Outgrowing yourself
Series: Like you and me | Bible text: Luke 19:1–10
God trusts us to grow beyond ourselves and thus become a blessing for others. Little Zacchaeus experienced much contempt in his life, but the loving care of Jesus changed everything. Jesus gave him the strength to grow far beyond himself. In the same way, Jesus turns to each of us and blesses us with his attention so that we in turn can bless others with care and encouragement.
Think about it: Can you think of a situation where you were with a group and one or two people motivated the whole team to go beyond themselves? It could be a work team or a sports team. Or a group in church or in a club. And there was this one person who somehow managed to inspire the others and not settle for the status quo. We sometimes hear that about a sports team, but I hope we have experienced that ourselves.
We probably know the opposite as well: one person in our team manages to tip the mood and spread negative thoughts. Suddenly a project no longer seems feasible or hopelessness spreads. It is fascinating to see that individuals can have a great influence on others, either positively or negatively. Today, the question is how we can grow beyond ourselves. You have the theme «Like you and me» this year. It is about being blessed to become a blessing to others. Sometimes a certain contempt gets in the way of us growing beyond ourselves.
Feeling despised
We see this very impressively in a man called Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10). We don’t really know much about this man and we only meet him in the Gospel of Luke. He is described to us like this: «Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, a rich man, wanted very much to see who this Jesus was. But he could not because he was small and the many people blocked his view». (verse 2–3). So he was a tax collector by profession and therefore rich, and he was small. Luke describes this man in such a way that we do not miss it: Zacchaeus was a despised man among the people. This becomes obvious at the latest when Jesus invites him to dinner and the people react indignantly: «Doesn’t this Jesus know what a sinner this is?» (V.7)
Why was he despised? His profession was to blame. He was a tax collector. That meant that he worked with the occupying power, with the Romans. Jericho was a town where many people went in and out and they all had to declare their goods. Now it was well known that these tax collectors were not only collecting money for the Romans – which would have been bad enough – no, they were taking even more from the people and putting it into their own pockets. Zacchaeus was even the head of this group. He was responsible for making sure the whole system ran smoothly.
When people saw him in town – obviously he was known everywhere – and discovered that he had new clothes or owned an expensive house, they basically knew that this wealth came from them.
In addition, Zacchaeus was obviously small. On the one hand, this refers to his height, because he obviously could not see over the crowd to see Jesus. Some people even think that he might have been a midget. But we can also understand this being small ambiguously. People looked down on him. They despised him, maybe some even really hated him. And all this is expressed by the fact that they did not let him pass. If he had been a popular or respected person, people would probably have let him through. But not like this. What does that look like in your life? Do you know those moments when you feel despised? Those moments when you think that people look down on you? You «small» find? Or do you know moments when people stop you because they actually despise you? I often had to struggle with feelings of contempt in my teenage and youth years. I was not one of the people I wanted to belong to. I was very sensitive to what people thought or said about me. I often thought that I «small» and others look down on me. The deepest expression of felt contempt is thinking that no one would care if we were no longer here. But the story does not end here.…
Jesus looks at you…
Jesus shows up, sees Zacchaeus sitting on this tree and invites himself to eat with him. It says: «When Jesus passed by the tree, he looked up and called out, «Zacchaeus, come down quickly! I must be a guest in your house today». (V.5). Jesus says surprisingly little in this passage. It is the experience Zacchaeus has here that turns everything upside down.
But what exactly is Jesus doing here? Nothing spectacular, apparently. He looks up into the tree where Zacchaeus was. But how he must have looked at him! This look together with the invitation seems to change everything. We all know that a person’s eyes either underline or cross out a statement. Our eyes are a window into our soul and what we really think about a person becomes visible in them. Jesus is looking at Zacchaeus here and his gaze underlines what he is saying. One senses a great urgency in Jesus» statement: He wants to be Zacchaeus» guest. It is important to him!
A meal together was very meaningful in this culture. Even more so than today. When you ate with someone, you told that person that they belonged to the people and the family. It was more than simple hospitality. It was a strong sign of belonging. That’s why it was unthinkable for religious Jews at that time to eat with foreigners or known sinners, because then you identified with them. But that was exactly what Zacchaeus needed so much in his contempt: someone to look at him and identify with him. Jesus brought him out of his contempt with his gaze and this invitation. He showed Zacchaeus a way out of this feeling. «small» and to be despised. It is also significant to see what Jesus does not do here.
He does not tell a parable to show Zacchaeus that he is a sinner. Nor does he list all his mistakes from the past. He simply gives him attention. He knows about the power of attention. For us, on the other hand, it is often important to tell others what they have done wrong. But Jesus does not do that. He does not threaten him with hell and he does not give him a guilty conscience. Instead, he looks at him and invites himself in.
And Jesus does exactly the same thing with each of us today. He looks at each of us full of love and says: «You are more than welcome! It would be so nice if you would eat with me. I would be very happy if we could be friends.» Jesus does not threaten us or give us a guilty conscience, but he knows about the power of giving. Just as he blessed Zacchaeus with his attention, he also wants to bless you and me.
…and gives you confidence!
This power is then clearly felt in the life of Zacchaeus. He is so inspired by Jesus that he obviously believes that his life does not have to continue as before. We read on: «But Zacchaeus came before the Lord and said to him, «Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I will give him back four times as much» » (V.8). Jesus» care and attention lead Zacchaeus to grow far beyond himself. This greedy man who could never have enough money becomes a generous person. What he promises Jesus here is very generous indeed! He wants to give half of his wealth to the poor. Would we be willing to do that? To give away half of our present wealth? But it does not stop there. Zacchaeus wants to give back four times as much to those he has extorted. In the end, there will not be much left for him after this action.
To be honest, I am a little critical at this point. Who tells us that Zacchaeus really did this? We may also know that in a certain moment of elation we take on a lot of things. Maybe for the new year or after a special service. But can we really do it? And what about Zacchaeus? We don’t know if he kept his promise? As I said, I would have been a little critical. But there is nothing of that with Jesus. He does not say to Zacchaeus: «That’s a great idea, but do you really want to shoot in like that? Are you going to be able to do that?» Jesus also does not mention that he will then come back in a month to see whether he has already implemented the first steps of his announcement. The amazing thing is: Jesus trusts him that he will succeed. He not only gives Zacchaeus his attention, he also trusts him that he can lead a different life and grow far beyond himself. Jesus does not react critically. Rather, we read: «Then Jesus said to Zacchaeus, «Today has brought salvation to this house. For, he added, this man is also a son of Abraham. And the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost». (V.9–10). Jesus sees that this man believes. Zacchaeus believes that he can become a different person through the power that Jesus radiates. And that is exactly why Jesus came into this world, to give people his attention, to rescue them from contempt and to trust them that they can lead a different life and grow far beyond themselves.
Jesus also trusts us that we can grow beyond ourselves and that our lives can change. He trusts us that we can overcome greed, pride, envy, jealousy or unforgiveness. Not because we are so good ourselves, but because his power, the power of the Holy Spirit, becomes active in us. He trusts us to perform at our best. I know that for many Christians the term performance triggers a negative reaction. And it is true that if we want to impress God with our performance, then we are on the wrong track. But it is Jesus himself who inspires us and gives us the strength to grow far beyond ourselves. He wants to bless us so that we become a blessing to others. And imagine for a moment what must have happened when Zacchaeus kept his promise. He went through the city, the well-known and despised Zacchaeus, and distributed half his fortune to the beggars of Jericho. What joy and joyfulness that must have been
Blessing was for these people! And then only when he went to those whom he had blackmailed and cheated and gave them back everything fourfold. What a blessing!
Closing words
I don’t know exactly where you yourself stand on this issue. Perhaps you are one of those who are going through a difficult time at the moment or who feel despised. Then I want to promise you today that Jesus is turning towards you. He looks at you and says «Hey you, come down quickly! I need to be a guest in your house today.» He desires to be with you and become your friend. But not only that: He also trusts you to leave your old life behind and grow beyond yourself.
Perhaps today is the moment to engage with this Jesus. But maybe you are also one of those people who have already experienced this attention from Jesus and know that his power can do amazing things in you. Then you can become a person who inspires others. A person who can shape the climate in a group, for good and for hope, as I mentioned at the beginning.
You can become a blessing for others. Our church, our associations, our workplaces and our region need people like that. People who turn to others and trust them to grow beyond themselves. Just like Jesus does with us.
Possible questions for the small groups
Read the Bible text: Luke 19:1–10
- Tell each other the story of Zacchaeus with as much detail as possible,
how you imagine the man and the whole scene. - Tell each other about examples in your life where people have motivated you.
have to grow far beyond yourselves. - How have you already experienced the attention and care of Jesus in concrete terms?
experienced in your life? - Do you trust the power of caring in the lives of others as much as Jesus did? What do
we instead of this? - Have you already experienced that Jesus trusted you with something? What was it?
Have you noticed any changes in your life in the last few months? - Who specifically could you give your attention and attention to in the next week?
give?
