When we talk about winning the prize it’s usually in a sporting or competitive context, in all sports there is an ultimate prize. In football maybe the Premier league or World cup, American football the - Superbowl, Cricket - the Ashes, Tennis - Wimbledon or one of the other grandslams etc. To the most competitive of these professional sportsman already wealthy from their success it’s not about the material rewards of winning, but they pursue, they chase it, they live for their prize. As the people of God we should know that life is the game worth winning, what does it really mean to really win? because when you walk with God winning might be very different. So for those who follow Jesus, who want to live for him and obey him; what is the prize? Eternity, obviously. How many of us wouldn’t mind a well done O good and faithful servant on Judgement day? Sure that’s the ultimate prize but what about now, lets back up a minute is there a prize now here on this Earth? What would that prize look like, what would that be? If you had to list a couple of things what would you say? think about it.
Lets look at a familiar story that I think can teach us some things about winning the prize. Breaking with good Christian tradition 6 points not 3.
1) If we are going to win the prize we must face my own limitations
We all have our own limitations in our lives, lets look at Luke 19:1
1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy (original language here mean extremely wealthy). 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.
So here we’ve got this incredibly wealthy guy, Jesus is coming into town and Zacchaeus can’t find him, because of a physical limitations that kept him from seeing over the heads of people that were taller than him. That may not immediately seem like a big deal but imagine you want to see Jesus and everyone’s in your way, it’s frustrating. This cause me to think about a couple of things, it made me question what are my limitations from seeing a clear view of Jesus, it may not be stature or size but everyone of us has at least one limitation that can block our view of him. sometimes it financial, wither we have too much money and think we don’t need him or not enough and blame him; but it still blocks their view of Jesus. Sometime relationships, we can’t see jesus because we’re in this relationship that consumes all my energy or we’ve just gone through an horrendus issue and now I’m depressed, discouraged and emotional; thats a limitation. There are millions of people in our world who we know can’t see Christ, but there are thousands of us christians who also can’t see him. there view is skewed, blurred; people who are hypocrites, denominational issues and people who aren’t true to their faith or make it fit their desired course etc. We all have reasons but what we need to grasp is that we all have limitations and we need to learn how to overcome them and as you’ll see in the next point Zacchaues does exactly that.
2) To win the prize I must find a way to overcome my limitations
So how do we over come them Luke 19:4
4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
Now Zacchaues sees the whole thing, now he has the view thats different to anyone elses. He sees the crowd, he see Jesus and he’s probably feeling quite smug. We don’t know at this point if Jesus sees him and maybe says to a disciple “Who’s the guy the in the tree” but we know that zacchaues can see him. What I love about this story is that Zacchaues went to some effort to put himself in a position to see Christ, will you do that? If you do that you have a chance to win the prize. Often we might not be in a position to see Christ, I know whats happening in our world right now; its awful. War, economic issues, the importance of self etc you just have to turn any news program on, they revel in it and we lap it up feeling sorry for ourself wanting to just give up and hide under the duvet. when we do that we aren’t putting ourselves in a position to see Christ. Let me point you to a verse for those times you feel discouraged and despondent, Phillipians 4:8
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Now I’m not a denial person I want to live in reality and it’s a tough time but put yourself in a position so that you can see the truth about God through these terrible times. If we give up as the people of God whos going to be the hope bearers, this is our time; a time when you and I need to be able to say “I’m climbing higher, I’m going to see Jesus. I’m climbing out of the mire because there is hope because there is a God and he is able”.
I found this awesome quote from the superman actor Christopher Reeves after he’d had his accident that left him so badly injured.
“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable and then when we summon the will our dreams become inevitable”
I really like that because there is something about the will of man that God put in us that says I will climb to higher ground and I will catch a view that no one else has. Lets be the climbers, lets find a way to overcome our limitations.
3) I must bring Jesus into my house
So here is Zacchaues in the tree and along comes Jesus, Luke 19:5
5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. (original language is more like great excitement and Joy)
Great excitement and joy, important words because he’s been working hard to see Jesus. Do you think that morning as Zacchaues left to catch a glimpse of Jesus he thought he’d be coming for dinner? That’s not what his goal was, what this story tells me is that when you take one step towards God then God runs towards you, he’s coming after you. Can I just say Jesus wants to come to your house for dinner (except if you’re having Okra) much more than you want him to come, it was his idea. You want to win the prize let Jesus in your house, allowing him in.
4) I must not offer my dreams to the opinion of others
Now I believe in seeking council but read this and let me explain why this is such an important point. Luke 19:7-
7All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ’sinner.’ “
There were some ticked off people there, people who had been following and walking with Jesus for miles, I guarantee you there was no shortage of offers of a place to stay for Jesus. So Jesus stops at a tree calls down the biggest crook in town and invites himself for dinner, why him they would all have wanted to know.You know when we’re in trouble? We’re in trouble the moment we think we deserve Jesus more than someone else, because Jesus wants to come to the house of anyone who is willing to let him him. They couldn’t see that and I think that sometimes we live our lives in a in a way that we somehow put our dream in a position that the opinion of others speaks into it to such a degree that the disgruntled people win. When you’re criticised, when people speak discouragement and effectively evil into your lives, when they don’t understand what you’re trying to do or where you’re trying to get to or it doesn’t fit with there idea of where you should be. Jesus fought this battle in this story, he knows they’re unhappy but he doesn’t shrink back. Jesus’s vision didn’t stop or alter because the people didn’t approve and there comes a moment where you have to say I’m going to do what God asked me to do, it’s not to run over people or to be mean to people. We seek council but there are time in your lives where you have to say God you have put a dream in me and settled it in my spirit and I’m not going to listen to the crowd, and if you do then it will be powerful; don’t let the opinion of others steal your dream or you will not win the prize. (I’m going to talk about overcoming the crowd in my next post)
5) I must learn to value relationships
This is one of the things that comes up big in the story - Luke 19:8 (I’ve switched to NLT here because the start of the verse is closer to the literal meaning of the original language)
8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus 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!”
Do you realise who big that word Meanwhile is, some versions say later that day. It means there is a time gap, who long was did dinner take? how long was Jesus at the house? an hour or five hours; what was the conversation? we don’t know. It’s all summed up in a meanwhile, some of you are in a meanwhile with God right now. what do you think happened in Zacchaues’s meanwhile? This was not the heart of Zacchaues when he started, but when Jesus comes in to your home something changes and it enables you to see; Zacchaues’s eyes were opened and it’s miraculous, he makes this commitment to repay people and give his money away because he’s seen the value in the people he’s affected, he now values them. When that time comes, when you start to value relationships and you put a higher priority on it you know what happens? You’re about making a difference in someone elses life, investing in them, helping them. How many people in Jericho do you think were happy that Jesus went to Zacchaues house in the end, once they saw the difference in him, plenty right. We all benefit when Jesus goes to someones house, because they’re changed forever.
6) We must learn to accept forgiveness
9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
You know what Jesus is saying there, he’s saying some of the people that have been following me around the Scribes, the Pharisees and religious people; they’re not true sons of Abraham but this man Zacchaues is.
Remember I asked you to consider what the prize on Earth could be well here are the two I came up with, there are more than two but these are the ones reflected best by this story.
1) True peace with God my creator, if you have peace with God you really do have peace regardless of what’s happening around you.
2) fulfillment in relationships, because there are many people in our world that don’t have even one that they can bear their soul to. If you have friends or family, people in your world that you can trust those relationships then you have a lot.
That’s a lot, because that’s the prize; being able to walk in peace with God and Man.
