A Man who was the One

“God can't give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.”
― C.S. Lewis

The lesson for today was from Luke 19. It was about a man of small stature and big purse named Zacchaeus. Now Zacchaeus was in charge of all the tax collectors and though he was a Jew he was hated because of his profession. But Zacchaeus wanted more than anything to see Jesus when he came through Jericho where Z lived. He wanted to see Him so much that he was willing to humble himself and climb a tree to do so. When Jesus walked beneath the tree, He called out to Z to come down and take Him home with him for dinner. Z did. Z was so moved by Jesus that he gave half of everything he owned to the poor and paid back everyone from whom he had stolen four fold, according to the law of Moses. Jesus pronounced Z a good son of Abraham, a good Jew, and told him that because of what he was doing, Z and all his household were saved.

Brian started out his sermon with this: Zachaeus' wealth could make him safe, but it couldn't save him. He repeated it. Then he asked what Z had to do to be saved. The congregation responded. He had to give away half his wealth. Yes, but what else? He had to give back what he stole when he collected the taxes. Yes, but what else? He had to seek Jesus. Yes, but what else?

I have thought about this all afternoon and evening. What else? He had to be willing to humble himself and admit that he needed to meet Jesus more than he needed to keep his dignity. He had to be willing to offer Jesus his hospitality when Jesus asked for it.

Then Brian told a Christmas story. It was about a pageant in a church where the head of the Official Board played Scrooge. At the end he stood in a window and called out to an actor, a young boy, in a street. A little boy on the first row responded instead of the actor and came on stage. The man playing Scrooge came down out of the window and looked at the boy and said to him, "You are the one, the one I wanted."

Brian then let Jesus use his eyes and his fingers to point to everyone in the congregation as if they were the little boy, the One He wanted. And we are. It was a powerful moment. Amen.