RTWW 5: Dinner (Zacchaeus and Community)

Scripture: Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

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5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

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7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

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8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

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9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Reflection

One thing I’ve been reflecting on recently is the concept of community in the Christian life. Being someone who has always tried to do things on their own, who tends to close off my heart to others, this past season where I’ve experienced great weakness and testing, I’ve been learning a hard lesson on how important and necessary community is. I remember sitting down and remembering that God has never been alone, even before the beginning he has been in perfect unity and fellowship within the trinity. He has always loved and been loved.

Let’s talk about community! One great failure of mine is just how comfortable I remain within my christian bubble. Yes, there are other internal factors which cause me to not really be social, but I can’t deny how much I stay within christian circles. Now even within these christian circles, I feel I fail to live up to the standard of community that the bible outlines. I’ve come to recognize a core issue is that I choose not to make myself vulnerable to others and invite others into my life. I have a subconscious reaction to protect myself from hurt and pain, which causes me to close myself off.

With this in mind, I’d like to draw attention to the story of Zacchaeus. There’s much to learn both from the actions of Zacchaeus and from Jesus! Starting off with Zacchaeus, once we’ve come to recognize our need for others in our lives, seek people out and let people in! Although Jesus may not stand before us today, he is definitely present in the lives of the body of believers, seek him out and invite him into your life. More then that, let him stay. In the middle eastern culture, having someone over wasn’t just having them over for dinner. When someone stayed over, they would stay indefinitely, sleeping under the same roof, eating the same food, they were not just visitors but esteemed guests. Zacchaeus was ready to keep Jesus in his life! Furthermore, Zacchaeus allowed himself to be transformed. Praise the Lord, he threw away his old ways and so excitedly accepted the new life that Jesus was calling him to.

Reflecting on the actions of Jesus, I actually realized a large block of sin in my life I need to repent of: my unwillingness to try and enter the life of non christians. I think about how often I will host and feed my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but how little I make an attempt to even spend time with my non-believing friends. Why is it that I don’t want to be involved in others' lives? What does Jesus call us to do? Jesus made himself available long term for Zacchaeus. Jesus didn’t just have a quick conversation, but found a place for himself in Zacchaeus’ life. Do we have a place in our non christian friends lives? Are we the light they look at when they seek out God? Recently at campus evangelism, I had a conversation with someone who used to be a catholic. As we continued getting to know each other, he shared that one of his best friends was a christian, and they often had conversations about faith. I realised that to many people - I was this friend. I was the one representative of Christ in their lives. It got me reflecting about all the ways I both represent Christ well and poorly.

Reflection/Discussion:

1. What image do you portray to your non believing friends?

2. In what ways do you close off your heart to others? What is stopping you from opening up?

3. Are there people you know that you want to get involved with more?