Sermon in Rockford 29.06.2014

Of the Holy Spirit, let us thank and pray. Righteous God, dear Heavenly Father, we thank you this beautiful summer Sunday morning for your goodness. Dear God, you are faithful, you are powerful, you are wise, and you are good to us. You have granted unto us so many blessings that we don't even understand them all.

Above all, dear Father, we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, whom you gave to suffer and to die for our sins. We thank you for this opportunity that we can come and freely gather to study your words, to learn of it, that which you, if you see fit, give through your Spirit. Dear God, we humbly ask that you would bless our service with the presence of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

This Sunday speaks about the call into God's kingdom. And the gospel text is found in Luke 19, verses 1 through 10. And I read these words in Jesus' name as follows:

And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who he was, and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully.

And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, that he was going to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. Amen.

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. As we know, he traveled a lot during this short three-year period when he worked publicly. The country of Israel is a small place. So, he traveled by foot. He walked around.

And now, he was coming from north, from Galilee, and he took the river route, walked by the river Jordan, and was approaching the city of Jericho, one of the world's oldest known cities. I've heard that its elevation is the lowest of the cities, big cities, or bigger cities, or well-known cities, how would I put it, in the world. And it is still a well-known place. It still is a city.

And I, yeah, I'm not sure, but it kind of rings in my mind that it's at least one of the oldest known cities in history. And Jesus was approaching that city.

And now, when we talk about a city, we think a big place. But area-wise, for sure, that was not big at that time. If we put some pieces together, what we can read from the Bible, you possibly remember when the walls of Jericho fell down. You remember that one person, or one lady, and her household was saved from that destruction. And the name of the person was Rahab, and she lived in Jericho.

And how the cities were built at that time is that Rahab's house, one wall was the wall of the city. So, the city was crammed. It was so full. Streets were narrow and few.

You remember when, in the Old Testament time, the walls of Jerusalem were being restored. How it speaks that some built by their bed. So, we understand that, of course, there's a spiritual picture that some took part into the work of God's kingdom through prayers only. Because that's the only practical thing that you can do in the work of God's kingdom if you are tied into a bed.

But I think it may carry also the physical picture. Because the homes were borrowed, or the whole, this walled city was built full. Houses were small, streets were narrow, and it was packed full.

So, this explains why this man, when he couldn't approach Jesus, he knew which route he was to take. There were not many options. So, he ran ahead. He was a short man, elderly, I would say, at least in his middle ages. He was a chief among the publicans, and he wanted to see Jesus.

I would say he had a troubled conscience. So, I guess that's why this story has been chosen as the text for the call into God's kingdom. This Zacchaeus was a troubled man. He was a rich man, and he was a chief publican, so he had succeeded well in his life. He had fulfilled the American dream. He had everything. He was rich, and he was famous. What else do you need? He needed peace. He did not have peace of conscience. He wanted to have his sins forgiven, because sin takes away peace.

When Paul speaks of his time as Saul, he said that when sin became alive, revived, I died. He had sin, but he was dormant. He didn't know it. The enemy had stolen his sins. He didn't have sin. He didn't even know what sin was. He persecuted Christians, which was the name of believers at that time. And he didn't understand that was his sin. He did it, as he said, with good conscience, in unbelief.

So an unbelieving person can have dormant sins. They are just sleeping. They are there, of course, because sin does not go away by itself. Sin does not become stale. It does not get wiped away except through forgiveness.

And now, when Paul was living with this sin, which he didn't know, it revived, it became alive one day. And then he said, he died. The pain must have been awful when it started dawning onto him that this which he thought was good and important and meaningful way of life was nothing but sin.

And I think that we dare to say also that the words "I died" means that he understood that spiritually he's a dead man. His faith does not take him to heaven. He does not have a living faith. He has faith but he was dead faith. He was man-made, human, intellect, a creation of man and that was dead.

So in that sense also he died. Maybe something like this has happened to Zacchaeus. The Bible doesn't tell. The Bible tells nothing about him before this text. He disappears. There is a man whose name was Zacchaeus. He was a chief among the publicans and he was rich and he was short. That's all that we know of him. And he wanted to see Jesus.

What does this see mean? I think it means more than he wanted only to see him. He was wishing to receive peace. And now because Jesus had come through the gates of Jericho and there was another set of gates the other side of the city and he knew the route which he must take. He ran ahead.

Just think this rich aging man running around. He had even there he had to forget his pride. He had to humble himself because he had to see Jesus. Why? What do you think? Why did he feel that he wanted to see that man? He believed. He believed that this man can help me.

And that's why he gladly forgot his pride and ran ahead and climbed into the tree. When I was in Jericho I think 13 years ago they showed us the tree where he climbed. Yeah for sure. But obviously the tree might be something of that type because it was kind of easy to climb. The branches start from low. There were good branches so it was not very easy for him.

I dare to think I didn't try well I was a younger man then but now it would be pretty hard for me to climb there but he had a need. I think this whole picture describes us the burning need that he had in his heart. As the Bible says he wanted to see Jesus.

Could we say that he wanted Jesus to see him? He wanted Jesus to stop and forgive him. He wanted Jesus to see him. It was not enough that he could see Jesus from far off. Jesus was there and I guess he possibly could see a glimpse of him when he was in the middle of this big crowd but he wanted Jesus to see him so he ran ahead and climbed into the tree and waited there.

And Jesus came and again we see and have a reminder of how God knows everybody. It is, I think, for us impossible to fully understand how all-knowing God is. To me it's a constant surprise to think that God knows the number of hairs in my head. How can someone know how many single hairs I have in my head when new hairs are growing all the time and I'm losing hair possibly more than what I'm gaining?

And when I try to clean at home I realize how many single hairs there are all over in the carpets or in the, I don't even know the terminology for plumbing but in those water hoses there are hairs, all kinds of hairs and they cause issues. And God knows whose hairs they are and when they fall.

Can you understand? God knows that not for me but for every human being. I can't. I feel dizzy when I think it that much. God knows and understands and I don't think that's the most important thing that he worries about.

So Jesus knew that Zacchaeus wants to find peace and that is what God knows today for every human being. The Bible says knock and it shall be opened, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given unto you.

And our small human mind says how can it be possible that if a person in some African country or like the one man that I had a good fortune to meet in early 90s, a man from Italy met few tourists in Rome in the streets of Rome and those believing young girls who were traveling there wanted to see Coliseum and they couldn't find it. It was such a big city so they tried, they thought that okay let's ask someone but they wanted to have someone that they dared to approach.

And they saw a group of few men and there was especially a man who seemed very trustworthy, kind and non-threatening. So they went and asked if they could give them advice how to find a way to Coliseum and sure that very man said I can take you there. It's so hard to explain but I can guide you and they went there and saw the place.

And then it was time to go to eat and he offered that I'll offer you a meal and they went to eat and it was time to order drinks and the girls said water, water and he said water? We drink wine, it's good, it's good for you, it tastes good, it's good for you. No, sorry we don't drink wine. Why? What would you say? They said we are believers. I'm a believer too. What's the difference?

And then they started talking and the discussion took for a long time and these men sent a letter a few years after that because the burn that he felt in his heart didn't leave, it didn't go away. He wrote and asked if he could come to Finland and to talk about your faith and he even asked if it were possible for him to become a Lestadian man because he wanted to find peace.

He saw that his faith was hollow, empty and dead. It didn't give him what he promised. He lacked peace and he had sin and he came to Finland and he received the grace and repentance.

So seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given, knock and it shall be opened unto you.

These men who was born and raised and lived in a country where there are not many believers. I don't think that, well, he didn't know anyone there and if somebody, of course the tourists, believing tourists can come there or somebody can work there for a certain period of time but not many. He prayed to God and God answered unto him. It is possible.

God and why does not someone in some foreign far distant country believe? I don't know. I am not God but I am not going to give up my faith because somebody else does not believe. God is not unfair. We just don't understand. I gladly admit that I don't understand what I understand is I'm very thankful that I can be a believer, that I have a peace of God, that God has forgiven me my many big sins.

Now with Zacchaeus he had a burn in his heart. I can't find any other reason for his actions. He had sin and he wanted to find forgiving God and now he is there in the tree waiting for Jesus to approach.

And Jesus came and when Jesus came to the place he looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus make haste and come down for today I must abide at thy house. Jesus addressed this man by his own name, Zacchaeus, come down, I want to visit your home.

Zacchaeus received more than he dared or knew to ask. Do you share this experience? Has God given you more than you have known or dared to ask for? I think there are many of us who say yes, God has given me more than I have never ever dared to ask for. God is good and God is full of mercy and he loves us so much that we can't understand it.

And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. Zacchaeus didn't stay in the tree. No, he came down and he was obedient. He did exactly what Jesus said with joy willingly. That's what faith is.

To be a believer is not to follow man-made rules that somebody, some others have decided that I must follow grudgingly. I don't like them but I must follow them. I cannot be my own person. I must hide myself. I must pretend or they will kick me out. That's not believing.

Faith is not that. Faith is that we follow willingly, gladly or as it said here joyfully.

And now another picture, the whole atmosphere changes. And when they saw it, now the Bible speaks of they, they all murmured saying that he was going to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

Who is they? You know it. Who are the people who think that the others are sinners? They are the people who think that they are not. They are the people who think that they are better.

I am very much aware that in these worlds there are people who think honestly that we believers think that we are better than anyone else. Isn't that interesting how it happens that way?

Or on the other hand, I think this text explains it why they think that way. They think that all those who say that they are Christians are sinners. Aren't we? But the truth is, and biblical truth, that there is nobody else but sinners in this whole world. Every human being is a sinner.

But there are two kinds of sinners. There are those sinners whose sins are forgiven by God, not by men but by God. And then there are those sinners whose sins are not forgiven.

And because we happily admit and confess that our many sins are forgiven by God, we have no room for boasting. We are no better than anyone else and with fear and trepidation we pray to God, please protect me, keep me in faith, please help me and protect me. I cannot, I need your help.

And at the end of this text we see the fruits of faith for Zacchaeus. They were fruits. They were not the deeds which or marriage that saved him but they were the fruits of faith.

And Jesus said this day is salvation come to this house and then he said for the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.

We would be lost in our lives and deeds if God wouldn't come seek and save us. We are the luckiest of all people, the most fortunate of everybody.

And I wish you dear brothers and sisters a very happy Sunday. Enjoy this beautiful day with the clean and good conscience with the hope of heaven. Uplift your hearts and believe your sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood and be free and be joyful and filled with the whole of heaven in Jesus' name. Amen.

Can I also believe my sins forgiven? I want to believe together with you. Let us join into the benediction:

The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.