there's one topic in 00:00:59.780 --> 00:01:03.619 particular that basically takes first place when 00:01:03.619 --> 00:01:07.040 it comes to the theme of a song, and that's love. 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:09.560 But outside of that, I was beginning to notice 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:13.180 that every generation kind of has a song that 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:15.420 sticks out, and it's about the topic that we're 00:01:15.420 --> 00:01:17.840 gonna be talking about tonight. And that topic, 00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:21.980 specifically, is the topic of the emotion of 00:01:21.980 --> 00:01:24.879 loneliness. And depending on where you are, we've 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:26.920 got multiple different kinds of generations and 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.280 multiple aged people in here, but there's a song 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:33.260 in every generation that kind of encapsulates 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:36.640 that feeling of being lonely. When I was a kid 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:41.319 There was a band that talked about walking down 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:45.120 the lonely road of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:49.459 Some of you may remember Celine Dion. She sang 00:01:49.459 --> 00:01:53.620 all by herself, right? Whitney Houston, she just 00:01:53.620 --> 00:01:56.140 wanted to dance with somebody. She was lonely. 00:01:56.819 --> 00:01:58.799 Taylor Swift, some of our younger people would 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:00.459 know that Taylor Swift sang about being on the 00:02:00.459 --> 00:02:04.299 outside. Some of them in my generation remember 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:06.439 that the Backstreet Boys wanted just to know 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.770 the meaning of being lonely. Some of you may 00:02:09.770 --> 00:02:12.430 even remember probably one of the most well -known 00:02:12.430 --> 00:02:15.710 songs probably a few decades ago Bobby Vinton 00:02:15.710 --> 00:02:19.069 he sang and he called himself Mr. Lonely and 00:02:19.069 --> 00:02:21.729 there's all kinds of songs no matter what generation 00:02:21.729 --> 00:02:24.849 you're in there is a song that reminds you or 00:02:24.849 --> 00:02:28.330 talks about this theme of loneliness. Have you 00:02:28.330 --> 00:02:32.110 ever felt lonely before? We all struggle with 00:02:32.110 --> 00:02:34.530 loneliness. It doesn't it's not particular of 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:38.849 any life stage every age every life stage faces 00:02:38.849 --> 00:02:43.050 the idea of loneliness if you ever been on that 00:02:43.050 --> 00:02:45.750 kind of When you ever had that experience where 00:02:45.750 --> 00:02:48.629 maybe you posted something on social media and 00:02:48.629 --> 00:02:51.490 it got no attention whatsoever right and it's 00:02:51.490 --> 00:02:54.229 a friend or somebody else posts a picture of 00:02:54.229 --> 00:02:56.110 something silly and of course they get all kinds 00:02:56.110 --> 00:02:59.150 of likes and all kinds of comments and all kinds 00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:01.810 of shares And you wonder, well, how come no one 00:03:01.810 --> 00:03:05.210 responded to me? Maybe you've been there, maybe 00:03:05.210 --> 00:03:07.310 you've been on the playground and it's time to 00:03:07.310 --> 00:03:10.409 pick teams and you were not picked, right? Or 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:12.550 maybe you were picked last to be on the team 00:03:12.550 --> 00:03:15.090 and it's like, okay, you go on that team, right? 00:03:15.129 --> 00:03:17.849 And you really felt like no one really cared 00:03:17.849 --> 00:03:20.310 about you. Maybe you had a time where you sat 00:03:20.310 --> 00:03:23.349 alone at lunch, nobody wanted to be your friend, 00:03:23.469 --> 00:03:26.889 right? Maybe some of you have sent a text message 00:03:26.889 --> 00:03:29.750 and then you get no reply. The young people call 00:03:29.750 --> 00:03:32.789 that ghosting and you know that they read that 00:03:32.750 --> 00:03:36.270 They have the read receipt. You know that they 00:03:36.270 --> 00:03:39.250 messaged you, but they didn't respond to you. 00:03:39.370 --> 00:03:40.669 You ever feel like the preacher's preaching at 00:03:40.669 --> 00:03:45.810 you? It happens to the best of us, right? And 00:03:45.810 --> 00:03:47.969 you feel like, well, how come they didn't respond 00:03:47.969 --> 00:03:50.530 to me? I know that they're talking to other people, 00:03:50.689 --> 00:03:55.090 right? Everyone deals with loneliness. Everyone 00:03:55.090 --> 00:03:57.330 deals with loneliness. It's universal to all 00:03:57.330 --> 00:04:00.719 ages, all stages. Maybe some of you that are 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:02.840 a little bit older, maybe some older kids, maybe 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:05.740 you remember the first day you woke up and your 00:04:05.740 --> 00:04:08.020 kid had moved out. Maybe they went to college 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:10.759 or maybe they got married and that messy room 00:04:10.759 --> 00:04:15.580 is now clean. The hallways are spotless just 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:17.000 the way that you've been asking them for the 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:20.540 last 18 to 19 to 20 years to be, but now you 00:04:20.540 --> 00:04:23.680 realize it's a lot more lonely in your home than 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:26.759 it used to be. Maybe some of you are in like 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:29.500 a workplace where you're surrounded by Maybe 00:04:29.500 --> 00:04:31.800 you're working in a cubicle and you feel really 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:34.139 alone or maybe you're on an assembly line and 00:04:34.139 --> 00:04:36.100 maybe you feel like you're surrounded by people, 00:04:36.220 --> 00:04:39.120 there's people all over the building, but you 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.939 feel lonely. Maybe some of you have gotten to 00:04:42.939 --> 00:04:45.540 this stage of life where maybe you've lost somebody 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:48.560 and they were your connection to the world and 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:51.839 it feels like now the world is passing you by, 00:04:52.139 --> 00:04:56.040 but you feel alone. What is loneliness? Well, 00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:59.220 loneliness is the feeling of being disconnected. 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:02.439 Loneliness is often associated with feeling cut 00:05:02.439 --> 00:05:07.579 off or unnoticed or unloved or uncared for, unneeded, 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:11.220 and maybe even unnecessary. But what loneliness 00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:15.279 is not is loneliness is not necessarily isolation, 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:18.759 the idea of just being by yourself. In fact, 00:05:19.019 --> 00:05:22.540 isolation can be very profitable for the believer. 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:26.360 It was a part of Jesus's practice in his ministry 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:29.500 that oftentimes he would get alone and he would 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:31.980 get alone with the Father and he would spend 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:34.779 time in prayer and reconnect with the Father 00:05:34.779 --> 00:05:39.519 to do the Father's will. Oftentimes isolation 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.839 can be good for the believer, but loneliness 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:47.360 oftentimes has little to do with our situation. 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.680 Sometimes loneliness is a place that you and 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:56.389 I put ourselves in. We cut others off. We feel 00:05:56.389 --> 00:06:00.189 like we've been dejected and so we reject others 00:06:00.189 --> 00:06:03.490 and so we may be surrounded by people but feel 00:06:03.490 --> 00:06:06.410 very lonely. The chances are in a group this 00:06:06.410 --> 00:06:09.350 size you may be sitting in the midst of some 00:06:09.350 --> 00:06:13.509 people right now but you feel very much alone. 00:06:14.470 --> 00:06:17.269 Loneliness doesn't come just from being alone. 00:06:17.670 --> 00:06:22.209 Loneliness comes from feeling alone. There was 00:06:22.209 --> 00:06:24.790 a story of a young schoolboy one time and he 00:06:24.790 --> 00:06:27.329 was disruptive in the class and then he got expelled 00:06:27.329 --> 00:06:30.720 from the school And then the next day he came 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:34.000 and the teacher noticed a clicking sound and 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.120 every so often she would hear a clicking sound 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:38.339 on the window. And as she looked out the window 00:06:38.339 --> 00:06:40.860 she saw that boy out there and he was tossing 00:06:40.860 --> 00:06:43.819 little pebbles up against the window. And he 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:45.800 would do that, he was doing that for most of 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:48.060 the day and of course the principal walked outside. 00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:50.920 What are you doing young man? And he said, well 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:54.920 I just wanted the kids in my classroom to remember 00:06:54.920 --> 00:06:58.790 that I'm still here. And you know what? That 00:06:58.790 --> 00:07:03.629 may be you today. And if we're all honest, that 00:07:03.629 --> 00:07:06.769 may be a lot of us in here today. There's a lot 00:07:06.769 --> 00:07:09.750 of people that walk around with some stones in 00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:12.629 their pockets, constantly letting people know 00:07:12.629 --> 00:07:16.269 around them, they're still here. I'm still here. 00:07:16.589 --> 00:07:19.389 That may be you tonight. Maybe you're feeling 00:07:19.389 --> 00:07:23.069 lonely. You're dealing with this emotion of loneliness. 00:07:23.910 --> 00:07:27.050 Our modern culture often sees loneliness manifested 00:07:27.050 --> 00:07:30.810 in the worst kinds of behavior. Online, that 00:07:30.810 --> 00:07:33.949 can be the case. It's been said and studied that 00:07:33.949 --> 00:07:36.389 loneliness has been linked to all kinds of school 00:07:36.389 --> 00:07:39.310 violence, all kinds of cyberbullying. In fact, 00:07:39.649 --> 00:07:44.930 there's a term coined trolling, which is highly 00:07:44.930 --> 00:07:49.060 connected with this kind of emotion. There's 00:07:49.060 --> 00:07:51.379 a research team that did research specifically 00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:56.139 on this kind of behavior. An internet troll is 00:07:56.139 --> 00:07:59.579 somebody who is constantly looking for attention. 00:07:59.980 --> 00:08:02.019 And what they did is they used a few different 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:04.879 metrics to measure what makes the internet troll 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:10.069 tick. What they discovered is that with a grouping 00:08:10.069 --> 00:08:12.569 of certain tendencies marked as what they call 00:08:12.569 --> 00:08:16.589 the dark triad, negative personalities, things 00:08:16.589 --> 00:08:20.269 like narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, 00:08:20.850 --> 00:08:23.449 with a mixture of those things and the emotion 00:08:23.449 --> 00:08:26.810 of loneliness, what it creates is somebody who's 00:08:26.810 --> 00:08:29.209 constantly looking for attention by trying to 00:08:29.209 --> 00:08:34.149 drag other people down on the internet. To make 00:08:34.149 --> 00:08:36.889 it more plainly said, the research shows that 00:08:37.289 --> 00:08:40.990 The more you feel alone, the more you seem to 00:08:40.990 --> 00:08:44.149 act sometimes out online, looking for attention 00:08:44.149 --> 00:08:48.269 in negative ways. The more lonely you are, the 00:08:48.269 --> 00:08:51.909 more attention you seek. And the reason why sometimes 00:08:51.909 --> 00:08:55.090 that is is because I believe God has designed 00:08:55.090 --> 00:09:00.350 us to be people, created beings who crave connection. 00:09:00.950 --> 00:09:03.850 We have three really basic needs when it comes 00:09:03.850 --> 00:09:07.320 to this keeping loneliness at bay. The first 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:11.120 one is that we have a need to be needed. We want 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.860 to be wanted and we've been created that way. 00:09:13.860 --> 00:09:18.820 We've been created for community. We also have 00:09:18.820 --> 00:09:23.700 a deep basic desire for us to have someone understand 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:27.299 us, for someone to understand how we feel, to 00:09:27.299 --> 00:09:31.899 really connect with us. Number three, we also 00:09:31.899 --> 00:09:35.240 have a desire to love someone and for someone 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:40.580 to love us. These are very basic desires. Scripture 00:09:40.580 --> 00:09:44.940 is full and replete of human beings who went 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:49.360 through this kind of emotion. Scripture is full 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.279 of issues and people who dealt with loneliness. 00:09:53.259 --> 00:09:56.700 David in the Psalms wrote many times, especially 00:09:56.700 --> 00:10:02.600 when he was on the flight from King Saul, he 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:05.779 wrote in Psalm chapter 102 verses 6 and 7, I'm 00:10:05.779 --> 00:10:08.659 like a pelican in the wilderness. I'm like an 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:11.740 owl of the desert. I watch. I am as a sparrow 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:15.279 alone on the housetop. He seemed like no one 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:21.460 cared for him. Elijah on the flight from... from 00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:25.120 an evil king and queen in 1 Kings chapter 19, 00:10:25.299 --> 00:10:28.480 and we preached about this here a month or so 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:32.019 ago. We looked over this chapter, but he in his 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:34.440 isolation, it says in verse nine, came into a 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:36.679 cave and lodged there, and behold the word of 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:38.580 the Lord came unto him, and he said unto him, 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:41.600 what doest thou hear Elijah? And he said, I've 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:43.620 been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:46.080 for the children of Israel forsaken thy covenant, 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.200 thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:52.740 with a sword, and I evened I only am left and 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:56.039 they seek my life to take it away. Elijah was 00:10:56.039 --> 00:11:00.000 lonely. The apostle Paul recounted this to Timothy 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.580 in his final letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:05.700 four verse 16. He said, at my first answer no 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:10.240 man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.159 pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:16.860 And of course Jesus, very famously in Matthew 00:11:16.860 --> 00:11:20.320 chapter 27 verse 46 as the ninth hour, Jesus 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:23.299 cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama 00:11:23.299 --> 00:11:26.539 sabachthanai. That is to say, my God, my God, 00:11:26.980 --> 00:11:31.580 why hast thou forsaken me? Even Jesus alone on 00:11:31.580 --> 00:11:36.320 the cross experienced loneliness. But what I 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.279 want to invite you to tonight is to see a character 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:43.519 who exhibits this loneliness in his life and 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:47.519 see how Jesus was the answer for his loneliness. 00:11:47.620 --> 00:11:49.360 If you have the copy of the Word of God, I want 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.080 to invite you to open up to the book of Luke 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:56.600 tonight, Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. Many 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:58.779 of you in here will probably be familiar with 00:11:58.779 --> 00:12:01.139 this character, but if you're not, let me introduce 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:04.740 you to him. This character by the world standards 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:09.580 had it all. Money, fame, a successful career, 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:13.620 a nice house, but as we discover he was very 00:12:13.620 --> 00:12:18.080 much alone. Surrounded by people, yes, but very 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:22.419 much disconnected from his community. This man's 00:12:22.419 --> 00:12:27.179 name is Zacchaeus. And this man lived in a wonderful 00:12:27.179 --> 00:12:30.679 town in his time. He lived in the town of Jericho. 00:12:31.139 --> 00:12:34.799 And Jericho during this time was one of the five 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:38.379 principal trading cities of his day. In fact, 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:42.000 it was actually well known as a winter retreat 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:46.179 for royalty and for people who had money. People 00:12:46.179 --> 00:12:49.080 would go to this place and they would buy houses 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:51.559 and they would go there for their vacation times. 00:12:51.820 --> 00:12:54.490 It was kind of like the ancient Hampton. It was 00:12:54.490 --> 00:12:56.850 a place where you would buy a house and you would 00:12:56.850 --> 00:12:59.330 vacation there and you loved it because it was 00:12:59.330 --> 00:13:01.610 a bunch of people with a bunch of money having 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:06.169 a lot of fun. And Zacchaeus lived in this town 00:13:06.169 --> 00:13:10.350 of Jericho. Zacchaeus worked as a tax collector. 00:13:10.669 --> 00:13:12.690 Now, tax collectors were a little bit different 00:13:12.690 --> 00:13:14.990 than the tax collectors we have today, right? 00:13:15.090 --> 00:13:17.230 Hopefully you paid your taxes. It's tax season, 00:13:17.389 --> 00:13:20.389 right? We've just passed. And the tax collection 00:13:20.389 --> 00:13:23.850 of the ancient Roman world was a little bit different 00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:26.450 than the tax collecting of the United States. 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:29.950 See, what Rome would do is Rome would auction 00:13:29.950 --> 00:13:33.899 off the right to collect tax And so what they 00:13:33.899 --> 00:13:36.740 would do is they would to the rich in their society, 00:13:37.299 --> 00:13:40.059 auction off the right to collect taxes. And whoever 00:13:40.059 --> 00:13:44.700 won that auction would prepay the taxes that 00:13:44.700 --> 00:13:47.720 Rome was wanting for a certain area. Out of their 00:13:47.720 --> 00:13:50.139 own pocket, they would send Rome the money. Rome 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:52.860 always made sure they got their money. But what 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:55.899 Rome would do is Rome would then empower the 00:13:55.899 --> 00:13:59.460 person who has won this election to go collect 00:13:59.460 --> 00:14:03.480 taxes of whatever amount they wanted to be repaid. 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:07.639 This official title was called publicanus. And 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:10.000 what they would do is they would go out with 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.980 the backing of Roman soldiers and the Roman government 00:14:12.980 --> 00:14:16.419 and they would collect taxes to whatever degree 00:14:16.419 --> 00:14:21.059 of money they could get out of their fellow countrymen. 00:14:21.210 --> 00:14:24.230 And this is what Zacchaeus was involved with. 00:14:24.450 --> 00:14:27.909 In fact, Zacchaeus was the chief among publicans. 00:14:27.950 --> 00:14:31.970 He was the publican's publican. He was good at 00:14:31.970 --> 00:14:35.570 what he did. But the people in most countries 00:14:35.570 --> 00:14:40.190 that Rome occupied hated these kinds of people 00:14:40.190 --> 00:14:43.389 because this kind of activity brought out the 00:14:43.389 --> 00:14:47.879 worst in humanity. Zacchaeus was a Jew and so 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:52.639 he would extort and defraud his fellow Jews for 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:57.460 the sake of Romans taxes. He worked for the Romans 00:14:57.460 --> 00:14:59.960 and the Romans had conquered the Jewish region 00:14:59.960 --> 00:15:02.759 at this time and so basically what he did is 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:07.360 he sold out and betrayed his own people so that 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:10.879 he could get ahead in life. For Zacchaeus, even 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:14.259 at the top of his community, he was disconnected. 00:15:14.490 --> 00:15:19.090 He was cut off. He was unnoticed, unloved, uncared 00:15:19.090 --> 00:15:22.610 for, unneeded, and certainly by Jewish neighbors, 00:15:22.889 --> 00:15:27.950 unnecessary. And this is the man we see in the 00:15:27.950 --> 00:15:30.169 beginning of Luke chapter 19. So if you have 00:15:30.169 --> 00:15:31.950 a copy of the scriptures, let's begin reading 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:35.970 in verse 1. It says, and Jesus entered and passed 00:15:35.970 --> 00:15:38.549 through Jericho, and behold, there was a man 00:15:38.549 --> 00:15:41.590 named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the 00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:44.710 publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to 00:15:44.710 --> 00:15:49.370 see Jesus who he was, and could not for the press, 00:15:49.710 --> 00:15:53.549 because he was little of stature. You see, this 00:15:53.549 --> 00:15:56.570 Zacchaeus is presented by Luke. He's on a mission. 00:15:56.950 --> 00:15:59.909 Not only does he want to see and meet Jesus, 00:16:00.309 --> 00:16:04.860 but he wants to know who He wanted to see who 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:08.759 he was, what kind of man he was. Now no doubt 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:13.120 his notoriety, his fame had become so much in 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:18.279 his time that he would have been known to Zacchaeus 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:22.549 if nothing but by reputation only. Because Jesus 00:16:22.549 --> 00:16:26.610 had a notoriety for caring for the social outcasts, 00:16:26.789 --> 00:16:29.049 caring for the leper, caring for the fishermen, 00:16:29.470 --> 00:16:32.370 caring for the kinds of people that were like 00:16:32.370 --> 00:16:35.590 Zacchaeus. And because of this, Zacchaeus was 00:16:35.590 --> 00:16:38.830 drawn with much interest to meet the rabbi of 00:16:38.830 --> 00:16:44.110 the forgotten and marginalized people. But as 00:16:44.110 --> 00:16:47.950 he was going to do so, the scripture says that 00:16:47.950 --> 00:16:52.200 he could not because of the press and because 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:55.399 he was little of stature. Verse three shows us 00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:58.340 that. He sought to see Jesus who he was and could 00:16:58.340 --> 00:17:02.840 not for the press because he was little of stature. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.579 Now, while we make much ado of the stature and 00:17:07.579 --> 00:17:11.160 the size of Zacchaeus, in fact, if you were raised 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:13.900 in a junior church much like mine, you might 00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:16.480 know the song, Zacchaeus was a wee little man 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:20.329 and a wee little man was he. But we make much 00:17:20.329 --> 00:17:22.730 ado of the size of Zacchaeus because scripture 00:17:22.730 --> 00:17:25.990 tells us that he was little in stature. But we 00:17:25.990 --> 00:17:29.470 also I believe should take notice of what's going 00:17:29.470 --> 00:17:33.349 on as Luke shows us action that's happening in 00:17:33.349 --> 00:17:36.660 this verse. It says that he went to see Jesus 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:41.240 but could not for the press. This idea of the 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:44.619 press certainly is a grouping of people, but 00:17:44.619 --> 00:17:48.059 there's actually action involved in this word. 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:52.079 There is a group of people and to make it very 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:56.599 plainly, this group of people had marginalized 00:17:56.599 --> 00:18:00.859 Zacchaeus. They had pushed him aside. We see 00:18:00.859 --> 00:18:03.079 this oftentimes where if there are groups of 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:05.640 people who don't like a certain individual They 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:08.539 may turn their back on that individual. They 00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:12.140 want nothing to do with this person when Zacchaeus 00:18:12.140 --> 00:18:15.599 was around they wanted nothing to do with Zacchaeus 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.359 and in fact would work together as a community 00:18:18.359 --> 00:18:23.339 to keep him away Size often was not a limiting 00:18:23.339 --> 00:18:27.019 factor for elevated notoriety or for people with 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:30.529 respect in the ancient world History tells us 00:18:30.529 --> 00:18:33.950 of people who were famous, who had no problem 00:18:33.950 --> 00:18:37.009 getting through a crowd, but were also very short. 00:18:37.710 --> 00:18:40.369 The list is long. Napoleon Barnapart, Winston 00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:43.890 Churchill, Alexander the Great, Benito Mussolini, 00:18:44.210 --> 00:18:47.589 James Madison, and even Gandhi, who all clocked 00:18:47.589 --> 00:18:50.630 in as short people, much shorter than the average 00:18:50.630 --> 00:18:53.309 person, had no problem getting around in their 00:18:53.309 --> 00:18:56.250 society, no problem taking a prominent place 00:18:56.250 --> 00:19:00.900 in a group. I believe that a realistic reading 00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:04.700 of this accounts for Zacchaeus' shortness, but 00:19:04.700 --> 00:19:07.759 there is also an active crowd who wants nothing 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.859 to do with Zacchaeus and who has worked together 00:19:10.859 --> 00:19:16.720 to press him out. He was unwanted. He was uncared 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:22.900 for. He was unlovely. He was lonely. Zacchaeus 00:19:22.900 --> 00:19:26.269 was about to be shown how Jesus... was going 00:19:26.269 --> 00:19:28.829 to be the answer to his loneliness. And that's 00:19:28.829 --> 00:19:31.410 what I want us to look at tonight with just some 00:19:31.410 --> 00:19:34.029 of the time we have remaining. I want us to see 00:19:34.029 --> 00:19:36.950 that as believers we can deal with the emotion 00:19:36.950 --> 00:19:40.410 of loneliness when we understand the three ways 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:45.089 that Jesus meets our need because Jesus is still 00:19:45.089 --> 00:19:49.170 in the need meeting business. First if you're 00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:51.470 taking notes I want to point out to you that 00:19:51.470 --> 00:19:55.980 Jesus wants us. Those of you who feel unwanted 00:19:55.980 --> 00:20:00.140 tonight, I want to tell you that Jesus wants 00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:05.359 you. Look on in verses four and five. Zacchaeus 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:09.319 here. Jesus is coming through verse four says 00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:12.640 he ran before that Zacchaeus and climbed up into 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:16.000 a sycamore tree to see him for he was to pass 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:19.400 that way and when Jesus came to the place he 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:22.460 looked up and saw him and said unto him Zacchaeus 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:26.559 make haste and come down for today I must abide 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:32.079 at thy house As an already unwanted man in his 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:35.779 own culture, already uncared for, already marginalized, 00:20:36.299 --> 00:20:39.880 Zacchaeus does two unthinkable things for men 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:43.099 in his culture. First of all, he makes haste. 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:46.480 He runs. Now, those of you who have maybe studied 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:49.420 other passages, much like the Prodigal Son passage, 00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:53.680 we know that men in Jewish culture were not supposed 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:57.960 to do such things. Those were not social norms. 00:20:58.380 --> 00:21:03.319 A man in Jewish society was not supposed to act 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:07.380 like a child. Running was often associated in 00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:10.180 public with children. And what would happen is 00:21:10.180 --> 00:21:13.779 that many times, because of what they wore, they 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:17.430 would have to hike up their robes to be able 00:21:17.430 --> 00:21:21.329 to run, and exposing one's legs in Jewish culture 00:21:21.329 --> 00:21:26.630 was shameful, but Zacchaeus didn't care. Here, 00:21:26.809 --> 00:21:28.930 the second thing he does is he makes haste, he 00:21:28.930 --> 00:21:35.230 runs, but then he climbs up in a tree, in their 00:21:35.230 --> 00:21:38.450 culture as well. This kind of activity was associated 00:21:38.450 --> 00:21:42.180 with childish behavior. It was shameful for a 00:21:42.180 --> 00:21:45.880 man to act as though he was a child, especially 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:49.559 in public. This is one we probably can associate 00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:54.599 with a little bit more. If we saw John Hall up 00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:57.720 in a tree after service, most of us would go, 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:02.819 hey Tracy, is he okay? Right? That's odd behavior, 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:06.579 right, for a grown man to be playing in a tree 00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:09.880 or climbing up in a tree. We'd be wondering what 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:14.640 in the world is wrong with that guy. But Zacchaeus 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.559 does so because he's on a mission. He wanted 00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:21.339 to see what kind of person Jesus was. And so 00:22:21.339 --> 00:22:25.799 when Jesus passed by that location, Zacchaeus, 00:22:25.980 --> 00:22:28.579 he's up in that tree, Jesus looks up to him and 00:22:28.579 --> 00:22:31.740 sees him and he delivers a one line that would 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:33.680 be communicated, that would communicate something 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:36.440 to Zacchaeus that he has, all the money he had 00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:40.160 in his bank account could not acquire, he could 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:45.000 not buy. Jesus communicates, Zacchaeus, I want 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.009 you. He says to him Zacchaeus make haste come 00:22:49.009 --> 00:22:55.630 down for today. I must abide at thy house It 00:22:55.630 --> 00:22:58.170 would be like if someone picked you for the first 00:22:58.170 --> 00:23:02.730 time the teams are being set up and Instead of 00:23:02.730 --> 00:23:06.049 you getting picked last they go we want you and 00:23:06.049 --> 00:23:08.509 they pick you first It's as if you were going 00:23:08.509 --> 00:23:12.569 into the lunchroom and they go. Hey Come on over 00:23:12.569 --> 00:23:16.829 here. We saved you a seat, right? For those of 00:23:16.829 --> 00:23:21.430 us who often feel lonely it would be as if someone 00:23:21.430 --> 00:23:26.049 has picked you and Singled you out not to make 00:23:26.049 --> 00:23:29.829 fun of you not to make you feel unloved But to 00:23:29.829 --> 00:23:33.569 tell you we care about you. We want you to be 00:23:33.569 --> 00:23:37.170 with us He tells him quickly come down. I want 00:23:37.170 --> 00:23:41.720 to spend time with you at your house Now, understanding 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:44.819 the context of this passage, we know that Jesus 00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:47.779 is not just wanting to come over for tea. He 00:23:47.779 --> 00:23:50.799 wants to have a meal. And in this culture, sharing 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:55.339 a meal meant intimate time spent together. Jesus 00:23:55.339 --> 00:23:58.220 wanted to do the one thing that every one of 00:23:58.220 --> 00:24:01.299 his Jewish neighbors couldn't imagine doing, 00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:06.539 spending time with Zacchaeus. In fact, this would 00:24:06.539 --> 00:24:08.740 be one of the most defining statements about 00:24:08.740 --> 00:24:12.339 Jesus from his detractors, from the Pharisees. 00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:16.839 Can you believe that he eats with publicans and 00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:20.380 sinners? It says it in the verses to follow. 00:24:24.660 --> 00:24:28.059 You know, there's never been a person born on 00:24:28.059 --> 00:24:31.859 this planet. Neither will there ever be a person 00:24:31.980 --> 00:24:36.059 this planet that the Lord Jesus Christ and the 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:41.319 God of heaven doesn't want. Second Peter 3 9 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:43.759 says this about the Lord, the Lord is not slack 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:47.319 concerning his promise as some men count slackness 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:52.460 but is long suffering to usward not willing that 00:24:52.460 --> 00:24:57.920 any should perish. But all should come to repentance. 00:24:58.259 --> 00:25:06.400 I can say for a fact that God wants you. In Copenhagen, 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:10.779 Denmark, there's a series of statues, 13 to be 00:25:10.779 --> 00:25:14.200 exact. There's 11 of the apostles. Judas is replaced 00:25:14.200 --> 00:25:17.119 by Paul. And there's one more statue, and it's 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:19.720 the statue of the risen Christ, a very unique 00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:23.180 statue. It's carved out of marble, and it's carved 00:25:23.180 --> 00:25:26.700 by an artist by the name of Berthold Tholvudsen. 00:25:27.130 --> 00:25:29.630 It's up there on the screen. It's located in 00:25:29.630 --> 00:25:32.750 a Lutheran church in Denmark. And at first, when 00:25:32.750 --> 00:25:35.349 you walk up to it, it seems a little awkward. 00:25:35.769 --> 00:25:39.789 It seems that Jesus is disinterested in you. 00:25:40.210 --> 00:25:44.750 His eyes are looking down as if he was not paying 00:25:44.750 --> 00:25:48.309 attention. His hands are sort of out to his side 00:25:48.309 --> 00:25:52.150 awkwardly. And if you were to stand before this 00:25:52.150 --> 00:25:55.609 statue, you would feel as if he was trying to 00:25:55.609 --> 00:25:58.470 ignore you. You know, you've probably been there, 00:25:58.490 --> 00:26:00.829 you might have even been in that situation, right? 00:26:01.029 --> 00:26:03.289 You're in a large group of people, you see somebody 00:26:03.289 --> 00:26:05.490 from the corner of your eye that you don't really 00:26:05.490 --> 00:26:07.450 want to talk to, and of course you kind of just 00:26:07.450 --> 00:26:09.930 put your eyes down, right? You want to ignore 00:26:09.930 --> 00:26:11.210 that they're even there. Hopefully they won't 00:26:11.210 --> 00:26:14.250 come and talk to me. That's the kind of feeling 00:26:14.250 --> 00:26:18.349 you get when you walk up to the statue. However, 00:26:19.210 --> 00:26:22.390 when one approaches the statue in a different 00:26:22.390 --> 00:26:26.779 posture, when one falls to their knees, before 00:26:26.779 --> 00:26:30.599 the resurrected Christ and looks up at the statue, 00:26:31.099 --> 00:26:36.079 the statue is said to come alive. The arms are 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:38.700 no longer awkwardly extended to the side, but 00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:42.700 rather they're reaching down. The hands show 00:26:42.700 --> 00:26:47.779 the marks of the nails that Jesus took for our 00:26:47.779 --> 00:26:51.960 sins. His eyes are not down as if to cast aside 00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:54.779 and to look away, but they're looking down at 00:26:54.779 --> 00:26:58.880 the penitent sinner, looking intently with love 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:01.720 to then any who would come and bow the knee and 00:27:01.720 --> 00:27:05.819 look at Jesus. On the base of that statue in 00:27:05.819 --> 00:27:09.759 Danish reads Komr til Mig, which is a reference 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:15.220 to Matthew 11 28 that Christ says, come unto 00:27:15.220 --> 00:27:19.940 me. He says in Matthew 11 28, come unto me, all 00:27:19.940 --> 00:27:22.980 you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 00:27:22.980 --> 00:27:29.759 give you rest. Jesus wants you, and He is waiting 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:34.380 for you to come to Him. Secondly, if you're taking 00:27:34.380 --> 00:27:36.099 notes, I want to point out to you that Jesus 00:27:36.099 --> 00:27:41.160 not only wants you, but Jesus understands us. 00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:45.039 Jesus not only wants us, but He understands us. 00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:49.829 Skip on down to verse eight. Verse 6, Zacchaeus 00:27:49.829 --> 00:27:53.670 comes hastily and joyfully receives him. Of course, 00:27:53.769 --> 00:27:57.369 there are people who complain. Verse 7 says he's 00:27:57.369 --> 00:27:59.789 gone to be a guest with a man that's a sinner. 00:28:00.490 --> 00:28:05.769 And verse 8, Zacchaeus stands before Jesus. It's 00:28:05.769 --> 00:28:09.109 implied that some time has gone on in this meal. 00:28:09.250 --> 00:28:11.910 And verse 8, Zacchaeus stood and said to the 00:28:11.910 --> 00:28:15.960 Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give 00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:19.099 to the poor, and if I have taken anything from 00:28:19.099 --> 00:28:23.339 any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:27.759 And Jesus said unto him, Today, this day, is 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:32.119 salvation come to this house, for as much as 00:28:32.119 --> 00:28:37.369 he also is a son of Abraham. Zacchaeus, of course, 00:28:37.470 --> 00:28:40.109 quickly comes down, he prepares a meal, and he 00:28:40.109 --> 00:28:42.829 ushers Jesus and his disciples into his home 00:28:42.829 --> 00:28:45.609 in Jericho for that meal. While at the meal, 00:28:46.829 --> 00:28:49.349 Zacchaeus has this life -changing moment that 00:28:49.349 --> 00:28:51.750 I believe can only be characterized truly by 00:28:51.750 --> 00:28:55.549 one word, and that word is repentance. That Zacchaeus 00:28:55.549 --> 00:29:00.069 has a change of heart when he meets Christ, and 00:29:00.069 --> 00:29:03.690 he changes. Here Zacchaeus makes a two -fold 00:29:03.690 --> 00:29:06.690 commitment that we see in verse 8. He says, first 00:29:06.690 --> 00:29:10.849 and foremost, Lord, half of my goods I give to 00:29:10.849 --> 00:29:14.289 the poor. Who were the poor? Well, the poor were 00:29:14.289 --> 00:29:17.250 the other marginalized in their society. They 00:29:17.250 --> 00:29:20.109 were people that could never pay Zacchaeus back. 00:29:20.190 --> 00:29:22.869 These weren't people who he was gonna be able 00:29:22.869 --> 00:29:26.869 to somehow flip and maybe change his reputation, 00:29:27.089 --> 00:29:29.549 right? Somebody who has a bad reputation and 00:29:29.549 --> 00:29:31.809 maybe a lot of money might have been thinking, 00:29:32.009 --> 00:29:35.130 hey, well, I can use my money and I can leverage 00:29:35.130 --> 00:29:38.849 it maybe to help out my social standing. God, 00:29:39.309 --> 00:29:43.950 Jesus, let's make a... a place for homeless people. 00:29:44.549 --> 00:29:46.910 We'll call it Z's house and we'll put it in Jericho 00:29:46.910 --> 00:29:48.509 and it'll be all for all the homeless people, 00:29:48.589 --> 00:29:52.210 right? I'll open up a soup kitchen and I'll donate 00:29:52.210 --> 00:29:54.849 every week and we'll make sure we have every 00:29:54.849 --> 00:30:00.450 poor person fed. I'll use my money to help people. 00:30:01.190 --> 00:30:04.799 And of course all along he's... Trying to increase 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:07.079 his social reputation. That wasn't Zacchaeus' 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:09.799 motive. Zacchaeus said, Lord, I'm just gonna 00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:13.099 give half of what I own to the poor, to the people 00:30:13.099 --> 00:30:15.240 who could never pay him back, to the people who 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:18.779 could never increase his social standing. Because 00:30:18.779 --> 00:30:22.779 Zacchaeus didn't care about such things. Jesus 00:30:22.779 --> 00:30:27.539 had changed him. Number two, he promises something 00:30:27.539 --> 00:30:30.559 else. In verse eight, he says, and if I've taken 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:35.220 anything from any man by false accusation, I 00:30:35.220 --> 00:30:40.220 restore him fourfold. What does that mean? Well, 00:30:40.220 --> 00:30:43.059 that means that anything he had taken through 00:30:43.059 --> 00:30:47.079 his act of being the publicanus from taxing people 00:30:47.079 --> 00:30:50.720 and overtaxing them more than what was required 00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:53.930 by Rome. He said, anything that I've taken out 00:30:53.930 --> 00:30:58.089 of someone else's pocket. For my own benefit, 00:30:58.109 --> 00:31:00.769 I'm going to pay back, and I'm not just going 00:31:00.769 --> 00:31:03.730 to pay them back, I'm going to give them times 00:31:03.730 --> 00:31:07.569 four, fourfold, I'm going to give them back in 00:31:07.569 --> 00:31:10.630 repayment. This was way much more than what the 00:31:10.630 --> 00:31:13.450 Mosaic law required. The Mosaic law required 00:31:13.450 --> 00:31:16.730 that any person who had stolen and had repented 00:31:16.730 --> 00:31:20.450 of such things was to give back what they stole 00:31:20.450 --> 00:31:24.950 plus an extra one -fifth. But here he says no, 00:31:25.069 --> 00:31:29.349 no, no, I'm gonna give back to them fourfold 00:31:29.349 --> 00:31:34.609 Essentially by following these two things I believe 00:31:34.609 --> 00:31:38.730 That Zacchaeus would have bankrupted himself 00:31:38.730 --> 00:31:42.130 Half of all of his goods given to the poor and 00:31:42.130 --> 00:31:44.430 then from the other half he had he would pay 00:31:44.430 --> 00:31:49.789 back fourfold Essentially Zacchaeus would get 00:31:49.789 --> 00:31:53.809 rid of his earthly goods There's no way Zacchaeus 00:31:53.809 --> 00:31:56.069 would be the same after this decision. There's 00:31:56.069 --> 00:31:59.009 no way that he would be able to financially recover 00:31:59.009 --> 00:32:04.309 after such generosity. And Jesus, seeing the 00:32:04.309 --> 00:32:07.250 proof of the change of Zacchaeus' repentant heart, 00:32:07.789 --> 00:32:09.789 responds with a statement that I believe would 00:32:09.789 --> 00:32:14.049 demonstrate that Jesus truly understood who Zacchaeus 00:32:14.049 --> 00:32:21.099 was and what he truly needed. He recognized Zacchaeus. 00:32:21.180 --> 00:32:25.680 He understood Zacchaeus. Jesus makes the statement 00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:31.960 here. What he sees already the fruit of the change. 00:32:32.039 --> 00:32:37.079 He says today, this day, is salvation come to 00:32:37.079 --> 00:32:40.140 this house. Now I don't believe that Jesus was 00:32:40.140 --> 00:32:43.910 saying that Zacchaeus was somehow buying eternal 00:32:43.910 --> 00:32:47.150 life, that somehow he was doing things, good 00:32:47.150 --> 00:32:51.009 works, to earn salvation? No, no, no. Rather, 00:32:51.289 --> 00:32:53.670 I believe he was making a statement of what he 00:32:53.670 --> 00:32:56.569 already observed was happening in Zacchaeus' 00:32:56.829 --> 00:33:01.170 life. Zacchaeus' heart had changed because Jesus 00:33:01.170 --> 00:33:05.750 had come, because he had met with Jesus. His 00:33:05.750 --> 00:33:08.750 heart had changed, and the agent of this change 00:33:08.750 --> 00:33:13.069 was Jesus. He was the salvation that had come 00:33:13.069 --> 00:33:16.690 to that house. And He gives salvation to all 00:33:16.690 --> 00:33:19.529 who will place their faith in who He is and what 00:33:19.529 --> 00:33:23.089 He has come to do. Jesus also makes a statement 00:33:23.089 --> 00:33:35.039 here in verse 9. He says, Now we have to keep 00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:38.380 in mind that in this culture of honor and shame, 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:42.619 to go against one's own people would ultimately 00:33:42.619 --> 00:33:46.779 have cost Zacchaeus his place in his own culture 00:33:46.779 --> 00:33:50.180 and society. I told you already that more than 00:33:50.180 --> 00:33:52.460 likely the people of his own city and the people 00:33:52.460 --> 00:33:55.400 of his own culture would want nothing to do with 00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:58.259 Zacchaeus. In fact, many of them probably turned 00:33:58.259 --> 00:34:02.720 their back. on Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was an outsider. 00:34:03.099 --> 00:34:05.920 He may have spoke their language. He may have 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:09.760 had a Jewish lineage, but no one in his culture 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:15.340 would accept him as one of them. No doubt, perhaps 00:34:15.340 --> 00:34:18.920 maybe even his own family would have seen him 00:34:18.920 --> 00:34:22.579 as an outcast. Zacchaeus, I have no such son. 00:34:22.659 --> 00:34:29.110 He is dead to me. However, Jesus would redefine 00:34:29.110 --> 00:34:33.630 what it means to be a son of Abraham. It was 00:34:33.630 --> 00:34:36.710 more than just the blood that flowed in his veins. 00:34:36.789 --> 00:34:39.510 It was more than just a place that he lived or 00:34:39.510 --> 00:34:43.230 the lineage he could trace back through his family 00:34:43.230 --> 00:34:46.610 tree. It was a life that was characterized and 00:34:46.610 --> 00:34:49.269 embodied the qualities of those who were fit 00:34:49.269 --> 00:34:54.530 to be part of the kingdom of God. Zacchaeus had 00:34:54.530 --> 00:34:58.300 changed. because he had met with Jesus. And Jesus 00:34:58.300 --> 00:35:01.800 would redefine what it meant to be a son of Abraham 00:35:01.800 --> 00:35:08.059 for him. He would accept him as one of them. 00:35:09.559 --> 00:35:12.559 My wife and I, we have a favorite vacation spot. 00:35:13.780 --> 00:35:16.440 How many of you have ever been to St. Augustine 00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:19.710 in Florida? It's a very historic town. If you've 00:35:19.710 --> 00:35:23.269 never been, it's a really cool destination. It's 00:35:23.269 --> 00:35:25.829 a place where you can have a little time at a 00:35:25.829 --> 00:35:28.230 bed and breakfast, and you can kind of walk everywhere. 00:35:28.309 --> 00:35:30.889 You can ride a trolley. Lots of things to do, 00:35:30.989 --> 00:35:33.550 lots of great things to eat. It's right near 00:35:33.550 --> 00:35:36.469 the beach. But my wife and I, we've been there, 00:35:36.630 --> 00:35:39.289 went there on our honeymoon, went back for an 00:35:39.289 --> 00:35:42.150 anniversary, and we've enjoyed our time there. 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:45.820 But one of the weird and strange places that 00:35:45.820 --> 00:35:48.460 you can visit while you're there, it's not unique 00:35:48.460 --> 00:35:51.260 to St. Augustine, it's in other places, but it's 00:35:51.260 --> 00:35:54.699 a place called the Ripley's Believe It or Not 00:35:54.699 --> 00:35:56.460 Museum. Anyone ever been to a Ripley's Believe 00:35:56.460 --> 00:35:59.559 It or Not Museum? There's all kinds of strange 00:35:59.559 --> 00:36:02.420 and weird and unique things that are in those 00:36:02.420 --> 00:36:05.420 museums. But in this particular museum in St. 00:36:05.619 --> 00:36:09.570 Augustine, there's a mirror. And at this mirror, 00:36:09.969 --> 00:36:12.409 as you walk up to it, there's a challenge and 00:36:12.409 --> 00:36:15.090 there's some rotating images. And the challenge 00:36:15.090 --> 00:36:19.630 is to copy the strange and weird faces into this 00:36:19.630 --> 00:36:24.010 mirror. And as you do so, the face appears and 00:36:24.010 --> 00:36:26.550 there's all kinds of people that try to copy 00:36:26.550 --> 00:36:28.989 the faces, right? And they'll pull out their 00:36:28.989 --> 00:36:30.949 ears and they'll pull down their eyelids and 00:36:30.949 --> 00:36:33.389 they'll make these weird faces and they'll stick 00:36:33.389 --> 00:36:36.469 out their tongues trying to imitate and have 00:36:36.469 --> 00:36:41.269 fun with these strange and weird faces. But for 00:36:41.269 --> 00:36:44.230 those of you who have maybe been to this museum, 00:36:44.809 --> 00:36:49.510 this is not just an exhibit. It's actually a 00:36:49.510 --> 00:36:52.949 trick. You see, as you continue throughout the 00:36:52.949 --> 00:36:56.610 exhibit and turn the corner, you're faced with 00:36:56.610 --> 00:37:00.469 a two -sided mirror. And as you walk around the 00:37:00.469 --> 00:37:03.530 corner, you can watch the people as they try 00:37:03.530 --> 00:37:06.690 to imitate all these crazy faces. And you can 00:37:06.690 --> 00:37:08.849 sit there and you can laugh at them, and it's 00:37:08.849 --> 00:37:12.440 soundproof. And I remember as my wife and I did 00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:14.679 all the crazy faces and then we walked around, 00:37:14.780 --> 00:37:16.659 there's a group of people and all of a sudden 00:37:16.659 --> 00:37:19.380 you realize what's going on. Those people have 00:37:19.380 --> 00:37:22.679 been watching you the entire time, laughing at 00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:26.239 you, making a fool of yourself on display in 00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:29.940 this exhibit. And of course it's your turn and 00:37:29.940 --> 00:37:31.480 you get to sit there and you get to watch and 00:37:31.480 --> 00:37:32.900 you're waiting for somebody to come up and then 00:37:32.900 --> 00:37:34.780 you see them making their faces and of course 00:37:34.780 --> 00:37:36.400 you're laughing and having a good time and then 00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:39.400 they come around and they're embarrassed. There's 00:37:39.400 --> 00:37:42.800 no camaraderie like making a fool of yourself 00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:46.019 with other people, right? Instantly there's a 00:37:46.019 --> 00:37:48.340 group that becomes that as more and more people 00:37:48.340 --> 00:37:51.380 come around that corner and more and more people 00:37:51.380 --> 00:37:56.190 realize, oh no. You did it too. There's a camaraderie 00:37:56.190 --> 00:38:01.469 in that kind of behavior. Finally, if you're 00:38:01.469 --> 00:38:03.610 taking notes tonight, I wanna share with you 00:38:03.610 --> 00:38:10.690 finally this. Jesus wants us. Jesus understands 00:38:10.690 --> 00:38:18.429 us. Finally, Jesus loves us. Look on at 19, verse 00:38:18.429 --> 00:38:22.829 10 here at the end of this story. Verse 10 says, 00:38:22.989 --> 00:38:25.929 for the Son of Man is come to seek and to save 00:38:25.929 --> 00:38:30.710 that which was lost. The final verse is really 00:38:30.710 --> 00:38:33.829 the main theme that Luke has throughout his gospel, 00:38:34.190 --> 00:38:37.670 that Jesus is a man on a mission who has come 00:38:37.670 --> 00:38:42.550 to seek and save the lost. Jesus' statement here 00:38:42.550 --> 00:38:45.670 I believe is in part a fulfillment of Ezekiel's 00:38:45.670 --> 00:38:49.869 prophecy about the Messiah in chapter 34 of Ezekiel. 00:38:51.220 --> 00:38:55.260 A chapter 34 of Ezekiel is a stark warning. The 00:38:55.260 --> 00:38:57.739 beginning of the chapter, there's a warning against 00:38:57.739 --> 00:39:01.139 those who were false shepherds in Israel, those 00:39:01.139 --> 00:39:04.280 who had become fat, who had become strong off 00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:07.820 the backs of the house of Israel known as the 00:39:07.820 --> 00:39:11.409 flock in this chapter. In verse 15, there's a 00:39:11.409 --> 00:39:14.010 promise about this Messiah that would come. In 00:39:14.010 --> 00:39:16.829 the Ezekiel chapter 34 verse 15 scripture says, 00:39:17.269 --> 00:39:20.449 I will feed my flock. I will cause them to lie 00:39:20.449 --> 00:39:24.130 down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which 00:39:24.130 --> 00:39:27.590 was lost and bring again that which was driven 00:39:27.590 --> 00:39:31.289 away. I will bind up that which was broken. I 00:39:31.289 --> 00:39:34.170 will strengthen that which is sick. But I will 00:39:34.170 --> 00:39:38.050 destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them 00:39:38.050 --> 00:39:43.130 with judgment. The Messiah, his mission was to 00:39:43.130 --> 00:39:46.489 seek and to save the lost. And he began with 00:39:46.489 --> 00:39:51.690 the lost house of Israel. People like Zacchaeus. 00:39:51.889 --> 00:39:54.789 Zacchaeus before meeting Jesus was unloved by 00:39:54.789 --> 00:39:59.380 his culture, unneeded, unwanted. misunderstood 00:39:59.380 --> 00:40:03.400 mostly because of his own doing that's the truth 00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:06.320 mostly because of his own doing and you and I 00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:10.019 can be there as well we may be in a very lonely 00:40:10.019 --> 00:40:12.860 state not because of what someone else has done 00:40:12.860 --> 00:40:15.639 but because of what we've done and the choices 00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:20.860 we've made but loneliness has a way of stifling 00:40:20.860 --> 00:40:24.320 us more importantly has a way of stifling our 00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:27.869 own spiritual life as well I've noticed over 00:40:27.869 --> 00:40:31.449 the years that when people experience loneliness, 00:40:32.090 --> 00:40:35.590 they do the very one thing that would help them 00:40:35.590 --> 00:40:38.690 with their loneliness. They get away from people. 00:40:38.949 --> 00:40:41.349 Oftentimes, even believers, they'll do things 00:40:41.349 --> 00:40:44.150 like drop out of church, the very place that 00:40:44.150 --> 00:40:47.210 they can go to get the strength and the encouragement 00:40:47.210 --> 00:40:51.010 and the hope that they need. They'll leave because 00:40:51.010 --> 00:40:54.610 they're lonely. They do the one thing that would 00:40:54.610 --> 00:40:58.599 help them. I believe the worst form of loneliness 00:40:58.599 --> 00:41:02.320 truly is spiritual loneliness. It's a life separated 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:06.920 from God, lived apart from God. And the reason 00:41:06.920 --> 00:41:09.320 why it's lonely is because life was never meant 00:41:09.320 --> 00:41:15.639 to be lived apart from God. Not in this life, 00:41:15.980 --> 00:41:20.780 nor the life to come. But that's exactly what 00:41:20.780 --> 00:41:24.010 will happen to everyone who... does not accept 00:41:24.010 --> 00:41:27.409 Christ, those who reject Christ. And you may 00:41:27.409 --> 00:41:29.269 be in here and you might say, well Pastor Corey, 00:41:29.769 --> 00:41:32.710 I'm not really someone who rejected Christ, I 00:41:32.710 --> 00:41:37.170 just haven't really decided to receive him. Can 00:41:37.170 --> 00:41:40.469 I tell you lovingly that if you have not received 00:41:40.469 --> 00:41:44.789 Christ, then you have rejected him. But he has 00:41:44.789 --> 00:41:49.969 come to give you life and life abundantly. Jesus 00:41:49.969 --> 00:41:53.130 even said himself, he who is not with me is against 00:41:53.130 --> 00:41:58.449 me. A life separated from Christ is not a life 00:41:58.449 --> 00:42:02.230 to live at all. And I will implore you that if 00:42:02.230 --> 00:42:04.329 you're here tonight and you've never trusted 00:42:04.329 --> 00:42:07.349 the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, tonight 00:42:07.349 --> 00:42:10.829 may I implore you to consider to receive Christ 00:42:10.829 --> 00:42:15.250 as your savior because he wants you, he understands 00:42:15.250 --> 00:42:20.460 you, and he loves you. He demonstrated that love 00:42:20.460 --> 00:42:23.880 for you in that while you are still a sinner, 00:42:24.440 --> 00:42:27.260 still sitting actively against Him, He has died 00:42:27.260 --> 00:42:32.300 for you, as Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says. When 00:42:32.300 --> 00:42:35.679 God created the very first human Adam, He made 00:42:35.679 --> 00:42:39.920 a statement in Genesis chapter 2. Chapter 2 verse 00:42:39.920 --> 00:42:43.360 18 says, the Lord God said, it's not good that 00:42:43.360 --> 00:42:47.340 man should be alone. And so God goes on to create 00:42:47.340 --> 00:42:51.880 a help meet for him. God has placed within each 00:42:51.880 --> 00:42:57.519 of us basic needs. A desire to be wanted, a desire 00:42:57.519 --> 00:43:00.440 to be understood, a desire to be loved, to be 00:43:00.440 --> 00:43:06.639 needed. And God himself has fulfilled the need 00:43:06.639 --> 00:43:11.260 that you have. And he has done so with his own 00:43:11.260 --> 00:43:16.840 son, Jesus. Jesus wants you. Jesus understands 00:43:16.840 --> 00:43:21.300 you and Jesus loves you. Can I leave you with 00:43:21.300 --> 00:43:24.539 one scripture tonight? If you're already a believer 00:43:24.539 --> 00:43:26.559 in the Lord Jesus Christ, you already have the 00:43:26.559 --> 00:43:30.079 Holy Spirit living inside of you, you maybe know 00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:32.780 all of these things already. You're familiar 00:43:32.780 --> 00:43:37.719 with the Zacchaeus story, but you find yourself 00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:41.780 feeling lonely tonight. Can I read from you what 00:43:41.780 --> 00:43:45.780 Romans chapter eight says? Romans chapter 8 verse 00:43:45.780 --> 00:43:50.079 35 says this who shall separate us from the love 00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:54.820 of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution 00:43:54.820 --> 00:43:59.920 or nakedness or famine or peril or sword as It 00:43:59.920 --> 00:44:02.519 is written for thy sake we are killed all the 00:44:02.519 --> 00:44:05.420 day long We are counted as sheep for the slaughter 00:44:05.420 --> 00:44:09.219 nay and all these things we are more than conquerors 00:44:09.219 --> 00:44:13.199 through him that loved us For I am persuaded 00:44:13.199 --> 00:44:16.659 that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 00:44:16.659 --> 00:44:19.460 principalities, nor powers, nor things present, 00:44:19.559 --> 00:44:22.699 nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor 00:44:22.699 --> 00:44:25.980 any other creature shall be able to separate 00:44:25.980 --> 00:44:30.960 us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus 00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:34.679 our Lord. May I remind you tonight, believer, 00:44:35.079 --> 00:44:41.820 that because of Jesus, we are never alone. Would 00:44:41.820 --> 00:44:43.059 you bow your heads with me this evening?