Where Did Jesus Go?

A certain Bible verse seemed to jump off the page to me this morning as I listened to a pastor give his sermon. The verse is in Luke 19 and the story is about Jesus entering the city of Jericho where He meets a man named Zacchaeus. Word spreads in the town that Jesus has arrived and Zacchaeus really wants to see Him. But, as you probably already know, Zacchaeus was a short man, and, not able to see over the crowd, runs ahead and climbs up a Sycamore tree and waits for Jesus to pass by. Now verse 5 is what struck me this morning. It reads, "When Jesus reached the spot, he stopped and looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus come down immediately, I MUST STAY AT YOUR HOUSE TODAY.'" The thing that really struck me was the fact that Jesus goes to where the lost are. He doesn't wait for them to come to Him. He goes to where they live, where they hang out. He goes to their turf. He doesn't ask them to come to His. He meets people where they are. As I think about this, I am also reminded that Jesus now lives in me by His Spirit. Paul said in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but CHRIST LIVES IN ME..." Christ lives in me and through me. Christ is my life (Colossians 3:4). If Jesus' passion is to meet people where they are, how does He do that today? Through me. Through you. We can't sit back and wait for the lost world to come to us. We have to go where they are...their turf...where they hang out. Where would that be today? Maybe the bars, coffee shops, parks, bowling allies, parties, wherever people hang out. "Wait a minute", someone might say, "Christians shouldn't go in bars." Well, Jesus went to those places (maybe not the bowlings allies) and He was criticized too. Verse 7 says, "All the people saw this and began to mutter, 'He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.'" He sure did. He went to be the guest of a sinner, because that's why He came. Verse 10, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Most churches I've been a part of sit and wait for the lost to come to them. Mosaic Church will be a place where we prepare the people to go to the lost.

Duane