Pursuing the Clarity of the Gospel October 11, 2009

Pursing the Clarity of the Gospel

Luke 19:1-10
Sunday Morning
October 11, 2009
Church in the Boro
Rob Wilkerson

Introduction

We’re doing a series on the vision of Church in the Boro. And to review, our vision is this:
Church in the Boro is pursuing the humility, simplicity, clarity, liberty, charity, unity, and
integrity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Last week we observed what it meant for our church to pursue the simplicity of the gospel.
In short, the simple gospel is this: Jesus Christ came to forgive sins. That’s the message He
sent His disciples out with, according to Luke 24. And that’s the message we go out with
here at Church in the Boro.

In our review of what this forgiveness of sins looks like, we discovered in Luke 15 that it
looks like Jesus going out with an intention to find what was lost. You’ll recall that there
were three stories there. The first was about a shepherd who’d lost one of his 99 sheep.
So he leaves the other 99 behind and goes out and finds that one, brings it back rejoicing,
and then calls his neighbors over to have a party to celebrate the fact that he found it.

In the second story, there’s this woman who lost some of her money. So she is portrayed
sweeping and dusting and cleaning every nook and cranny in the house until she finds the
lost money. So joyful over the fact that she found it, she calls her neighbors and friends
over and throws a party to celebrate.

In the third story, there’s a father with two prodigal sons. One of them stays with him,
while the other takes his share of the inheritance and squanders it on wicked living. He
comes to his senses, wants to be taken back by his dad as a hired hand, walks home, and
suddenly finds himself in the arms and embrace of his dad who just ran out to meet him.
So overjoyed at finding his son, the dad throws a huge party and celebrates this son of his
who was lost and now was found.

So this is how Luke portrays our Savior: looking for what He’s lost, finding it, rescuing it,
bringing it back home with Him, and celebrating that He found it. So Luke offers us another
story in chapter 19 with Zaccheus the wee little man. Let me read the story to you briefly
from the Good News Bible.

Jesus went on into Jericho and was passing through. There was a chief tax
collector there named Zacchaeus, who was rich. He was trying to see who
Jesus was, but he was a little man and could not see Jesus because of the
crowd. So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree to see
Jesus, who was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to that place, he
looked up and said to Zacchaeus, "Hurry down, Zacchaeus, because I must
stay in your house today." Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed him with
great joy. All the people who saw it started grumbling, "This man has gone

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as a guest to the home of a sinner!" Zacchaeus stood up and said to the

Lord, "Listen, sir! I will give half my belongings to the poor, and if I have
cheated anyone, I will pay back four times as much." Jesus said to him,
"Salvation has come to this house today, for this man, also, is a descendant
of Abraham. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

So King Jesus, the Son of Man, was on a mission while He was on this earth, to seek and
save the lost. And He is still on that mission today through His body the church. Church in
the Boro is the body of Christ on earth right now, pursuing the same mission to seek and
save the lost. Jesus is seeking and saving the lost through Church in the Boro right now.

This is the clarity of the gospel. Clarity is about making things clear. It’s about cleaning
things up that have gotten in the way of seeing clearly what we want to see. When there
are dog nose smudges on our windows, and fingerprints, and dirt, and streaks on our
windows, we clean them because we want to see things clearly through our window. Things
don’t look quite the same, do they, when the windshield on our car is all dirtied up.

Last night my wife was bringing me home from the Savannah airport and the fog was rather
thick. As we drive through it, it condensates and turns to liquid on our windshield. Our
wipers are pretty old and so all they served to do was smear the condensation all over our
windshield making it extremely difficult to see. So the whole time my wife, who was driving
at the time, was constantly lifting her head up and bringing it back down again, over and
over, in order to see clearly through the windshield. Eventually, we both got the bright idea
to try to defrost, and so I cranked the temperature up on high, turned on the A/C, pointed it
to the windshield, and the A/C dried the hot air so that the windshield actually cleared up
from the inside, rather than from the outside.

In similar fashion, friends, things often get gunked up for us as we look out on the world
and what needs to be done. Politics need to be changed. Our city needs more businesses
so that unemployment will be lower. Our neighborhoods need to be changed. Abortion
needs to be stopped. Bars need to be shut down. Corruption needs to be stopped. Etc.
And I fear that many times all of these “needs” gunk up the windshield of the local church
so that they can no longer see their mission clearly.

The clarity of the mission, again, is this…not just for our local church, but for every true
local church of Jesus Christ. The clarity of the mission is found in seeking and saving the
lost. Because you see when you return to this, it’s almost like the Windex we use to clean
our windows. All the smudges and distractions disappear and we can see clearly again.
And that’s what we’re pursuing here at Church in the Boro. A clarity of vision. A clear
vision of the gospel. We’re clear about our mission here, and it is the same as Jesus’
mission: to seek and save the lost.

So let me offer some points from Luke 19 that will form a structure to make this gospel
clear for us as a church family.

1. Jesus is seeking and saving the lost.

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a. Jesus came seeking sinners in cursed cities.

"He entered Jericho… " (v. 1).

The city was close to the river banks of the Jordan river, on the most lush plain of Palestine,
overflowing with the choicest produce, especially balsam. During Zaccheus’ day it was a
perfect spot for an superior ranking tax collecting officer to preside over the collection of
revenues and tolls for those passing through.

It was a large town about eight miles west of the Jordan, and about 19 miles northeast from
Jerusalem. In OT days, Joshua led the Israelite’s across the Jordan river into the promised
land, entering Jericho first (Josh. 3:16). It was the first city Joshua took, and we read in
Joshua 6:20-21 and verse 26 that he destroyed it down to the foundation, and then
pronounced a curse on anyone who tried to rebuild it. This curse was literally fulfilled in the
days of Ahab, nearly 500 years later (1 Kings 16:34).

Later on it became the place where the school of prophets under Elijah and Elisha met (2
Kings 2:5). And it was here that Elisha worked his first miracle by ministering to the town
and turning their bitter waters into sweet and healthy water (2 Kings 2:21).

It was a city second only in size to Jerusalem, sometimes called the city of palm-trees, from
the fact that there were many palms in the vicinity.

I love what Matthew Henry noted on this text. He wrote, “This city was build under a curse,
yet Christ honoured it with his presence, for the gospel takes away the curse. Though it
ought not to have been built, yet it was not therefore a sin to live in it when it was built.”

Friends, this is how our Savior sets out to seek and save the lost, and it’s how we are to
follow in His example. Jericho was cursed by Joshua, and every city on earth has been
cursed by sin. But Jesus went into each one of them to seek and save the lost. Church in
the Boro will be no different. Regardless of how that curse reflects itself in a particular city
– abortion, drunkenness, idolatry, persecution – ours is a clear mission…to enter it and seek
and save the lost.

And as we’re going into those cities, fulfilling the mandate of the Great Commission to go
into them, we are to seek and save the lost and make disciples of them all along the way.
This brings us to the second reflection of our mission in the text.

b. Jesus came to seek and save sinners everywhere He went.

“…and was passing through” (v. 1).

Jesus is on a particular mission to go to a particular place. But He stops to seek out and
save a lost person in the city of Jericho. He Himself exemplified His mandate to go into all
nations, and as we’re going to make disciples of all nations. The task is to be heading
somewhere, and as you’re heading there, making disciples of everyone else you can along
the way.

So many think that God is disinterested in them! Including his own children! They think
that God has better things to do…more important things to attend to than them. But when

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you look at this simple little phrase you see that although Jesus was simply passing through
Jericho, the Father had work for Him there.

A harmony of the gospels reveals that Jesus was actually headed to Bethany to do
something incredible, something miraculous and something very personal for Him. This
event is so significant despite its absence in Luke’s account here. It’s powerful because
Jesus is on His way to raise his best friend Lazarus from the dead. And Jesus is simply
passing through Jericho to get to Lazarus.

So plug that into what happened here in the text! Zaccheus was not a detour or an hurdle
to be jumped on the mission of Jesus. Zaccheus was sovereignly included into Jesus’
mission by the Father, which makes Zaccheus part of the mission. Jesus showed this by
going to Zaccheus house for the day. And look at the words Jesus used. “I must stay at
your house today.”

Let me ask you this question. If you had lost some money, and you went out looking for it
and found additional money you had lost, would leave that money behind and only keep
your attention on the money you were originally looking for? Of course not! You are more
precious to God than your money is to you. His mission is to seek and save the lost! And if
you are lost and you know you are lost, then saving you IS His mission.

This is what you must communicate to the lost if you are a part of Church in the Boro. You
must keep the clarity of the gospel in front of them which is God’s mission. They are not an
inconvenience to God’s mission. They ARE God’s mission. They are not getting in the way
or taking up His time or bugging Him in any way whatsoever. If this phrase shows us
anything it is that Jesus intends intends to seek and save the lost wherever they are.

c. Jesus came seeking greedy, wealthy businessmen

"And there was a man named Zaccheus.

He was a chief tax collector and was rich" (v.2).

You’ll recall in our first sermon in our vision series on pursuing the humility of the gospel
that I introduced you to the publican, or the tax collector in Luke 18, just one chapter
previous to the one we’re looking at now. Luke introduces the tax collector there for a very
specific reason. What is more, Luke follows that story with the one of the rich man who
wanted to know what he had to do to inherit eternal life. You’ll recall there that at the end
of that story the man went away very sad because, as the NLT translates it, he was
“extremely wealthy.” The man was filthy rich and he couldn’t let go of it all in order to
obtain eternal life.

So Luke introduces us to the tax collector, followed immediately by the rich young ruler
because he intends to introduce us to Zaccheus in the next chapter…a man of both worlds.
He was a tax collector and a very wealthy man. And it seems that part of Luke’s purpose is
to contrast the rich young ruler’s rejection of Jesus with Zaccheus joyful reception of Jesus.

Zaccheus was a chief tax collector, which means he probably ran his own publicani small
business. He was the one, you’ll recall, who would have had the enormous amount of
money required to bid on and pay the regional toll taxes up front. On top of that, he had
enough money left over to hire and pay employees who would go out and collect the toll
taxes for him. So this guy was a very wealthy small business owner.

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But he was also hated. As a tax collector the Jews saw him as “sinner,” a despicable fellow
who took advantage of his position of authority and exploited people. He was corrupt. And
corruption gains wealth. In addition, his job was connected to the Roman empire because
he was collecting taxes for them. So he had a “double whammy” on his life everywhere he
went. But evidently it didn’t phase him enough to make him stop. He had evidently worked
in that line of work for long time.

Guys! Jesus came to seek and save people like that! He came to save despicable, greedy,
thieving, corrupt business men! He came to seek and save the lost. He didn’t come to
those who thought they were righteous. He didn’t come to seek and save those who didn’t
think they needing saving. He came to seek and save those who were lost…and knew it.
Zaccheus was an example of that publican Luke talked about in the previous chapter who
drew near to the temple, wouldn’t lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest and cried out
about his despicable, sinful condition. And if Jesus saved a man like this, He can save you.
And He can save someone you know like Zaccheus. And He can save someone worse than
Zaccheus. He can save anyone!

“He does not disdain the mansions of the rich any more than he does the
dwelling-places of the poor, provided there be a humble heart; and he did not
suppose there was “less” need of his presence in order to save in the house of
the rich man than among the poor. He set an example to all his ministers,
and was not afraid or ashamed to proclaim his gospel amid wealth. He was
not awed by external splendor or grandeur” (Barnes).

2. When Jesus seeks the lost, He will find them and call them.

a. Jesus knows the location of every sinner He is seeking.

"And when Jesus came to the place…” (v.5)

Again, when we take notice of little phrases they bring a lot of truth to us, and in the case
of this story a lot of encouragement. This is most certainly the case with this phrase
because Luke is pointing out that even though Jesus was on a bigger mission, and even
though Jericho was simply a pass through point for Him, there was a specific person named
Zaccheus in a specific place.

Christ knows where his people are, and where to find them, where they
commonly dwell, or where at any time they are, he being God omniscient…he
knows where they are, when the time is come to call them: he knew
Zacchaeus was in the sycamore tree, as he saw Nathanael under the fig tree,
before Philip called him, Joh_1:48 and Christ comes to the very place where
his people are, either in person, as here; and so he came to Galilee, and to
the sea there, and walked by it, and on the very spot, where he knew he
should meet with Peter, and Andrew, and James, and John, whom he called to
follow him, Mat_4:13. He came to his own city Capernaum, and to the place
of receipt of custom near unto it, where Matthew was, and called him,
Mat_9:1 and he came to Samaria, and to Jacob's well, where he knew the
woman of Samaria would be at such a time, in order to call her: or, though he
comes not in person to others, where they are, yet by his word, and by his
Spirit; and he comes to them before they come to him; and is found of them,
and finds them, who sought him not; and is made manifest to them, who

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asked not for him; and in this he acts the part of the good shepherd, that
leaves the ninety nine in the wilderness, and goes after that which is lost till
he finds it; and agreeably to his character as a Saviour, and to the end of his
coming into the world, which was to call sinners to repentance, and to seek,
and save that which is lost, Luk_19:10” (John Gill).

e. Jesus knows each sinner by name.

“…he looked up and said to him, 'Zaccheus..." (v.5).

Jesus called Zaccheus by name! And do you know why? Because Zaccheus’ name was
written in Jesus’ Book of Life from way back before Jesus even created the world (Rev.
13:8)! Don’t miss this, guys! Jesus knows each one of His sheep by name…even before
they know HIM by name. He told us as much in John 10:27.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give to
them eternal life.”

King Jesus knows you…personally…by name. King David wrote a reflective note about
himself in Psalm 139 about the intimate knowledge God had of him, even before he was
born.

“You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts.
You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions.
Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. You are all around
me on every side; you protect me with your power. Your knowledge of me is
too deep; it is beyond my understanding. Where could I go to escape from
you? Where could I get away from your presence? If I went up to heaven,
you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be
there. If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the
west, you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. I
could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night,
but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to you. You created every part of me; you
put me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because you are to be
feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart.
When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's
womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there--- you
saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in
your book, before any of them ever began” (Psa. 139:1-16).

If Jesus knew David in his mother’s womb, and if Jesus knew Zaccheus by name before
ever having met him, then Jesus knows you too. And if you don’t know Him, He can to look
for YOU and SAVE you! And why did He come to save you? Because He wants your
friendship. He wants you to enjoy HIS friendship. In short, He desires fellowship with His
creatures, those He loves so very much.

3. When He calls them, they MUST come HIS way…and quickly.

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a. Jesus wants to sinners to respond quickly to His invitation!

"...hurry and come down…” (v. 5)

Literally, the Greek here reads, “come down in a hurry!” I don’t think I can describe this
phrase any better than Matthew Henry and John Gill. Listen to their descriptions here.

“The dangerous estate and condition of a sinner requires haste; it is like that
of Lot in Sodom, when it was just going to be destroyed; and like that of the
manslayer, when pursued by the avenger of blood; both whom it became to
escape for their lives, and flee for refuge as fast as they could: and so it
became Zacchaeus to come down with all speed to Christ, who was come
hither to call and save him; and the enjoyment of Christ, and his grace, calls
for haste…” (Gill)

“He bade him make haste, and come down. Those that Christ calls must come
down, must humble themselves, and not think to climb to heaven by any
righteousness of their own; and they must make haste and come down, for
delays are dangerous. Zaccheus must not hesitate, but hasten; he knows it is
not a matter that needs consideration whether he should welcome such a
guest to his house” (Henry).

b. Jesus wants them to respond quickly because He wants to fellowship

“…for I must stay at your house today" (v. 5).

More than likely Jesus spent the night at Zaccheus’ house. This seems to be the intended
meaning behind the phrase. And even if not, the invitation here is one of the most
powerful, incredible, magnificent displays of grace I’ve ever seen in the Bible. Jesus, the
King of universe, issues a “royal” invitation here, which in this day and time, was one which
a king would give to one of his subjects. Basically, this invitation was a king using his
presence to gain some favor or help from the subject for free. It would be much akin to our
president coming up to you and saying he’d like to come hang out at your house for the
afternoon. You’d think nothing of it whatsoever. You’d think nothing about how much it all
would cost to host him, how much work would go into it all. You’d just do it.

Now if this were to happen to you, you would be the one serving him. It would be a great
honor, no doubt. But you would be doing the serving. And so it would be with a king in
Jesus’ day. It would be considered a great honor to host a king at your house. And you
would think nothing of your service or its cost. Yet when King Jesus comes and invites
Himself to your house, HE does the serving…not you.

There’s the magnificence of this passage, guys! The King over Zaccheus life and wealth
shows up and wants to come to his house in order to serve his soul!

Friends, when you get an invitation like this from a King like this, you should handle it with
two extremes: with extreme care and extreme haste. It is the hesitation to respond to this
sort of invitation that often delays salvation and makes things worse. Oh, if I could
encourage you toward one thing today it is this. Don’t miss the clarity of the gospel by
missing clarity of the call Jesus is making to you today.

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c. What it means to come to Jesus in HIS way.

1. It means to be looking for Jesus.

"And he was seeking to see who Jesus was,

but on account of the crowd he could not,
because he was small of stature" (v. 3).

I know Isaiah 53 and Romans 3 tells us that no one is seeking after God. But please
understand that this is a general statement about all of mankind. The fact of the matter, as
in the plain case of Zaccheus here, is that some people ARE seeking after God. And why
are they seeking? Because their seeking is evidence that God is seeking after them! God is
the one stirring up that seeking after Him in their heart, and that work of stirring it up in
them is a reflection of His work of seeking and saving them. This is how God works in His
elect.

In 2 Peter 1:10 we are commanded, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make
your calling and election sure…” The way Zaccheus evidenced his calling and election was
that he set out to look for Jesus. So then, do you seek Jesus? Listen to these words from
Albert Barnes.

“…it is not improper to learn from this example that solicitude to behold the
Saviour will not pass unnoticed by him, but will meet with his warm
approbation, and be connected with his blessing. Jesus was willing to
encourage efforts to come to him, and his benevolence prompted him to
gratify the desires of the man who was solicitous to see him.”

2. It means to let nothing get in the way of coming to Jesus.

"So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him,
for he was about to pass that way" (v.4).

"And when they saw it, they all grumbled,

'He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner" (v. 7).

Notice in both verse 4 and 7 that there were hindrances or obstacles to Zaccheus
responding to Jesus. One was a natural hindrance, and the other was a supernatural
hindrance.

The natural hindrance was obvious. He was a short fellow and he would never be able to
see above the heads of the crowd around him. But he didn’t let that stop him. He found a
tree to climb so he could be taller than everyone else around him.

In similar fashion, to come to Jesus in His way means you will let nothing in your life, even
if it is a natural hindrance, stop you from finding Jesus. Too many people let this happen,
and this one thing seems to separate those who are lost from those who are saved.

Are you blind? Then learn Braille in order to be able to read God’s Word and hear Jesus
speaking to you. Are you deaf? Then learn sign language so you can “hear” the preaching
of the Lord. What physical problem or natural problem do you have? Is it related to food,
or sleep, or sex, or some addiction? What handicap do you have? We learn from Zaccheus
here that NO handicap can stop those who are seeking after Jesus. And we learn from

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Jesus’ response to Zaccheus that He Himself will take notice of you and your efforts to find
Him.

But there were also supernatural hindrances to Zaccheus coming to Jesus. There were
those blasted Pharisees and self-righteous people who, under the influence of Satan, were
criticizing, negating, judging and destroying the work of God. Or at least they were trying
to.

Jesus told us in the parable of the seed and the sower in Matthew 13 that one of the kinds
of seed falls on the road, and the birds of the air fly over and pick it up and eat it. Jesus
taught us that this represents Satan who is always flying over head to pluck away whatever
we hear from God’s Word so that we won’t follow Jesus. Satan is always trying to put
hindrances and obstacles in our way to prevent us from coming to Jesus. But in those who
are seeking after Jesus, truly seeking, Satan will not be able to stop him.

One of the surest ways you know that you are responding to the invitation of Jesus to come
to your house is that you do not even let supernatural hindrances prevent you from finding
Him and coming to Him. Does this describe you?

3. It means to respond as fast as you can to the invitation of Jesus.

"So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully" (v. 6).

And when you do find Jesus, how fast do you come? Do you take great delight and joy in
finding Him, and then grow lazy too quickly about it all? Or do you find Him and run after
Him with all your might? THAT is what it means to come to Jesus in HIS way.

After all, He is the King of the Universe and He has invited Himself into your home, into
your life. You would run and even drive speeding back to your house to prepare your home
of the president were to invite himself over. Why wouldn’t you do that for King Jesus, who
made our president and rules over him?

To come to Jesus in HIS way means to respond to His invitation as fast as you possibly can,
as thoroughly as you possibly can, and as happily as you possibly can. You see, when you
realize WHO it is Who is inviting Himself over, you will do just that. And there will be no
drumming up of some fake happiness over His invitation. When you hear His voice calling
you, you will very naturally want to rush down and receive King Jesus with more joy and
happiness than you ever thought possible…more joy and happiness than you’ve ever
experience before.

That was the response of the man, you’ll recall, back in Matthew 13 who found the treasure
in the field and the most luxurious, expensive pearl he’d ever found. Both men in both
stories sold everything they had to purchase those items. And Jesus is careful to point out
in both stories that each man sold everything they had out of joy. Each one was so
overjoyed at what they had found that they immediately went to the bank, liquidated all
their assets to get cash in order to purchase the field and the pearl.

Is this how you came to King Jesus? This is the ONLY way of coming to Him that is
appropriate.

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4. It means being willing to repent of your sin no matter what the cost.

" And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord,

'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.
And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold' "( v. 8).

One of the surest signs that you have received Jesus joyfully is that there will not be a
begrudging repentance. You won’t hear what you have to do, then drag your feet with a
begrudging attitude to do it.

NO, Zaccheus JOY over Jesus produced repentance. This man was excited about repenting
and doing what was right. Coming to Jesus HIS way means joyfully repenting and doing
whatever must be done to set things right in your life. It will be your natural reaction. Your
NEW natural reaction, because there is a new nature inside of you that is happy to do
whatever you must in order to follow King Jesus. You’re so excited and joyful to have been
called by Him, that you’ll do whatever you must, sell whatever you have to sell, give away
whatever you have to give away in order to get HIM!!!

Conclusion

Is this how you’ve responded to the call of Jesus in your life? Because this is what it looks
like to be sought after and saved by King Jesus. Think carefully about the response of
Zaccheus and measure your response, your commitment to Jesus, your decision to be saved
by his response. That’s why Luke includes it for us. It’s to serve as a standard. That
makes your response to the gospel pretty clear.

And for those of you who HAVE been saved, is the mission of King Jesus YOUR mission?
Jesus gave the same mission to His disciples who were to duplicate themselves and Jesus’
teachings in other people’s lives. This means that for you and I today the mission of
seeking and saving the lost is still ours. That makes the gospel pretty clear. That makes
your life mission pretty clear.

Amen.

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