Last Sunday of Advent today, we’re about to head into ‘Christmas Week!’ Good time of year, plenty to be excited about.
There’s excitement around what’s to come, there’s also EXPECTATION!
Our last look today at this key word, being EXPECTANT, and moving from RELUCTANT to EXPECTANT in this series
And we’ve seen this through the OT lens of Habbakuk, now we have one final look through the lens of our NT man, one more time on the dodgy tax collector known as Zaccheaus.
He’s our KEY PERSON today, and our KEY WORD is EXPECTANT.
So if you cast your minds back a couple weeks, we looked at the story of Zaccheaus in terms of RELUCTANCE > the RELUCTANCE of the people who were there, who saw Jesus go up to this ‘sinner’ and call him down from the tree so he could have dinner at his house!
And there are two key parts to the WHY and the HOW of all this, why and how this happens > 2 things:
- Zaccheaus WANTS TO SEE HIM, he wants to see Jesus.
- Jesus says Zaccheaus is a ‘son of Abraham.’
And we can bring in our second reading today here as well, what did we just hear in Romans (1:1-7):
- There was a ‘call to belong,’ for those ‘who are loved by God and called to be his holy people.’
ONE
Zacchaeus ‘wants to see Jesus’
Wanting to see Jesus, standing and looking as we heard Habbakuk does, standing where we are but looking to what God is doing, has done and is going to do.
Actually looking for Jesus to show up, expecting that he’s going to be there > Habbakuk’s posture shows this, the story of Zaccheaus shows this, another place we see this sense of expectation is when Jesus comes into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, different times and places where there is a tangible sense of expectation of Jesus showing up, where people know that this matters, this is worth being apart of!
This is the EXPECTATION space, but we often get caught up in the RELUCTANCE space as we’ve talked about through this series. This reluctance that Jesus is actually with us, that he is doing anything in our lives, can so easily come out of being occupied with all the other things life throws at us > family, work, finances, health, whatever it may be. All of these things can hit us hard at times, what’s going on in the world around us can hit us pretty hard at times
We’ve all heard about what happened in Sydney last Sunday night, a tragic event like that can knock us all around a bit, even if we’re a long way away and were not directly impacted there is a shared humanity, a shared sadness, a shared grief even. Other things like anger and fear can crop up here too, this is very difficult stuff and we pray for the families and community affected by these tragic events. Something profound I saw on the news was a local church opening up to receive people in who were trying to get away from the immediate area of the attack, and they prayed together for peace. We will pray for peace today too.
So there are things that make us question God, is he really there, how could these things happen, how could difficulties and challenges in our own lives happen, why does it feel like we continue to cry out but he isn’t listening… That can lead to the reluctance we’ve been talking about.
But what does God say he will do, even in the midst of tragic events and division between cultures and belief systems and people not feeling safe in a place where they should be able to feel safe?
In Psalm 34:18 we read ‘The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.’
This can be hard to hear in the midst of difficult things – I can’t imagine what it’s actually like for local people and families at this time – but at least for us today these words from this psalm reveal the very nature of God, they show us who he is and what he’s all about.
We can doubt these words, these things we hear about God, but if this is actually how God operates, actually what God will do > then there’s something else going on isn’t there. If God really does come close to the broken-hearted, if he really does save the crushed in spirit, then maybe we might want to see this Jesus, we might want to know there’s hope, we might need some comfort and some peace and that is what our God is all about.
TWO
Jesus says Zaccheaus is a ‘son of Abraham’
In the story of Zaccheaus we know how he responds to Jesus calling him down from the tree > he says he will give away possessions and right his wrongs. Is that why ‘salvation comes to his house’ as Jesus says? Are his promises to do good the persuading factors that convince Jesus to have mercy on this man? Nope.
Jesus calls him a ‘son of Abraham,’ which is to be part of God’s family, one of God’s own children, not because he’s done or will do anything, but because God loves his people.
And Jesus also says he come to ‘seek and save the lost’ > this story is exactly that.
Jesus does the saving work, he speaks the saving words, not Zacchaeus. God is not favourable to him because of his own efforts or promises to do good. God loves him as a child, because that’s what God does.
THREE
Those who are loved by God are ‘called to belong’
We see in the story of Zacchaeus what it means to belong, which is to be seen, known and loved. To be part of God’s family, a gift we all receive by God’s grace.
A child of God belongs. A child of God is called to belong, is loved by God and called to be among his holy people as Paul says.
So if you’re broken-hearted – God says as a child of God, you belong.
If you’re crushed in spirit – God says as a child of God, you belong.
If you’re tired, weary, sick, struggling – God says as a child of God, you belong.
And if you’re going ok, but you want others in your life to be ok too – God says as a child of God, you belong. Come to me and you will find rest, you will find peace, you will find the goodness of God, and that goes for all people.
If you want to see Jesus, you’ve come to the right place! And he’s not just here for this time on Sunday mornings, he goes with you, into your life, alongside you.
And we can also think of Joseph on this point, we heard from him in our gospel reading today (Matt 1:18-25) > Joseph is a bit reluctant isn’t he!
God comes to him through an angel in a dream and reassures him, reaffirms his plans to marry Mary despite the unusual circumstances here. And Joseph does exactly that, he is faithful to what God has asked him to do.
What takes Joseph from reluctant to expectant here? From doubt to trust, from uncertainty to faithful action?
It’s not his own willpower, his own selflessness as a faithful husband and servant of God > although he is those things and he does those things, but they are not the reason for what happens here.
What moves him from reluctant to expectant, from doubting to trusting, from uncertain to faithful is the WORD OF GOD.
God speaks, God speaks through the angel in this dream with a similar tone to the comforting, reassuring words we hear in Psalm 34.
‘Do not be afraid’ the angel says, God has a plan here > a plan to give you and all people the greatest gift they will ever receive.
So as we look out at this ‘Christmas Week’ in front of us, whatever’s happening in the world around us, whatever we’re doing, wherever we’re going to be for Christmas, whoever were going to be with, we can be like our old friend Habbakuk:
STANDING AND LOOKING for what God is going to do, what he’s going to say to us, with EXPECTANT HEARTS.
And we can be like our other key person Zaccheaus:
Forgiven sinners, salvation has come to our house that goes beyond this life, we are children of God, we want to see Jesus, we have EXPECTANT HEARTS.
He is about to be among us, what we have waited for is about to finally happen, our God is coming to be with his people.
God bless you and keep you as you head into your Christmas week!
Tom Kitson 