January is a good time of year for reflection, prayer and consideration of what the future might look like. Too much forward planing is of course fraught with danger as God as a way of changing our minds.
We all have favourite stories. In my increasing age I am enjoying more than ever before some of the children's classics such as the writings of A. A. Milne and Kennethe Grahame. Who would have thought that Winnie the Pooh could teach me so much!
However, my favourite Biblical story is probably Jesus' meeting with Zacchaeus in Luke 19. The firts thing that has always stimulated my thinking is that we always presume that Zacchaeus was the little guy. Whenever I read it I cannot get out of my head the distinct possibility that perhaps Jesus was the one vertically challenged?
'He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not,
because he was short in stature.'
Luke 19:3
because he was short in stature.'
Luke 19:3
I'm sorry if this rattles our picture of Jesus being this tall handsome man; but I am still not convinced as to who the short guy was.
Putting that little furphy aside for a moment, this week as I have found time to reflect on the coming year and what it might hold, a most important line has haunted me.
Putting that little furphy aside for a moment, this week as I have found time to reflect on the coming year and what it might hold, a most important line has haunted me.
"He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Luke 19:7
Jesus did that a lot you know. He seemed to have this desire to hang out with people that the average church might not feel all that comfortable with. Just this morning I was called by the local hospital to spend time with a family who had just lost their husband and father through a sudden death. They struck me as battlers, good honest battlers, who had just had their world torn apart. It was good to share hope in that tiny room with a grieving family. Jesus was comfortable in that sort of company.
In our Luke story the precursor to the above quote was 'All who saw it began to grumble..' Who were the grumblers? My guess is that they were the 'righteous'; the ones whose passports were already stamped for heaven and were a bit choosy about who might join them.
It must have really stirred them up when Jesus announced that this lousy filthy sinner Zaccheaus - not just any Tax Collector but a chief one - was also a son of Abraham!!
Who the heck does this Jesus think he is letting just anybody into the kingdom. Heavens above, the next thing we know he will be inviting people like me in there!
As we move into 2009 I am more convinced than ever that my call is to make sure that the church remembers the Jesus they follow spent a great deal of time with the people we might reject. He enjoyed a party so much that in some circles he was known as a 'glutton and a drunkard'.
Jesus was born under rather dodgey circumstances despite our pretty carols. His ministry only lasted three years and in that time he brought freedom to the captives, healing for sick and hope for the helpless. At the end of his life he was crucified alongside two criminals. Hardly the ending that Disney Studios would approve of. The only people that he really managed to tick off on a regular basis were the religious of the day.
He enjoyed being the guest of sinners and he was killed for it!!??
I hope that in some small way my ministry might reflect this truth in 2009.
Cheers - John
In our Luke story the precursor to the above quote was 'All who saw it began to grumble..' Who were the grumblers? My guess is that they were the 'righteous'; the ones whose passports were already stamped for heaven and were a bit choosy about who might join them.
It must have really stirred them up when Jesus announced that this lousy filthy sinner Zaccheaus - not just any Tax Collector but a chief one - was also a son of Abraham!!
Who the heck does this Jesus think he is letting just anybody into the kingdom. Heavens above, the next thing we know he will be inviting people like me in there!
As we move into 2009 I am more convinced than ever that my call is to make sure that the church remembers the Jesus they follow spent a great deal of time with the people we might reject. He enjoyed a party so much that in some circles he was known as a 'glutton and a drunkard'.
Jesus was born under rather dodgey circumstances despite our pretty carols. His ministry only lasted three years and in that time he brought freedom to the captives, healing for sick and hope for the helpless. At the end of his life he was crucified alongside two criminals. Hardly the ending that Disney Studios would approve of. The only people that he really managed to tick off on a regular basis were the religious of the day.
He enjoyed being the guest of sinners and he was killed for it!!??
I hope that in some small way my ministry might reflect this truth in 2009.
Cheers - John
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