Tree Climber

Sermon at Beecher Island Sunday School

Luke 19:1-10

by Hunter Irvine

Luke 19:1-10 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 being a short man he could not, because of 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 what was lost” (NIV).

+   Jewish tax collectors were considered “sinners,” by fellow Israelites, for good reason:
First - Roman taxing was crooked.
People in conquered territories who were not citizens were heavily taxed, whereas citizens in Rome were hardly taxed.  It was oppressive.
Second – The Roman government supported false gods.
They worshiped the many false gods, and Roman Emperor worship was even added in at times.  Though the Empire let the Jewish people worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, there was tension.
Thus Jewish tax collectors were simply considered traitors.

Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus.  His enthusiasm was so great that he ran ahead of the crowd and then climbed a tree!
I think Jesus liked that enthusiasm!  Jesus invited Himself to his home as a guest, and Zacchaeus was all for it.

Then Zacchaeus has a radical conversion.  
First he calls Jesus “Lord.”
Second he tells Jesus that he will give away half of his possessions to the poor.

Jesus knew this was more than merely excitement.  Jesus knew the faith of Zacchaeus in his heart, and Jesus declared salvation for a man who had been lost.

~   The point of this passage is that Zacchaeus turned to Jesus and gained salvation from Jesus!

+   The personal message for us is that anyone can turn to Jesus and gain salvation from Jesus!
Salvation is the mission of Jesus the Messiah!

 Two points I really want to make here:
In the conclusion of the book of Acts, Paul is teaching Jewish leaders in Rome.  There is division among the Jewish people regarding the Christian teaching of Paul.  Paul ends up telling the leaders of the Jewish people in Rome that they are not listening to the truth of God, and that he will preach to the Gentiles.
However, other apostles of Jesus still continued to reach out to the Jewish people at the same time in other countries.
The Gospel is for every person of every ethnic group on the planet, and that always includes the Jewish people whom He loves.
I personally have had friends who were Jewish Christians.

Secondly, salvation does not come from an act like giving away your possessions.  Recall the rich young ruler whom Jesus said needed to give away everything, whereas Zacchaeus said he was only going to give away half of his possessions.
The act is not the issue in salvation.  The act is a result of a changed heart.
Opening your heart to Jesus is what is needed for salvation.  Zacchaeus did!

My dear friend Walt comes to mind, because Walt liked to climb trees.  Walt and I met the first day during freshman orientation at Virginia Tech, and we have been lifelong friends.
After graduating, I was at his parent’s house in Maryland visiting one summer for two days, and his mom showed me some large trees in their backyard which Walt had climbed in his youth.  They were huge trees.  Walt said he could see all around the neighborhood from up there.
And I saw Walt climb a huge tree once when he was a graduate student.
   Walt simply enjoyed getting above the neighborhood and being able to see all around.  He was fearless about climbing those trees.

When we were studying at Virginia Tech, Walt was invited by a person in one of his classes to attend a Sunday worship service carried out by CRU which took place in a large classroom at Virginia Tech.  Walt accepted.
Then Walt started attending every Sunday.  Soon thereafter, one night, he knelt by the edge of his bed and believed in Jesus as his Savior and Lord.

He is now a special Christian man.
When I was doing college ministry in Ithaca, Walt opened his home to me.  How generous to allow me to stay with his family for over a year in his home.  That is one example of the type of person Walt is today.

   Jesus Christ saved Zacchaeus, He saved Walt, and He saved me.  And Jesus can save you!  Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the sacrifice for the wages of sin, which is spiritual death.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life with Jesus!

+   If you are not in a loving relationship with the Messiah Jesus, I invite you to give your heart to Him today.  Some hardships will continue.  Yet you will have blessings from God.  Jesus is revealed for us in the Scriptures, and you can believe in Jesus right here and now.  Jesus loves you!

God in the Flesh

Sermon at Beecher Island Sunday School

Acts 14: 8-18

9/30/18

by Hunter Irvine

+ Open in prayer.

= Acts 14: 8-18 reading by Howard

+   Paul heals a man who had never walked.
Notice how the man “jumps up!”  He really did have faith.  He had never walked, yet once healed he jumps up, I speculate with excitement and joy!

The response of the people in that town of Lystra was to think Barnabas and Paul were gods in human form.
They called Barnabas – Zeus, and they called Paul – Hermes.

Folks in the town realized a miracle had taken place, so they assume it was the work of the gods of that culture.
They quickly think Barnabas and Paul are gods.

Notice a priest of Zeus brings bulls and wreaths to sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul.  This is key!

First, as we learned in Sunday school, every four years the Greeks had the Olympiad, the Ancient Olympics, which at the core was a religious festival to Zeus.  During the Olympiad, they would sacrifice 100 bulls to Zeus, since he was not only a god, but a king of the gods.

Then they would give wreaths to the athletes who won events, which was symbolic that winners were a favorite of Zeus.  They believed those who gained victory were favorites of Zeus.

Thus by bringing bulls and wreaths, that combination, to Barnabas and Paul, it was a conviction by that priest of Zeus that Barnabas and Paul were gods in human bodies.

~   But Barnabas and Paul were not gods in human form.
And Zeus and Hermes were false gods!

+    The truth is, Jesus of Nazareth, He was fully God, and He was fully human!

He did not simply come down from heaven and slip in a body like slipping into a shell.  He was born a human baby, and could experience all of the emotions, feelings, and limitations which us human beings experience.

Jesus truly was God in the flesh!  He was God incarnate.

In my youth, I was not a Christian, but I knew about Zeus.
I knew about Zeus since I was taught about the Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle at my high school, Falls Church High School, in my Humanities class.  (I was also taught some about those philosophers at Virginia Tech and CCU.)

I remember Socrates and Plato talking about the god Zeus, and others.

But in studying those philosophers at Falls Church High School during my lunch hour, I did not have love.
Those false gods offered no love!
What a struggling high school young man needed was love!

My fourth year at Colorado Christian University, I took “Contemporary Youth Problems,” which was basically an adolescent counseling class where we learned details about youth struggles, and then learned methods for counseling.
During one class session near the end of the semester, the topic was depression in adolescents.  The professor explained that a high percentage of high school students suffer from depression, he elaborated on the subject, and then he was giving some steps for recovery.
In that class was a really mature woman who had much respect from her fellow classmates and the professor.  I vividly recall how in the midst of the discussion that mature woman told the professor about how she had suffered from severe depression in high school.  Professor Koerper asked her, “How did you get over it?”
There were a few seconds of total silence.
Then the woman said, with utter conviction, “Jesus.”

That was a great day for me at CCU, because that young woman blessed me with her testimony.  I was reminded that I needed the love of Jesus when I was at Falls Church High School.  Not having such, even though I was able to progress from high school in various manners, deep in my heart I still had hurts from high school which needed healing.  Such healing resulted after I gave my heart to Jesus in 1990.  And even now where I am blessed with the love of Jesus, I still need to rely on Him daily.
Gaining His love has resulted in salvation, and blessings which can be known on my journey in this world in the midst of smooth days and rough days by relying on the One who still loves me.

+   If you are not in a relationship with the living God, I invite you to open your heart to Jesus.
Jesus loves everyone.  There are no favorites with Jesus.
Jesus loves all people.
You can be in a relationship with Jesus if you believe in Him.
I warn you ahead of time there will be some suffering.
Yet receiving the love of Jesus results in goodness, and it results in eternal life with the living God.

Jesus, who was fully God and fully human, gave Himself as a sacrifice on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of people.  Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then He was resurrected.