I Deserve It | Rejected
Saturday, May 2nd 2020
Even when I’m rejected by people, I’m accepted by God!
Luke 19:1-4 NIV
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
Truth: When you seek Him, He will find you!
Luke 19:5-7 NIV
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
BIG IDEA:
Even when I’m rejected by people, I’m accepted by God!
Truth: When you truly meet Jesus, everything changes!
Luke 19:8 NIV
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.”
Luke 19:9-10 NIV
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Have you ever been treated like an outcast or a reject?
Have you ever experienced a time in your life, when you felt like you were all on your own, and no one was going to help you?
Zaccheaus was rejected by everyone around him. He was an outcast and was hated – And honestly, once you hear what he did, you’ll probably think he deserved it too!
He was:
- Tax collector, occupying nation
- Considered a traitor
- Bribe to get the job
- Chief tax collector…really good at his job
- Unpaid job, made your money by overtaxing people
- So hated, the priests wouldn’t let them into the Temple
Luke 19:1-4 tells us this guy was filthy rich! I mean: Prada sandals, Gucci tunic, Louis Vuitton Man bag…murse!
But, even with all the stuff he had, something was still missing.
When he heard about Jesus, he wanted to know more. He heard that Jesus would talk with anyone, that he even had a former tax collector as one of his disciples, and now he was coming to Zaccheaus’ town and he had to at least catch a glimpse of Jesus! But the crowd was too thick, he was too short, and he couldn’t see anything!
So he did the unimaginable for a sophisticated rich guy. He ran as fast as his Prada sandals could take him and he climbed up a tree like a little kid!
People had rejected him
His lack of height had blocked him
But his passion to see Jesus fueled him!
So, he ran past the people, and he ran toward Jesus!
What obstacles are in your way today: Pride, Fear, Low sense of self-worth…?
Act like Zach, run past them and climb over them! Whatever it takes to get to Jesus!
Bring truth to those obstacles!
When you seek Him, He will find you!
Luke 19:5-7 tells us, Jesus knew his name and he wanted to hang out!
Even when I’m rejected by people, I’m accepted by God!
If you are going to become all that God has called and created you to be, your going to have to chose to run past people and towards Jesus.
Run past peoples judgment and towards Jesus mercy
Run past people thoughts against you and run towards Jesus thoughts for you!
Run past people’s lies they spread about you, and run towards the truth Jesus spreads over you!
You will find that when you truly meet Jesus, everything changes!
See Luke 19:8. Once he experienced the acceptance of Jesus something inside of him exploded!
He went from a thief to a philanthropist
From a miserable cheat to a generous giver
Didn’t do this to get accepted, he did it in response to being accepted!
Because when you truly meet Jesus, everything changes.
Jesus wraps it up for us in verses 9-10
I want to remind you of our Big Idea today: Even when I’m rejected by people, I’m accepted by God!
God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to let you stay that way.
I’d like to invite you to run to Jesus today. No matter who you are, he is ready to accept you with open arms, and don’t forget, he knows you by name!