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Re:Verse passage – Matthew 18:1-4 (day three)

“Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

The scientific advances in physics which have led to manipulation of electromagnetism to encode information digitally and convey it over vast networks of interconnected devices have all been brought to bear to create this message: “Your call is important to us.” Does anyone alive believe that’s true? We have harnessed the power of the cosmos and we’ve used it to lie to ourselves. Is it any wonder you might think, “Do I matter to another person, even to God?” That’s the haunting thought at the bottom of the old “Who’s the greatest?” query. It turns out that God loves just you – the you absent the meticulously crafted image, behind your defenses, without your escape hatches, like you used to be when you were a child, before the world taught you to hide.

Cynicism

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 18:1-4 (day two) Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Vs. 4

This is such a perfect illustration. The Lord uses the word humble in his description of children. Humility seems to be something that we unlearn as we age. I wonder if we can consider that children are not cynical when it comes to authority. That is something that they will often learn to be, but in general, they don’t wince and moan when in the presence of a better. Cynicism is a cloud that distorts our ability to see clearly, to obey without bitterness, and love unconditionally. Children demonstrate this better than us. This is what Jesus is asking us to learn.

Re:Verse Blog – 8/1/22

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 18:1-4 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Matthew 18:1-4 in our Summer Re:Verse Series: “Better Together.”

Get Out of the Tree

Re:Verse passage – Luke 19:1-10 (day seven) 

And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. vs 6

The icon above was done by William Holman Hunt in the 1850’s and was titled “The Light of the World.” People from around the world flocked to see what became known as a “sermon in a frame.” Jesus, carrying a lantern,  penetrating the darkness, has come to a door that seems to have been overgrown with weeds and has rusty nails and hinges, but the most peculiar thing is that there is no door handle on the outside. The sermon in the frame: it is up to the person on the other side to let Jesus in.

“Christ will not force himself into any man’s house, and sit there against the man’s will. That would not be the action of a guest, but of an unwelcome intruder.” Charles Spurgeon

Zaccheus had to come down from the tree and receive Jesus into his house. Like Zaccheus, when we go looking for Jesus, He will call us to do something. It is our responsibility to be faithfully obedient to His calling. It is our job to get out of the tree.  It is our job to open the door.  When we are obedient, He will then come in and dwell with us and show us more than we could have ever imagined.

Climb

Re:Verse passage – Luke 19:1-10 (day six) 

There is a child-likeness to Zacchaeus’ faith. With little concern about those around him, he hustles himself up into a tree to get the best view of Jesus. He didn’t want to miss this; he had heard the stories after all. One of his disciples was a tax collector.

It is this kind of faith that Jesus praises in the children who came to seek his blessing in chapter 18 (a foreshadowing of Zacchaeus). Child-like faith is persistently eager, rambunctious even or single-minded in its efforts to have the best view. 

It is willing to climb if it has to. Today ask the Lord to renew a childlike faith in you.

Evidence

Re:Verse passage – Luke 19:1-10 (day five) 

Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”

The gospel requires faith AND obedience. Believing and behaving. Conviction and repentance. They go together. When we trust and follow, the Lord will call us to take the first step and then He will call for the next step and then the next step. We read about Zaccheus’ first step in Luke 19.

Steps of obedience are evidence of eternity entering the human heart. As we obey the Lord, life in Christ becomes clearer and compelling.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Joining God

Re:Verse passage – Luke 19:1-10 (day four)

Henry Blackaby taught in Experiencing God, to watch and see where God is at work already, and join Him in that work.  He also taught that there were several things only God could do…so if you saw those things happening, you knew it was God’s handiwork.  One of those things God does is to cause people to seek after Him.  Jesus saw Zaccheus seeking after Him and knew it was God at work.  “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  Once again, Jesus is setting an example of how to live and to serve.

Many times we invest our witness in random places that have a very low potential for fruit to be produced.  Any witness is good, but learning to join God’s work in the life of another can produce a very rewarding crop of fruit.  Watch for the six things only God can do and orient your witness around God’s activity.  (Ask for the other five if you do not know them!)

Possible

Re:Verse passage – Luke 19:1-10 (day three)

“Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor.”

We’re not privy to their conversation, but it sure seems likely that Jesus gave Zacchaeus a picture of what life on earth could look like as Zacchaeus would leverage his financial acumen to address poverty. Jesus issues a high, holy calling to Zacchaeus to rise up and become an architect of a righteous and just society where the powerful advocate for the poor. That is a compelling invitation for someone of Zacchaeus’s particular skill set. There is no doubt whatsoever that Zacchaeus believed in Jesus for his salvation. But he believed by acting on the beautiful possibilities that Jesus held out before him. Evangelism like this gives people a glimpse of the beautiful world that’s coming, and lets them know that they can be a vital part of that beautiful world.

Seek and Find

Re:Verse passage – Luke 19:1-10 (day two) When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Vs 5

 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

Much is made of Zaccheus’ size, and being a rather under-heighted individual (I made word up), I have always had a special place in my heart for this story. As I re-read it today I wondered what made Zaccheus stand out. Was it that fact that he was up in a tree? Much like the woman who touched the robe of Jesus in a large crowd, Jesus noticed when someone was desperately searching for him. Zaccheus was intent on being near the Lord, and the Lord came near. Are you searching with that kind of intensity? Do you seek after the savior without regard to what people might think? If you seek him, you will find him.

Re:Verse Blog – 7/25/22

Re:Verse passage – Luke 19:1-10 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Luke 19:1-10 in our Summer Re:Verse Series: “Better Together.”