We're trying to implement these five daily habits that lead to more freedom in Christ. So we're trying to sacrifice something, we're trying to pray every day, we're trying to read our Bible, we're trying to serve someone, and we're trying to move with our bodies to remind ourselves that faith is not just something we believe. That kind of faith is dead, we're told. Instead, faith is something that we believe and then act out through our bodies. And so we're trying to do that every single day.
[00:31:59]
There's been something about turning 40, for me at least, it's made me uncharacteristically, like, introspective and reflective. Like, I've just, I never do that, but I've spent a lot of time this week going like, man, what have I learned over 40 years? Like, what have I done right? What have I done wrong? What can I change moving forward into the back half here?
[00:33:36]
It's a good story though. I mean, first of all, just like every other story in the gospels, it's good because it shows us who Jesus is and how loving he is and gracious and at times counter-cultural. And it's also a good story because it's very convicting. It's convicting for me, at least. And I'm gonna give you a heads up. It'll probably be very convicting for you if you've struggled with the sacrifice piece of the 35-day challenge, all right? So buckle up.
[00:36:38]
Tax collectors were absolutely hated. They were avoided at all costs. They were this weird mix of mafia thugs mixed with politicians, mixed with accountants. They were basically gangsters who were good at math. Which sounds terrifying to me, at least. That's tax collectors in general.
[00:40:28]
Zacchaeus is the richest, most well-known criminal in his town, and yet here he is humiliatingly shimmying up a tree like a child to catch a glimpse of Jesus, which tells me, at least, obviously something is going on in Zacchaeus's life. Something has made him desperate enough to risk humiliation in order to see Jesus.
[00:42:50]
He has become entrenched, totally stuck in a lifetime of bad decision making. Because you gotta think the life that he chose, it's like sure there's benefits, he's filthy rich now. It's just those benefits came at the expense of really important things in Zacchaeus' life. It came at the expense of his own self-respect. And it came at the expense of his place within the community and at the expense of true, meaningful relationships.
[00:43:34]
He obviously wants something different. He just doesn't know where to start. He doesn't even know if it's possible at this stage for him to live differently anymore. And so his desperation literally drives him up a tree, and then he goes out on a limb to see if maybe this traveling teacher named Jesus could offer him something better.
[00:44:31]
No one's ever said that to Zacchaeus. Right, like, people tried to avoid him. He's had to pay everyone he's ever had dinner with, and then here comes Jesus of all people, and he just goes, man, I really wanna get to know you. What happens is Zacchaeus becomes overwhelmed with emotion. He's shocked, he's floored, and so the first thing out of his mouth, he's like, Jesus, thank you. Like, I can't believe you wanna hang out with me.
[00:45:59]
Zacchaeus is willing to risk a lot if it means that something in his life might change. It's an over-the-top promise. How does Jesus respond to Zacchaeus' over-the-top promise of sacrifice? He responds perfectly.
[00:46:58]
Zacchaeus' sacrifice is not gonna save his soul. All right, you can't out-sacrifice Jesus. Only Jesus can do that. So his sacrifice is not gonna save his soul, but his sacrifice might save a whole lot of other stuff in his life. It might save his place within the community. It might save his social life. It might save his relationships. Zacchaeus might one day have a real dinner with a real friend if he's willing to make some huge sacrifices.
[00:49:20]
The two things Jesus does not say, he does not say that his grace pardons Zacchaeus from making any sacrifices. He also doesn't say that his grace is earned through Zacchaeus' sacrifices. Instead, he says, today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a son of Abraham. He's one of God's chosen people. In other words, Jesus looks at Zacchaeus and he goes, Zacchaeus, salvation has come to your house today because I choose to come to your house today, period.
[00:49:52]
If you wanna make things right with God, lean on my sacrifice. If you wanna make things right with everyone else, that's gonna take sacrifice on your part, not mine. The end.
[00:50:38]
He's stuck in a lifetime of really bad decision making. He's in so deep, he doesn't know how to get out anymore. He doesn't know how to move forward. And I'm willing to bet that all of us in this room experience that feeling to varying degrees in different parts of our lives. It's that thing where you look at something in your life and you know it's wrong, and you know it's destructive, and you know it's not leading you to the abundant life that Jesus promised. It's just, we don't even know how to stop anymore.
[00:51:53]
We know it's destructive to our families. We know that our kids and our spouse are gonna pay for it. We just don't know how to stop. And it feels too risky to stop. Because in every career, success breeds more responsibility. And so, your hands are full, right? And you've got all these people at work who are counting on you. And of course, your kids and spouse are counting on you too, but you know what, let's face it. They don't cut you a paycheck. They just cost money, right? And so, like, we can't slow down now. It feels too risky. It's too risky to go out on that limb.
[00:53:10]
We played it safe. We did not go out on the limb. But from our story with Zacchaeus, we saw two. Remember, first of all, we saw he went out on a limb. He looked at a crowd of people that he had cheated and defrauded, and he promised to pay them back. So the first thing we saw is he made a huge, risky sacrifice, and the second thing we saw was that Jesus did not tell Zacchaeus to take it back.
[00:55:14]
If you wanna see radical restoration in your relationships, it will require radical sacrifice on your part, not mine. That's work you've got to do. And I believe that he's still making that same challenge to us in 2025, and so a challenge for us.
[00:56:11]
The sacrifice that you made for the 35-day challenge, is it restoring broken relationships in your life? Or is it purely an exercise of self-discipline? What do I mean by that? You gave up coffee for five weeks. I'm not saying that's nothing. I'm not saying that there's no benefit to that. I'm just saying, I think the question we should ask ourselves is, is that sacrifice helping you mend stuff with your mother-in-law or whoever?
[00:56:58]
Paul is clear in Romans 12 that these sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God are sacrifices that restore and strengthen relationships in your life. And so the challenge for today, keep it up. Keep giving up sugar or coffee or Amazon Prime or whatever, but what if for the back half stretch of this 35-day challenge, what if you were to maybe add in a riskier sacrifice too, one that is holy and pleasing to your God?
[00:59:12]
Is it possible that the truth of Jesus from 2,000 years ago remains true today? The truth that if you wanna see radical restoration in your relationships, that's gonna require radical sacrifice on your part? And is it possible that if that's still true, just are you willing to go out on that limb?
[01:00:16]
Conviction, okay, conviction is a gift from your Father. Shame is a weapon of your enemy. You gotta stop getting the two things confused all of the time. When the Holy Spirit speaks up in your life, when he whispers into your ear, he says stuff like, you've got a long way to go, and I'm gonna go with you. It's beautiful, that's conviction. It could change your life if you lean into it. He never says stuff like, you've got a long way to go, and you're not gonna make it, you're too far gone. I don't know whose voice that is. It's not your Father's, because it's shame.
[01:02:06]
When I confidently say that we can drop all of our shame, I only say that confidently, because that's a truth that has been sealed by a promise and purchased at a price. 2,000 years ago, 2,000 years ago, the King of Kings, your Lord, my Savior, the Son of God Himself, man, He went out on a limb for you. 2,000 years ago, He stretched out. He allowed himself to be nailed to that chunk of wood. He literally went out on a limb for you.
[01:03:11]
Why did he go out on a limb for us? To restore us into relationship with our Father. To graft us into the historical people of God. To join you into something that, man, is bigger than you. It's bigger than what you did in college. It's bigger than what you feel shame over right now. It's bigger than you. It's bigger than your family. It's bigger than your generation. It's bigger than the era of history that we live in.
[01:03:48]
He went out on that limb to seal the promise that I hold on to, that you hold on to, that our friends and our family in Evergreen need to hold on to this morning. It is the promise that he made. No one else said this. Jesus said this when he looked at you and he said, I'm coming back one day. It's the promise he made. He said, I'm coming back. When I do, I will banish evil and suffering from this place.
[01:04:31]
He went out on that limb, because he knew. He knew that our guilt and shame would crush us. And so he mercifully put that on his back. He nailed it to a cross. Three days later, our king walked out of that tomb, alive and well and victorious. And your guilt and your shame stayed dead. Stop grave digging and pulling all that shame out of the tomb.
[01:05:40]
Shame will never motivate us to make the sacrifices, the risky sacrifices that we need to make today. It'll never motivate us. It's the only true motivation that I've found, personally, is to remember that when Jesus says, go out on a limb, you are talking to someone who went first.
[01:06:06]
May we drop all of that shame and all of that guilt. May we pick up all of that grace, all of that mercy, and may we follow our king out on a limb.
[01:06:27]
