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 because he was short he could not see over 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 the lost.” (Luke 19:1-10 NIV)
There are no better stories than stories of lost and found. I read the story of a family in Florida who decided not to evacuate before Hurricane Ian. As the winds howled and the waters rose, the family had to climb up into their attic. Then the man suddenly remembered his 84-year-old mother. She is wheelchair bound and lives nearby. The man climbed out the window and waded to her house. When he got there, he found his mother sitting in four feet of water, with just her head barely poking up above the water. He was just in time! Can you imagine the relief of that old woman to see her son? Lost and found. There is no better feeling than being lost and found.
It’s just not always as obvious as that. There are some types of “lost” that are easy to spot. A grandmother up to her neck in water. A man addicted to drugs or alcohol. A young lady struggling with her mental health. There are some types of “lost” that are easy to spot. But it’s not always as obvious as that. The Bible describes another kind of “lost”: Being spiritually lost. Drowning in doubts and fears. Addicted to sins and pride. That’s lost too. Lost in sin. Maybe we haven’t all been lost in a hurricane, but we’ve all been lost. It’s just not always easy to see.
Like Zacchaeus. You’ve heard of Zacchaeus. This is actually the only place in the Bible where Zacchaeus is mentioned. But he’s got a song. You know the song, right? “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.” He doesn’t sound lost. He sounds kind of cute, doesn’t he? A wee little man? Luke gives us a better description. Zacchaeus was “a chief tax collector and was wealthy.” He had two things that every man wants: Power and Money. He was the boss, and he was rich. The chief!
It sounds like he had everything he needed, doesn’t it? He sounds like someone we’d be jealous of. “I want that!” Except for one thing: He was in a tree. How many CEOs have you seen in trees lately? He was surrounded by wealth. Surrounded by power. Surrounded by a crowd of people. But lost. Lost can look a lot of different ways, can’t it? A stay-at-home mom who feels she has no purpose. A doctor who saves others but can’t save himself. A pastor who preaches but silently struggles to believe. A quarterback who gets praise from millions but loses his family. It can look like you have it all going for you on the outside, and yet you can still be lost. That’s hard.
In 1982, a wealthy businessman decided to build a beach house on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It wasn’t just any old beach house. It was a hurricane-proof beach house. He went all out! He did research and hired architects and tested new prototypes. He picked the best design and built it on the beach. Hurricane-proof! Can you guess where that house is now? After Ian, it’s somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. Why? The house was strong, but the beach under it eroded away.
Isn’t that often the story of our lives? We can put in so much effort and time and energy into building our appearance or building our careers or building our families or building our houses. Yet, somehow, it can still feel like the water is up to our necks. Like the foundation is slipping away. Because we need more. Every one of us was created with a deep need for God. To be filled by God. To be close to God. To be loved by God. And when our sins catch up to us, when we feel separated from God, it’s a terrible feeling. Like it’s all crashing down. Like we’re lost.
Just look at Zacchaeus’ desperation. He runs to get ahead of the crowd. How often do you see wealthy businessmen run? He climbs a tree. He was that lost! He was so desperate that he hoped even a glimpse of this Jesus guy might help him feel better. He just hoped he could see him. But Jesus gave him so much more than he was expecting: “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.” Just a glimpse? How about dinner together?
This lesson teaches us one of the greatest lessons of the Bible: Jesus loves short people. That’s really true! But there’s something even greater: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Imagine how the story should have ended: “Zacchaeus walked home alone, like usual, and said to Mrs. Zacchaeus: ‘Well, I got to see Jesus today. He was about twenty feet away, walking right past me.” That’s how you’d expect it to end. Like every story of when you’ve tried to see a famous person. “We stood on our tiptoes and got a glimpse of…” Cool. Neat.
What made Zacchaeus’ story different? Jesus. What makes the story so special isn’t what Zacchaeus did. It’s what’s Jesus did. He didn’t just walk by. “He looked up.” And he didn’t just smile and nod. He said, “Zacchaeus.” Isn’t that amazing? Jesus knew his name. And then Jesus invited himself over to Zacchaeus’ house. That lost man didn’t find Jesus. Jesus found him. Can you see the difference? As hard as Zacchaeus was trying to find Jesus, Jesus was actually seeking him. As lost as Zacchaeus felt, Jesus knew him. Jesus loved him. Jesus picked him out of the crowd. What do you call that? Grace. Grace is Jesus’ undeserved love for the unlovable.
And the people hated it. Does that surprise you? “All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’” Who grumbled? “All the people…” Why? We hate grace. Did you know that? By nature, we hate grace. Do you know why? Grace means you’re not better than anyone else. Grace means you can’t boast about what you do. Grace means you can’t look down on other people. What do we really like doing? Thinking we’re better than other people (especially the sinners). Boasting about what we do (so much more than they do!). Looking down on everyone who isn’t up to our standards. Our sinful natures hate grace.
Here’s a question that comes up often: “God isn’t really going to let bad people like ______ into heaven, is he?” What’s implied? “I’m better than they are! I deserve it more than they do. God better reward me for being so good!” Whenever any of those thoughts pops in our head, what don’t we understand? Grace. Grace is God’s undeserved love for all. Do you know whom people in Jesus’ day would have put on that blank? “God isn’t really going to let bad people like ______ into heaven, right?” Tax collectors. They thought tax collectors were the worst! So whom did Jesus come to seek and save? Tax collectors. To show it’s all by grace. Do you understand?
I once heard someone ask, “Is a Christian church more like a country club or a rescue station?” What’s the difference? A country club is a place for people on the inside. For people in the club. It’s clean. And nice. Filled with your friends. No riff-raff. No troublemakers. What’s a rescue station like? Dirty. Smelly. Chaotic. Full of all sorts of worn-out people. Blood. Which are we always tempted to make our church into? A country club, right? Nice. Clean. People we know. No sinners! Which does Jesus call us to be? A rescue station. A church is a rescue station. A hospital. A place for the broken and the sick and the sinner—like us!—to be found by Jesus.
Why? Because “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost!” If you came last week, I hope you notice an incredible irony in God’s Word. Last week, Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:25). It’s completely impossible for a rich person to get to heaven on their own. So what does Jesus do in the very next chapter of the Bible? He searches for the richest man around and saves him. Isn’t this like classic God? This is our God of grace! No matter what has separated you from God, whether it’s money or self-righteousness, Jesus seeks and saves the lost by grace.
Zacchaeus recognized that. God had done something for him that completely changed his life. So he said, “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.” Last week, Jesus commanded the rich man to give his possessions to the poor, but he refused. This week, Jesus didn’t command anything at all, and rich Zacchaeus gave half of his possessions to the poor. What’s the difference? God’s grace. “He knows my name? He loves me? He forgives me? Wow!” Country club members pay their dues. People who’ve been rescued live changed lives.
Like Lauren. A couple weeks ago, we heard an update from our national church body about the new “100 in 10” initiative. Remember that? Our Wisconsin Synod hopes to start 100 new mission churches in the next 10 years. On that video, we met a lady named Lauren. She described her messed-up life. She had searched for peace in everything, especially in alcohol. Until Jesus found her. Jesus used a mission church to seek her and find her. When she was asked what Jesus’ salvation meant to her, she said, “It’s life-changing, obviously.” I loved the word “obviously.” That’s a rescued person speaking. Lost and found. “It’s life-changing, obviously!”
“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 the lost.” Can you imagine Jesus saying those words at your house? He does. Jesus knows your name. Jesus can pick you out of any crowd. Jesus calls to you: “I want to spend time with you.” Jesus forgives you for everything. Jesus saves you. He saves you for a life dedicated to him and for eternal life with him. Jesus does all that for you too.
Why? At the start of our lesson, we heard that “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.” That sounds simple enough. But it’s not. Do you know where Jesus was going? Do you know the next stop on the road after Jericho? Jerusalem. The next story in Luke is Palm Sunday. Jesus was passing through Jericho so he could die on the cross for us. So he could rise from the dead for us.
Why? That was his rescue mission. “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
That means this church is a rescue station. Look around. Every single person here was lost and now is found. Every single person in this room is a sinner saved by God’s grace. That gives us humility. That gives us courage. That makes us generous. That gives us purpose. What are we to do? Seek and save the lost. Remember, the lost don’t always look like the lost. From the stay-at-home mom who feels she has no purpose to the man struggling with alcohol. From the doctor who saves others but can’t save himself to the young lady struggling with her mental health. Jesus is seeking them. Let’s seek them too. Every single one of us is a living, breathing story of the grace of God. Lost and found. There are no better stories than stories of lost and found!
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