MEDALS OF FAITH: Living in a way that adds luster to the Gospel (Part 2)

Transformed Priorities

He took advantage of people, and he did it very well.

After all, it was for a good cause: himself.

Zacchaeus collected taxes for Rome, and Jericho was his turf. The way it worked was that he paid Rome their specified due, then he got to keep whatever else he could extract (or extort) from his neighbors. This was not exactly the way to win a village popularity contest!

Nor was it the way to satisfy his soul. Zacchaeus, you see, was empty. He was, in the words of Luke, "very rich" (Luke 19:2). But as he encountered Jesus that fateful day in Jericho and heard the Man from Galilee invite Himself to his house (see verse 5), Zacchaeus was about to gain something different, something incomparable. Jesus described it this way:

“Salvation has come to this home today...For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (verses 9-10).

What action by Zacchaeus prompted this declaration from the Lord?

For one thing, Zacchaeus -- who was used to people heading the other way when they saw him -- "took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy" (verse 6).

Jumping down from the sycamore-fig tree that he had climbed to improve his vertically challenged vantage point, he gladly welcomed into his no-doubt lavishly appointed home the Man who had "no place to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20).

He brought the One who "came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45) right into the very inner sanctum that he had padded and lined on the backs of others.

The people watching were, of course, "displeased."

“He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled (verse 7).

But Zacchaeus did more than just ask Jesus to sign his guest book. His encounter with the Son of God brought Zacchaeus to his senses, spiritually speaking. He repented of his sins and placed his faith in Jesus. As Jesus said, he showed "himself to be a true son of Abraham" (verse 9), whom the Apostle Paul describes as "the father of all who believe" (Romans 4:11).

And Zacchaeus' salvation bore tangible fruit. It could be seen in his transformed priorities. This man who for years had soaked others for his own advantage, "stood before the Lord and said, 'I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!'" (verse 8). He not only quit cheating people -- he quit living for money!

In short, he came to embody the transformed priorities of people who have come to know Christ, priorities that Jesus Himself spoke of in His Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5-7:

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth...Store your treasures in heaven...Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be...No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money...So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."

For Zacchaeus and for us, transformed priorities are a medal of faith that adorns, adds luster to, and makes attractive the Gospel. But this raises a question, especially for those of us who profess to follow Christ:

Does the world see this medal in our lives?

In other words, as believers are our priorities really that different from those of people around us who have not yet placed their faith in Christ?

Or to say it bluntly, are we still trying to live for the wrong master, or two masters, rather than THE Master?

I'll leave it here for now, so that I can ponder this question afresh for myself. Maybe you'll want to do the same.

Stay sharp,

Preston

P.S. I've posted a video illustrating this topic. Previous videos I've posted have on occasion mysteriously morphed to some other segments that I didn't select. We'll try to work through this glitch, but if this video suddenly disappears from this blog, you'll know why.