| Lk 19:10 We read that the Son of Man came to seek and save that which is lost. The
Lord had just met Zacchaeus. He had been a desperate, lost soul. Zacchaeus, as a tax collector was dishonest. For some, like Zacchaeus, money is everything. All
they look for is the prestige, honour and good lifestyle money brings and they are
prepared to do anything to get it even if others suffer as a result of what they do. For
such people everything revolves around themselves and people are just a stepping stone.
The Lord Jesus’ aim was to seek and save those who were lost. A soul is precious and
it was wonderful that the lost Zacchaeus was found by Jesus.
It was faith in action. Zacchaeus was weak; he
was not faithful in money.The woman in Samaria was immoral. The Lord Jesus works on your
weak point. Some people take money that doesn’t belong to them. They promise to repay
it but don’t. They don’t go to the person concerned and say that they cannot
pay. Zacchaeus promised to repay four times the amount he had taken and the Lord said,
“Today salvation has come to this house.” Maybe you have another debt. You owe
an apology to someone you hurt or forgiveness to someone who wronged you. Zacchaeus’
repentance was genuine. It is wonderful when the Lord pronounces us justified and you know
that the burden is gone. But, as we heard in yesterday's funeral message, we are not
justified by good works but by grace.
The Lord called himself the Son of Man. He
identified himself with us. Kings put themselves on a pedestal with their subjects at
their feet but Jesus didn’t do that. Instead he called himself the Son of Man. It
also says “that” which is lost not “who”. That is how low mankind can
stoop. They can become worse than animals. For example, where a woman will abort her own
child and a father will kill his wife and children. Maybe you say you have not killed
anyone but you slander your brother and put him in a worse light than what he is.
The Prodigal son
In Luke chapter 15 we see God’s plan in
action and the value He places on the soul. In
public places there is often a special counter with the sign “lost and found”.
That is indeed God’s business. Are we a
part of His team? The Lord reacted in a unique
way to each lost soul. The shepherd left the ninety-nine sheep and went looking for the
lost one. The woman lost one of her ten coins and she too didn’t rest till she had
found the lost coin. Do you feel for the lost and are not happy if a person is lost? Do
you have a burden for your neighbor? God reached that lost sheep.
In Lk 15 we read that were two sons in a father’s house. The one took his
inheritance. He got his freedom and could do what he liked. Eventually he lost his friends
and his money. He was also bankrupt emotionally and spiritually. He attached himself to a
person who abused him. After suffering in the pigsty he finally came to his senses and
returned to his father. He realised that he had sinned. It
was not for convenience that he returned to his father but because of a deep conviction
that he had sinned against him. The father had compassion on him and embraced him. If you make wrong choices, you reap the
consequences but your Heavenly Father waits for you. He wants you found. The older son was
upset and angry. He should have been a part of the celebration but he was selfish. You
need to be careful. It can happen that you are not one with the Father and His love for
souls. You must be united to the Father who is
in the business of `lost and found'.
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