Befriend the Outcast

 

As we continue with June with Jesus, a journey through the four Gospels, I think it is important to pay attention to how Jesus treats people. As Christians, we are to be Christ followers, therefore we must learn to treat people the way He did. We also have to understand that we are not perfect the way He is perfect, and therefore we need to rely on the Holy Spirit to strengthen us when we are weak.

 

In Luke 19:1-10, we read a very familiar children’s Sunday School story. As a matter of fact, I cannot think of this story without the children’s song refrain, “Zacheaus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he…” running through my head.  

As an adult, I wonder how Zacchaeus would like to know that he has been immortalized as a “wee little man.” Even well intentioned children song’s writer in telling the story demonstrate truth about Zacchaeus, he was an outcast. He didn’t fit in with everyone else. But why?

 

We don’t know much about Zacchaeus from this text. I can only imagine what his life was like and what he endured. Maybe he was bullied by the bigger kids growing up. Maybe the feeling of powerlessness drove him to seek a powerful position. Being a Chief tax collector meant that he had the authority of the local government to take money from residents.

 

Taxes then were not paid the way they are today. There was no online form to fill out, or print and mail in. The tax collectors would go house to house with armed guards and collect the taxes. The Roman governor gave the Jewish tax collectors freedom to take more than the taxes as long as Rome received the required tax. So Zacchaeus and other tax collectors would require more than the tax from people.

 

I can imagine him knocking on the house of those who bullied him, accompanied by Roman soldiers, and feeling justified as he extorted money from them. After years of doing this he was a very wealthy man, but he was hated by most. He was an outcast.

 

Have you ever been an outcast? Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong or people didn’t want to be around you? It’s no fun.

 

Intended for Community

 

If we were to go back to the Garden of Eden at the very beginning, we see that God created humanity to be in relationship. Before sin entered the world, God said, “it is not good for man to be alone…”

The truth is we all feel lonely at times, but for some they feel it all the time. We can even be in a crowded room and feel invisible. Yet God wants you to be a part of a vibrant community. One pastor said that a good definition of ministry is to help people feel a little less alone in this world.

 

When Jesus saves you, He doesn’t call you to isolation but to community. You have to seek out other believers and develop friendships within the church. From there, you need to be like Christ and seek out the outcasts and invite them to meet Jesus.

 

Go Out of Your Way

 

We see that Jesus traveled through Jericho to meet Zacchaeus. If you were to look at the route Jesus took from Galilee to Jerusalem, you might find it odd that Jesus went out of His way to take the road to Jericho.

 

There were two main routes to Jerusalem from Galilee: the Road to Jericho and the Road through Samaria. The road through Samaria was more direct and shorter. The road to Jericho took longer.

 

Jesus and the disciples had begun walking the road through Samaria and then diverted to the longer course, even though Jesus had led them through Samaria on several occasions before.

 

Could His reasoning have been to endure the extra time in travel in order to meet Zacchaeus?

 

Remember, they walked everywhere. To divert directions was to add 1-2 days of walking to their trip. But Jesus thought it was worth His inconvenience to pursue a sinner. We see in verse 10, “the Son of man has come to seek…the lost.”

 

Jesus intentionally pursued Zacchaeus even though he had to go out of his way to do it. As Christ followers, are we willing to endure any inconvenience to pursue unbelievers? To pursue the outcasts?

 

Are you willing to sit a different table at lunch to share Christ with others? Are you willing to risk your popularity to talk to the outcast? If Jesus was to walk with you through your neighborhood or school, who would He want you to talk to?

 

Use Their Name

 

When I was in High School my buddy and I would visit different youth groups from time to time to see what kind of youth group we would like to lead one day. We both wanted to be youth pastors. One week we visited Chapel Hill Alliance’s youth group and met their youth pastor, Greg. Greg was a nice guy and I really liked my visit with their group.

 

A few months went by and I decided to visit Chapel Hill again. I walked in the door and Greg came up to me and said, “hi Brad!” I was shocked that he remembered my name. I would have been shocked if it was only one week later, but it was a few months. I felt validated by that and felt like he wanted me there.

 

That encounter shaped me as a person and gave me an example of the type of youth pastor I wanted to be, and that I continue to strive to be today.

 

There is power in using someone’s name. And that is what Jesus did as he pursued Zacchaeus.

 

Luke 19:5

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

 

Jesus not only wanted to get Zacchaeus’ attention, He wanted to win his heart. Jesus wasn’t ashamed to call Zacchaeus’ name out even in the big crowd. Jesus called the most unpopular person around by name and declared he was going to his house. How do you think Zacchaeus would have felt?

 

Has anyone called you by your name that has left an impression on you?

 

Be a Friend

 

Jesus not only went out of His way and called Zacchaeus by name, but He went and hung out with him at his house. He befriend Zacchaeus in that encounter.

 

So often we dehumanize outcasts. We don’t like the way they look, the way they smell, the way the dress, or some other arbitrary reason. When we treat them like outcasts, we show we don’t care about who they are, what they’ve been through and we deny the fact that they have been created in the Image of God.

 

What Jesus did for Zacchaeus was to show his value and that he mattered. It doesn’t say what they talked about, but it shows how Zacchaeus responded: with joy!

 

Because of his encounter with Jesus, a man who showed him dignity and care, Zacchaeus repented of his extortion and declared he was going to pay back everyone he had wronged fourfold!

 

Zacchaeus showed the fruit of belief and repentance as he moved away from his sin and began to give.

 

Ephesians 4:28

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

 

What an awesome opportunity we have to be the hands and feet of Jesus today, to care for the outcast and take the Good News to the downtrodden. If you are willing to go out of your way to pursue an outcast, to be personal and use their name, and become their friends, you may see God transform their life through you.

 

Jesus did it. Are you a Jesus follower? Look for your opportunity this week!

 

 

What is Loft?

Tonight is the first time we are regathering as a youth group at the church. We have stayed connected through Zoom, but it's not same. Being our first gathering together in more than 2 months, it feels like something brand new. So we are going to review tonight who we are and why we gather.

***This is a repost of my June 14, 2017 post*** 

Welcome to LOFT Youth Group!

 

It is my opinion, and I may be biased, but I believe youth group is one of the most exciting times of life. I love youth group and I am so excited that you are a part of it. For those who are first timers tonight, to those who have been here for a while, I am excited to have you here.

 

Why?

 

Because youth group is a special time and opportunity for you. This is a time where you get to be with your friends, make new friends, step out of your comfort zone, play games, learn more about the Bible, but most importantly grow closer to Jesus.

 

You will make some friendships that will last a life time. You will connect with some adults who love you and will be there for you through the tough times of life. You will have opportunities to serve others locally and internationally.

 

Our youth group is called LOFT, which really refers to the awesome space we meet in upstairs, but The Room Upstairs Where Youth Group Meets or TRUWYGM doesn’t roll off the tongue very well. However, LOFT has become to mean so much more!

 

One student suggested that LOFT should mean, Living Our Faith Together, and that has stuck ever since.

 

Faith is the central part of the equation. What is the Faith? Faith in what? We are talking about faith in Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, lived a perfect life, shed His blood and died on the cross for sins, was buried and rose again! By faith, we mean that we are a Christian, or follower of Jesus.

 

Living: Faith then needs to be alive! It is in living out our faith (Romans 12:1-2). Faith needs to be a part of everyday life. It should impact your relationships with your parents, siblings and friends. It shapes your decisions and your goals. It changes everything.

 

Our: Faith is personal, as in you have to choose for yourself to believe Jesus. We need to move from “your” faith, to “THE” faith, then “my” faith and see it as “our” faith. Notice the movement from distant to ownership and belonging. You see, faith is not private, it is communal. That means that Jesus didn’t save you to isolation, but to community. This is what the church is, a community of believers, a new family. Youth group can become like family to you.

 

Faith: it is the evidence of things unseen. Faith in Jesus is to trust Him, that He is who He said He is. That He has done what He said He did. That He will do what He promises to do.

 

Together: Again, you are not alone. We are called to carry each other’s burdens. Jr and Sr High can bring some of the toughest choices and the hardest times in life. You will be learning so much and exposed to so much. You need godly, Christian friends to come alongside of you and to help you.

 

That is what LOFT is all about. And we developed this around 4 principles.

 

Principles #1 – it’s about Jesus. John 14:23; Matthew 22:37-38

 

I know that you have come with a lot of expectations and desires, but principle #1 will help you see that it is not about you, but about Jesus.

 

When asked what the most important commandment was in all the Bible, Jesus’ response was, “to love the Lord your God…” with everything you are. The first and most important reason LOFT exists is that we learn to love Jesus first and most. We will learn about who Jesus is, what He has done, and His Word that He gave to us. We will learn about our desires and affections and how we are tempted to love other things more than Jesus. We will discover together that learning to love Jesus will lead to obedience.

 

Loving Jesus together comes in the form of teachings, service opportunities, worship times and being together.

 

Principle #2 – care for each other. Matthew 22:39-40

 

Principle #1 helped us see that it is not about us, but about Jesus. When we understand that properly we will see that it leads us to put others before ourselves. Another reminder that “it’s not about you.”

 

We’ve already mentioned the importance of friendship and Christian community. When you learn to value the people around you in this youth group, and see them as your brothers and sisters in Christ, you will find that this group will transform you as your care for each other.

 

Jesus said, “they will know you are my followers by your love for each other.” As you learn to love other believers like Jesus commands you to, you will create a community that is compelling. People will want to know Jesus because of how well you love each other. It’s true! I’ve seen it! LOFT Youth Group has been and can be a group that loves each other well and draws people to Jesus.

 

Caring for each other comes generally by gathering together weekly, participating in activities, retreats, camps and small groups.

 

Principle #3 – tell others. Psalm 107:2; Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 1:16

 

This part flows from the first two. When you learn to love Jesus first, you will not be able to contain your joy and will want to tell others. When you have a community that you care for and all hold the faith in common, you will encourage each other to communicate the Good News.

 

We’ve talked about loving fellow believers by growing in community. Well, to love unbelievers is to tell them about Jesus. Loving the world is to point them to God and His Word. It is learning to step out of your comfort zone, bring God up in conversations and share about Jesus with them. It can be scary, but it will be life changing when you do.

 

I remember the first time I shared the Gospel with someone. I grew up in church, Bible studies, Sunday School, camps… the whole 9 yards. But I was scared to tell others. Until that day and everything changed. Let me briefly share my experience.

 

I was on a missions trip and we were going door to door telling people about Jesus (crazy right?). I kept playing the “prayer warrior” card, meaning I was too afraid to talk so I’d pray for the person talking. Then, out of now where, I heard myself say, “I’ll talk at the next house!”

 

I was so nervous and had no idea what to say. Fortunately, we had studied the Romans Road and I had those verses underlined in my Bible. I started with Romans 3:23, asked her if she would read it and asked her what it meant. Then I went to the next verse, same thing. When I got to the end, Romans 10:9-10 which talks about believing Jesus and confessing Him, I asked her, “is that what you would like to do?” She replied, “YES!” And I said, “are you sure?” because I couldn’t believe God would allow me the privilege of leading someone to Christ.

 

She bowed her head and received Jesus right there! I was so excited and I couldn’t wait to tell others. After that experience, it was as if a switch was flipped in my soul. I became so excited to share, and I began to understand more about Jesus and His Word.

 

Communicating the Gospel will activate your soul and deepen your relationship with Jesus.

 

LOFT encourages communicating to others by regular reminders of the Gospel, practice sharing the Gospel, missions trips, and opportunities to welcome your friends weekly to youth group or events.

 

Principle #4 – You get out of it what you put into it. Galatians 6:7-9

 

The Bible says, “You will reap what you sow.” This principle is so important to understand. It refers to planting seeds. If you plant an apple seed, you will reap an apple tree. If you plant a tomato plant, you won’t get beets, you guessed it, you will get tomatoes.

 

The principle is that the fruit you receive is based on the efforts you put in to it. Youth group is like that. You will determine what kind of experience you have in LOFT. I can promise you that youth group will provide the same opportunities to all of you.

 

Some of you will embrace it and grow in your relationship to Christ and each other. For those that do, LOFT will be some of the best times of life for you.

 

For others, you will keep LOFT at an arm’s length, you will keep up your walls and you won’t buy in. You may have a good time, but it won’t be transformative.

 

The question is, what outcome do you want? Will you buy into these four principles? Will you put forth the effort? Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone?

 

 

If you do, I promise you won’t regret it and you will have the time of your life in LOFT.

 

Finding Truth: Changed Life

 

In the picture above is a Clematis that is growing in my back yard. It’s a beautiful flower that blooms in the Spring. It amazes me each year. When I first moved in, I noticed a dead vine on the trellis and I thought about pulling it, but it was winter so I left it. The following Spring, I noticed some signs of life. In a few weeks, this beautiful flower bloomed.

 

Unfortunately, some of the branches detached from the vine. They looked dead because they were dead. They no longer produced a flower, so I pruned them away. All that remains is the healthy branch that continues to bloom each year.

 

What caused me to keep this vine? Signs of life and the fruit that it bears. Even though three seasons of the year, this plant looks dead, each Spring it bears a beautiful flower.

 

Looking at this Clematis each year reminds me of spiritual truths that Jesus taught: the importance of staying connected to the vine. As believers, we may go through seasons where we don’t feel alive, but abiding perseverance will always bloom in spiritual fruit.

 

Read John 15:1-11

 

John 15 is a chapter that has impacted my life significantly and I hope it encourages you too. There are no magical incantations for spiritual maturity, no shortcuts and no prayer you can pray that will automatically flip a switch and make you a super Christian. But Jesus has given us a plan for growth found in abiding in Him.

 

Abide means to dwell or set up camp. Have you ever gone camping? Who do you take camping with you? Only family and friends who you are close to, right?

 

I have some found memories from my childhood of camping with my family. I have found memories of camping with my friends. I have found memories of camping with youth group. These are times of getting away from the craziness of life and spending time with people I love. The experience of being together and the conversations that take place over meals and campfires are good for the soul.

 

That’s a picture of what Jesus wants us to do with Him. To abide in Christ is to spend time with Him and to develop a intimate friendship with Him.

 

Do you have a best friend? Someone you are really close too? What happens when you spend a lot of time developing that friendship? You change, don’t you?

 

One of my closest friendships from High School taught me so much about what John 15 is teaching us. My friend and I knew each other so well that we could finish each other’s sentences. Sometimes we didn’t even have to say anything to know what we were thinking. I’ve picked up words, styles and preferences from my friends.

 

Friendship is powerful. Which is why we need to be careful of who we allow to become our closest friends.

 

John 15 is an invitation to friendship from our Savior. He says that if we want to change and bear spiritual fruit, we have to spend time with Him. I want to spend so much time with Jesus that my attitudes and actions begin to look like His. And that is what He is promising.

 

Galatians 5:22–24

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

 

The Fruit of the Spirit is not a check list of qualities you need to develop. Rather, they are evidence of your life in Christ. If you want to grow in these qualities, you need to spend time with Jesus.

 

Your job, as a Christian, is to learn to love Jesus more each day. Grow in your love for Jesus and He will produce these fruits in your life.

 

Like any friendship, you will fail from time to time. You may go through seasons that are dry or hard. But if you persevere in abiding in Christ, like the Clematis, you will produce fruit.

 

I often want a quick fix. I’ve been known to pray prayers like this, “God you are all powerful and know my desires, can’t you just snap your fingers and rid me of my sinful heart and attitudes? I know you can do it? So please do it.”

 

I want to bypass the daily struggle of growth. I want to be perfect as He is perfect. But I don’t want to be disciplined every hour of every day. I would rather the short cut. But that is not how God works. He has provided a way of salvation in Jesus Christ, and the moment we trust Him we are saved, justified, adopted and kept by Him.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

 

I am amazed at this formula. The product is declared before the process. In Christ we are made new, but we have to go through the process of the old passing away and the new becoming.

 

When we abide in Christ, He patiently shows us the old nature that we need to keep putting to death, and the new life that we need to nourish. When we spend time with Him we will grow.

 

Acts 4:13

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

 

Jesus changes lives, that’s what He does. When your life is changed, people will notice something about you, that you have been with Jesus.

 

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

 

It’s a daily discipline, but I promise you it is worth it. This month, I have challenged people to June with Jesus, a Bible reading plan in the Gospels. Just 3 chapters a day will get you through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in 30 days. In this time with Jesus, He will grow you.

 

I’ve done this exercise several times, and every time I find it so encouraging. Attitudes, actions, and thoughts begin to change throughout the month. If you were to take a self-assessment at the beginning and the end of the month, based on the promises of John 15, you should see the fruits of spending time with Jesus in your life. Even more so, others will see Jesus in you.

 

Please understand, I am not saying it is easy or that you will overcome deep seated sinful habits in one month. What I am saying is you will be changed and Jesus will continue to change you as you continue to spend time with Him in His Word.

 

Philippians 1:6

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

 

The feels may not always be there, and you may not notice things right away. But stick with it. Don’t give up after a few days. Don’t stop after the June with Jesus challenge is over. All of Scripture is the words of Christ and we need to immerse ourselves in it every day.

 

“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”  - John Newton

 

A faithful, persistent discipline of staying connected to the Vine, Jesus Christ, will produce fruit.