It Is Personal

Every so often I have thoughts that persistently run through my mind. Sometimes the thoughts are "ANT's," which are "automatic negative thoughts." I take these thoughts captive to the truth of God's word. At other times the persistent thoughts is God prompting me to remember something important. Lately the thought running through my mind is, "It's personal." I am not talking about the cultural climate right now, in which people take every thing personally and get offended and defensive. I am talking about God who knows each of us in a personal way. For someone who once believed God was distant and angry, I find it comforting to be reminded the relationship I have with God is personal.

As I have meditated on this thought, I have realized it has always been personal. It began in the Garden with Adam and Eve. God fashioned  Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed life into his lungs. He knew Adam well enough to know it wasn't good for him to be alone and took one of his ribs and fashioned him a wife. And, when Adam and Eve chose to sin and hide from God, He sought them, calling, "Where are you?" In the face of their disobedience He promised them a Savior and the clothes he fashioned from animal skins foretold of their future Savior's death. This tells us that in the face of sin our God is a God who is in the business of seeking us out.

Then there was Moses who tended his father-in-law's flock. When he was near Mount Horeb the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush. Moses became curious as he realized the bush wasn't being consumed. God seeing Moses' curiosity called out to him from the burning bush, "Moses, Moses." He told Moses He had seen His people's oppression and heard their cries and called him to lead His people out of Egypt into the Promised Land. Moses resisted, but God persisted, telling him to tell His people that He, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has sent Moses to lead them home. God went before them continually guiding and instructing Moses on how to lead a nation that had been traumatized by years of slavery, mistreatment, and infanticide. He is a personal God who continually takes a personal interest in the suffering of His people.    

Then there was Samuel who ministered to the Lord before a priest named Eli. Eli's sons behavior in the temple was vile and unrestrained and uncorrected by Eli. One night Eli was lying down in his room and Samuel in his when Samuel heard, "Samuel, Samuel!" God had been silent for so long Samuel assumed the voice to be Eli's and ran to see what he needed. Eli said it wasn't him. This happened two more times and on the third time Eli told him if it happened again, to say to the Lord, "Speak Lord, for Your servant hears." And on that fourth time, when Samuel was about to go to sleep he heard his name, "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel did as Eli instructed him and God spoke prophesy over him and over Eli's household. I love that in the midst of such a sinful environment God called a young man by name not one time but four times, choosing Him to be His prophet. His calling of Samuel tells us that even in the midst of sin in the household of God, our God is still a personal God.

Skipping over a bunch of other stories we find land in the new testament on the story of Zacchaeus--a man with whom most of us are familiar. He was a short Jewish man who lived in Jericho and collected taxes for the Roman government, most likely charging people extra taxes to pad his own pockets. Because of his stature and his job he was not popular among his fellow Jews. Zacchaeus had heard of Jesus and was curious about him when he heard that he was coming. As Jesus arrived Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed a tree so he could get a glimpse of him. When Jesus was passing beneath Zacchaeus, He paused, looked up, and then called him by name, "Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus!" Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus' home and ate and fellowshipped with him. Our Jesus not only knew Zacchaeus' name, He knew where he was perched and made himself at home with him. The despised Zacchaeus found the love he craved in Jesus. And, Zacchaeus was changed because it was personal.    

           

Lastly, let's look at a man named Saul who was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. As he was traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians, a light shone around him and he fell prostrate to the ground, hearing God's voice, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" They conversed and the nonbelieving Saul became the believing Paul who authored much of the New Testament. I love this passage. As a young believer, I took criticism of my faith so personally, but after I became familiar with this story, I realized when someone is criticizing or mocking my faith, it isn't me they are criticizing, it is Jesus and His calling upon their lifes. In the face of the mocking, I can smile, let go of defensiveness and pray the person would realize faith isn't a philosophy to be reckoned with, but an invitation to a deeply personal relationship with God who radically loves them.

I want to remember when I feel unsettled that the same God who called, Adam and Eve, Moses, Samuel, Zacchaeus, and Paul by name is the same God who has called me. It is comforting to know that in the face of failure, He calls my name. It is comforting to know that the God who called Moses and gave his life significance has called me as well. It is comforting to know that at the times I don't recognize His voice, He calls to me again and again. It is comforting that He knows my proximity and all that concerns me, and calls out my name to spend time with me. It is comforting to know when I think I am doing His will and am heading in the wrong, He will call me by name and redirect my path. I want to remember this relationship I have with God--it is personal. 

For those Days We feel Invisible, Insignificant, and Inferior

Most of us who've attended church as children are familiar with the children's song ,"Zacchaeus the Wee Little Man." It is easy to understand why children like this Bible story (Luke 19:1-10). They can identify with being small in a world designed for big people. we felt frustrated because we didn't feel seen or because we couldn't see everything we wanted to see. Climbing a tree is something we could envision us doing to to see more. But this story isn't just for children, it is for us adults as well. It tells us a whole lot about our great God and it tells us a whole lot about ourselves.

Zacchaeus was a Jewish man who lived in the town of Jericho. He was of tiny stature and in his culture that meant he was often overlooked and looked down upon. In addition he had become a chief tax collector for the Roman government. His peers believed he was doing "dirty work" for the Roman government and treated him as if he were an enemy. In addition, most tax collectors became rich by taking extra taxes from people to keep for themselves. So, it was likely his peers believed he had been personally robbing them. For all of these reasons, it was likely that he was very unpopular in the Jewish community.

           

Zacchaeus had heard of Jesus, but he didn't know him personally. But, what he had heard about Him had piqued his curiosity, causing him to join the crowd when Jesus came to Jericho. But because of his stature, He couldn't see Him and no one in the crowd was willing to make room for him. So, he ran ahead of Jesus and climbed up in a tree and waited for Jesus to come to get a glimpse of Him. When Jesus came, He paused beneath Zacchaeus and he looked up and called him by name! It amazed Zacchaeus that Jesus knew his name and where he was perched before He had even looked up. Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus' home and he responded by coming down from the tree. 

Zacchaeus found in Christ a love and an acceptance that he was hungry for as a person well acquainted with rejection. In light of his reputation, few people would have made eye contact with him, fewer would have acknowledged his presence, and even fewer would have spent time in deep fellowship with him. They couldn't trust him. His quest for money left him very much alone. 

As he began to experience Christ's pure love, Zacchaeus realized all the wealth he had accumulated couldn't satisfy his heart hunger like Jesus could. As a result, he was changed from being a "thief" to being a "giver." He told Christ he would restore what he took fourfold! The crowd had criticized Jesus for spending time with Zacchaeus, but Christ did not respond to the criticism directly. Instead He told Zacchaeus, "This day 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 what was lost."

What can we learn from this story about Zacchaeus? 

I think we can all relate  to him if we are really honest with ourselves. We feel small, insignificant, and overlooked. For many, that feeling began in childhood. Perhaps when Mom was busy, when she got on the phone, or when she was in a conversation and wasn't connecting to us, we clamored for her attention by interrupting, doing things we weren't supposed to do, starting fights with siblings, or anything else we could do to get her attention back on us.  

I came across a Michael Card song a few years ago called Underneath the Door. In the song he describes himself as little guy with stubbly little fingers who wanted so badly to get his Dad's attention. But his dad often closed himself off, hiding behind his office door. He would draw his dad pictures and push them under the door. Sometimes he simply would stick his fingers beneath the door as if to say, "This is me, its who I am."  He shared his story with someone and they pointed out to him that as an adult he was still that little boy wanting to be seen.*

We, too, often feel small and overlooked. We may smile at what we did as children to get attention, but we really are just grown up children doing similar more acceptable things. We may not be tax collectors, but I bet we have all sorts of other ways of dealing with those feelings of insignificance, insecurity, and inferiority. I bet we even have ways we deal with feeling unseen, ignored, unheard, overlooked, and any other feeling we felt when we were small. Some of us became hyper critical, shouting the faults of others. Some of us turn those feelings inward, beating ourselves up emotionally and sometimes physically. Some of us became perfectionists, never stopping to rest or to enjoy life, people, or His presence. Some of us  pursued wealth, fame, or popularity to find it is never enough to make us feel seen and heard. Some of became so independent that we denied the need of being seen, heard, or loved even though those are legitimate needs written carefully on our hearts by the Creator Himself. Some of us may have even stepped on others as we tried to climb to the top, only to find that we feel even smaller still.    

We can learn that God is a God who seeks the smallest. We don't have to climb trees, corporate ladders, become the favorite child, perform perfectly, or scale the tallest mountain. Christ sees us where we are, even in our sin, even while we were still enemies with Him. He even sees us even when others crowd us and over look us and despise us. 

Just as Jesus knew the wee little man by name, He knows us by name! He was the one who  ascribed significance to us because He chose to create us, to call us from the womb by name, to love us, to die for us, to reveal Himself to us, and to call us down from our self made trees we believe will give us the advantage. His great love looks past the visible sins as well as the ones we keep hidden. When He calls our name and invites us to know Him, we can either reject Him or we can embrace Him and His payment for sin. If we choose to embrace Him, He comes home to our hearts, radically changing our lives.  It is when we feel the most lost, the most unseen, the most unheard, and the most unredeemable, that Jesus calls our name. Those feelings were given to us to let us know we have needs--the need to be seen, the need to be known, and the need to be loved. Those needs and every other need we have were designed to drive us to Him who can meet them. 

Our significance is found in Christ and in the gifting He gives us to serve others. We want to be sure our own biases don't get in the way of our seeking and offering the love of Christ to sinners in need of a loving, life changing God who sees and knows names. The "tax collectors"--those we might view as enemies, those we might avoid seeing because we are angry, those we might overlook because their sin makes us uncomfortable, those we think beneath us are the very ones Christ may use us to be His voice calling another's name. As His skin representatives He desires for us to reach out to the lost, to fellowship with the invisible, and to disciple baby believers, looking past their pasts, envisioning what they can become in the hands of a holy, powerful God. We don't want to lose those trying to catch a glimpse of God because they remain invisible and unheard by us. We don't want to lose people because we have never given them the opportunity to live down a past because we prejudged them. In the light of the bigness of our God aren't we all  Zacchaeus's?

I praise God for the change in Zacchaeus. and I can't help but think Zacchaeus, the wee little man, walked a bit taller the day Jesus invited Himself to dinner. When those old feelings return and lies from my past cause me to shrink in shame, I can cling to that the truth that the Jesus who knew Zacchaeus' name also knows mine. Just like He sought Zacchaeus out, He is continually seeking me. Because He knows me, and has called me by name, I can square my shoulders, lift my head, and walk out the truth that I, too, have been changed from one who was seeking to see and to one who is seen to  and whose heart is full enough to give.  

Underneath the Door performed by Michael Card in the album Scribbling in the Sand: The Best of Michael Card

A Wee Little Man

Those of us who have been in church for any length of time are familiar with the children's song, "Zacchaeus was a Wee Little Man." It is easy to understand why children would love the song and the the story of Zacchaeus. They can identify with being too small to be able to see every thing they want to see! But this story isn't just for children, it is for adults as well. It tells us about our great God. 

Zacchaeus was a Jewish man who lived in the town of Jericho. He was of tiny stature and in his culture that meant he was overlooked and even looked down upon. In addition he had become a chief tax collector for the Roman government. That added to the contempt his countrymen would have had for him. His peers believed he was doing "dirty work" for the Roman government and treated him as if he were an enemy. In addition, most tax collectors became rich by taking extra taxes from people to pad their own pockets. So, it was likely he had personally robbed them, resulting in his not being liked by most of the Jewish community.

           

Zacchaeus had heard of Jesus, but did not know him personally. He didn't know what he looked like, but was curious about the Jesus everyone was talking about. But, because of his stature he could not see past the crowd. And no one in that crowd would have wanted to make room for him. So, he ran ahead of Jesus and climbed up in a tree and waited for Jesus to come by so he could get a glimpse of Him. When Jesus came, He paused beneath Zacchaeus and looked up and called him by name! It amazed Zacchaeus that Jesus knew his name and where he was perched before He even glanced up. Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus' home and Zacchaeus responded by quickly coming down from the tree. He found in Christ a love and an acceptance that he, a despised person, was hungry for. Because of his reputation, it was a while since anyone had made eye contact with him and acknowledged his presence. It had been a long time since he had experienced close fellowship with others in his home. 

As he began to experience Christ's pure love, Zacchaeus realized all of the wealth he accumulated could not satisfy his heart like Jesus could. As a result, he was changed from being a "thief" to being a "giver" and told Christ he would restore what he wrongly took from people fourfold! The crowd criticized Jesus for spending time with Zacchaeus, but Christ did not respond to their criticism directly. Instead He told Zacchaeus, "This day 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 what was lost." What a awesome thing for Christ to do! Their enemy was now in the spiritual family. 

What can we learn from story about Zacchaeus? First, we can relate to him if we are really honest. We often feel small and overlooked. For many, that feeling began in childhood. When Mom got on the phone or in a conversation with another adult and wasn't connecting to us as children, we more than likely clamored for attention, interrupting, doing things we weren't supposed to do, or starting fights with siblings because we knew that would get Mom's attention. 

I came across a Michael Card song a few years ago called Underneath the Door. In the song he describes himself as little guy with stubbly little fingers who wanted to get his Dad's attention. But his dad often closed himself off, hiding behind his office door. He would draw his dad pictures and push them under the door. Sometimes he would even stick his little fingers beneath the door as if to say, "This is me, its who I am."  He shared his story with someone and they pointed out that as an adult he still was that little boy wanting to be seen. So often we do feel small and overlooked. We may smile at what we did as children to get the attention we wanted, but we really are just grown up children still desiring to be seen and heard. We may not be tax collectors and we may not do exactly the same things we did as children. However, we have all sorts of ways of dealing with our feelings of insignificance, insecurity, and inferiority. We have ways we deal with feeling unseen, unheard, and, "small." Some of us become hyper critical and shout the faults of others. Some of us turn those feelings inward and we beat ourselves up emotionally, sometimes physically. Some of us become perfectionists, never stopping to rest or enjoy life, people, or God. Some of us  pursue wealth, fame, or popularity only to find it is never enough to allow us to feel fully seen and fully heard. Some of become so independent we deny the need of being seen, heard, or loved is a need written carefully on the heart by the Creator Himself. Some of us may have even stepped on others, trying to climb to the top where we believed we would be noticed, only to find we felt even smaller.     

Second, we can that learn God is a God who seeks out the smallest. We don't have to climb a tree, the corporate ladder, become the favorite child, or scale the tallest peak. Christ seeks us even we are still sinners, while we are still enemies with God, and when others crowd us out, overlook us, refuse to hear us, or simply ignore us.   

Third, just as Jesus knew the wee little man by name, He knows our name. He was the one who ascribed significance to us as He chose to create us, to love us, to die for us, to reveal Himself to us, to call us down from our self-made tree. His great love looks past our visible sins as well as the invisible ones we keep so well hidden and sees who He created us to be. When He calls our name and invites us to know Him, we can either reject Him or we can embrace Him. If we embrace Him, He comes home to our hearts, radically changing our lives.  

When we feel the most lost, the most unseen, the most unheard, and the most unredeemable, that is the very moment Jesus is calling our name. Those feelings were given to us to let us know we have needs--the need to be seen by Him, the need to be known by Him, and the need to be loved by Him. Those needs were designed to drive us to Him who died to exchange our unrighteousness for His righteousness.  

Lastly, our significance is found in Christ and in the gifting He gives us. We want to be sure our biases don't get in the way of our seeking and offering the love of Christ to sinners in need of a loving, life changing God who sees and knows their names. The "tax collectors"--those we might view as enemies, those we might avoid seeing because we're angry, those we might overlook because their poverty of spirit makes us uncomfortable, those we think are beneath us are the very ones Christ might use us to be His voice calling their name. As His skin representatives He desires for us to reach out to the lost, to fellowship with the invisible, and to disciple new believers, looking past their pasts to what they can become in the hands of a holy, all powerful God. We don't want to lose God's people because they remain invisible and unheard within the church. We don't want to lose people because we have never given them the opportunity to live down their pasts. After all, in light of the bigness of our God aren't we all  Zacchaeus's? I praise God for the instant change in Zacchaeus and personally believe he, the wee little man, walked a bit taller the day Jesus invited Himself to dinner.

When feelings and lies from the past return and I find myself tempted to shrink in shame I remind myself that Jesus knew my name. I rejoice in the fact that Jesus and sought me out! Then and only then can I square my shoulders, walk a bit taller, prepare for battle, and walk in victory.
 

Prayer: Father, sometimes when we have heard a story over and over, we fail to see the lessons You would have us learn. Open our eyes to Your truth even in the stories we learned in our youth. Thank you for choosing us and reaching out to us when we are caught up in sin. Thank you for saving people even when we behave like Pharisees, tax collectors, and wee little people. Thank you for seeing us, for calling us by name, and being a God who redeems. Thank you for the way You have revealed yourself to us even though our sin has tainted our lives. Thank you for maintaining the vision of what You have created us to be. Help us to love the unloved people for Christ. Amen.

Seeking and Saving the Lost

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 being a short man he could not, because of 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 what was lost. ""

Luke 19:1-10.

Most of us are familiar with the children's song about Zacchaeus. It’s easy to understand why children love the story. They can identify with being too small for a lot of things. I had not thought about the story of Zacchaeus since I quit teaching preschool many years ago. Then I looked at the passage and realized how meaningful this story really is and how much it tells us about God. 

Zacchaeus was a Jewish man, living in the town of Jericho. He was tiny in stature and in his culture that meant he was looked down upon. In addition he had become a chief tax collector for the Romans and his peers believed he was doing "dirty work" for the Roman government and treated him as if he were an enemy. At the time, most tax collectors became rich by taking extra taxes from people and putting it in their own pockets so they may have believed he had robbed them. All of these things would have cause him to be hated by the Jewish community.

Zacchaeus had heard of Jesus, but didn’t know what he looked like. He was curious, but couldn’t see past the crowd because of his short stature. He ran ahead and climbed up a tree and waited for Jesus to come. When Jesus came, He paused beneath Zacchaeus and looked up and called him by name! It amazed Zacchaeus that Jesus knew his name and where he was perched before He even glanced up. Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus' home and Zacchaeus responded quickly, coming down from the tree. He found in Christ a love and acceptance he had not experienced in a while. In light of his reputation, it may have been a long while since he had any fellowship with others in his home. As he began to experience Christ's love, Zacchaeus realized all of his wealth couldn't satisfy needs like Jesus could. 

As a result, Zacchaeus was changed from being a "thief" to a "giver." He told Christ he would restore what he wrongly took from people fourfold! The crowd criticized Jesus for spending time with Zacchaeus, but Christ did not respond to their criticism directly. Instead He told Zacchaeus, "This day is salvation come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

What can we learn from story about Zacchaeus? First, Christ seeks us out while we’re still sinners. He knows us by name and chooses to reveal Himself to us. His heart looks past our visible sins sees our invisible ones as well. He invites us to a face-to-face encounter so we can choose to either reject Him or embrace Him. If we embrace Him, it changes our hearts so we live in a radical way. What we need to realize is when we feel the most lost and believe that we are unredeemable, it could be the moment He calls our name and invites us to come to HIM! Lastly, Christ comes to seek and to save the lost and we want to be sure we're not like the crowds judging Zacchaeus and be open to the people God puts in our paths. We do not want our own biases to get in the way of their seeking the love of Christ. To be like Christ we need to be open to offering fellowship and discipleship to new believers, looking past their past to what they can become in the hands of a holy, powerful God. I know people who gave up trying to live for God, because they couldn’t live down mistakes. To prevent this, we need to offer acceptance, mercy and accountability to new believers. We can't help but smile at the instant change in Zacchaeus, and wonder if Zacchaeus, the wee little man, walked a little bit taller the day Jesus invited Himself to dine in His home.

Prayer: Father, sometimes when we have heard a story over and over we fail to see all the significant lessons in it that You would have us learn. Open our eyes to Your truth even in the familiar. Thank you for choosing us and reaching out to us when we are caught in our sin. Thank you for calling us by name and being a God who chooses to relate to us. Thank you for the way You reveal yourself to us even though our sin has tainted our lives. Thank you for maintaining the vision of what You have created us to be. Help us love the unloved people for Christ. Amen.