After 19, Luke chapter 19, Luke chapter 19 will start with verse one and read down through verse 10. I've been attempting to work for some time through some thoughts that are connected with God's purpose and plan in bringing life to the world and how the UNI are led and directed in walking in that particular plan. Luke chapter 19 is one of those that share briefly a little bit of the background behind why I feel led to share this one, but let me begin by reading Luke chapter 19, 1-10. Now Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus and 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 he climbed a sycamore tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and he 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 the sinner.
But Zacchaeus stood up and he said to the Lord, look, Lord, here and now I give half of my possessions to the fore. 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.
Father, we pause before you because we recognize that there are many pieces of information that we have learned, that we journeyed through our understanding and our walk with you. And there's some things that will always remain a mystery. We pray, Lord, as you impress upon us, a desire to communicate your great plan of salvation through the world around us. We pray that we might begin to understand more clearly how those pieces fit together.
We commit ourselves to walking in your footsteps, Lord. We commit ourselves to being followers of you. We pray, Lord, that you would guide us in Jesus name. Last week, Connie and I went to visit our son and his family down in Lancaster, Lebanon area.
And we spent a little bit of time just seeing the house that kind of got destroyed by a truck went through the front door. And that was a little overwhelming experience for my kids and for the grandkids and all that kind of stuff. So we wanted to spend some extra time down there. I said, is there anything we can do?
I said, well, there's a storm had come through and knocked down a bunch of trees and branches. And so bring the chainsaw and we sliced it up and then we ended up having a nice little campfire and enjoying time, sitting around and joining the burning of it. It wasn't very long before it became evident that many of the trees and the branches that we were burning were sick and more trees. And I can't help it, but every time somebody mentioned sick and more tree or I see a sick and more tree, poor little Zacchaeus comes to my mind every time I do that.
Well, we spent some time not only with my son and his wife, Tracy, but Tracy's family was there as well. And if you ever realize that as a pastor, what comes with the territory is pastorally conversations. They either want to share with you what some of the things that are happening in their church, or they want to share with you some of the things happening in their church. Whether it's good, bad, ugly and different, you end up being part of this conversation.
I imagine it's like my son-in-law says when people find out he's a PA, they want to bring to them all of their medical issues. And he's not necessarily interested in diagnosing everybody and every time. I guess for those of you and social workers, counselors, when people have a problem, they come to you and they want you to kind of fix that kind of thing. We had a great time conversing in that.
But as we were cleaning up and we're burning some of the fire, it became obvious that as we're thinking about through Sycamore trees, I realized that as I was preparing today, that all came back to me, everyone has prepared me earlier, it came back to me that there's Sycamore thing. And Zacchaeus up in the tree is kind of a profound concept. As you and I think about the world around us, and we think about reaching out for people, for the Lord Jesus Christ. And we think about what is our role in all of this, and how do we go about ministering to the world around us?
I realize there's something profound about this particular story. As I was thinking about that, there are times and places that we realize, there are people right there that we don't notice, but Jesus notices. And because we're caught in the movement of the crowd, and we're caught between all of the ideas about what's involved in the church, and what's involved in reaching a world that there is quite often a Zacchaeus that sometimes gets kind of overlooked. When I was thinking of terms of the Sycamore trees around here, because when I noticed my grandkids when they mentioned about the one tree that's right there along our property is a Sycamore tree, and obviously their question is how in the world can we little man get up a big tree like that.
The Sycamore trees around here are a little bit different than at least the ones down in Lancaster, Lebanon area, and I believe they're certainly different than the kinds of trees that are over there in the land of Israel. Many of the trees over there are a lot shorter, a lot stockier, and a lot easier to climb. And some of those down in Lancaster, what we became evident as I looked at them is you can climb one of those, because those lower branches are lower to the ground. What I want to begin to touch upon is that we all know that when it comes to connecting with people, and we come to reaching out to people that are kind of checking in on Jesus.
That's what we see about Zacchaeus. He's up in the tree for one reason. He's not in the crowds for whatever reason, but he's there in the tree. And he wants to see Jesus.
He wants to have his focus on Jesus. He's not really caught up in the movement of the crowd. He's not really caught up in what seems to be happening in the big picture. He's just an individual that Jesus knows he's there.
Whether he's checking out the scene and notices or whatever, but many of the times that Jesus ministers to people in and throughout the gospels, we find that there's this Zacchaeus type of situation. There's one individual, and Jesus focuses in on the one individual, and he ministers to whatever those needs might be. We know that the Holy Spirit's power is promised to create within us, or recreate within us common ordinary individuals with the power to be a witness for the Lord. Jesus taught, he trained, he commissioned his disciples that what this life is about is going into the world and making disciples.
And the purpose of God's outpouring of his Holy Spirit is to cause us to be effective in reaching those Zacchaeuses that tend to be around us and in our lives. It is this story, just like many other salvation experience stories in the Bible, that we can discover some very important truths about our ministry calling and the gifts that God has given us to utilize. We tend to, a narrow evangelism down to, I'm going to tell you about Jesus, I'm going to give you three seconds to decide whether you want them and the show's over. And sometimes when we think in terms of outreach, we are thinking so much about a one-time conversation, a one driving question, and they take it or they leave it.
And that's not in any way the way Jesus taught, and that's not in any way I trust that we believe evangelism really is involved in. But evangelism has a lot more to do with the fact that there's a key is all around us. And when God brings that divine connection together and we realize that what God is doing, we're willing to invest in one at the risk of never reaching the 99. That whole emphasis upon evangelism sometimes has been kind of tarnished by some of the old time evangelist mentality where we're going to get everybody into one big tent and we're going to all reach them with the gospel and everybody's going to come to the altar and everybody's going to get saved.
And it's important to understand that that method is entirely a different kind of dynamic than to invest in the one man that Jesus brings into our path and we invest in his life. There's a Zacchaeus that we may have never noticed that is somewhere close to us, but we may not even be aware of it. Let's go back to Luke chapter 19 and look at verses 7 through 10 as I attempt to break this down. And I trust that we might move on from where we kind of left off a couple weeks ago, and that is the concept that the gifts that Jesus Christ has given you are not so much important that you and I understand what my gift is.
What's important is that you and I understand Jesus in you. He is the gift and how he chooses to express himself, how he chooses to minister to people, how he chooses to use you in the process is secondary. What's important is Christ in you, is your hope, is your glory, is your power, is your confidence, is your strength, is your victory, it is Christ in us. That is the gift, the gift is a person.
And when we start with a different approach to these things, we end up with a different kind of result. What's important to know is any one of us who have the presence of Christ living in our lives, we are in essence on the right track. The right path is the relationship with Christ that would continually work in us and cause us to outflow the presence of that Christ. We really preach Christ not ourselves, and that's important to understand because when we look at one particular aspect or another, many people over and over again in the few years that I've been pastoring have continually tell me, I don't have the gift.
The challenge is you have Jesus. Luke chapter 19 verses 7 and 10. All the people saw this and they began to mutter. He's gone to be the guest of the center.
For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost. It's clear that Jesus had an extra compassion, almost an out-of-balance approach to life. That people were suspicious about what he was able to do and what he was supposed to be doing because he kept on focusing on sinners. At the same time, even many of those who hung around Jesus, those that believed in him, those that followed him, those that experienced miracles him, they really didn't like the idea that Jesus is going to leave their town and go to the next town.
Regardless of what perspective we have, whether he was opposed or loved, there's something about trying to keep Jesus right here with us and not be so concerned about Jesus going out there. He was consumed with a passion and a purpose to minister and reach to sinners. Now just as in the gospel of Luke alone, we see a strong emphasis upon the same concept of going and reaching sinners. We see this internal battle of the priorities among Jesus followers.
I'm just asking you to follow along through Luke's gospel just only few accounts. Do you notice this emphasis and you could sense the tension as to what do we do with the Jesus guy? Those that loved him wanted to keep him here and those that did not like him, they said, there's his fault, there's his weakness. Luke chapter 15, 1 and 2.
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, they mutter this man, welcome sinners, and eats with them. Let's go back to Luke chapter 5 and verse 8. When Simon Peter saw, that's the miracle of catching the fish. He fell at Jesus' knees and he said, go away from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man.
Chapter 7 and verse 39. When the Pharisees who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is. She is a sinner. All through these scriptures, we can look at many others, but the one I want to touch before we jump out of here is in Luke chapter 5 verse 31 and 32.
Jesus answered them, it is not the healthy who needed to offer, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners do repentance. As we think in terms of this over-emphasis or the strong commitment to reaching out to sinners, we come as we were reminded, we think in the context of all that Christ intends to do in us and through us, and my point was a couple weeks ago, that quite often we think in terms of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit gifts. Quite often we find ourselves thinking how they work in the church, and yet the beauty is the outside the church is the emphasis that Jesus put upon.
We need to attempt to understand as we try to analyze and to understand the giftsets that are promised by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that they have a lot more to do outside the church than inside the church, but that might take us into uncomfortable territory. It might bring us to a place where we wonder about the beauty and the richness and the fullness and the real power to be witnesses into the world, but confusion is if we've become accustomed to the only conversations, the only ways that we have in terms of the world. The perfect age of scripture, the only way we would consider the beauty of the gifts is how they are manifested in the church. We must conclude one thing.
You're going to come up with a different answer. And somehow that different answer is what distinguishes between the crowd and the one-on-one Zacchaeus. That which Jesus has attempted to invest within this world is that you and I are, in essence, missionaries all called to a Zacchaeus. And by God's grace, we are able to invest in one man, that one man has a capacity to reach another.
And every one of us that understands anything about math, if you have two people the next year and four people the next year and sixteen people the next year, in twenty-five years the world gets reached for Jesus Christ. And yet somehow the crowd has changed our theology. The concept of reaching the whole world, rather than to focus on the one that God has for you and I to work with the one in which God has brought together through his divine grace and blessing. Purpose is to find and identify the Zacchaeus.
Now, when you think in terms of that, let's go to Matthew chapter 9 and verses 36 through it, 38. Matthew chapter 9 verses 36 through it. I emphasize the point because when we think in terms of the potential of what God truly wants to accomplish in us, and that is to reach into one and pour lives into one, and allow that to multiply and continue to escalate to the point of reaching the whole world, we need to humbly consider Matthew chapter 9 and what Jesus says in verses 36 and down through it, 38. When Jesus saw the crowds, noticed the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd, then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. I've always at least talked big about evangelism. I just confess that as a pastor. I've always felt that if we don't get anything else done before the end of my life, I trust that I've reached a few in the name of Jesus Christ.
And that is a whole different kind of approach, a different kind of emphasis. I know that as a church, you probably put up with a lot of emphasis on evangelism, evangelism. I can clearly remember a season in my years of ministry that I was clearly accused of being more concerned about the outsiders and the insiders. And that's difficult, is you try to process what is the right answer, what is the right concern, what is the right place I ought to be?
Some say, well that's your gift set. And obviously because you have a gift or a calling to evangelize, naturally you're going to think that way and everything else. But we think in terms of what Jesus said, what really stands in my mind when I think in terms of the harvest is plentiful, there's a conversation I had with someone who was very strong in believing that the world is our mission field. And we need to go, but he made a comment one time and I will never forget, he and all sincerity clearly said, I understand what Jesus said, but I just don't see it.
And I'm questioning whether it's really true. Now some would say, okay, Jesus might have been referring to in the land of the time he was there, the harvest was right, or we could look at that and say, wow, why have we missed it? If we're looking for the crowds, do you understand? You may not see it.
If you'll humbly get along with God and say, give me one man, you will see it. It's important to understand there's a cus in every crowd and somehow we might be tempted or drawn or compelled somehow with our driving need to reach the world, or our big concern that we're going to go and turn this thing upside down for Jesus Christ, and we're going to accomplish all this and all do that. Trust me, I left Bible college believing I was going for Al-An-Zam. And I was going to reach that city for Jesus Christ.
And through the processes of God taking me through dealing with my own issues of pride and my perception of life, I realized there's a person, one at a time, that God has called me to reach. That person, I'll simply give them the name Zacchaeus. It's important to understand there's a whole difference in strategy, there's a whole different in vision, there's a whole different interpretation, and there's certainly a whole different understanding about the power of the Holy Spirit and His gifts by recognizing it's about Zacchaeus. It's important to understand that some of us might be raised up to be the next Bill again, Graham.
Some of us might be used in reaching the masses of the multitudes, but Jesus, according to that, had a really poor success rate. It's important to recognize that his heart, his life, is poured in the few. And sometimes we can get it all out of whack. I realize that penny costs has happened, and we can try to come up with different interpretations and those kind of things.
But I'm concerned about Zacchaeus. I'm concerned about the man who really wasn't in the crowd. He wasn't following the crowd. He wasn't concerned about being part of the crowd.
He just wanted Jesus. And Jesus says, I like that. He's the one that receives the benefit. It doesn't say anything else about anybody else.
As a matter of fact, they were more concerned about Jesus. Come on, keep moving. They just dealt with a blind man who wanted to see right before that. And all his disciples said, what?
Don't bother Jesus. Don't bother the crowd. So what does a blind man do? He shouts louder.
Son of David, have mercy on me. Come on. It's about the crowd. Jesus says, I like that guy.
He says, I can use him. I just need one guy who calls him Zacchaeus number two. We'll take him and bring him into the mix and the beauty and reach the world for Jesus Christ. The point of the message today is that on the one hand, we all obviously can see the world is filled with plenty of sinners.
The question isn't so much is the world filled with sinners that still need to be saved? On the other hand, the church has been scrambling for holy ghost power for a long time. We go through histories throughout the Christian church of this emphasis and re-emphasis and more re-emphasis upon power, power, power. And so the challenge that we face isn't so much whether or not God is faithful and distributed in his power or it's not really about what our purpose is.
We understand there are still a few unspey people saved, not only in this city but every city around us and where there's not a limit of the power, but rather it is about people, whether or not we would look beyond the crowd and look for Zacchaeus because the message that Jesus has come to give is personal, it's individual, and it's important to understand Zacchaeus can easily get missed when the crowd becomes the focus of all that is happening. Return again to Luke chapter 19 as we look at verses 3 through 5. Once again Luke chapter 19 verses 3 and through 5. He, meaning Zacchaeus, wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not because of the crowd.
So he ran ahead and he climbed a sick and more fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and he said to him Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today. Jesus seems to be the only one that noticed Zacchaeus. And so we ask what can we observe from that particular portion of the story.
I believe it's safe to say that Jesus always notices every Zacchaeus. He notices those that are kind of watching from a distance, he notices those that really aren't interested in being seen, he notices individuals that have some real desire to want to know about Jesus. And it's Jesus number one priority to not miss someone who is seeking. The second thing that becomes evident is Jesus loves all who follow him.
He loves all humanity on an equal basis. But Jesus does show special emphasis upon the Zacchaeus who are looking simply for Jesus. He got to understand something. Jesus had a lot of followers who were busy trying to gain something from Jesus.
Whether that was healing or whether it was some profound teaching or whatever they wanted from Jesus, Zacchaeus seems to come with one concern. I don't want any of it. I just want Jesus. It's important for you and I to recognize the beauty of the potential of reaching the world is to understand there are some out there.
They may not appear to be overly excited about Jesus, but they're not really interested in what they can get out of the deal or what they can take without paying for or anything else. They just want to know if the guy's real, I want to know Jesus. It's important to understand that throughout the history of the church, we haven't always gotten the greatest reputation. We've got the hospitals are afraid of us.
We've got social workers afraid of us. We've got the schools afraid of us. We've got the whole world afraid of the church because something other than Jesus has been lifted up. There's been a lot of bad things that have happened and rightly so.
We have a world that's backing off and we might have a tendency to think, well, the world's the problem. What you and I must humbly acknowledge is the world is our mission field. When we think about all of the history of the church and how it is delighted and being separate from the world and being distinct from the world, it is delighted in one thing or another we must recognize that Zacchaeus is one that Jesus recognizes. He knows the need but he also knows the motive and the desire in which Zacchaeus has come.
The third thing is that Jesus can discern between someone who is ready to be a disciple and someone who enjoys following the craft. That's so important because just as Jesus speaks so much about reaching the lost, he does not minimize at all some of the strongest and boldest statements about leaving everything to be a follower of Jesus are in the Gospel of Luke. So that's important as Zacchaeus is not only a person who wants Jesus but when they see Jesus they literally must collect the thing to be a disciple. So it's important to understand the beauty of what is taking place there.
I realize we do a lot of outreach, we do a lot of ministry trying to reach into the hurts and struggles in a life but I trust that we would understand that Zacchaeus, the one that is our potential keenly to reaching so many parts of the world is someone who would simply want Jesus and they want to give the guy away. They want to live this life and to share this life and redoopically this life and to offer that life to others. Fourth thing is Zacchaeus is not in the crowd, he's above the crowd and that's important to understand that Jesus makes it very clear that not everyone who is ready and willing to is always ready and willing to truly be a disciple and that's what we need to look at. We need to try to understand that it would be a shame that we identify Zacchaeus and then we don't disciple the guy.
It's hard sometimes to try to understand the unique connection between the existing church and the ministries involved in the church and then the ministry of reaching out into the world they're not supposed to be disconnected, they're supposed to be brought together and that's where a lot of our gifts that I believe that God has given us are so that you and I can be a church on wheels, that you and I can be a minister without necessarily worrying about whether we have credentials, that we are people that are constantly able to share about Jesus Christ wherever we are, wherever we go and to however we run into is that you and I have learned to understand that the secret of everything we capture within the four walls of this church is to be transferred into the four different directions we go in life and as we understand the beauty, the richness of the gospel, particularly the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are constantly bringing together and finding and experiencing the presence of God so that we might leave this place in the power of the Holy Spirit. What will really distinguish in the gift sets is to attempt to understand that those that are in the social work you've got in the door and the pastor has a big sign that says stay out. The church is not allowed into the schools, it's not allowed into there but you can imagine if we all have Jesus in us, Jesus is going to school. We can worry about prayer thrown out, we can worry about the Bible reading thrown out and yet we realize Jesus is going with us because he lives within us.
You can imagine in the workplace if I called up the company and said can I have a Bible study in your company they might say yeah but you are already in the door. He's the keyist, he's on the left, he's on the right, he's up in the tree, he's not necessarily following the crowd, he's not making a whole lot of Jesus noise, he simply is curious, is there really a Jesus, that's what I want to see, that's what we need to say. And so we think of terms of outreach, we think of terms of reaching the world, it's important to understand Jesus already lives within us and you and I are called to go forth in his name not to simply get him back into the crowd, it's to show them Jesus and teach them how to give Jesus away and let the church be on wheels. Let's turn back to Luke chapter 10 verses 1-7, Luke chapter 10, some of these thoughts you might say well that's here, you're really on the stretching it here a little bit but anyway Luke chapter 10, 1-7, Luke chapter 10, 1-7.
Now after this the Lord appointed 72 others and he sent them 2 by 2 ahead of him to every town in place where he was about to go, notice he sent them before he got there, he told them the harvest is plentiful, then he said that somewhere else but the workers are few, the workers are few, ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest go I am sending you out like lambs among wolves but it was fun until then, do not take a purse or bag or sandals and do not greet anyone on the road, well that's challenging, when you enter a house first say peace to this house, if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him, if not it will return to you, stay in that house eating and drinking, whatever they give you for the workers deserves his wages, do not move around from house to house, one of the most profound things about evangelism is usually we go and we go ready to leave, we ask the questions, they don't answer them correctly, we assume they don't want Jesus, whereas Jesus taught a whole different strategy and approach to allowing the Holy Spirit to be in work in our lives, he's sending us, he's commissioning us to be involved in the lives of people and it's interesting that when you find a man of peace, you picture gently, what's important about evangelism is evangelism is not a decision to change the way a person thinks, it's a decision to be a follower of the person of Jesus Christ, it's a whole new way of living, a whole new way of thinking and it's inviting the Succiuses to be the place in which you will invest in one house, in one person's life, so much more than attempting to try to save the whole world, I'm not minimizing the importance of saving the world, what I am not saying is that we are not coming to the outreach events, we are simply going to be there and we search through the crowds to pick them, they're simply right beside you at the workplace, they're right beside you, sometimes in our own homes, we say I got a wife, I got a husband, she just doesn't want anything to do with Jesus, well the beauty is they can be as a cius, they're just waiting for us to live for Jesus Christ and that begins to open up a whole new world, what's important is it's a lot more challenging to reach one than it is to get the multitudes moving, if we keep looking at the crowds or our goal is to get the cius to follow the crowd, we will end up with a whole different strategy and approach to that ministry particularly when it comes to evangelism, how can we recognize the cius, I think that's important to try to understand what we have to work with, if the harvest is planful and we can't see it or I've got Christian brothers who clearly say it can't be true because all I run into is people say don't hear it, don't tell me about it, I'm done, we've all been through that, as a matter of fact that's good for us a few doors slamming our face because it helps us decide whether we're commissioned by Jesus Christ or we're kind of on our own little agenda, we're on our own little agenda, it's great as long as the agenda continues to work, but if you and I understand the commission and authority that's come through Jesus Christ, that'll give you a whole different outlook on this concept of finding the cius, quite often is we're so concerned about saving this person, we lose sight of that person up in the tree, the harvest is plentiful, it's more about a vision problem than it is whether or not we got power to accomplish this great purpose in glory, it's a matter of whether or not you can see the opportunities and you and I are willing to say, God, you direct me, you leave me, the other challenge is that we would like Jesus to show us that Jesus is He is the kius on day one, we don't want to race through preparing how we're going to share the gospel and how we can get our character in order and get our lives turned completely upside down, we just want Jesus to connect us with automatic conversions, that's not really what He ever intended to do, that's what the sheep among the wolves and all that rest is all about, it's important to know that the field is white unto harvest, at the same time the crowds are going to eat you alive, you and I need to grasp the importance that there's not many who really want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, but that doesn't minimize the harvest field, what magnifies the harvest field is that you and I are willing to keep looking forward, trusting and believing, there's a kius and God's going to show me one day, He's going to trust to me somebody's soul and eternal destiny, He's going to commit that person so that I might speak into their life and there is the power of the Holy Spirit gifts, He's that God hasn't enabled us, regardless of whether they are highly educated or no education at all, there are the gifts of communicating to levels whatever they are and in places whatever they are and backgrounds whatever they are and all kinds of challenges that go together with evangelism, the Holy Spirit's power enables you and I to be effective in reaching and grounding a kius for the next generation. Luke chapter 18 verse 13, I want to dare take a risk because I realize some would say faster, now you've really lost it, Luke chapter 18 and verse 13, but the tax collector stood at a distance, he would not even look up to heaven, but he beat his breast and said God have mercy on me, I said, I have found that the kius does not struggle with the fact he's a sinner and sometimes we try to share with people and we find sometimes a lot of arrogance, a lot of certain views and mindsets and attitudes and somehow we get on the Jesus wagon, here we go, I got a good debate, I'm going to convince them the truth, I'm not sure if you realize after a while, it took me several years in ministry to realize that wasn't quite the strategy, I did find that when God has a kius for me, the person's like Clay, they're not into debating about whether or not they sin big or sin little, they are just right for the pickers, you and I need to understand the kius that are going to change this world or the people that they are not running around with their head up here, they are so pliable and ready, just tell me about Jesus because I've heard he forgives all sin, it is such a precious thing when I have somebody ask me, do you mean tell me Jesus has paid for every single sin I've ever committed, I said yes that's the gospel, that's the kius, it's important to know that that you may not see very common in the church, but you definitely will find it outside the church, it's not what you typically find in the crowds, it's what you find somebody who's ashamed to hang with the crowds, they're watching from a distance, they believe in God, they believe in God's grace, they've heard about his love, they just never had anybody bolded up or courageous enough or humble enough to say I want to tell you about Jesus, people are getting missed over left pushed aside, getting back to our campfire, this is the story of the sycamore of the branches, I've got a family member who's listening to the whole conversation, never says a word until later on I went for another cup of coffee and I didn't know he followed me but he told me that's what I want, why didn't he speak up in the crowd, why didn't he say here I am, it's because the kiuses are all around us and other people are missing the beauty of a desperate crying heart and somehow we keep trying to save the whole crowd, we keep trying to reach the ones that are seemingly reachable, it's the kius, the one, we don't have to battle, we don't have to struggle, sinners know they're sinners, broken people know they're broken, they don't need a lecture, they don't need a whole bunch of ideas and theological views, they just want to know, do you mean to tell me, there's a savior who will pay, who has paid for all my sin and I can't be free, it's important to know that as we continually communicate the gospel and the grace of Jesus Christ, the beauty of the zakius is one who's probably up in the tree, he's kept himself distant from the temple, he's afraid to lift his head high, he said God be merciful to me a sinner, there's someone you can lead, there's someone you can take them, the second thing is found in Luke chapter 6 and verses 46 through 48, Luke chapter 6, 46 through 48, a second characteristic that seems to stand out among a zakius, say one in which God has graciously placed in our direction so that we can reach the rest of the world is here, why you call me Lord Lord and not and do not do what I say, I will show you what he's like, who comes to me and here's my words and puts them in the practice, he's like a man building a house who dug down deep and he laid the foundation of rock, when a flood came the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well-being, built, the second thing that clearly stands out as I've noticed about individuals that acknowledge their sinfulness is they also acknowledge but there's a right way to live, I had had more people challenging me from different motives and different ideas, do you mean to tell me a person can live like they're on a highway now, pray a sinner's prayer and bingo they end up in heaven on the day they die, I said yes that's true, but sinners understand that's not right, when people come, as if he has comes to you, they don't want chief answers, they want to know how they can give their life on rock, they want to know can Jesus save you and make my family strong again, can Jesus do something in my life and give me hope, give me stability, give me security, give me peace, as a kias, is willing to come to a place where he's ready to be the cycle, he wants to know that path, he wants to see clearly, he wants to walk in that path, those in the crowds, it's sad, they believe it's all paid for and they go with the flow, they go with the currents, but they're not interested in being shown any different way of living, it's important to know, there's plenty of kias around, we write them off many times because they don't answer our questions the right way, they don't seem to speak up at the right time, you ask them if they want to go to heaven and they think they're afraid because they're ashamed, they're overwhelmed with such a sense of guilt that they believe it, I can earn it, maybe I can get it, but as for now I can't earn it and I really don't believe a worthy of salvation, it's a kias that isn't going to tell you that publicly, but private, if you pour into the light, if you listen to their heartbeats, you commit yourself through God's grace and the power will always be, what am I going to say to this person who's ready to be led and directed? One thing about the kias is we find that as soon as Jesus invites him to his house, he goes to the bank, he gets out his debit card, he swipes it once, he swipes it twice, he said Jesus, you can have it all, it's important to recognize, that is a kias is willing to realize that if Jesus is half as true as he claims to be, I literally would give up everything, we might say pastor, but that's what happens when we grow up and we become mature and strong in Jesus Christ, we could argue that one round and round but remember the day, when I wanted Jesus, I had given up everything and I'm telling you I've met the kias throughout the years, they understand right from the gift of following Jesus is something they literally would sell everything to follow, the challenge we face is we keep looking at the crowd, we're gonna have to spend a lot of time trying to sway and convince and move to the crowd to try to get the current turning, it's the kias will change the world because he's so hungry, he's so receptive, he's so desirable, he's so ready in the hands of the master, I trust we get back to the sweetness of our first love with Jesus Christ, no doubt that if you've had a real genuine solid commitment to Jesus Christ, you remember the day when you came to faith, you had cast it all in, there's the evidence, the evidence is we have somehow found ourselves possibly in the sway of the crowd, we dance to the music of our tunes, we find ourselves delighting in the benefits of Christianity and we lose sight of the person and the beauty that there are people, not so much wanting to come and join us as a group, they just want Jesus. Father forgive us in the journey of life to overlook some of the richness of what you called us to do, we pray Lord that we wouldn't feel overwhelmed and guilty for not saving the whole world, but we pray Lord we be humble enough and believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to use us to reach the kias, we know O God that as you transform our lives and you commission us to be sent and to go, we pray that we wouldn't make the gospel easier, we'd simply recognize the importance of us taking a stand and being more courageous for you, Lord, teach us to trust that as we go you'll fill us up and you'll send us out in Jesus' name, God bless you, have a great day.