I'm pleased to have a seat and a very warm welcome to everyone.
Thank you to everyone who's participated so far in the service.
Is it not just wonderful to hear how God is at work in the lives of the members of this church family?
Thank you so much, Kirsty, for sharing that.
I love how you openly admitted, and you don't really get this from students.
You guys have time in your hands.
Thank you so much for doing that.
But grab a Bible, please, if you have one, and turn to Luke chapter 19 and verses 1 to 10.
This is where we're going to be this morning.
And just before we get in, why don't we just still our hearts as we come to God's Word, and let's pray together.
So, Father, help us this morning to see something more of the greatness of your Son, Jesus.
Lord, what we have not, we ask that you would give us.
And what we are not, gracious Father, you would make us.
And this is our prayer made in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, someone came up to me not so long ago and told me that they'd got a new job.
And I asked them what the job was, and the line that came back to me was that their job meant that they were going to be catching bad guys.
And it turned out that they'd actually just got a job with the anti-fraud investigation team at one of our city's banks.
Now, I wonder if you identify with those sentiments, catching bad guys.
It's not true that in our society, when we hear of somebody who's got rich because they've cheated the system, we are outraged.
I was thinking of some of the things we've seen over recent years in our news.
We're thinking of bankers who have been accused of fixing markets.
We've had politicians found to be making dodgy expense claims.
We have big companies like Apple and Google and Starbucks somehow managing to avoid paying millions upon millions upon millions of dollars in tax.
There's one friend advised me you should go to Caffe Nero for your coffees, because at least Nero gives to Caesar what is Caesar's.
But we are not the first generation to feel that towards our money cheats, because this morning we're journeying to first century Israel, and we're back in this little town of Jericho.
Now, if you remember, we entered Jericho at the end of chapter 18 last week.
We saw Jesus enter this little town.
This well-to-do little town that sits, you'll see it, on the major highway to Jerusalem.
And Jericho, like Edinburgh, it despises its money cheats.
So let's read in chapter 19, the first 10 verses, about Jesus' encounter with Jericho's most hated money cheat.
From verse 1 of chapter 19.
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus.
He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him,
Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
I must stay at your house today.
So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter,
He is going to be the guest of a sinner.
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,
Look, Lord, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor.
And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.
Jesus said to him,
Today salvation has come to this house,
because this man too is a son of Abraham.
For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost.
Amen.
And we pray and trust that God will bless the reading of his words this morning.
So here's Zacchaeus.
His name means clean or innocent.
As we'll see as we read this little encounter here in these opening verses,
the irony of that is clear for all to see.
Do you see, Luke wants us to know two things about Zacchaeus.
Firstly, what Zacchaeus does?
He's a tax collector.
In fact, he's a chief tax collector.
Now tax collectors in this state and in this region are considered traitors,
because they are Jews who work for the Romans.
And what they do is that they take taxes from their own people,
and not only do they give it to the Roman enemy,
but actually they end up taking a little cut for it themselves.
Now some of you may have played Articulate,
one of my favorite board games, Christmas favorite.
The game is essentially that you have a word on the card,
and you have to get your team to guess the word on the card
by using associated words, except they're not to be that word.
Which when you put it like that seems quite difficult,
but it's really easy.
Articulate.
Imagine this week you get tax collector on your card.
You're trying to get your team to guess tax collector.
What are the words that are in your head?
Despised.
Hated.
Dishonest.
Traitor.
Oh, I know!
Tax collector.
This is what Zacchaeus does.
He's a tax collector.
And because of what he does, do you notice that he's rich?
And secondly, do you see Luke tell us what Zacchaeus is?
What is he?
He's short.
Now, as we're introduced to Zacchaeus in these first few verses,
we're not optimistic of anything good happening to him,
and if we're really honest with ourselves,
if anything, we're kind of crossing our fingers,
hoping that something bad is going to happen to him.
Zacchaeus is a man with not an awful lot going for him.
Let me ask you this morning, are you here,
and you feel like you've not got a lot going for you?
If that's you, then can I encourage you to make Zacchaeus' story your story?
Why would God care about me?
I'm nothing special.
Let Zacchaeus' story about how he encountered Jesus be for you this morning.
Here is Jericho's most hated,
and he's heard that Jesus is passing through his town.
And Luke wants us to know what was going on in Zacchaeus' mind.
What does he want?
He wants to see Jesus.
And I find that so interesting.
Now, put yourself in Zacchaeus' shoes.
He's a wealthy guy, probably Armani shoes,
he's probably got barber boots, something like that.
Put yourself in Zacchaeus' shoes.
If I were him, thinking about leaving the house,
I think I would probably step back.
Think about it.
The whole town is out to see Jesus.
If I were Zacchaeus, the last thing I would want to do is to show my face in public.
Why risk being insulted by the whole town if they're out, the crowds?
Why risk maybe being exposed by this good man Jesus?
Why do it?
Because Zacchaeus needs to see Jesus.
So out he goes, he gets to the road, and what does he see?
He sees that the crowd have taken the best spots for the sightseeing.
Now, is at this point Zacchaeus going to call it a day because he's given it a really good shot?
No, because Zacchaeus needs to see Jesus.
So he runs on ahead, and he climbs up a sycamore tree.
Luke's way of telling us that it's a real tree.
It really was a sycamore tree.
You can go and see it in Jericho.
It was a sycamore tree.
He runs and he climbs the tree.
Undignified behavior for a man like this.
Maybe even more reason for the watching crowd to mock him.
Why does he go to these lengths?
Because he needs to see Jesus.
Now, see this in the context of what we've just seen over the past couple of weeks.
Like the persistent widow, if you remember her.
Like the blind man last week of chapter 18, if you remember him.
There's an admirable determination to this man Zacchaeus.
He needs to see Jesus.
In fact, it's something about this man Jesus that is almost irresistibly drawing Zacchaeus to him like paperclips to a magnet.
Now, C.S. Lewis, many of you have heard of him in his book, Surprised by Joy,
which is really just his spiritual autobiography, if you want to put it like that.
He talks about how he became a Christian.
How he met Jesus.
And he writes this.
And here are these words.
Fascinating observation.
He said,
I say that I chose Jesus.
Yet it did not really seem possible for me to do the opposite.
So Lewis is saying there that he found himself drawn to Jesus.
You're here this morning and you find yourself, as we encounter Jesus in the words,
you find yourself drawn to him.
Zacchaeus, he needs to see Jesus.
And there he is.
He's up the tree at the end of verse 4.
If you see it there.
Now, picture the scene at the top of the tree.
Zacchaeus, he hears the commotion up ahead.
Just imagine his inner dialogue.
I see him.
There he is.
This Jesus who I've heard so much about.
He's coming my way.
But he's stopped.
He's looking for someone.
Maybe he's looking for something.
Who's he looking for?
He's looking at me.
Do you see it?
Verse 5.
Luke tells us that Jesus went eyeball to eyeball with Zacchaeus.
He sees him.
And he calls to him.
Not, hey, you up there.
Zacchaeus.
He knows his name.
I think we're meant to understand that Jesus, God in the flesh, he knows more than just his name.
He knows it all.
He knows everything about this man.
And if that's the case, what are the next words out of his mouth going to be?
Is Jesus going to publicly shame him in front of the watching crowd?
Is Jesus going to out him for being a cheat?
If he did either of those things, I'm sure that would have made him even more of a celebrity in the eyes of the crowd.
But see what Jesus does.
He doesn't exchange a passing greeting.
He doesn't say, Zacchaeus, do you want to join me?
Let's walk and talk as I journey to Jerusalem.
Jesus is interested in what?
Coming to his house.
He doesn't say, may I?
He doesn't say, can I?
He simply announces that he's coming.
And I guess it's at this point in the story that we're reminded that Jesus isn't British.
I don't know if anyone has ever invited themselves to yours for tea.
Maybe they have and you've greeted them with that Scottish phrase, what do we say?
You'll have had your tea.
As if to say, you may be in my house, but don't think for a minute that you're getting any food.
Here is Jesus.
You'll have had your tea.
Doesn't happen often in the Shanks household, I'll be honest.
We like to know when people are coming.
We like to tidy the flat for them coming.
We don't want them to see the crumbs on the floor.
We don't want them to see the unwashed dishes.
We definitely don't want them to smell the dirty nappies that we haven't taken out yet.
We want to get the lighting right.
We want to get the background music on.
We want to get the scented candles on.
Probably true for all of us, is it not?
We want people to see us at our best.
Zacchaeus, he's not going to have a chance to tidy himself up.
Jesus is going to see the real him, warts and all.
Jesus is going to see it all.
But Jesus already knows the real him.
He knows who he is.
He knows what he's done.
He knows the thoughts in his mind.
He knows the skeletons in his closet.
You see, this isn't about
Zacchaeus
cleaning himself up for Jesus.
Jesus meets him as he is.
Jesus meets Zacchaeus
despite of who he is.
Why?
Because Jesus doesn't want to leave Zacchaeus
as he is.
Friends, Jesus knows
every area of our lives.
That's why we were singing those songs at the beginning
to help us understand that.
He sees the depths of our hearts.
And he moves towards us,
not away from us.
Jesus meets Zacchaeus
with love and grace,
just like Kirsty was saying,
not with accusation.
Because Jesus hasn't gone to Zacchaeus' house
to learn about his problems.
Jesus hasn't gone to Zacchaeus' house
to advise him about his problems.
Jesus has gone to Zacchaeus' house
to deal with Zacchaeus' biggest problem.
And his biggest problem is that he is a sinner.
He is not right with God.
And because of his sin,
he is alienated from God.
And he, Jesus, needs to make that right.
And in the context of Luke,
that is exactly what Jesus is journeying
to Jerusalem and to the cross to do.
And notice the word must there.
It isn't a chance meet, this one.
They don't,
they haven't just happened to bump into one another.
This is a divine appointment.
And you see how Zacchaeus responds
to Jesus' invitation.
He doesn't say,
no way.
He doesn't get his smartphone calendar out
and say,
how about next Tuesday in February?
He welcomes him gladly.
He welcomes him joyfully to his home.
Now we've seen that theme joy
all the way through this gospel.
That this is what happens
when people encounter Jesus.
As Jesus forgives,
as Jesus gives life,
the reaction is joy.
Here is Zacchaeus welcoming Jesus joyfully
to his home.
But,
not everyone shares that joy.
The camera,
verse 7,
pans from looking at Zacchaeus
and Jesus,
this very happy scene,
to looking at the muttering crowd.
He's going where?
He's going to visit who?
He's going to eat with who?
See, for Jesus to go to Zacchaeus' house,
for Jesus to presumably share a meal
with this man,
is for him to associate with Zacchaeus.
Because as far as the crowd are concerned,
Jesus should be getting a selfie
with the local mayor.
He should be getting,
he should be meeting
the upstanding members of Jericho,
but instead,
he's gone to this house
of this man a sinner.
See, the crowd are disgusted at Jesus.
Why?
Because he associates
with the wrong kind of people.
In fact, I reckon you can make a good case
for saying that Jesus is killed,
as we see it in Luke's Gospel,
precisely because
he hangs out with
the wrong kind of people.
That's why Jesus gets the nickname,
the friend of sinners.
Jesus, friend of sinners.
Let me challenge us in passing.
When was the last time
we puzzled people
by the individuals
that we hang out with?
That person at work
that nobody wants to go near,
nobody wants to get on with.
That friend who's a total drain
in your time,
and people look at you and say,
why do you bother?
I'm able to say to them,
I bother because Jesus bothered with me.
You see, this crowd may not be interested
in extending any kind of grace
to Zacchaeus,
but Jesus is.
Often the case, is it not,
in the Christian life
that God brings to the surface
and exposes the hardness of our hearts
when he extends his goodness
to somebody else.
That's the heart of this crowd
in Luke 19.
And in a way that illustrates
so beautifully
what Jesus is about to do
as he journeys to the cross,
do you see how the shame
and the insults
at the beginning of this episode
that were directed
towards Zacchaeus,
Jesus now takes upon himself.
And this encounter with Jesus
so radically transforms
Zacchaeus' life.
As you read verse 8,
it's almost as if he knows
instinctively that as if he is
to follow Jesus,
then he needs to put his sinful past
behind him.
Look at it,
Zacchaeus pledges himself
to be generous
with his money,
half of his money.
Where's it going to go?
To the poor,
half of his money.
And he commits to restoring
fourfold those whom
he has defrauded.
Now what we need to see here
is this is not Zacchaeus
deciding in his own mind
to turn over a new leaf.
Because let's be quite honest,
that would not have lasted long.
What this is,
is evidence that God
by his grace
has given Zacchaeus
a new heart.
Now there's a famous story told
of Harland and Wolfe,
the great shipbuilding company
based in Belfast.
The reason I know of them
is because it's famous
for being the place
where the Titanic was built.
It's a famous story
about Harland and Wolfe.
At their height,
they used to employ
35,000 men.
A lot of men.
35,000 men.
And at the end of the day,
you can imagine
the easiest thing to do
in the world
was for these men
as they left en masse
just to pick something up,
a little bit of lead,
a little bit of copper,
a little bit of pipe
under the jacket
and out they go.
Harland and Wolfe,
the directors knew this was going on
and thought,
we can do nothing
about it.
But during one of those
periods of revival
in Northern Ireland,
many of those 35,000 men
became Christians.
And what began to happen
as the transforming grace
of Jesus Christ
worked in their hearts,
as the Spirit of God
began to prod
and to poke
about their sinful ways
about how they needed to change,
what began to happen
is that many of those
35,000 men
began to bring
the bits that he'd stolen
back to the warehouse.
In fact,
so great
was the transforming work
of God
amongst these men
that actually
the directors of Harland and Wolfe
had to write to the men
publicly
and say,
would you stop
bringing the pieces
that you've stolen
back to the warehouse
because we simply
do not have room
to store all the things
that you've stolen.
the transforming power
of the grace
of Jesus Christ.
Now I wonder
as you think about
your own life this morning
and as God
and by His Spirit
as He works
in the midst
of His people,
what will that transformation
look like
in your life?
As the people
in your circles
view you,
watch you in action
every day.
Friends,
do they see the fruit
of a transformed heart?
Now presumably,
Zacchaeus,
he kept being
a tax collector
but now,
do you see,
I love to imagine this,
he's a transformed
tax collector.
You can imagine him,
can't you?
Remember,
we used to do this
when I worked
for a law firm.
We used to have
yearly getaways
as a team
to go and talk
about what we'd done.
Try to imagine Zacchaeus
at one of those
little retreats
with his tax collector
mates.
They're sitting there
boasting about
the people
that they've ripped off,
boasting about
the amount of money
that they've made,
laughing about
how rich they've become
and they turn to Zacchaeus.
Go on Zacchaeus,
you're the chief,
you must have a great story
about what you've done
this year.
And Zacchaeus says,
do you know what I've done
with what I'd done
with my money this year?
Half of my money
went to the poor
and those who I
previously defrauded,
I gave back fourfold.
Can you imagine the look
on the faces
of his peers?
This is what you did
with your money?
In the words of John Newton,
the man who God saved
from a life
of being a slave trader,
I am not the man
I ought to be.
I am not the man
I wish to be.
I am not the man
I hope to be,
but by the grace of God,
I am not the man
I used to be.
That is Zacchaeus' story.
The transforming power
of the grace
of Jesus Christ.
And what does Jesus
call him at verse 9?
A son of Abraham.
Zacchaeus is now included
in God's family of faith,
where society looked to him
and labeled him
a hopeless outsider.
Do you see,
through repentance
and faith in Jesus,
Jesus labels him
a hope-filled insider?
Here indeed,
again in the context
of chapter 18,
here indeed
is a rich man
who has found his way
through the eye
of a needle.
Luke's message
to us,
his readers,
that there is no one
too bad
beyond the grace
of Jesus Christ.
That the grace
of Jesus
is deep
and it's wide
and it's long.
And the invitation
to receive him
is for the religious
and the non-religious,
the rich and the poor,
the bad and the good,
the high and the low,
it's for absolutely everybody.
Why?
Well, see Jesus
outline his mission
at verse 10.
And if you,
we don't often do this,
do we,
memory verses?
It's a dying art
in Christian circles.
But if you're going
to memorize one
from today,
memorize this one.
For the Son of Man
came to seek
and to save
the lost.
See,
the beginning of the story
is Zacchaeus thought
he was the one
looking for Jesus.
Actually,
the truth of it
the whole time
was that Jesus
was the one
looking for Zacchaeus.
Now,
what a glorious truth
that should thrill
our hearts
if we are
Jesus' this morning.
As we were singing
earlier,
that Jesus
sought me
when a stranger,
when I was wandering
far away from God,
he to rescue me
from danger,
he shed for me
his precious blood.
This is the gospel.
The gospel that not only
gets us into the kingdom,
but the gospel
that continues to transform
us day after day
after day
more into the likeness
of our Savior.
That God took the initiative
to save us
in the sending
of his Son.
Jesus came looking
for us.
And that is the business
that he's employed
in today
just as much
as it was
in Zacchaeus' day.
Let me ask you
as we read of him here,
is he compelling you
this morning
to come to him?
As you see him
in action here,
is he saying,
come to me,
receive me,
receive the forgiveness
that I purchased
for you at the cross
and let me transform you
by my spirit.
You see,
Jesus isn't in the business
like my friend.
He's not in the business
of catching bad guys.
Actually,
he's in the business
of saving them
and transforming them.
You know,
just as we close,
one of the highlights
for us as a church
last year
was the weekend
when we celebrated
50 years of meeting together.
Real milestone.
To be honest,
I feel so privileged
to have stepped into
the church's life
at this point.
50 years.
Let me ask,
was there anyone
who was here
in the first meeting
of Brunsfield
Evangelical Church?
Yes.
Handful.
Excellent.
Because the birth
of a church
is a beautiful thing,
is it not?
It's an exciting thing,
it's a scary thing,
but there's something
wonderful about
a church starting.
I was trying to imagine
this week,
and let me get a glass
of water
because my feet
go on,
I'm trying to imagine
this week
the first meeting
of Jericho Evangelical Church.
Right,
if I was in charge,
if I was a media guy,
that's what I'd go for,
okay?
Jericho Evangelical Church.
Now,
if you think about it,
we've met two of its members
over the last few weeks.
Blind man of chapter 18,
for argument's sake,
we'll call him Bartimaeus,
and Zacchaeus
here in chapter 19.
Jericho Evangelical Church,
two of its members.
I'm trying to imagine
this week their first meeting.
Their first meeting,
probably in somebody's house.
Imagine it.
Somebody's got the quiche.
Somebody's suggested
one of those awkward
icebreaker games,
like if you were a fruit,
what would you be?
And everybody's thinking,
I'm a lemon
because on the outside
I'm happy,
but on the inside
I'm bitter towards you
for suggesting this game.
The first meeting
of this church,
eventually,
the conversation
comes around
to how did you
become a Christian.
Tell me,
how did you meet Jesus?
Bartimaeus,
do you want to go first?
Do you want to go first?
Tell us how you met Jesus.
I'd love to tell you
how I met Jesus.
My life before I met him,
I had nothing.
I had no possessions.
I was reliant
on the pity of people.
I had no help.
Most of all,
I had no sight.
Really had no hope
in this world.
But I met Jesus.
I heard he was coming
to my town.
I met him.
We came along
and I shouted.
The crowd tried
to get me to stop.
I kept shouting
and eventually
he came to me
and he said,
what do you want
me to do for you?
Do you know,
I said,
let me see,
Lord Jesus,
let me see you.
And he gave me sight
and he transformed
my life.
And I said,
Jesus,
I'm following you.
I'm going to put it back.
I'm following you.
And he goes,
well done,
Bartimaeus,
well done.
What about you,
Zacchaeus?
Do you want to have a shot?
I'd love to tell you
how I met Jesus.
Bartimaeus,
listen,
if you were the low,
then I guess
that makes me the high.
I had everything
going for me in life.
I loved money.
I loved my money.
I was rich.
In fact,
I would do anything,
even if it involved
defrauding people
to get money.
I loved my money.
And people hated me
because of what I did
and what I do.
But I heard Jesus
was coming to town
as well.
And I ran out,
decided I wanted to see him.
I ran out.
I couldn't find a spot
so I climbed a tree
and I looked down
and I saw him.
And you'll never guess what.
He walked right past
and he called.
He knew my name.
And would you believe
the brass neck of the guy?
He invited himself
to mine for dinner.
But I'm so glad
that he did
because he transformed
my life.
I too sit here
as a follower
of this man
we call Jesus.
Now do you see
what Luke is doing
here in this section?
He's showing us
two very different people
from two very different
backgrounds
probably doing
two very different things
with their lives.
But do you see
how these two
very different men
are united?
In fact,
they're more than united.
They can call each other
brother
because they've got
one shared story.
The words from
the old hymn,
I was lost
but Jesus found me
found the sheep
that went astray
threw his loving arms
around me
drew me back
into his way.
Yes,
I'll sing the wondrous story
of the Christ
who died for me
sing it with the saints
in glory
gathered by
the crystal sea.
And as we sit here
this morning,
it's not our testimony,
it's not our song
that Jesus sought me
when a stranger
wandering far away
from God
he to save me
from danger
shed for me
his precious blood.
What a saviour.
Let's pray together.
And maybe just
in the silence
before we
move to pray
and to close
with our final song
let's just take a minute
together and be silent.
The Lord has been
speaking to us
this morning
through his word
and perhaps now
is the time
to offer you
a little prayer to him.
And so gracious God
and loving
heavenly Father
we thank you
for sending
Jesus
to save us.
And thank you
for sending
your spirit
not only to open
our eyes to that truth
but to do
your transforming work
in our lives.
Help us
dear Father
to have
your compassion
and love
for the lost world.
Be at work
this week
we ask
for Jesus' glory
in our lives.
Amen.