One Plus One Part 3

One Plus One part 3

Sunday 19th January 2014 (evening).

I’ve spoken in the last two mornings about Oneplusone.  Normally in the evening when I’m speaking I’d leave the morning theme and bring something a little different.  Not tonight.  Tonight we’re going to focus on one of Jesus’s evangelistic encounters!  

We have to get burdened for the lost before the lost are lost forever.

Luke 19:1-10:Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’8 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.’9 Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’

Howard Hendricks said, “In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering.”

Bill Bright, Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, said, "Millions of surveys which we have helped to take around the world indicate that approximately 98 percent of the Christians do not regularly introduce others to the Saviour." 

The encounter of Zacchaeus and Jesus teaches us five things we must do to reach people for Christ.

1. Jesus was Looking for Him (1-5).

Notice that Jesus was only passing through Jericho.  He is on His way to the cross.  In Luke’s gospel we have this content reminder that Jesus is moving towards something.  

I find it interesting that most churches are moving forward, passing though things, that we don;t take time to pause.

Jesus too time from His journey to stop (5).  He engages Zacchaeus where he is.

Lot’s of our friends are stuck up some kind of tree.  It could be a tree to look beyond the crowd like Zacchaeus.  It might be a tree of materialism, evolution, secularism or all manner of things.  We don’t have to climb their tree.  We do have to go to the foot of it, pause and talk with them.

Jesus was looking for Zacchaeus more than Zacchaeus was looking for Jesus! Jesus is looking for lost sinners more than lost sinners are look for Jesus!(v. 10)

Ed Cole: “We are fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium."

2. Jesus Called for Him (v. 5a).

Jesus cared enough for him to call him by name.  We’re not told if this is a word of knowledge or if Jesus  overheard someone grumbling about the guy in the tree.  We do know that He called him by name.

We must care enough to find out more about them. Jesus called Zacchaeus by name.

If we don’t care for the lost then we are sinning against God.

There is a value in valuing people for who they are , not what they do.  So often people are referred to by their job or their reputation.  Jesus cuts through this by calling his name - jesus gives Him value!

3. Jesus Spent Time with Him (5b-6).

How bizarre is that?  Jesus you’re passing through!  Why stop and use valuable time with this one guy?  Because Zacchaeus is worth the investment.

Jesus goes into the midst of Zacchaeus’ culture, his home, and spends some time there.  Jesus is the perfect One, He doesn’t given in to the temptation to be like their culture.  He changes the culture by being who He is in the midst of it!

We don;t need to compromise.  We change culture by being salt and light in the midst of it.  Light shines brighter int he darkness.

The bottom line is that we must spend time with people, forming friendships, if we are to see their salvation.

We must be willing to go to them, into their homes, into their culture, into their circles while still being separate in our actions.

Notice people also criticised jesus for where He spent His time:

Matthew 9:9-13: As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. 13 But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”

4. Jesus Explained the Truth to Him (8-9).

We must be willing to speak out what is in our hearts.

The truth changed him and the truth will change everyone who comes to the truth of Christ.

1 Peter 3:15: But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

Friends will listen to us if they know that we care, that we have sent time with them, that we respect them.  They will reflect back our behaviour to them.

Matthew 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

5. Jesus Taught Him How to Live (8-10)

Salvation is about making disciples that know how to live for Christ obediently and to give in Christ honestly!

We Exist to Disciple People Who Become Followers of Jesus Christ

Jesus taught Zacchaeus how to live honestly and Jesus taught Zacchaeus how to give generously

We must teach new believers how to live for Christ and to give to Christ.   Again this takes time.  What Jesus accomplished in a night can take us years!  This is because of our own shortcomings, our own fears, our lack of dependance on the Holy Spirit.

“If you wish to enrich days, plant flowers; If you wish to enrich years, plant trees; If you wish to enrich Eternity, plant ideals in the lives of others.” (S. Truett Cathy).

Wrapping it up:

If we are going to reach people for Christ, then we must seek out lost people, care for them, fellowship with them, share the truth with them, and teach them how to live and how to give their lives for Christ. 

That is a process not an event.  That os why the very simple oneplusone cards are so important.  To pray for them once a day, talk to them once a week, have coffee with them once a month, and bring them to Life church once a year.