Thoughts From The Cottage
Dear Friends
One of the joys if the Life Explored course is that it comes from things from a different angle to the norm. When we look at things in different ways we may get surprises and we may find our cherished views blown apart. In one session we looked at the story of Zacchaeus as told in Luke 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 has gone 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.”
This is essentially the story of a generous God who says ‘I will’ not ‘You must’. Zacchaeus’s god was wealth. As a Jew working for the Romans he was hated by most people furthermore he amassed his wealth by taking more tax than was required from people. He had heard about Jesus and was intrigued to see him but he dare not approach him. Jesus had other ideas. On seeing Zacchaeus Jesus effectively says ‘I will be your guest’. The crowd is intrigued but they do not understand Jesus. They are set in their ways about right and wrong. They believe that repentance must come before acceptance. For Jesus it is the other way round, repentance follows acceptance.
In response to Jesus’ acceptance of him Zacchaeus immediately offers restitution to those he has wronged and makes a large charitable donation. Jesus has got Zacchaeus to do the right thing, not because he told him to but because he accepted him for who he was. This story speaks to us today because it addresses two common errors in the church. Too often we say you must change before you can be accepted. Too often we say you do not need to change you are accepted as you are. Both are wrong, both are un-Biblical, both are heresy. The truth is that we are accepted as we are and then we change in response to God’s love. If we do not change but continue in wrong ways then we have not really accepted God’s acceptance of us.
Of course there is another lesson to be learnt from this story. Jesus said he had come to seek and save the lost. That means two things. Firstly there are people outside God’s kingdom. Secondly they will remain outside God’s kingdom, maybe for the whole of eternity, if we do not go and seek them out. Sometimes what we discover by studying the Bible is unpalatable to us. One thing is certain. If we disagree with God’s word then it is us, or our understanding of God’s word, that is wrong. The word of God can never be wrong.
Ian
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