Rewriting Our Stories: Zacchaeus and New Beginnings

``Because Jesus sees something in Zacchaeus that others can't see, Zacchaeus is transformed and through his generosity then becomes a benefactor to the poorest of the poor in Jericho. Jesus offers him a brand new story, and so the wealthiest man in town gives half of his wealth to the poor. He declares that he will pay back four times if he has defrauded anyone. Zacchaeus, in that moment is transformed. His story is rewritten. [00:48:11] (36 seconds)  #RewrittenStory

So some things that intrigued me about this story is that the crowd had written Zacchaeus' story, but Jesus could see a different story playing out for Zacchaeus. The crowd locked him into who he had been. Jesus could see him for who he might become. The crowd, for them the story was finished. This is who Zacchaeus is. He's never gonna change. We all hate him. Jesus saw that he could have a chance to begin again. [00:47:34] (37 seconds)  #BeyondLabels

I want you to remember that Jesus is one of your balcony people. Jesus sees you and wants you to know that he sees a different story than the one that maybe you're writing yourself. And we are also called to be balcony people for others, especially those closest to us. You know, sometimes it's easy to be an encourager for people we're not around twenty four seven, but those closest to us sometimes need us to be balcony people for them. [00:54:29] (31 seconds)  #BeABalconyPerson

And all it takes all it takes is for Jesus to see him not for who he had been, but for who he was underneath and who he could become. Now, we all carry stories that others have written for us. We all carry those stories. Maybe maybe you were labeled early on as the black sheep of the family or the troublemaker or the failure, the disappointment. [00:49:12] (29 seconds)  #RewriteYourNarrative

And not only was Zacchaeus a tax collector, but he was the chief tax collector. So not only did he skim personally, but he got a cut of all the tax collectors under him. He was wealthy, perhaps the wealthiest man in town. He was a traitor to his own people. Zacchaeus was a villain to the people in his own town. [00:43:56] (26 seconds)  #FromVillainToRedeemed

Just today, this morning, this isn't in the script because it happened like thirty minutes ago, someone came up to me and said, you did something really really well and I want you to know that I noticed. How hard was that to do and yet it made a huge difference for me in my morning and how it was going? Somebody kinda said to me, I'm in your bleachers when they said that to me. [00:55:50] (27 seconds)  #SmallPraiseBigImpact

The author of this book, Joyce, she tells a story about a grandson that she was watching one day, little kid at that time, maybe a toddler age. And the kid heard this garbage truck make this huge loud screeching sound right outside the door, and he and he quickly went to his grandmother and said, hug, hug. And by the way he said it, she knew he meant hurry, hurry. And she wrapped him up in her arms and she said, I found myself wallpapering his little body to mine. [00:56:18] (36 seconds)  #WallpaperedWithLove

The most hated man in all of Jericho, the villain reviled by everyone in the city, that's the person Jesus decides he wants to stay with and be hosted by that night. And isn't that just like the Lord? [00:47:12] (23 seconds)  #ChooseTheOutcast