Seeing Beyond Labels: The Transformative Power of Grace

so he hurried and came down and he received him joyfully and when they saw it they all grumbled he has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord behold Lord half of my goods a gift of the poor and if I have defrauded anyone of anything I restore to it fourfold and Jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house since he is also a son of Abraham for the son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost what happens when Jesus sees you now I can tell you throughout my life I've overlooked [00:01:22] (40 seconds)


This is the amazing ability of Jesus to actually see people for who they are. You see, do we really see our community? Do we really see the people that we may be alike or maybe we're not alike? Zacchaeus was totally different from the religious leaders that we see that have gathered the crowd. He was totally different than Jesus. He was totally different from the Romans that he worked for, and he was totally different from the people that he was born into, the Jewish community. He was truly different from everybody. [00:03:35] (34 seconds)


You see, people often will even label themselves and speak into their own identity, but Jesus doesn't do that. He sees the person. How was Zacchaeus labeled? Well, there's a couple things that the text says. He was a man who was small stature. He was not liked by either the Jews or the Romans. Why? He was a chief tax collector, and here's the label that was put on him. The Jews did not like him because he was someone who was Jewish, who was of a Jewish origin. [00:06:22] (31 seconds)


Yet Jesus does more than see him. He gives him his attention and he gives him the gift of presence. He says, Zacchaeus, I see you come down from that tree that he was in. The second thing I want you to see in this small study is this, is that one interaction with Jesus. takes one interaction with Jesus can change a person's life. We're going to see this in verses seven through eight. You'll notice in here, he doesn't say I'm not a sinner at all. The people recognize Zacchaeus as a sinner, a chief tax collector. [00:07:13] (37 seconds)


And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, he doesn't negate the fact that he is a sinner. He says, behold, Lord, the half of my goods, I give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. He simply confesses who he is to the Lord. This one interaction with Jesus has changed this whole man's understanding of what his life is. He begins to live a life in a posture of repentance. [00:08:18] (30 seconds)


Repentance is not just a one -time action. It's a posture before Jesus. And as we go through this life, we're all being sanctified. reasons that we're doing this study is because we want to develop maturing believers of Christ who walk through a discipleship pathway as we're gathered to be equipped, we're scattered to go into the world, and as we come to Christ, deny ourselves, and follow after Him, then we have this posture of discipleship in front of Him, always being sanctified. [00:08:48] (29 seconds)


But what does true repentance look like in your life and in my life? Well, it means restitution and a turning back from known sin. When there is known sin in my life, Zacchaeus says, I will give back what I have defrauded, and that's repentance. It's not just saying you're sorry. for something. It's actually a life turn in your life coming to Christ. [00:09:17] (27 seconds)


But a second act is the ability or the humility to continue to address unknown sin. Maybe many of you have been believers in Christ for a while, and I believe that as you grow in your maturity in Christ, what a world needs to see is humble people of God who are always addressing the sin in their life, even the unknown sin. We want people to come to Christ. What's over, I am praying and hoping for a culture of invitism to re -invite people to come to Jesus. We invite people to come. [00:09:44] (37 seconds)


One of the heartbeats of a growing, maturing follower of Christ is that maturing follower of Christ wants other people to come to Christ. The third thing that we're going to see from this passage is this, is that you and I, we have been called in the same calling of Jesus to seek and to save that which is lost. And Jesus said to them, today salvation has come to this house since he is. also a son of Abraham. He is a true Jewish man. He is a true follower of Jesus. For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. [00:10:35] (38 seconds)


I never told Aaron about my Jesus. I don't know where Aaron is now. Lost touch with him. Can't find him on Facebook. But I will tell you, I didn't take opportunity to really see Aaron for what he needed and to see Chi for what he needed. What about the people that you are coming in contact with? It's not guilt. It's not wearing a burden for the loss, but it's having a heart that breaks for those who truly need to be known and seen by Jesus. [00:12:17] (36 seconds)


So this week too, I pray you have some discussion about what it really means to see people come to Jesus and maybe even yourself coming to Jesus. We all have an Aaron in our life. We all have a Zacchaeus in our life. life. It's a great opportunity now to invite them to Jesus. [00:13:05] (19 seconds)