Good morning. Veritas. Welcome. Hey, my name is Matthew. I'm a pastor that's on staff here. I feel like I haven't seen you all in a while. It's been about a year. I've been hanging out up in Urbana, and God has been doing some pretty incredible things up there. And I am coming back here, actually, in the next handful of weeks. I don't know specifically exactly, but excited and thankful for that opportunity. I'm really excited and thankful for Jordan and Taylor and what God is doing there to provide and protect his church and just been an awesome opportunity. It's been exciting to meet a whole new slug of people that I now know and now love. And so I see some of you out here that I, gosh, I haven't seen you in so long. So I'm excited to be back and excited to kind of share the next message in this series. We've been going through this series, encounters with Jesus, where Jesus has a multitude of profound encounters with various types of people. And so this time we're going to talk about Jesus encounter with a powerful man. So if you have a Bible with you, and I'd love for you to turn it or open your app to Luke, chapter 19. And as you're doing that, I want to ask you some questions. Have you ever had an experience or something happen in your life that totally changed everything? That totally changed everything? Perhaps it was like a gift. Perhaps it was. Maybe it was financial. Okay, I don't want to focus on that one, but perhaps it helped you pay off debt early or just launch into a new, I don't know, investment or something that has really changed or set a foundation for you financially. Or perhaps it was a job referral. A friend in passing mentions, hey, there's this position open. Maybe you could fit the role and you end up taking it and it changes everything. It just causes a stir in your life. On a more serious note, maybe I had a friend in middle school and high school who struggled. His kidneys. He had an issue with his kidneys. I don't remember specifically what it was called, but for a few years, we as students kind of watched him decline, and he didn't need one kidney, he needed two kidneys. And so he struggled with that. He was on the list for a few years, and all of a sudden, the day came where they lined up these things and he was able to receive two new kidneys. And over the next several weeks, next several months and years, we just saw a transformation in Jeff. He went from being so unhealthy because of his body struggle to being so much more healthy. And of course, it had caused permanent damage, but it transformed Jeff's life to one of energy and of a lot more health for him. Have you ever had something happen that totally transformed your life? And as it pertains to us here today, spiritually, have you ever, or has Jesus changed your life? Has Jesus Christ changed your life? Hard right turn there. But we talk about these other things that have such a deep impact, a long impact on our life. And when it comes back to Jesus, we got to ask the question, like, has he had an impact on your life? Like when you look at a timeline of your life. I'm not a date and time guy. Thursday, October 2006. No, I'm not that. But is there a season in your life where you noticed things began to change? And I think our story kind of gets into that today, and we get to experience and read about and see how Jesus encounters a man whose life he changes radically. And in some ways, I don't want us to disconnect even from our passage last week that Matt spoke to us about. Remember that there was a rich young ruler. He approaches Jesus and says, jesus, what must I do to inherit eternal life? He calls him good teacher, actually. And Jesus says, hey, man, you know the commandments? And the man is pretty confident he's kept them his entire life. Yet Jesus points out that he still lacks one thing. I mean, he kind of went to the big block commandments. And Jesus says, you're missing the first one. You should have no other gods before you. But his heart isn't all in. He doesn't have a true faith that treasures Jesus above all else. He else he has some other treasure that's blocking his view of God. And Jesus immediately calls it out. And you see that in Jesus ministry that he's not going to permit sin to be present there. It must be addressed, okay? Sin must be addressed in your life to have a full experience of who God is. And not even then will we do it perfectly. But Jesus goes on to say how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. And this man walks away sad. This man walks away sad. So I want us to have that kind of in the back of our mind as we enter into Luke chapter 19 here, because in so many ways, there's a lot of similarities, and in so many mega ways, there's a lot of big differences with this story. So turn with me. We're in Luke chapter 19, and I'm going to read verses one through three. Luke 19, one, three. And he entered. Jesus entered Jericho, and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich, and he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd, he could not, because he was a man of small stature. Now, I have been plagued with a Sunday school song all week, and I'm just. I want to share it with you in an effort to maybe get it out of my head that Zacchaeus, he was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he? And I don't want to tell you anymore because we're going to read that next. Okay? So I hope you're not now too distracted. If it's not Zacchaeus, it'll be my water bottle, but I hope you're not too distracted by that. But I just got to put it out there. I got to relieve some of that tension. Okay? Yes, Zacchaeus was a wee little man, but let's learn a little bit more about what's happened here in Luke 19. Okay, so, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Earlier in 18, he tells his disciples, hey, I'm going to go so that the word of God might be fulfilled. And the disciples are clueless, like, okay, Jesus, we're going to Jerusalem. We got you. And so they're on their way there, and Jesus has stopped outside in the area of Jericho, and he's healed a blind man, a beggar, who called out to him, and now he's in Jericho. And the first person that Luke chooses to point out is Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector, and he was very wealthy. And this guy, Zacchaeus, he wants to see, like, who is this Jesus? I heard he was outside of town. He's healing blind people. That's crazy. That's not normal. I want to see who Jesus is. And it's interesting, as you get to know Zacchaeus a little bit, this whole idea of tax collector is insane to me. Okay? You have this country, this nation, it's called Rome. And Rome has effectively kind of taken over the whole entire world at this point. And then Rome hires the locals to take taxes so that they can keep conquering and maintain control. So you picture this. Let's do this. This is the United States of America, and let's say Canada. They grab all their hockey sticks, and they come across that border. Boom. And they take over. And I know some of you are like, I wouldn't let that happen. Just hang on here. Okay? They come down, they take over. And some of us are poor, some of us are needy, and they're offering jobs as a tax collector. And so you, any one of you, there are job openings right now for the IR's of Canada to help them maintain control of the United States of America. You in? Somebody says, yes, you're easy. All right, I guess. Okay. All right. I mean, but you think about the tension that that would cause. You are my friend, and you're working for the enemy. You're working for the guys that took over us. And not only is Zacchaeus working for them, he is a chief tax collector. You guys remember, when Jesus calls Levi or Matthew to himself, he's a tax collector as well. And the people hated these people. It wasn't like, why Jesus, what are you doing? This is a boss tax collector. He works for Rome. He's a jew, and he works for the enemy. What are you going to do with him? And I love the details in the Bible for our joke about Zacchaeus being a wee little man, like, he was a short guy. Like, God knows. I just think that's tremendously encouraging. I don't have a lot to say about that, but, like, God knows. God knows your struggle. God knows your height. God knows the hairs, or lack of hairs on your head is aware, and he is God. Okay, so let's look at Luke 19, four through six. So what does Zacchaeus do? He wants to see Jesus. So he ran on, right? The crowd is crazy. I can't get to this man. He runs ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree. I know you knew that, right? Climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord, he wanted to see. Now, I'm not on the worship team. All right? For he was about to pass that way, and when Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, hey, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. This short, wealthy tax boss is up in a tree to see Jesus. And I'm not convinced that there aren't other children up in the trees. I'm not convinced that other people haven't climbed the tree because they have also heard that Jesus has healed blind people. I want to see this man. But I'm not sure how many chief tax collectors are up in the trees. I'm not sure how many powerful leaders are up in sycamore trees looking out. In fact, wouldn't they be part of the entourage? Like, hey, here comes this guy. He's awesome. We're going to lead him into Jericho. Like, let's go. But Zacchaeus wouldn't be in that crowd. He's the enemy. He's actively working with the enemy to keep us secure. He's working for the other king. Can you imagine? Even if you're bank president, like, you found him in a tree, you're like, hey, man, what are you doing up there? I hope that's not my interest rate's going any higher, but what are you doing? We don't see powerful people, and I get kind of the frenzy, like, if a concert comes to town and you want to see that person, I get that, right. But this is probably an older man and he's kind of a big deal, so he's probably not climbing the light post to see who this is. And Jesus kind of frenzy isn't quite like that. As Jesus approaches this sycamore tree, as he's going down the street, he walks directly over to Zacchaeus and he's like, hey, man, I want to go to your house. And Zacchaeus is stoked. Let's go. Let's go to my house. But not everybody was excited. So if you look at Luke 19 seven, it says, and when they saw it, they all grumbled, he has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. So who is they? I would presume it was the Pharisees. They hated it when Jesus called Matthew or Levi, the other tax collector, and they're mentioned down in verse 39. But I think among this group of people is there's this tension. Jesus could be the king, Jesus could unify this country, Jesus Christ could shake Rome from our back. And there's this tension that, be it the Pharisees or be it average Joe, like, are we going to be free of Rome? Are you heading down to Jerusalem? Are you doing it? Is that happening? And you see that kind of. In Luke 1911, it says, as they heard these things, this is after our story, he proceeded to tell them a parable because he was near to Jerusalem and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately, they were thinking, this is the time. This is Jesus. So what's so upsetting to all these people is like, hey, remember Rome? You're on your way to Jerusalem. We're going to set up, we're going to dominate, just like King David did. We're going to have our own land, we're going to have our own cities, and you're hanging out with a traitor. Ah, Jesus, that's not. You're with a leader, a powerful man from the opposing team, a brother, a jew who was helping the enemy. Zacchaeus is taking money from the Jews. And these tax collectors weren't always up and up. This was a shady industry. Rome wants $10. I'll charge you twelve. It was trouble to come to your door. Come on. And I just pocket that. Okay. This is what's known at least about these tax collectors. He's taking money from Jews, sending it to the Rome. He's supporting their kingdom, he's supporting roman ideas, and he's supporting their soldiers. How dare he? But these people have misread Jesus and his ministry. They've misread what Jesus Christ is up to, what he's been doing these last couple years. It's bigger than Rome. It is the enemies of God being reconciled to goddess. It is the kingdom of God made up of enemies who are saved. Jesus comes to seek and save the lost. And of all people, this guy's a candidate. This guy's a candidate. This is a picture of Romans five eight. Paul writes it some time later, it says this. I want to read all of five to you, but I don't have time. Okay, you got to check this context out. But Romans five, verse eight says this. But God shows his love for us. God showed his love for Zacchaeus in that while he was still a sinner, well, Christ was going to die for him. Christ was going to die for Zacchaeus. Like this is the gospel, God saves enemies, God saves opponents. Right? Since therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of Goddesse. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more. Now that we are being reconciled, that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life? These works, these actions, this theft, perhaps of Zacchaeus, this working for the enemy, though probably not necessarily a sin. Christ was going to give him his works and take on Zacchaeus sin. And he was going to save this man. He was going to save this enemy, this one who was working against the jews and against seemingly the kingdom of God. God shows his love for his enemies by saving them through his work on the cross. And religious people don't get that. I feel like I have a heart for religious people. God has been drumming this up in my mind over and over again. I played the game for a solid twelve plus years. Like I know all the Bible verses. I prayed a prayer. I'm better than all of you. You guys should get your acts together. I wouldn't have said that. You get that, right? I was more religious than that. But, like, if you're not this, if you're not that, if you're not done now God calls us to holiness. Ephesians five one, which I don't have on the screen, says, hey, imitate goddess. But for those of us called by God out of our life, of sin, out of being an enemy, we're to be transformed into the image of his son, into the image of God. I'm not running away from that. God changes you. He transforms your life. And it starts with this act of Jesus. But the religious people, they don't see it. They don't want it. They don't trust God for the transformation of people's hearts. And what an impact Jesus has on this man, Zacchaeus. What a powerful impact he has. Let's go to verse eight. Jesus is at his house. Zacchaeus was already, like, stoked. You want to come to my house? Let's do it. Let's go. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will restore it fourfold. And the first thing I want to stress here is that Zacchaeus actions, they didn't save him. Zacchaeus actions didn't save him, didn't move him one inch closer to God. It's important to note that it is Jesus who moved towards him. Zacchaeus didn't act and behave in such a way or climb the perfect sycamore tree so that Jesus would see him. It was Jesus who came to Zacchaeus. He came to the enemy. It is Christ who showed him light into his dark soul. It is Christ who calls this man. And it's interesting in that verse. Let's read that one more time. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord. Zacchaeus says, lord, I'm a powerful man in Rome. I'm a powerful man in Jerusalem or in Israel or in Jericho. But you are, Lord. There's a recognition of the lordship of Christ. And Zacchaeus knows his place when he stands before Jesus Christ, and he ain't Jesus. His power, his wealth, they don't save him. But something's been at work in Zacchaeus, and he recognizes who Jesus is. And as Jesus shines light into his heart, he becomes aware. This is reading more than just Luke 19, but he becomes aware of the holiness of God. There's an awareness then, because God is holy man, I have sinned. I've done some heinous things. My heart is not fixed on the Christ. I mean, I came to see him, and he's saving me. These acts that Zacchaeus does, they're actions of confession and repentance. He is turning, like, hey, if I've stolen stuff, I want to return it four times. Like, all this treasure that I have gained from my shrewd business keeping and my saving ability, like, I want to give half of it away. I want to step out, trusting that you will take me. Zacchaeus didn't need to steal because his God would take care of him. Zacchaeus wealth was transformed from a, how do I make it to retirement or through retirement to I'm a part of the kingdom of God. He's invited me in. All that he has is mine. Praise the Lord. Zacchaeus view of treasure and wealth has been dissolved by a view of eternity. He has an eternal perspective. He can give his money to the poor because it was given to him by goddesse. And this is where the contrast with last week really butts heads here, right? If you remember verse eight, chapter 18, and go back there and read it, this young ruler says, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Like, he approaches Jesus, he's not up in a tree saying, oh, I hope I see him. Where's Jesus? He is like, there he is, bolts over there and says, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus confronts, really, the heart issue of this rich young ruler. And the man walks away sad because of his great wealth. And Zacchaeus is out there hanging in a tree, waiting to see Jesus. This is the contrast here. He's joyfully receiving Jesus into his home. After Jesus says, let's go. And can you imagine a few days later, a couple months later, Zacchaeus walking up to you and saying, hey, a couple years ago, I defrauded you and your taxes. Rome wanted ten, and I told you it was twelve, and here's $8. Christ grabbed a hold of my life, and I need to make this right because he's been so gracious and kind to me. Here's your money that I stole from you times four. Like, what a powerful testimony to be able to say, I recognize that I was a sinner and in some way I sinned against you, and I want to confess it to you. I want to acknowledge I did do what you thought I did, and I want to repay you. What a powerful testimony Zacchaeus had in the city, because they would say, like, you know, you heard in other miracles. They're like, wasn't this man born blind? Like, wasn't this the chief tax collector, this thief, this enemy, was he not? He just gave me $8. He stole me. He told me he stole two. Who? What happened to Zacchaeus? What happened to this man? What's going on in his heart and his testimony just is transformed. He sits in the presence of Jesus, not for very long, and just transformation happens. And this transformation results in practical application. I need to do something. Jesus, I'm aware now of who you are, and this is my response. Certainly, I believe. And then out of my belief flow these actions, and Jesus responds. Luke 19 910. Today, salvation has come to this house. Since he also is the son of Abraham, since he's also jewish, right? He's of the chosen people of goddess 18. You're a chosen person of God again. Don't forget that sting of Rome. You worked for the enemy, and Christ brought salvation to his home, to this chief tax collector. And then it says at the end there, verse ten for the son of man came to seek and save the lost Christ walks through a crowd of people to seek and save the chief tax collector. Zacchaeus wanted to see. Jesus wanted to save. And the actions of Zacchaeus were representations of Christ at work. In his heart. Christ was at work. Here's our big idea for today. God works the impossible to transform lives. God works the impossible to transform lives. This isn't the first person I would think. Maybe you would. I wouldn't think that God would go to Zacchaeus. I mean, you've got people who are around you. You got probably struggling fathers. You probably got struggling mothers. You probably are surrounded by poor people. Like, this crowd is just all over the place. And then you would go to that guy. And the tension is, there's two of you in this room. There's that guy who you're like, I don't know if God can save me. Oh, with God, all things are possible. God can save you. And then there's the rest of us, maybe, who think, God can't save that person. God can't save that person. Like, this is. We're done. There's no way. This has been years of this baloney. There's no way that God can save an oh, friend. God can do the impossible. This tax collector, this sinner, this enemy, this enemy of God, who probably had no interest in transformation, was transformed by the power and work of God in his heart. Like this. There's no other grace like this. There's no other love like this. It's displayed to us in the man who is God, Christ, Jesus. And that's why the question's at the beginning. Like, has Christ transformed your life? Because maybe there's a third person in this room who. You're just a fake. You're a fraud. You have such a hardened shell, and you do all the right things, but your heart is a stone. Oh, wake up. You had your experience with Jesus at camp or some religious event or with your mom, and your entertainment hasn't changed. Your relationships haven't changed. You treat other drivers like trash. You despise your neighbors, and you treat your wife like your spouse, like garbage. These things should not be. Or perhaps your treasure, much like last week, is still anchored here on this earth. You're grabbing all that money before the end so you can celebrate you when you're all done. And your successes, my friends, there's more. There's more to the religious person. There's actually freedom. So in multiple ways, I ask all of you, like, has Christ come into your home? I picked on, what, five or six different situations. You name one. You miss 10,000. I'm not talking about perfection. I'm talking about transformation, the slow, sanctifying work of God in your life. Is God transforming your life? To some of you, you find just sustenance in Christ, and he is transforming your life through conviction and change. And some of you are just like, well, I gotta be nicer, so I'm just gonna do it. I gotta be nice. I just gotta smile. I gotta get through this week. She wants me to be more caring. I will be more caring. I will make it happen. And you just put on these works that are so exhausting, so exhausting. It's not coming from your heart. You're trying to, like, shove it in your ear. It's so tiring and exhausting. Has Christ come into your home? What fruit is coming out of your life? Fruit of the spirit, evidence that he is in you. If I plant an apple tree, it should bring forth apples. If I plant a peach tree, it should bring forth peaches. What fruit? If the Holy Spirit is implanted in your life, what fruit are you bearing through the actions and things you do on a daily basis? And I know the last couple weeks you guys have been doing some assessments over time and over where your treasure is. But today I want us to assess our orchard. I want us to take some time and assess our orchard. What kind of fruit are we bearing? I'm not talking about an emotional experience of when you meet Jesus and you're like, I cried. No, I'm talking about change. Not perfect change. You know, if you've done something for 30 years, it's really hard, but have you started? That's what I'm talking about. It's a change that when God grabs ahold of your heart. So I want to go through some practical application then I want us to spend some time as we examine our hearts before we take communion. I want us to spend some time assessing our orchard. And here's some things I want us to look for in application. Like, if I am Exacchaeus and Jesus invites himself to my house, like, what might I do? What should I consider doing? I'm not adding rules to you. I want to invite you to do this. I want to invite you to read the word of God. I want to invite you to read the letter from God to you. I always think about. Maybe you don't. I think about middle school relationships. Right? In the old days, we used to write paper notes, and we would occasionally send a letter. I know it's weird. It was on paper. We used a pen. It was hard. We used the US Postal service. See that? The box out in front of your house? It's a mailbox. All right? We did that, right? And never would I get a note from someone and be like, I read that when I get to it. I'd be like, oh, my gosh, who's it from? Did you get the mail today? Oh, my gosh. Where is it? You know? And I'd rip it open. I had like a 25 yard walk from our mailbox. It didn't make it through the ditch. I was there. Oh, she loves me. So many regrets. All right, I. A much more serious note. God has sent us a letter. And in this letter, it contains the information about who we are, and it contains the information about who he is, and it contains information about what he has done for us in Christ Jesus. And it's hard, because even when you talk about, like, leaning into the scriptures or following God, you mentioned, like, giving our money to the poor. You guys are nuts. It's hard to step out in faith with somebody you don't know. I'm not going to walk out of this building this afternoon, find somebody and say, hey, here's my car keys. It's a. It's an old car, but you can just drive it. It'll be fun. No, I don't trust them. It's hard to consider following God when you don't trust him and you don't know him. Read his letter. He's lovingly wrote you a letter that says, this is who I am. This is my love. This is my power. I love you. The second part that we are invited into is an invitation to shake off the temporary solutions that this world has to offer. Some of you are caught in temporary solutions that the world has to offer, be it addictions or be it anger or trying to control your scenario. And they work. They might work. They might give you peace for a handful of hours, and then it kind of comes back in, probably pain, maybe disrupts family life, something like that, right? And you can kind of hold it together and you're trying to do it like it's the right thing, but it's something you're trying to do externally, and it's not coming from within. And so an invitation, God has, like, read who I am so you can trust me and believe that I can help you. And then, and then you can, you can act, you can respond with something that has eternity in mind. You can process your anger differently because he's in control. Right? You can pray through your anxieties. Like, I'm scared. I don't know what to do. Well, he does, because he literally wrote out your days before the foundations of the earth. And if you believe him and trust him, what does it look like to say, God, am I going to get laid off, too? Lord, I haven't done great at savings. Like, will I have a paycheck? Like, what is this going to look like for me? What if the economy changes again? What am I going to do? Like, you can talk to him and you can cast your anxieties on him. Lord, I'm worried about money. I'm worried about my marriage. And where areas where sin or anger have become sinful, which sin is always sinful, but where anger or anxiety has become sinful, we can confess that God, I'm not trusting you. God, help my unbelief. Help me trust you. And I can respond that way to him. I can give him those things so we can spend time in the word. We're invited to. We're invited to shake off our temporary solutions of this world. And lastly, we're invited to worship. This isn't really, lastly, you should probably do it during every one of these steps, but we get to worship God. Zacchaeus, who was maybe bound by his height or bound by the fact that he was an enemy, was invited by the king to be a part of the kingdom, to be a part of something so much greater than Rome, to be a part of something so much greater than the nation of Israel. Zacchaeus, I'm coming to your house today, and we get a chance to extol or lift up the name of God church, Christian. We get a chance to extol the name of God. And some of us might extol him or bring him praise by saying, I stole from you, and I want to repay you. I took this from you. I did that to you. Please forgive me. And when people are like, what? Who are you? I don't know who I am, but Christ changed me. And then we get to extol him again by or worship him, by spending time with him, by praying to him, we get to communicate as Christians with God. This wall of sin is removed because of the work that Christ would do in Jerusalem. God brings in enemies. Those of you who think I am way too far off, God says, I am God. I save. And we are invited as a people to come in and worship him. We praise him. We worship him because he humbles the powerful and he reveals the king. And in some way, you and I are a lot more like Zacchaeus than we realize. Perhaps we are not short, right? Perhaps we are curious about Jesus. But I know one thing we have in common with Zacchaeus is we have a hard heart, and we love our sin. Money is a great convenience, and we need a savior. We might love our kids. We might love our marriage. We might love our jobs. We might love our careers. We might love our hobbies. And there's something greater. It's Jesus and the kingdom that he offers. And so I want us in our various places. Perhaps you're new to this. Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God? Perhaps you've been drowned in this since you were four and you've done all the actions I still say to you. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God? Do you worship him as king, as lord? Do you trust him? Could you give your child to Christ? Could you give your four hundred one k to Jesus, trusting that he would provide for all your needs according to his riches and glory? Could you step out in that way? I know that's a touchy one, but just like what is even your heart's response to that? Let's worship. Let's be a church that worships Christ. Let's be a church that recognizes that we also were impossibly dead in our trespasses and sins. But God, he made us alive in Christ. Let's celebrate that he is king. That he is Lord. Let's pray. Father God, you are great, Lord. You are awesome, worthy of worship and praise. God. And I just pray now that as we prepare for communion, God, that we would examine our hearts. God, that you would reveal areas of our life where we are not interested in giving them to Jesus. And that you would begin a revolution in our souls. God, may we be a church that believes that you take care of the impossible. We be a church that is humble because of the work you've done for us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.