Focused Faith
Sermon Notes
Before we get into today’s message I want to invite you to our worship and prayer service this Wednesday night at 6:30. One of our codes, our core values at City Awakening is we want prayer to be our 1stresponse and our continual response, meaning we value prayer and we want it to be an important part of our daily lives. But a few times a year we gather as a church to pray for our own personal needs, pray for our church, pray for our city and country, pray for any global issues happening like the Israeli Hamas War. In fact when we pray for the global issues of the Israeli Hamas War, we’ll be showing a short testimonial video of a Hezbollah Terrorist who came to faith in Jesus. It’s an incredible testimonial of an Iranian Hezbollah fighter who came to faith in Jesus, he’s now sharing his faith in Jesus with others, and we’ll show his testimony at our prayer service...The reality is some issues in life are way too big for us to handle, but we can take those issues to the Lord as an entire church this Wednesday at 6:30. The date, time, and location of our worship and prayer service is in the flyer on your seats. We look forward to seeing you there.
Now as for today, we’re starting a new 4 week teaching series we’re calling Sustaining Faith, and it’s a series about having a faith that doesn’t fade. We’ve all had moments in our lives where we started strong in something, but we didn’t finish strong. We started strong, we started with great enthusiasm, but our enthusiasm faded, and we didn’t finish strong. In fact I did a little google search on some of the top things people start, but don’t finish. Some things that came up were our workout plans and diets, which I’m guilty of. I usually stick to my workout plans, but it’s my diet that’s a killer. Our small group celebrated 4 birthdays last week with two different kinds of cakes, and I said yes to both. I didn’t finish strong with my diet, but I finished strong with those cakes...My google search also showed people don’t always finish their New Year’s resolutions, the budgets they’ve created, the books they’re reading, the degrees they’re pursuing, the home improvement projects they’re doing...There are all kinds of things that people start, but don’t always finish. They start out strong with great enthusiasm, but their enthusiasm fades, and they don’t finish strong. This is a series about finishing strong, especially when it comes to our faith. It’s about having a faith that doesn’t fade. So let’s turn to Luke ch 19 and get into it. If you open the bible to the middle, keep turning right, you’ll find Luke. We’ll be in Luke 19:1-10. Title of the message is Focused Faith, and the big idea is the more we focus on Jesus, the more we’ll be transformed by Jesus...The more we focus on Jesus, the more we’ll be transformed by Jesus...
Here’s your context. Jesus and his disciples have been preaching the gospel and serving others as they’re traveling to Jerusalem. In Luke 19 Jesus meets a guy named Zacchaeus who’s been abusing his power and influence to get rich off others. So when Zacchaeus meets Jesus he starts out as a corrupt and greedy man, but he doesn’t finish his life that way. As we study this text we’ll see his life becomes transformed by Jesus, when he starts focusing his life on Jesus. We’ll see he goes from being corrupt and greedy, to being loving and generous. Let’s check it out.
Luke 19:1-10 states, “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.” So Zacchaeus is a chief tax collector, and he became rich by ripping off his own people. Historically we know the Romans were in control of this region, and to fund the empire they heavily taxed all nations under their control. The Jews opposed these taxes, but the Romans forced them to pay it anyways, and they hired other Jews to be their tax collectors. Well this caused the Jews to hate tax collectors, they viewed them as traitors, because they were Jews working for the occupying Roman empire. They also hated them because tax collectors became rich by ripping off their own Jewish people. They would charge higher tax rates than what the Romans required, and they’d pocket the extra money for themselves. The Romans didn’t care, as long as Rome received its cut. So the tax collectors would charge an extra percentage, give Rome their cut, and then pocket the rest for themselves getting rich off their own people. The Jews couldn’t do anything about it because the Romans protected the tax collectors with a squad of soldiers. If somebody didn’t pay their taxes or if they cheated on their taxes, the tax collector would send the Romans to go beat or even murder them. It was a corrupt, greedy, shady job, and Zacchaeus is one of them. The text says he wasn’t just a tax collector, he was a chief tax collector, and he became rich by ripping off his own people.
Again vs. 2, “There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he wasn’t able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. 4 So running ahead he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way.” Notice it says two times that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. He’s focused on wanting to see Jesus, but he can’t see Jesus over the crowd because he’s too short. Some of you are having flashbacks of the children’s song Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he...He can’t see Jesus over the crowd because he’s too short, and because the crowd isn’t making any room for him. Since he’s a tax collector they hate him, they keep boxing him out, they aren’t making any room for him. But he’s so focused on wanting to see Jesus, that he climbs a tree! Now I’ve seen poor people climb trees to see things like a baseball game, but I’ve never seen rich people climb trees to watch a game. I’ve never seen a rich person like Zacchaeus climb a tree, just to see somebody famous. We definitely wouldn’t have seen it back then in a Jewish culture like this, because they would’ve considered it undignified for a rich guy to climb a tree like this. They would’ve mocked him for it, especially with him being a despised tax collector. So the fact that he’s a prominent rich man who’s willing to climb a tree, despite all the mocking and humiliation, shows just how desperately focused he is on wanting to see Jesus.
Again vs. 4, “So running ahead he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came there he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus hurry and come down, because today it’s necessary for me to stay at your house.’” When Jesus says I’ll stay at your house, what he’s doing is offering Zacchaeus friendship. What I love about this is Jesus doesn’t say “Zacchaeus I’ll stay at your house, I’ll be friends with you, but only after you clean your life up.” Instead he says “I’ll stay at your house, I’ll be friends with you, even though you haven’t cleaned your life up yet.” What this means is Jesus saw Zacchaeus when he was at his worst, but still loved him and offered him friendship anyways. Jesus sees you when you’re at your worst, but still loves you and offers you friendship anyways. Jesus doesn’t love us for who we are, he loves us despite who we are! He doesn’t love us for what we’ve done, he loves us despite what we’ve done! What Jesus offers Zacchaeus and us is a loving friendship that doesn’t fade, even on our worst days. He still wants to stay at your house, even on your worst days.
Vs. 6, “So Zacchaeus quickly came down and welcomed him joyfully. 7 All who saw it began to complain, ‘He’s gone to stay with a sinful man.’” Notice it says Zacchaeus welcomed him joyfully, meaning he accepted the invitation to have friendship with Jesus. His heart’s filled with joy over the fact that Jesus still cares about him, even though everybody else is complaining about him. He probably thought Jesus wouldn’t want anything to do with him, because of how sinful he was. He welcomes friendship with Jesus joyfully, and that friendship transforms his life! What Jesus offers Zacchaeus and us isn’t inspiration that’ll eventually fade, it’s transformation that comes from having an eternal friendship with Jesus that’ll never fade. The more we focus on Jesus, the more our lives we’ll be transformed by Jesus. Check out what happens to Zacchaeus.
Vs. 8, “But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.’” Zacchaeus being generous with his wealth like this, is evidence there was an inward transformation in his heart. He was a corrupt, greedy tax collector willing to get rich by ripping off his own people, but now he’s being generous with his wealth giving away half his possessions. Back then this included giving away 50% of his salary, his savings, his IRA, his real estate, his possessions. But he also offers to pay back four times the amount to anybody he’s ever ripped off. That kind of generosity doesn’t just happen, especially not with a corrupt, greedy rich guy like Zacchaeus. So what changed?...What happened in his life to cause this sudden shift in his heart?...It’s his friendship with Jesus...It’s that he finally saw Jesus, and he realized Jesus is a greater treasure than his wealth...His wealth used to be the greatest treasure in his heart, but he's willing to give it away now that Jesus is the greatest treasure in his heart...And he isn’t doing this with dreadful guilt because the bible says so or because Jesus says so. In fact the bible never says to give away 50% of our possessions or to give back four times the amount to anybody we’ve ripped off. There’s a place in scripture that teaches to give back four times the amount if we steal or kill another person’s animal, because back then an animal was a source of income. So when Zacchaeus says this he’s equating what he’s done to one of the highest degrees of robbery. But Jesus never says anything about him having to pay 50% or four times to anybody. So Zacchaeus isn’t doing this in dreadful guilt, instead he’s doing this joyfully, which goes back to vs 6.
In vs 6 it says he welcomed Jesus joyfully. The joyful generosity that’s now in his heart, is the result of him welcoming Jesus joyfully into his home and his life. It’s the result of his life being transformed by his friendship with Jesus. He now treasures Jesus more than he treasures his wealth. He values his friendship with Jesus, more than he values his wealth. This rich man’s life is showing us that having a friendship with Jesus is worth more than having wealth. Having a friendship with Jesus is a greater treasure than your wealth. Your wealth is a great resource for some things, but it isn’t a great resource for everything. Zacchaeus realized his wealth couldn’t forgive him of his corrupt sins, but Jesus was willing to forgive him of all his sins. His wealth couldn’t buy him friends, but Jesus was willing to freely be his friend. His wealth couldn’t buy him happiness, it couldn’t fill the joy void in his heart, but Jesus was willing to fill the joy void in his heart. All these things happened instantly in his life, the moment Jesus gave the invitation to come into his home and be a part of his life. When Jesus gave that invitation his heart was instantly filled with forgiveness, friendship, and joy. Vs 6 says he quickly came down the tree and welcomed Jesus joyfully. His heart was instantly filled with joy, and he’s now giving out of joy. Like Zacchaeus your wealth can’t save you, transform you, forgive you, befriend you, fill the joy void in your heart. But Jesus can do all those things, if you accept his invitation to walk in friendship with him. Zacchaeus is walking in friendship with Jesus, and it’s transforming his life.
Vs. 9, “Jesus said, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.’” Jesus says salvation has come to this house, meaning Jesus is that salvation. The reason salvation came into that house, is because Jesus came into that house. Zacchaeus isn’t saved because he gave away his wealth, he’s saved because Jesus came into his house. He’s saved because he accepted the invitation for Jesus to come into his house, to come into his life, to have an eternal friendship with him. He accepted this invitation joyfully, and his friendship with Jesus transformed his life to where he’s now giving joyfully. He was desperately focused on wanting to see Jesus, and his life was never the same after he did...Okay so let me give us a few takeaways from the text, that can help us have a faith that doesn’t fade. The 1st is a personal application to help you have a faith that doesn’t fade, and the 2nd is an entire church application to help our entire church have a faith that doesn’t fade.
1st Focus on your friendship with Jesus = Focus on your friendship with Jesus for your salvation and daily transformation. The invitation Jesus gave Zacchaeus is an invitation he gives to all of us. It’s an invitation for Jesus to come into our homes, to come into our lives, to walk in friendship with him for our eternal salvation and daily transformation. But we have to accept his invitation by putting our faith in him for salvation, and we have to walk daily in our friendship with him for daily transformation. The more we spend time with Jesus praying, reading the bible, walking with Jesus in our daily lives, the more our friendship with Jesus will transform our daily lives. If we welcome his invitation like Zacchaeus, he’ll transform our lives like Zacchaeus.
2nd Focus on being generous in response to Jesus = As an entire church we need to focus on being generous in response to the generosity Jesus has shown us. When we become friends with Jesus his generosity starts flowing in our hearts, and it should start flowing out of our hearts like it did Zacchaeus. We should start growing in being financially generous with our wealth like Zacchaeus. He valued his friendship with Jesus more than he valued his wealth, but the question is do you?...Do you value your friendship with Jesus, more than your wealth?...Does your financial giving to Jesus, your financial giving to his church reflect you value Jesus more than your wealth?...Now I know some of you don’t like this, because you’re a cynic and critic of churches talking about financial generosity. If that’s you then give somewhere else, because I care more about the treasure in your heart than the treasure in your pockets. I’d rather you give somewhere else and grow in generosity, than keep growing in your cynicism and criticism. Your generosity somewhere else can at least help transform other people’s lives, but your cynicism and criticism can’t help transform anybody’s lives. For those of us who are Christians we’re to give to the church we attend to support the mission Jesus has given the church. We’re to support the church, because Jesus loves the church and gave his very life up for the church. For those of you who’ve given to our church, here’s a few things your generosity has recently accomplished.
· We’ve had 4 families go through parent commissioning and we’ve baptized 5 people.
· We’ve increased in first time guests, and added 20 new people to our regular attendance.
· We’ve had over 3,084 sermons downloaded from our podcast, which is allowing people to hear the gospel beyond our local church.
· We’ve helped support the start of a new gospel centered church in Apopka.
· Since our existence we’ve helped support the start of 5 new churches, which has created a ripple effect of gospel transformations that are now happening in 5 different cities.
· We’ve sent children and students to summer camps to learn more about Jesus, and to help serve in nursing homes and children’s homes.
· We’ve supported missionaries who are serving in many different parts of the world.
We’ve supported many more things than this, including paying for people in our city to receive counseling and helping people who are struggling financially. The combined generosity of the church always transforms more lives than cynics and critics can do alone. We give to the church not in dreadful guilt, but joyfully in response to the generosity Jesus has shown us like Zacchaeus. 2nd Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each person should give as they decided in their heart, not reluctantly or out of compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver.” So it isn’t about the amount you give, it's about the attitude of your heart when you give. Jesus wants you to give whatever he puts on your heart to give, and to give it cheerfully and joyfully like Zacchaeus. It’s because Jesus cares more about the treasure in your heart, than the treasure in your pockets. You know who doesn’t care about your heart? The power company...You can complain all you want about your power bill increasing, but they don’t care about your heart when you give...You know who else doesn’t care about your heart? The IRS...When you give to pay your taxes the IRS isn’t asking “How’s your heart?...Are you paying taxes cheerfully and joyfully?...” They don’t care about your heart when you give, they just care about the amount you give, and like the Romans they’ll come after you if you don’t pay the right amount. But when you give to the church Jesus cares about your attitude more than the amount, because he cares about your heart.
So how much you give is a conversation you need to have with Jesus like Zacchaeus did, and on your seats is a card that can help you with that. We want you to take that card home to pray and reflect on how much Jesus wants you to give to support his church. Maybe Jesus wants you to start giving for the first time. Maybe Jesus wants you to prioritize your giving so you give more consistently. Maybe Jesus wants you to give more generously because you’re financially able to, or more maybe he wants you to give more sacrificially to grow your trust in him. The point of that card isn’t to check a box, it’s to check your heart. So take that card home to check your heart, to pray and reflect on how much Jesus wants you to give to support his church. Then keep that card in your bible as a reminder to value Jesus more than your wealth. Keep it as a reminder to focus on your friendship with Jesus, but also to focus on being generous like Jesus.
The big idea of the message is the more we focus on Jesus, the more we’ll be transformed by Jesus...The more we focus on Jesus, the more we’ll be transformed by Jesus...Like I said in the intro there’s things in life we start with great enthusiasm, but over time our enthusiasm fades. It’s getting worse with our digitized lives decreasing our attention spans and increasing our desire for instant gratification. With our decreasing attention spans we’re easily distracted by our phones, and with our increasing desires for instant gratification we’re ready to give up on things if it’s too difficult or if we don’t get instant results. We have to be careful not to treat our faith in Jesus like we treat our digitized lives. We have to be careful not to let our distracted attention spans pull us away from focusing on Jesus, and our instant gratification mentalities to cause us to walk away from Jesus if life gets difficult or if we don’t get the instant results we want from him.
We can learn a lot from Zacchaeus, because he remained focused on Jesus, instead of being distracted by the crowd. He remained focused on Jesus, instead of turning away from Jesus because of the difficulties and hardship of the crowd. He remained focused on Jesus, and his life was transformed by Jesus. The more we focus on Jesus, the more we keep our eyes fixed on him and our daily friendship with him, the more our lives will be daily transformed by him. Focusing on your friendship with Jesus is what will help your faith to remain strong, and focusing on being financially generous in response to Jesus is what will help our entire church to remain strong. It will help our church to accomplish the vision Jesus has given us, which is to be a place for both skeptics and believers to seek truth and find joy in community, so we can keep reaching people and reaching the world with the gospel. We want to see Jesus and we want others to see Jesus like Zacchaeus did. It’ll happen the more we focus on Jesus, and focus on being generous like Jesus.