Look Up
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Look Up
by K. Lewis
Hey family. K. Here. I wanted to talk to you for a few minutes today about something the Lord showed me during a group Bible study I was doing with a few ladies. We were talking about judgement as we went through Romans chapter 2, and in our discussion, I was immediately reminded me of the story of Zacchaeus that’s found in Luke 19:1-10.
Zacchaeus was an outcast from the Jewish race; probably disowned by his family, because of his chosen profession as a tax collector. In fact, he wasn’t just your average tax man. He was one of the head tax collectors in the region, meaning, he was probably more crooked than the regular tax collectors, def richer, and so definitely just as hated as the rest, if not more so, than the rest.
Zacchaeus, like many in the days of Jesus had a curiosity about Him, he heard about the amazing and unbelievable things that Jesus had done. When he heard that Jesus was close, he joined the crowd; just to get a glimpse of Him. However, because Zacchaeus was vertically challenged, he was having trouble seeing Jesus over the crowds. As the supervisor of the tax collectors, he had to have been a smart man, an innovator, and he used that innovation on that day that changed his life. He ran ahead of everyone and climbed a tree in order to get a glimpse of Jesus as He passed by. He just wanted a glimpse, but he got so much more.
I feel the Lord saying that there are many Zacchaeus’s in the trees, and that they have been left there. We have passed them by. Today, instead of a physical tree, it’s a spiritual cry for God to see them and for them to see God, but their cries, their efforts are ignored. Why? Because we, as the Body of Christ, are not looking up! People have a curiosity about Jesus; about the things we profess that He can do, but they can’t see over the crowds of US, the Church. We are blocking their way to seeing Jesus.
HOW? Two ways that I can see, although there are probably more. The first is JUDGEMENT. It’s like we’re saying, “I’m sorry. I can’t show you Jesus right now. I’m too busy judging your lifestyle to show you the love and kindness that’s needed to help you consider the only One that can help you change your lifestyle.” The second is BUSYNESS. It’s like we’re saying, “I know you need Jesus, but I’ve got a million other things to do right now, and not a lot of time to do them in, so I’ll get to you another time, and another time, and another time, and…”. Well, you get my point. We never get to them.
Yet, like Zacchaeus, they innovate. People really do want God’s attention. It’s His breath in all of us that give us life, so there is something in all of us that is crying out for Him. Zacchaeus climbed a tree. There are people who God placed in your life, on your job, in your line at the grocery store, in your physics class, in your sphere of influence, and He put them there because you were designed to hear them cry out for Him, to see them in the trees trying to get Jesus’ attention. How many times have we felt the Lord telling us to go up to strangers in the grocery store and tell them about Jesus or ask them if they need prayer or pay for their groceries, and we ignored Him? Those people were in the trees! Outwardly they may have looked calm, collected, uninterested, frustrated, even angry, but on the inside, they were up in the tree, trying to get God’s attention. They were ready to be noticed by Him and you were the one called to do the introductions.
When Jesus stopped at the tree, He called Zacchaeus down and invited Himself over to Zacchaeus’s house. What! A Jew wanted to go to the house of a tax collector, an outcast? Yes! He did! And, He still does! Do we ignore our neighbor because he drinks too much? Do we bash our niece who has declared themself nonbinary and won’t answer to certain pronouns? Have we disowned and abandoned our children who have “come out of the closet”? Do we avoid that co-worker with the short skirt or the one that cusses too much? Jesus wouldn’t! He sees their heart. He sees them crying out in the depths of their souls for something, anything to ease their pain, give them hope, and bring them peace. Because we ignore them, the world answers, and instead of finding love and community in the Body of Christ, they find it in the world.
Church, look up and hear the heart of Zacchaeus. Go to where he is, his territory, his comfort zone, with his friends and his family, and do what Jesus did. The King James Version says that Jesus told Zacchaeus, “Today, I must abide at thy house.”
The word “abide” in the Greek means to stay; not to depart; to continue to be present; to be held and kept continually.
The word “house” in the Greek means house (lol). It is the place where one has “fixed his residence or settled in their abode.
The Lord was not just telling Zacchaeus, I’m going to go where you are, where you live, He was saying, “Zacchaeus, come down from that tree; you no longer have to cry out in your heart for Me. I’m here, I’m coming with You. From this day forward, I’m never going to leave you. I am going to live in you and become your fixed residence. I will be the place where you live now.
The Jews, the leaders of that day reviled Jesus for having anything to do with Zacchaeus, the crook. They didn’t see what Jesus saw: a son of God who wanted God. We must be brave like Jesus was brave. He didn’t care what people thought of Him when He ate with tax collectors, crooks, rejects. Their heart cry for God was more important than His reputation. We must be brave! If they Church talks about you for hanging out with your neighbor, the drag-queen, so what! That person is hanging out with you because they want to get a glimpse of Him. Give it to them!
And one last thing. Remember, don’t lead with judgement. Jesus didn’t look at Zacchaeus and start telling him to stop cheating and stealing or he would go to hell. He led with love, kindness, and acceptance. Invited Himself into this man’s territory, and what did love and kindness motivate Zacchaeus to do on his own? Change the things he was doing wrong. Love can win if we take time out of our busy schedules to look up, withhold judgement, and accept people where they are.