“Why Am I Here?”
(Luke 19:1-10)
Series: Life’s Biggest Questions
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
First Baptist Church Henderson, KY
(3-30-08) (AM)
Introduction #1:
**VIDEO CLIP (3:04):
“Life on the Move.”
Do you ever feel like that? You know, I like to run, but I’m not crazy about running on a treadmill because the scenery never changes and you just keep going and going without feeling like you’re really getting anywhere, without feeling like you’ve really accomplished anything. Sometimes life can feel like that. You get up and get going every day and it’s like you just go and go and go, but you never have time to stop and think about the answers to some of life’s biggest questions.
Well over the next several Sundays, six Sundays from today through May 4th, we’re going to step off the treadmill and think about some of life’s bigger questions. Each Sunday we’ll focus on the same question in both worship and Sunday school. You’ll receive a Sunday school booklet and a daily reading devotion guide in your Sunday school class. If you’re not presently in a class, now is the time to get connected. You’ll want to get your materials and share with others in a smaller group setting.
The first question we’re going to answer this morning is the question, “Why am I here?” There’s a guy in the Bible who probably asked that question a time or two and I want to read you his story. So let me invite you to open to Luke, chapter 19.
- Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
- Pray.
Introduction #2:
Why in the world are we here this morning? Well, we’re here because it’s Sunday and we’re supposed to be in church, right?! But deeper than that, why are we here on this planet? What is our purpose in life? You know, not everyone is as reflective and introspective as the next guy, but this is a question every wise person will “get off the treadmill” and stop to consider at some point in life: “Why am I here?”
I think Zacchaeus may have asked that question a time or two: “Why am I here?” Zacchaeus comes across as a loveable character. Some of you will remember the children’s song:
“Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. And as the Savior passed that way He looked up in that tree and He said, “Zacchaeus, you come down! For I’m going to your house today, for I’m going to your house to stay.”
It was when Jesus passed by that Zacchaeus began to learn the answer to the question, “Why am I here?” Let’s check it out as we read through his story again and consider a few things together. First, let’s consider what I want to call a “Spiritual Exploration.”
I. Consider our Spiritual Exploration (1-4)
Zacchaeus in on a spiritual journey, a quest, an exploration. We know that because Luke, the writer of this story, tells us that Zacchaeus “sought to see who Jesus was” which means that he had heard about Him before. Zacchaeus is interested in spiritual things and he wants more information. Some of you can relate to Zacchaeus. Maybe you’ve heard some things about Jesus and you want some more information. Well, let’s journey along with Zacchaeus. Who is this guy, Zacchaeus?
Verses 1-2 tells us that Zacchaeus lives in Jericho and that he is tax collector, and not just any tax collector, but specifically what kind of tax collector? What does it say there in verse 2? He was a “chief” tax collector, which explains what follows: “and he was rich.”
Now before we go any further, understand that people in Jesus’ day despised tax collectors. You say, “Well, that’s how it is today!” Well, not exactly. Tax collectors in Jesus’ day, tax collectors like Zacchaeus in Jericho, worked for the despised Roman Empire. So they collected money for the enemy and would charge more than the tax to make more money for themselves, sort of “skimming off the top” and pocketing the extra cash. Because Zacchaeus was a “chief” tax collector, he made even more money than the average tax collector. He was a “chief,” the point-man at the top of the pyramid scheme who benefited from the collections of those who worked beneath him.
And while it’s going too far to liken Zacchaeus to a Don Corleone or a Tony Soprano, just know that Zacchaeus was not a popular person among the good, law-abiding citizens of Jericho. The people despised tax collectors so when Zacchaeus came around they frowned and booed. Everybody say, “Boo, Zacchaeus!” Verse 3:
3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
Zacchaeus is “height-challenged.” He is too small to stand with the crowd to see Jesus. He needs to a better vantage point and so he runs ahead and climbs up into a sycamore tree.
I like to use my imagination, don’t you? Today Zacchaeus would look like a successful Wall Street executive. See him breaking out in a sweat, running down Main Street in Jericho, soiling his $1,000 Armani suit, shimmying up the tree, scuffing up his newly polished Gucci shoes. And as he perches atop a branch on the sycamore tree, he takes a moment to refasten the clasp of his Rolex watch as he waits for Jesus to pass by.
What had Zacchaeus heard about Jesus that made him embark upon this spiritual exploration? Had he heard about another tax collector named Matthew or, Levi, as others called him, the man Luke wrote about earlier in chapter 5? Had he heard about this other tax collector Jesus passed by and stopped saying to him, “Follow me.” Had he heard about how Jesus loved Levi, a despised tax collector and did he wonder, “Maybe I’ll get to see Jesus, too. Maybe Jesus will invite me to follow Him.”
Zacchaeus is on a spiritual exploration. He is rich but he’s restless. He has power, but he has no peace. He has position, but he has no purpose. And maybe he asked a time or two, as he sat down at the end of a busy business day and stoically counted the coins that fell from his moneybag, “What does it all really matter? Why am I here?”
In Book I of his, Confessions, St. Augustine writes to God, “You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.” So begins the popular Shorter Catechism: What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. Zacchaeus is learning that our greatest purpose is not making money or becoming powerful or popular. Our greatest purpose is to love and glorify God, enjoying Him forever. Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.
Think about your own spiritual exploration. Are you living for God? Consider your spiritual exploration. Exploration. The next word is invitation. Secondly, let’s:
II. Consider our Spiritual Invitation (5-7)
How many of you can picture Zacchaeus in the tree? Do you see him there? Picture him there now, looking down, trying to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus is coming. He’s about to issue a life-changing invitation. Verse 5:
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
Jesus was more than a man. He was and is the God-Man. He is 100% Man and 100% God. As man he walks down the streets of Jericho and comes to the trunk of the sycamore tree. But as God, he knows before He even looks up that He’ll find a wee little man up in that tree. He knows about Zacchaeus before He even walks down the street. He knows about Zacchaeus before He even enters the city of Jericho. He knows about Zacchaeus before He begins His earthly ministry. He knows about Zacchaeus before Zacchaeus is even born.
Jesus looks up and He does something my mother used to tell me to never do: He invites Himself over to someone else’s house! You’re not supposed to do that, you know—unless you’re God. And while Jesus is inviting Himself over to Zacchaeus,’ He’s really inviting Zacchaeus to come to Him. It’s a spiritual invitation in answer to a spiritual exploration. What does Zacchaeus do? Verse 6:
6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
Joyfully. Zacchaeus has a smile on his face. Zacchaeus feels loved. Zacchaeus has joy. He’s been invited to commune with the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s cause for celebration! The whole crowd should be clapping and shouting in glee, but what do we read?
7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
There are some self-righteous religious people hanging around. They watch this thing happen, Jesus calling up to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus’ sliding down the tree, arm-and-arm with Jesus on their way to Zacchaeus’ house and these religious people are like, “That Jesus guy…He has gone to fellowship with a sinful, despised, tax-collector. Some religious leader He is!”
I like the way Jesus puts it back in Luke 5. That’s where we read of the other tax collector, Levi. The same thing happened there. Jesus called Levi to come and follow Him and Levi became a believer. Later, in Levi’s home, many other tax collectors and others sat down to a meal and the Scribes and Pharisees, the real “religious” people looked down their noses at Jesus and said, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answers, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”
I like that! Jesus says, “Physical doctors help people who know they’re physically sick. Doctors don’t help people who think they’re healthy. Similarly, these people know they are spiritually sick and are desperate for someone to come and heal them of their spiritual illnesses.”
I’m so glad Jesus came for sick people, people who know they are sinners, people who admit they have failures and problems. If we’ll admit we have a problem called sin, then Jesus is right there to help us. He came to take care of our sin and shame. He died on the cross for our sin and shame. He wants us to have life. He issues a spiritual invitation to us! He says, “Come down from the tree of your self-righteousness. Come down from the tree of your own way. Come down from the tree of your sin and shame for I must go to your house today.”
That’s what Larry Taylor was sharing about in the video we saw earlier in the worship service. If we’ll be come down from the tree, Jesus will be there with open arms and we’ll find a church with open arms and find the answer to why we are here.
We have considered the matter of spiritual exploration and invitation. The third point is predictable. We move from exploration to invitation to transformation. Number three:
III. Consider our Spiritual Transformation (8-10)
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold: all things have become new.” When we receive Christ’s spiritual invitation, He brings about spiritual transformation. God changes us. He miraculously, supernaturally, changes our behavior. We are new creations in Christ. We are different. We’re no longer the persons we once were. It happened to Zacchaeus:
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
Zacchaeus is like, “I’m different now. I don’t want to steal anymore. I want to give.” And he gives not just a tithe, 10%, but he gives “half of his goods to the poor,” 50%. He restores four times whatever he has taken by extortion.
In the previous chapter, chapter 18, verses 24-27, Luke wrote about where Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Well, Zacchaeus is the camel going through the eye of the needle. “The things which are impossible with me are possible with God.” Zacchaeus no longer clings to money, he clings to the Master. He no longer clutches coins, he clutches Christ.
Kent Hughes writes, “Jesus said over and over that it is useless to talk about loving Him and trusting Him and having the sweet assurance of forgiveness…unless it makes a difference in our material attachments. Strong emotion, deep sweet feelings, and confidence in forgiveness are all nice if they open our hands.”
When spiritual transformation occurs we are new people. We give evidence that we have been changed by the new way we live. So Jesus says in verse 9:
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
Jesus says, “You can tell Zacchaeus is a new creation. Salvation has come to this house. Zacchaeus is saved; saved from sin. He is a ‘son of Abraham.’” Zacchaeus was apparently already a son of Abraham in the physical sense: he was a Jew. Now he is a son of Abraham in a spiritual sense: he is saved. Salvation has come this house. That’s Jesus’ way of saying, “You can tell Zacchaeus is a new person. God’s grace has supernaturally changed him.”
Does your life indicate that you are a new creation in Christ? Can people see a difference in the way you live? Has your language changed? Is it cleaner? Have you stopped telling those off-color jokes? Have you stopped the pattern of that destructive behavior? Are you now finding joy and contentment in the Lord Jesus Christ and His church? If we’re truly born-again, it will be evident that “salvation has come to our house.”
Now watch this last verse. Do you remember the first point of our study this morning? We talked about our spiritual exploration. We talked about seeking the meaning of life, looking for our purpose, seeking spiritual answers. Zacchaeus was seeking Jesus. He “sought to see who Jesus was,” but look at Who’s seeking whom in verse 10:
10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
I love verse 10! It seemed the whole time that Zacchaeus was the one doing the seeking. And to be sure, he was. But he was seeking only because God was seeking him. Jesus says in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.” This speaks of God’s great love for you and me! His great love for sinners! He seeks us and draws us to His precious side so that we may seek Him and receive the answer to why we are here.
As the hymn-writer puts it:
“I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my heart to seek Him (by) seeking me;
It was not that I found (You) O Savior True;
No, I was found [by] Thee.”
Why am I here? I’m here for Jesus. You’re here for Jesus. We’re all here for Jesus. We’re here to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, enjoying Him in the Person of His dear Son, Jesus Christ.
- Stand for prayer….
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