WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.640 Some boxes in the back if that fits you. 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:05.519 We also have coffee this morning. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:11.039 And so Sam right here, put your hand up, Sam. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:13.599 He actually roasts this coffee. 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:16.160 It's called Vagabond Coffee. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:22.800 And he is setting sail on a great quest to make great coffee and actually impact people. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:25.280 And so if you like it, you can get more of it from him. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.800 But uh anyway, that's a first for us, a lot of firsts, and so coffee is one of them. 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:32.399 So I wanted to highlight that and just bless you and your business. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:38.000 And so, Lord, let favor be on Sam and all of his endeavors as it comes to this. 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:49.439 We pray for buyer's galore for people to find it and love it and um experience more than just great flavor and caffeine, but actual community through it in Jesus' name. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:50.000 Amen. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:50.799 Yep. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:56.320 So and then another cool thing before we jump in is where's Promise at? 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:57.359 Where are you at, Promise? 00:00:57.520 --> 00:00:57.920 Right there. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:00:58.960 So check this out. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:04.879 So Promise is here, and she's 23 and she lives in Fredericksburg right this second. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:12.560 But I went to elementary school with her mom and played football with her dad uh in high school and everything. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:15.280 And so um what a treat it is. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.680 I've actually never met her before today. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:20.799 She showed up in San Marcus, what, last week, two weeks ago? 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.840 I don't know if you can figure out this ringing thing, it's kind of feeding back. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:34.079 Um, but uh what a treat to come full circle and see uh her life and you, and so so glad you're with us today. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:40.400 And I actually um also kind of had a picture of trying to flex my prophetic muscles here, you know. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:42.480 That's how you grow in this stuff. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:54.719 Um like a gem around your neck, like a necklace that is so beautiful and so stunning and eye-catching that people have to ask about it. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:59.200 They can't just um say, oh, to themselves, that's really pretty. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:00.159 I wonder where she got it. 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:02.400 Like it demands inquiry. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:14.960 And I feel like that's the the jewel of um of Christ inside of you that you carry, where people are like, I have to talk to her about what it is inside of her that is glowing and it's lighting up the room. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:25.360 And so I just bless you with fielding all of the traffic that comes your way of people saying, What is it, what is it, and see that all over your life. 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:29.520 So bless the jewel of great worth that's in you. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:30.159 Yeah. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:31.840 Okay, so a few things. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:33.439 Uh, grand opening is in two weeks. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:38.800 So this is a practice run, so you're all here to uh to make sure, you know, give us some content to practice with. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:45.919 Want to make sure that the check-in work for kiddos and the coffee's just on point and anything else that happens with morning time frame. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:03:00.719 I'm I'm not kidding, I don't want to make too big of a deal of it, but like my heart is so giddy and glad to be doing this in the morning time, not just because of like physiological purposes that, you know, we had like a long Sunday for six months of doing some Sam Marcus stuff and then Kyle stuff on the back end. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:03.680 It's like, yes, one focus, which is good. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:10.080 But just more than that, um I've lived in this area for 18 years. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:14.159 Some of you guys have lived here many years. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:16.400 Uh the autos got here in 97. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:19.919 Um, some of you have been here maybe just a few months. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:24.400 But I just have grown into this place and had this place grown into me. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:35.599 And I've shared this before, but for most of my time here, I have headed out of town on Sunday mornings to go build the kingdom and be a part of church life and everything. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:46.960 Um but to get to stay right here and to help actually lead and pioneer uh a move of of what I feel like the Lord's up to is so significant for me in particular. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:55.520 Um and so I just feel a sense of well gladness, um, maybe a bit of like arriving to God's plan. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:00.080 And so that's probably more of a personal thing that I just wanted to be vulnerable and share with you guys on. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.960 But um, so we've we're just inviting the community on the 30th. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:14.240 And so we uh will have some tacos afterwards, so maybe stick around for a taco truck that'll be here with us um in Texas in August. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:16.879 Popsicles make sense, so there'll be some of that. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:29.600 Um we've challenged everybody to uh take one of these, not the mint, but the invite cards uh that are back there on that table by the coffee, and uh pass five of these things out. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:33.600 Um and then we also tease don't invite anybody that you haven't actually invited to dinner before. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:35.279 Just kidding, you can. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:39.199 But it is that sentiment of like that's the power of an invitation is through relationship and connection. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:41.839 So anyway, grab at least five of these, pass these out. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:43.920 That's part of the grand opening on the 30th. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:47.839 Um we we uh I've never run meta ads before, but thought, well, why not? 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:51.600 Let's just pull every trick out of the bag, which is Instagram and Facebook advertising. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:58.639 So I did that uh this week and have gotten some really interesting comments, some really good ones, and then like, what's your view on Revelation? 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:01.199 I'm like, oh no, what do we open here? 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:04.319 And so I was like, good, those are good questions. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.800 Um I think somebody wanted to know if we're awoke church. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.879 And I was like, oh, well, yeah, I need to put a good answer to that. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:12.399 Uh short answer is no. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:17.120 Um long answer is arise and shine, you know, from your slumber and be awake. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:19.360 And so I was like, yeah, we've got some awakeness happening. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:23.839 So I was like, yeah, you you open the door, you're gonna you're gonna get both barrels potentially, and so that's good. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:24.800 It's what we signed up for. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:27.120 You know, God's sticking in the skin a little bit if he needs to. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:32.800 So be here on the 30th, invite five people and come on and stay for lunch afterwards. 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:44.560 Um, second thing I'll mention is that we really are, I mean, if you if you're gonna take a the Great Commission at face value value, which we should, which is go and make disciples, then that really is the goal. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:45.439 That's the goal. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:57.279 That's the goal of your life and my life, the church's life, the kingdom building, is making people, inviting people, to uh say, that's a worth life, it's it's Matthew 13, that's treasure in the field. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:00.879 I'll give my whole life for that, and going for it. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:22.079 And so, if that's intimidating or confusing or just new territory, uh want to invite you to San Marcus on Tuesday nights at 6 30, September 1st, and then again on the 8th, and then finally on the 15th, three weeks, if you want, uh, doing a Sozo equip class where it just talks you through what is discipleship making. 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:26.399 Um with that 1st, 8th, and 15th of September. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:30.240 Uh I don't think it's on our microsite, and so we'll we'll we'll get it there. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:32.160 Uh, don't have to register, you could just show up. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:35.439 It's uh it's the Sozo building on Ranch Road 12 there in San Marcus. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:38.160 So um, if you're like, man, I I feel a call. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.040 I know that like generally we're all called to make disciples. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:42.720 That's territory I haven't breached before. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:47.759 If that's a tool and you got time for it, I just invite you to the Sozo Equip Discipleship class happening then. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:52.959 Uh and then finally we are just trying to grab some more help with really all our teams around here. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:57.920 Um and so the Sozo kids, we've got three and under here and then four and up in that room. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:03.439 And so if you want to give up uh a Sunday from being in here to be there, that would be a big help. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:08.399 Um I know we're also trying to you know build uh greeters and hospitality stuff. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:10.480 Gonna talk about hospitality today, actually. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:15.040 And so anyway, there's just a lot of you guys know kind of the church scene on a Sunday gathering. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:17.120 If you want to fit somewhere, we want your help. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:19.360 If you're musical, um talk to Natalie about that. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:21.839 We need help there, trying to continue to build this out. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:22.959 And we love this. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:27.120 We love this, we love this, we love that, we love all of it, and we need help to do it all. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:29.120 So you're informed. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:38.079 So covenant family means that it's not just cute language. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:47.040 If a church is gonna be a family, then uh a family that functions and thrives is actually in covenant relationship. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:52.079 So not contractual stuff, not like, hey, uh, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:57.759 Um not like from time to time I might be around, from time to time I might not be. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:10.720 That's organization, and there is some organization in church, but the real description started by God when he said, I'm a father, means that we are forming a family. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:15.199 And family actually has tight bonds. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:23.279 In fact, the imagery is a body, and your arm doesn't detach from the the core, from the trunk. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:28.000 It's all together, it's it's it's it's in a covenant or relationship of sorts. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:36.399 And so uh want to talk this morning, it feels good to say, about the power of hospitality. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:52.320 And when when you think of hospitality, likely, if you're like me, your mind goes to making food, inviting somebody over to your living room, vacuuming, and wiping down the counters and making sure there's toilet paper in the bathroom. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:53.360 Thank you very much. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:58.960 And uh, some of the things that we try to do here, you walk in, okay, who rented the Onion Creek Senior Center on a Saturday night? 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:01.600 Is it ready for hospitality on a Sunday morning? 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:05.759 And so you think your mind kind of goes, okay, these are my skills, these are my gifts. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.919 And there's a lot of truth in that. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:33.120 But I don't think any of us should discount our qualification to be hospitable just because maybe we don't feel like we have a deep resume of hosting people at our house or our apartment, or we don't commonly get coffee with somebody, or um, I'm not extroverted, and so I probably, you know, will leave hospitality to the hospitality great greatness people that can really do it. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:40.080 We're all called and invited to use the powerful kingdom tool of hospitality. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:45.519 It's funny that, David, you were talking about Zacchaeus, because that is where I want to head. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:50.639 So, Luke chapter 9, you could open up to it and follow along in the story. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.320 Um, I don't know if anybody read Will Ghidara's book. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:57.360 Um, I know the Ponce did because that's how I found it. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:05.679 But he was a restauranteer and uh had a restaurant in New York called what 11 Madison or something. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:11.600 Anyway, it became uh at one point the best Michelin star-rated restaurant in the world. 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:19.919 And so he talks about, he reveals his secret of the key to it was unreasonable is the name of the book, hospitality. 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:23.759 Hospitality that on paper is foolish. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:25.200 Does not make sense. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:34.320 That's crazy that you would do that, spend that, go there, all for a person at a table to have a good dining experience. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:40.240 I think my favorite story that he tells in the book is when um because he and he empowered so well too. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:42.480 He did so many kingdom things well in his restaurant. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:54.799 And so he empowered his wait staff to be eavesdroppers to conversations around the tables to listen in intently with what are they talking about and what might they need, how can we show them hospitality. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:11.840 And so my favorite story in the whole book is when uh a couple is there, actually, I think it was it was probably some some guys that were there on a a business thing or something, but also blending with a trip to New York vacation-wise, and they said, Man, we did everything we hope to do on this New York trip except one thing. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:14.960 We haven't had a New York street dog yet. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:23.360 And our flight leaves like right after this meal is over, and how dare us come to New York and not have a New York street dog? 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:25.600 That's like crime. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.240 And so they kind of just were like, ah, bummer in this conversation. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.200 Well, the wait person was like passing by and heard that. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:40.639 So they actually have a position on their staff that is funded and empowered to actually go make people's dreams come true. 00:11:41.039 --> 00:12:15.200 And so in this case, the the restaurant uh the the wait staff comes back to this liaison who is you know empowered to be the broker of great things between people that sit there at the table, and they ran out to the nearest street dog vendor, got the hot dogs, came back to the kitchen, plated them so that they look like it fits on Eleven Park Madison's uh menu, brought it out to them unbeknownst to these people, and said, Hey, we just wanted to make sure before you left you had a New York style hot dog. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.519 Because that it doesn't that complete the trip? 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:18.960 And their jaws are dropped open. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.440 You can think like, How dare you eavesdrop? 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:27.120 Or, oh my word, you guys went to this length to make sure we had the experience that we had. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:28.080 Thank you. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:33.200 And so his his great line is that people won't remember what you say. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:36.320 People will remember how you make them feel. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:40.879 That you made them feel like the most important people in the room. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:59.440 I remember going back to uh Leander High School, my old high school from time to time, and speaking at the leadership class that one of my old um, he was actually my PE teacher in elementary school, uh, but he taught the leadership class, he was the golf coach, he's also the FCA um Huddle leader, and he'd come have me come back and speak once a semester to the leadership class. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:09.759 And the message to all of these high schoolers was what can you do to make the people around you feel like they're the most important people in the world? 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:16.639 And probably it looks like sitting next to somebody in the cafeteria at lunchtime who doesn't have 18 people sitting next to them. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:24.559 Maybe they're a foreign exchange student and they're new and they don't have a social community, their phone's not blowing up with invitations of, hey, do you want to hang out this weekend? 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:30.960 But you go and you sit down next to them and and there you are and you introduce them and you strike up a conversation, and maybe they think like, what are you doing? 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:38.960 You're not my friend, but more likely they're gonna think intrinsically down deep, what is so wonderful and special about me that you'd come and sit down next to me? 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:46.799 I mean, that's like unreasonable hospitality for a 17-year-old to give up his clan of friends at lunchtime when he finally gets a break from the academic world. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:55.440 This is a chance to like unwind for a minute and be with my friends, but rather say, hey, there's a greater mission here to employ unreasonable hospitality. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:56.559 So anyway, read the book. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:57.919 If you get a chance, it's yellow. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:13:59.200 You can find it pretty easy. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:04.480 But it really was impacting primarily because it points to a kingdom principle. 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:12.000 That hospitality is a powerful tool to build the kingdom, to bring people in to the table. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:19.840 Um, a lot of us have raised little kids before and played hide and seek with them, and they're not very good at it. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:26.720 Because they'll go hide in the cabinet with their hands over the door, because they don't want to shut the door because that's too dark. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:30.639 So there you are, and like to your adult brain, you're like, you're not very good at this. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:32.960 Hide your hands so that we can actually play this game. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:40.159 But they don't, they go get the covers and they move around under the covers and their toes are showing underneath the cover of the blanket, and they're actually saying out loud, You can't find me. 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:41.919 And it's like, well, I can now. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:48.000 The point is they don't actually want to hide, they actually want to be found. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:15:00.159 And down deep inside of every single person, there's a not like a I'd prefer, I'd check the box to be found if I get a choice, like intrinsically, I got to be known. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:03.360 Somebody has to see me, somebody has to know I matter. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.960 Otherwise, I'll spend my whole life on a search for significance. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:10.399 And we work with people like that, we live next to people like that. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:22.799 We've already talked a lot about like the isolationism that plagues our culture, that um most American males by 22 make their last friend on earth, and then they spend the rest of their life losing friendships. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:24.480 They're just not known, they're not vulnerable. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:43.279 Women, on the other hand, spend their lives on into eternity making friends, and and part of that's wiring, but not at the expense of somebody feeling left out and alone and isolated because we all have the stamp of needing to fit into a community, into a covenant family, and so hospitality, I believe, is the key to doing that. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:16:02.879 According to the Survey Center on American Life, because I like numbers and throwing them at you, the number of people who say they have zero close friends has quadrupled since 1990, which is a long time ago, but over the course of 35 something years ago, you have 4x the amount of people who say I don't have any close friends. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:13.440 Uh 54% report that no one knows them well today, and 40%, so also almost half, say I have no close friends at all. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:31.039 And so there's certainly we could agree that there's been a loss of connection societally, which is why churches, I think, have such a prime opportunity to do it right, which is to invite people to family. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:33.200 Like that's the key. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:39.039 There's an opportunity to be a knower of Jesus and to know that he knows you. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:46.159 We call it discipleship, give your life to it, and it it's found, it's developed when you finally feel like you belong somewhere. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:48.080 Like you walk in, they're like they know me. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:56.720 It's what we talked about last week with cheers, how powerful the the song is, where everybody knows your name and how wonderful that is to realize I'm known. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:03.360 There are over 50 references to meals, to food, in Luke alone. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:11.440 And so in the Gospel of Luke, 50 times, which is mostly a recording of Jesus talking, he's gonna bring up 50 different times. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:13.119 You want to know the secret to this? 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:13.839 It's food. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:14.640 It's meals. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.200 It's bringing people into the table together. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:19.279 You thought this was more spiritual, didn't you? 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:28.559 He uses phrases like feasts and banquets, and brings it all into this kingdom reality of the secret is in feasting. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:32.240 Um it wasn't just metaphorical. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:37.200 Uh, in the book of Acts, the table was the focal point of any gathering. 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:43.759 So if the church was gonna gather, there was gonna be a table and refreshment and food and drink involved in it. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:57.839 Somewhere since then, we've gotten away to where the gathering focuses more like on equipment that's musical and a stage and microphones, and I guess where we live today, there's some value in that, and that needs to happen. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.039 I don't know that it needs to be the focal point, and I hope it's really not the focal point. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:05.119 I hope what's the focal point is like this part of the gathering right here. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:10.480 In fact, we've actually even considered would it make more sense to take these chairs and turn them towards each other? 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.400 Maybe put them like in a circle or something. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:13.279 I'm not kidding. 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:20.079 Like, realizing that the power of coming together is in the family ties more than something else. 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:24.880 And so that's why the early church, when they started this, said, we're gonna put food because we know people come around food. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:29.599 We're gonna bring a taco trick in on August 30th because people might stick around and actually learn somebody's name. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:31.200 We're gonna have a potluck from time to time. 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:32.960 This is what the Baptists have done so well. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:47.440 It's like, hey, on the ex month of the whatever, we're gonna bring food and it's crock pot and you're smoking the brisket, and you're coming with the drinks, and you got the eyes, because you got the connection with the coffee, and like you come together around this hospitality feel. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:52.480 And if you look in at the New Testament, it's hard to unsee it once you see it. 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:54.240 That's really what they're up to. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:57.839 That's the prize, is family coming together. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:02.720 And you couldn't even be an elder in the New Testament church without clearly being hospitable. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:05.279 Like, that was a high mark qualifier. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:07.119 Oh yeah, they're so hospitable. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:14.799 They're always inviting me, they're always opening their home, they're always opening their heart, they're constantly being outward focused and saying, who's on the periphery? 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:15.920 How can we bring them in? 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:18.640 That's the qualifier that we want to help lead. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:31.440 So here's a verse for you, 1 Peter, before we get to Luke 9, uh, chapter 4, verse 8 says, Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:38.000 And then here it is, offer hospitality to one another and do it without grumbling. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.240 There's a right way to be hospitable. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:45.920 If it's done out of duty, an obligation, there's probably gonna be some grumbling involved in your heart, and that's the wrong way. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:46.160 Right? 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:49.440 It's the whole idea about if you're gonna give, do it hilariously. 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:55.279 Do it full-on, servant-minded, and not, I guess they need something again. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:01.839 Hebrews 13, 2 says, do not forget to show hospitality to who? 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:07.519 To strangers, not just to the people that you see and know, because that's actually pretty easy. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:09.279 And it's not that we don't want easy. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:12.960 In fact, I believe the more you rehearse hospitality, the easier it gets. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:23.039 But the idea is, even if they're not like you, even if they don't believe like you, even if they vote opposite of you, even if they post things to social media that you're like, what are they doing? 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:31.599 To still offer hospitality and to do it without grumbling, for by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:39.519 In other words, your hospitality reach is deep and far more so than you might even know. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:48.960 And then Romans 12, 13 says, to share with the Lord's people who are in need and practice hospitality. 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:50.880 That's how you meet needs. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.440 Everybody's looking to get a meet a need met. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.720 In fact, you won't go on in life until your needs are met. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:04.000 You might get them met uh in an unhealthy way, or you might learn how to actually get your needs met healthy, right? 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:04.880 It's we don't have time. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:14.960 This is kind of what Casey talked about the other day about do you get your needs met passively, passive aggressively, aggressively, or do you actually get your needs met assertively? 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:24.240 And I just think that hospitality is like a door opener for people to learn how to communicate their needs, um, to have an exchange of meeting of needs. 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:26.480 Like it's just a secret weapon. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:30.319 So, what brings us to our story this morning? 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:32.880 Um, it's Luke 19, I keep saying nine. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:35.119 And there's there's really a question here. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:39.440 Why was hospitality such an important practice in the early goings of church life? 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:40.960 Verse 1. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.440 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:50.559 So he wasn't actually headed to Jericho as the final destination place. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:59.359 Now, Jericho was a wealthy place, which is why it was such a taxation center, which is why we find Zacchaeus there, who's the chief tax collector. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:01.519 So that's while he was in Jericho. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:12.960 But it was noted by Josephus, an early church historian, that it was the uh it was a divine region and the fattest in all of Palestine. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:16.880 Now not fat like they had the fattest people there in the in the city or anything. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:28.079 Fat with everything, with resource, with opportunity, with money, with with with with business, with with commerce, like so much in that day ran through Jericho. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:39.279 And so all of this made Jericho a major center for um money to go through, which meant corruption was likely to be found and could follow. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:53.279 And it's interesting something remarkable is going to happen here when Jesus is passing through, and I think this is worth catching, it wasn't actually where Jesus was going. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:55.039 He was going somewhere else. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:58.880 But as Jesus went, something remarkable happened. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:07.279 They say 50% of the miracles if you look in the New Testament that Jesus actually did would be qualified as as you go miracles. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.559 In other words like interruptions in what Jesus originally was planning to do. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:20.880 In Matthew 28 when the Great Commission is given and Jesus says go and make disciples that go actually translates as as you go. 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:27.119 So if you've ever had your in your mind like man I gotta be about the Great Commission, but I don't want to go across the sea. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:28.799 I don't want to go to another land. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:30.480 I don't want to go far away to do that. 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:32.640 Is that what we got to do to execute the Great Commission? 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:35.119 No, it's a you got to understand what the going means. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:44.480 The going means as you go to work, as you go to summer moon coffee, as you go to Costco and shop, as you go fill up, as you go wherever you go, be about this. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:56.400 And so half of what Jesus did when he came through and a miracle happened was done off the radar off the map like Jesus was planning to go there and still eventually would, but as he went, a moment would come up. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:05.680 This is why it was so important Jesus said I just stare at my father all the time and I watch him and when he said hey here's a moment here Jesus is like okay we do what we see our father doing. 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:06.319 There's a moment. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:08.960 Here comes Zacchaeus we're gonna have a moment here. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:12.559 Jericho is not actually where I was planning on having dinner tonight. 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:20.880 But Father's highlighting something in Jericho with Zacchaeus so we're gonna audible we're gonna participate with what's happening because this is about as we go. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:28.720 And so I just think that that's so relevant as we try to wrap our minds around the invitation to be about the Great Commission to realize it's all around you. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:31.359 You don't have to go to a destination to carry it out. 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:34.640 It's just as you go the opportunities show up. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:42.000 So verse two a man was there by the name of Zacchaeus and he was a chief tax collector and he was wealthy. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:25:27.359 He wanted to see who Jesus was but because he was thank you David short uh he could not see over the crowd God bless his little soul um anybody grow up in flannel graph church days it seems like I I did um the church I was at had the green flannel graph and here's here's like the people following Jesus and here's Jesus and then here's Zacchaeus and we're gonna stick him up in the tree because he's not tall enough to see it's not personal or anything and stick him there and so um we kind of got you know introduced to the song uh Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he climbed up in that sycamore tree to see what he could see. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:56.079 I don't know how the rest of it goes because I kicked it to the curb not really so we have this really wealthy short here's an important distinction chief tax collector and then verse four so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to see Jesus since Jesus was coming that way because he's passing through the fact that he climbs the sycamore tree is actually really significant. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:02.720 Remember I told you Jericho is a wealthy place and so it was known as the city of palms. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:04.640 So what kind of trees did they have there? 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:05.920 What kind of trees did they want there? 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:11.680 They wanted palm trees that's like the resort field right if you go down to Cancun what kind of trees they got they got palm trees hanging out everywhere. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:14.720 Like this is the picture we want this is the look we're going for. 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:20.720 And so they didn't plant sycamore trees inside of Jericho because the sycamore tree was just for shade. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:42.400 It wasn't for looking at the palm trees are for looking at so they planted the sycamore trees outside the town so as Jesus remember he's passing through Jericho it's not his final resting place so now he's passed through and so Zacchaeus goes and he climbs this peripheral tree sycamore tree are you starting to see the the resemblance who was also on the periphery Zacchaeus was he was despised. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:27:17.759 He spent his whole life climbing striving trying to earn approval trying to help others realize that he wasn't a dirt bag that he did have value so he was a climber yes because he was short but more pointedly because spiritually he felt short he felt less than he felt left out so he had a whole life built on being a climber gotta climb gotta strive gotta try to make my mark gotta try to make sure everybody knows that I'm important. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:25.039 And so there's a lot of resemblance there actually with what the sycamore tree represented and what Zacchaeus actually decides to climb up in. 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:40.559 And we don't know overly why Zacchaeus came to see Jesus but I wonder if it was because he came to a place where he realized he actually had everything as far as financial comfortability goes and he still was empty. 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:49.759 You know a lot of times our prayers for people for ourselves is God let me or let them get to the end of their rope where they realize they don't have anything so that they finally turn to you. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:57.839 But I think the inverse can be true too Zacchaeus actually had he didn't have social status but he had all of his financial needs met he could buy anything. 00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:04.799 He had what maybe a lot of people strive to get and still felt empty and unfulfilled so Jesus was like a last resort option. 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:12.960 Almost Lord not let me get to the end of the rope I've got all the ropes in the world and none of them meet my needs can do it. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:19.759 And so he is climbing this tree to see if this option could be one that holds water. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:37.759 And while it's easy to chastise his life up to this point Zacchaeus's I just think that like empathy is actually a feeling that we could have towards Zacchaeus or others like him rather than this like critical what a loser chief tax collector he's a thief. 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:50.160 He's betrayed his people he's a traitor he's hated by the Romans and he's hated by the Jews and he is it's it's he's made his bed he can lay in it but rather say oh God what if there's an opportunity for people like that? 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:59.839 What if the tenderness of heaven and the hospitality of hope could actually reach a guy like that that's a better way to see Zacchaeus and perhaps others. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:11.279 And so he climbs the tree and has everything but he realizes he's missing the most important thing fulfillment, contentment, visibility, being known being seen being loved. 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:15.119 And so he decides to place himself in the path of Jesus. 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:28.079 And it's possible that that's the case with some of us that we've felt a little invisible maybe we are an American male on the backside of 22 and realize we don't have a lot of connections. 00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:37.279 We don't have a lot of community don't have a lot of friends and so to that I would say keep putting yourself in the path of Jesus. 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:48.400 In fact that's your best place to be we just talked about Matthew 13 the treasure in the field the man found it but did you catch that it was hidden in the field? 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:51.839 So the only way he finds it is if he's looking for it. 00:29:52.319 --> 00:30:33.119 The way you find Jesus is you look for Jesus but the treasure is not buried eight feet deep and not going to be found it's gonna it's gonna show itself you start looking it's gonna start shining and it'll be findable and this is what Jesus does when everyone else looks past Zacchaeus or otherwise Jesus actually notices and so look at verse five when Jesus reached the spot what spot the spot that Zacchaeus had met the sycamore tree and climbed up in it it says he looked up and said to him Zacchaeus come down immediately and I love this phrase I must stay at your house today. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:36.240 So what do you think Zacchaeus would do? 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:38.400 This is my last ditch hope. 00:30:38.559 --> 00:31:23.039 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly and I I want to notice these words looked up that Jesus actually looked up in the moment Jesus saw Zacchaeus and not just physically I think Jesus saw him in all of his years all of his years of being left out like everything that led him to climbing that tree Jesus connected with and saw and Jesus was it's this it's the story of of the prodigal son with the father on the porch who's looking already he was looking first before the son ever makes the U-turn and comes back every time this is just like even if you've heard this before worth a refreshment in your mind to realize Jesus is staring me down. 00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:36.000 He's already looking at me the second I realize oh a misstep I need to return I need to come back Jesus is already there looking first not like oh I kind of gave up on you I looked the other way but if you really want my attention I'll give it back to you. 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:50.640 Jesus was ready even though he was passing through and Jericho wasn't the ultimate destination he still was ready and knew Zacchaeus and he called him by name there's no evidence that scripture would give that Jesus and Zacchaeus had ever met before. 00:31:50.880 --> 00:32:05.680 And yet Jesus knew his name and called his name when he looked up and made eye contact the powerful truth of being seen and seeing the person who's seeing you at the same time. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:23.200 There's a guy named Andy Crouch and he wrote a book called The Life That We're Looking for and in the first chapter he writes about how infants in their first hour of life experience something doctors call quiet alert. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:44.079 So one hour right out of birth quiet alert what is quiet alert even though a baby in their first hour of life can only see like eight to twelve inches in front of their face it says they're searching for a face to look to find looking for a face especially one that will look back at them. 00:32:44.400 --> 00:33:12.960 This isn't learned this is intrinsic inside of an hour old infant searching where's a face one that can look back at me developmental psychologist Edward Thorndike did not know his name before this week demonstrated this in an experiment called Still Face Alert and now you have still face was an experiment about facial expressions. 00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:46.240 Within a matter of minutes um they sat down young like babies and even like some toddlers and put their caregiver across from them and as soon as they were actually seated across they would have the people the caregivers just stare blankly at the infant and the toddler and they say within a matter of like less than a minute the the babies went to crying they went to flopping on the ground the toddlers did like obvious discomfort and disappointment when there wasn't a match facially met. 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:51.119 That's why communication specialists say words are important but they ain't the most important thing. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:34:05.279 The nonverbals actually are the most important power of communication all part of hospitality mind you we were made for connection and we were made to have the one that made us look back at us. 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:09.360 And that's why this moment in the tree was so powerful with Zacchaeus. 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:52.960 And it's also interesting that Jesus yeah uses his name because they say who's they the specialist I don't know those have studied this that your most favorite word to hear with your ears is your own name out of all the words you've ever heard when you hear your name there's something down deep in the brainstem that lights up I don't know if it's actually the stem it could be the vortex I don't know science has its place but it has also has its limits with me that lights you up and says that is wonderful to hear my name Isaiah 43 1 has power all over it fear not for I have redeemed you I have called you by your name and you are mine mine. 00:34:53.360 --> 00:35:32.480 And so when Zacchaeus would have heard Jesus say Zacchaeus come down I'm coming I must come to your house today there would have been something light up in him of importance the thing he's been missing all his life the hospitality reach from Jesus to say you're important I see you I know your name and I'm gonna get with you even though it's off the script from the plan today changed Zacchaeus's life a lot of us may not know a thing about our neighbor there's all kinds of invitation nay should we even say command in scripture to love your neighbor to know your neighbor and you're like I don't know my neighbor I couldn't tell you anything about them. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:44.559 They've lived there for you know X amount of time and maybe the most godly thing that we could do to employ some hospitality in our life is simply learn their name and use it. 00:35:45.119 --> 00:36:15.280 And that takes intentionality doesn't it even in a room like this in a group like this to try to commit to memory like to write it down to use your phone if you need to as a tool and say I met so and so and I've got a I'm gonna go to the restroom for a second just so I can write their name down so that when I see them next week or at the coffee shop or wherever it is I can actually call them by name because I'm a kingdom builder who's meant to build disciples and if I'm gonna use hospitality at my use then I ought to know some names because they're so powerful. 00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:21.519 And so Jesus does this because he knows what we need the most which is a close encounter with him. 00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:32.639 And the same is true when we have people over to our place of influence our house we may not have all the answers and you don't have to to be hospital hospitable but Jesus does. 00:36:32.800 --> 00:36:41.199 And the power of hospitality actually is about creating a space for an encounter with God because he'll do the heavy lifting he'll do the changing of heart. 00:36:41.360 --> 00:37:01.199 In fact you're not making a disciple of you you're making a disciple of Jesus so hospitality looks like carving out space being a great space carver saying I've created room for you to enter in and together we're gonna go after Jesus whatever that looks like and let him do the heavy lifting and Jesus knew that's what Zacchaeus needs. 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:05.280 He needs an encounter with God and so we're gonna get around the table to do that. 00:37:05.920 --> 00:38:39.519 And Jesus didn't say I'd like to stay at your house which would have felt a little more palatable to us probably had he said hey Zacchaeus do you mind if I come over I mean I don't know how often you invite yourself over to people's houses but you're gonna take a cue out of the story of God there might be some hospitality and I don't mean like insensitively but maybe hey why don't we get some time together oh oh I'm good I wouldn't want to I wouldn't want to interfere I wouldn't want to and it's like no I actually insist no really I'm okay maybe hospitality looks like coming back the next couple of days later like not letting them off the hook there was a time halfway recent somebody had been being prayed for for a leg that wasn't working great some surgeries some discomfort and we'd been praying and praying and praying and really not seeing a lot of breakthrough yet but undeterred hospitality winning the day somebody said hey can we pray for you and the person was like man I I've been prayed for so much I actually think I'll take a pass and part of my heart can almost empathize with that a little bit it's like yeah you don't want to just you know um browbeat disappointment but on the other hand where does like I'll believe for you then come in like I'll I'll step in and help carry the weight of it and so one of the guys that was there said I insist and he prayed anyway and I just thought yeah learning maybe to navigate that dance a bit somewhere in that hospitality actually is found. 00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:51.280 And and I think Jesus kind of employed a little of that like I'm not even gonna give you Zacchaeus the chance to say nah I just wanted to get up here and take a look and kind of sample you're just like I must come to your house because that's hospitality. 00:38:51.519 --> 00:39:01.840 Trust me believe me it's gonna be worth your while verse seven all the people saw this exchange and they began to mutter he has gone to be the guest of a sinner. 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:03.440 Can you believe that? 00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:30.960 The muttering here actually is um this word I will try to pronounce it here it goes uh gongismos which is actually on a monopoeia gong it's what it is it's a gong it's in 1 Corinthians 13 when Paul says you know if you don't have love it's just you're a resounding gong it's like this chalkboard nails kind of thing to I think the voice or to the ears of God when you start to mutter. 00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:41.760 It's the same actual word they used in um in the desert with the old in the Old Testament when they were complaining about their place in the Exodus it was this muttering and muttering actually is it's like a group word. 00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:48.559 So if you're gonna be if you're actually gonna mutter like this kind of muttering you do it contagiously and that's why it's a no go. 00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:56.000 And so all the people saw this and it says all of them that's why it's muttering they all began to mutter he's gone to be the guest of a sinner can you believe this? 00:39:56.079 --> 00:39:58.960 Jesus must not know who he is why what did he not know? 00:39:59.199 --> 00:42:00.400 That the rules specifically stated thank you Mr Pharisees who added like 1500 extra commands of the law that was 613 by the way you're welcome to actually try to get the kingdom and the Messiah to come because they're like we're not convinced it's Jesus and so here is uh this thing going down and everybody's like he doesn't get it you can't have a chief tax collector who doesn't tithe his food who cheats us who has sold out like all the things at the chief level hello it was it was actually forbidden not just like not a good idea but we will absolutely excommunicate you ostracize you cut you off if you bring why because the table is sacred and they all knew it hospitality was not like a good idea it was the secret sauce and Jesus is about to pollute our table with this guy and so they they wanted Jesus's teaching and they wanted his miracles but they didn't want his expanse of hospitality that he was showing and God always invites the ones others write off looking for them and Zacchaeus is a man who represents a class despised by everyone perhaps there's people that we know of that fit the bill of being despised and easily looked past easily forgotten about if you were to say Chris what is a measurement of successful parenting and fatherhood in your life I would say probably somewhere near the top of the list would look like the four people in my life that I have great influence with my boys actually making moves in their life towards the outcasts if the report came back to me hey do you know what I saw your son doing at school? 00:42:00.639 --> 00:42:01.280 What? 00:42:01.760 --> 00:42:08.320 They were like they partnered up with a project in class with the person nobody ever partners with. 00:42:08.639 --> 00:42:12.960 Even though the reason nobody partners with that person is because they don't do their work. 00:42:14.239 --> 00:42:29.280 But down deep there's a reason they don't do their work and your son had the moxie I guess call it what you will to go and see that and say hey you're more valuable than your schoolwork assignment success has led to at this point. 00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:57.440 And even if it means I get a a C instead of an A, because I picked a person who's not going to pull their weight maybe something in our exchange can actually deposit value in you that might transform your life not just academically but I mean forever generationally that would be the mark of success in my heart to see my offspring say the most important thing is for me to say where's the hospitality moments around me that I can bring people in to the kingdom and partner with God for value over their life. 00:42:57.679 --> 00:43:28.559 And not just in your own biological family all the people that you have influence with living your life that way that would be the mark of Christ's likeness I would say so Zacchaeus is despised he was hated I remember um when the IRS showed up at our house when I was a little kid and uh the the the lynchman I I should actually give some grace some of you may work for the IRS and I'm I'm thankful that that we have some kind of a system that can hold accountability and keep tax fraud from happening whatever. 00:43:28.800 --> 00:43:45.440 But to like a nine year old however old I was there's two guys that showed up and said we'll take the keys to the van and off they drove with our van and in my nine year old heart I'm like we ain't inviting those guys over for dinner or I hope to never see them again. 00:43:45.679 --> 00:43:52.719 And that was the sentiment with Zacchaeus from the people is like he's he's the worst why would we? 00:43:52.880 --> 00:44:01.039 That doesn't make sense right for it to make sense you have to actually turn it on its head the kingdom turns things Things upside down. 00:44:01.199 --> 00:44:02.400 You're like, oh. 00:44:04.320 --> 00:44:06.320 That's how it actually makes sense. 00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:16.159 And you start to train and condition yourself to see the world through the eyes and the filter of the kingdom of God, which is what Jesus was inviting people to do. 00:44:16.880 --> 00:44:21.039 And so Jesus eating with the sinners was not an exception, it was the rule. 00:44:21.280 --> 00:44:22.800 It wasn't just like a one-off. 00:44:22.880 --> 00:44:26.880 Well, we'll give a pass for it this time because the guy for crying out loud is short and climbed a tree. 00:44:27.039 --> 00:44:28.159 I guess we can give him a pass. 00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:34.719 No, this was the norm for Jesus, whether it was the prostitutes who were actually a wrong lower than the tax collectors, they were at the very bottom. 00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:39.280 Then you had the chief tax collector, then we'll stick in the tax collectors and on off went the hierarchy. 00:44:39.360 --> 00:44:42.960 And Jesus is like, that's actually where my view is going. 00:44:43.119 --> 00:44:46.159 And I just wonder if I can take a play out of that playbook. 00:44:47.360 --> 00:44:49.039 So we gotta wrap it up here. 00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:50.480 You guys are talking too long. 00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:53.199 The word companion comes from. 00:44:53.360 --> 00:44:54.800 I am wound up on this, by the way. 00:44:54.880 --> 00:44:57.199 This is kind of like newfound revelation for me. 00:44:57.280 --> 00:44:58.880 You know, like how can I be hospital? 00:44:58.960 --> 00:45:00.239 I want to I want to do this. 00:45:00.400 --> 00:45:08.800 Um, this word companion comes from the Latin language where calm in companion means with, and pan means bread, right? 00:45:08.880 --> 00:45:10.880 That's like the Spanish word for pan is bread, right? 00:45:11.039 --> 00:45:11.280 I think. 00:45:11.360 --> 00:45:12.800 Help me, help me, Jesus. 00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:17.760 Um companion, like we use that a lot, like you're my companion. 00:45:18.159 --> 00:45:23.119 Well, actually, to be companions, it's got to be with each other over bread, over food. 00:45:23.280 --> 00:45:26.719 Like this is the power of companionship, is the table, it's hospitality. 00:45:26.880 --> 00:45:30.480 It's that's why I'm saying it's you can't hardly detach this once you see it. 00:45:30.800 --> 00:45:34.079 The reach out of, hey, let's get time together. 00:45:34.239 --> 00:45:38.960 And so it's not awkward, let's grab a sandwich, let's grab some coffee, or let's do awkward. 00:45:39.039 --> 00:45:45.840 I don't know, but it's still the idea of, hey, let's get together, kind of looking at each other table-wise, and be intentional. 00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:56.880 And so 400 years before Jesus um came on the scene, the temple was destroyed and the Israelites were scattered, and the priesthood ended, and most of the Israelites actually had to take a hike to another country. 00:45:56.960 --> 00:45:58.400 They were displaced, right? 00:45:58.559 --> 00:46:02.000 This is when like the the we'll call like the dark ages, where where's God? 00:46:02.079 --> 00:46:06.960 And nobody had heard from God until John the Baptist shows up in the Gospels, like this period of absence. 00:46:07.119 --> 00:46:08.159 What is God up to? 00:46:08.320 --> 00:46:09.679 Well, so this is what happened. 00:46:09.840 --> 00:46:13.039 They had their whole religious system stripped from them. 00:46:13.119 --> 00:46:21.280 So the priests were gone, the temple was gone where they would worship in, um, the sacrificial system had ended, and the priests were imprisoned. 00:46:21.440 --> 00:46:24.800 And so it's like, how do we actually be the people of God now? 00:46:24.960 --> 00:46:26.079 Check this out. 00:46:26.400 --> 00:46:29.679 Put that um graph or the uh the slide up there, Lori. 00:46:30.159 --> 00:46:34.559 The home became the new temple, because the temple was no more. 00:46:35.199 --> 00:46:42.719 The table is the altar, the father of the home is the new priest, so don't check out, Dad. 00:46:43.280 --> 00:46:45.599 And the meal is the new sacrifice. 00:46:45.840 --> 00:46:50.159 And this was a new establishment because what they had had gotten ripped out. 00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:55.840 I actually think it was there was a little purpose and intention, sovereignly, for this to be the case. 00:46:56.079 --> 00:46:59.760 Now, sadly, the Pharisees finally get into this, and that's what I said. 00:46:59.920 --> 00:47:02.000 They had all these laws to keep, and they said, that's not enough. 00:47:02.079 --> 00:47:05.280 We've got to have more laws because we've got to get the attention of heaven to get the Messiah here. 00:47:05.599 --> 00:47:08.960 Total tree of knowledge of good and evil stuff, not tree of life stuff. 00:47:09.199 --> 00:47:16.159 But it was a play that was an introduction to say this is actually how we're gonna form and forge the church going forward. 00:47:16.400 --> 00:47:18.480 The power of hospitality. 00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:23.599 And so Jesus continually uses a meal to give us a glimpse into God's nature. 00:47:23.920 --> 00:47:29.280 Hospitality is not about keeping people out, but inviting people in. 00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:34.320 And in its simplest form, it's you inviting people into your life. 00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:38.800 This is the picture of the kingdom of hospitality, the kingdom of God using hospitality. 00:47:38.960 --> 00:47:40.719 And it's how Jesus did it. 00:47:40.880 --> 00:47:45.760 Um, and actually in the Gospels, there were three ways the kingdom was actually introduced to people in the early church. 00:47:45.840 --> 00:47:53.679 It was healing, it was spiritual freedom, breaking free of bondage, and it was table fellowship. 00:47:53.920 --> 00:48:05.360 So if you've ever thought that hospitality, getting time with people over coffee or whatever, it is like second rate, it is up there with the priority of priorities for kingdom building, hospitality. 00:48:05.519 --> 00:48:07.599 Unreasonable hospitality breaks through. 00:48:07.760 --> 00:48:21.519 Verse 8, Zacchaeus stood up, I don't know if that was a short jab or not, and said to the Lord, Look, Lord, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I've cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. 00:48:21.679 --> 00:48:26.639 I think what's interesting is that there's not actually a dialogue recorded with Jesus and Zacchaeus anywhere. 00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:34.159 Now you can assume they're actually having some conversations, but it's not like the woman who was caught in adultery where they actually talk back and forth and it's recorded. 00:48:34.400 --> 00:48:44.239 And so what we can be pretty sure of is that Jesus didn't first have Zacchaeus repent before this reaction of Zacchaeus happens. 00:48:44.480 --> 00:48:46.400 He didn't preach him a message. 00:48:46.800 --> 00:48:52.400 The only thing that happened for Zacchaeus to change heart was a meal. 00:48:52.960 --> 00:48:57.760 And out of that meal came, I'm going to put it all back together. 00:48:57.920 --> 00:49:12.320 In fact, it was common practice that if you were going to uh do voluntary restitution, in other words, nobody's making you, but if you're gonna actually pay back what you owe, the common practice was not just to pay back what you owed, but to do 20% more. 00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:16.159 Zacchaeus blows that out of the tub and goes 4x big. 00:49:16.239 --> 00:49:18.400 That's what David just told us during the offering time. 00:49:18.719 --> 00:49:20.800 Four times what he owed people. 00:49:20.960 --> 00:49:21.519 Why? 00:49:21.760 --> 00:49:32.880 Because it's a picture of the extravagant overflow of kingdom generosity and love, not even just back to God, but to others. 00:49:33.119 --> 00:49:45.199 Zacchaeus, in a moment, through a meal, went from being the most hated tree climber, murmuring subject, to one meal and then saying, Oh my word. 00:49:45.360 --> 00:49:48.000 And he says, salvation has come to your house. 00:49:48.239 --> 00:49:51.920 That word house is a holistic picture of what salvation came to. 00:49:52.079 --> 00:49:56.480 It wasn't just, hey, you'll be saved when you die and go to heaven one day, you got in. 00:49:57.039 --> 00:50:01.039 The whole house, holistically, every part of your being has been saved. 00:50:01.119 --> 00:50:02.880 It's what the word sozo means, actually. 00:50:03.119 --> 00:50:04.719 Holistic salvation. 00:50:04.960 --> 00:50:13.679 And so the next move you see Zacchaeus making is not only allegiance to God and thank you, Jesus, but I've got to be about the mission of the kingdom now. 00:50:13.840 --> 00:50:17.199 I'm gonna go empty my wallet and pay back everybody and show them love. 00:50:17.280 --> 00:50:27.280 He wasn't striving, it was no more tree climbing, it was an overflow of the grace he had been shown through hospitality that initiated in him a desire to do the same thing back to everybody else. 00:50:27.440 --> 00:50:31.199 Can you imagine Zacchaeus coming up to you because you had charged him? 00:50:31.360 --> 00:50:35.039 The Romans let him charge like 50%, and they even knew that they'd skim off the top. 00:50:35.119 --> 00:50:37.360 Can you imagine paying taxes on 50% of what you make? 00:50:37.440 --> 00:50:39.440 You thought 30% was bad enough. 00:50:39.760 --> 00:50:47.760 And so you get a handout back that's gonna pay for like this year and next year's supply of what you need for your family, likely. 00:50:48.159 --> 00:50:52.480 It's hospitality immediately being reciprocated and shown to the world around him. 00:50:52.559 --> 00:50:57.440 It's a beautiful picture of what God is up to with the tool of hospitality. 00:50:57.599 --> 00:51:05.360 Verse 9, Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. 00:51:05.679 --> 00:51:09.199 He's in the family of God, and buddy, he knows it. 00:51:09.599 --> 00:51:13.679 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. 00:51:14.400 --> 00:51:18.719 Paul writes in Romans 12, we'll end here, to practice hospitality. 00:51:18.880 --> 00:51:23.280 And that word practice actually means to fight forcefully for. 00:51:23.519 --> 00:51:26.320 It's one thing like, ah, I need to go practice. 00:51:26.480 --> 00:51:30.800 This particular use of this means be so intentional with it. 00:51:31.039 --> 00:51:33.440 Actually make sure it happens. 00:51:33.760 --> 00:51:36.559 Fight forcefully for hospitality. 00:51:36.719 --> 00:51:40.159 In other words, I'm not gonna just blow past it. 00:51:40.320 --> 00:51:41.599 I'm not gonna look past it. 00:51:41.760 --> 00:51:49.760 I'm going to make sure, with the intensity as if I was fighting for something, that I'm going to notice the opportunities around me to be hospitable. 00:51:50.239 --> 00:51:58.159 Those that don't look like me, act like me, believe like me, vote like me, you name it, they're still invited to the table I'm sitting at. 00:51:58.239 --> 00:52:01.440 And I'm going to make sure, for darn sure. 00:52:01.599 --> 00:52:07.519 It's like this forceful practice that this is a part of my daily life, my routine, because it's a part of Jesus's. 00:52:07.599 --> 00:52:09.039 It's actually what he's done with us. 00:52:09.280 --> 00:52:13.280 He absolutely, it's what Romans says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 00:52:13.360 --> 00:52:18.079 While we were an enemy of God, hospitality came rushing in and said, You're still who I want. 00:52:18.239 --> 00:52:20.320 It's the power of the new covenant. 00:52:20.960 --> 00:52:30.400 And so, are you, Zacchaeus, today, feeling left out, feeling invisible, feeling isolated and alone? 00:52:30.880 --> 00:52:34.559 And if you are, good news, the table's for you. 00:52:36.079 --> 00:52:50.000 And we at least are trying to set up our plan around here, whether it be through community groups or our interactions, and hopefully just culture, that says, man, we are on the lookout for the Zacchaeus's. 00:52:50.159 --> 00:52:52.000 And so in a minute, I'm gonna do like we do. 00:52:52.079 --> 00:52:58.159 We're gonna group up, and you might just tell the couple that you're grouped up with, man, I've been kind of struggling with feeling like Zacchaeus. 00:52:58.239 --> 00:53:09.840 I feel like I don't necessarily have my circle, my community, not sure I'm known, don't have closeness, close friends, like if the American, uh whatever they were that's taking surveys, uh, asked me, yeah, I'm I'm kind of padding that stat. 00:53:09.920 --> 00:53:11.679 You know, I'm I'm not in connection. 00:53:11.760 --> 00:53:13.039 And I need to be, I want to be. 00:53:13.199 --> 00:53:17.039 Or I realize I need to be, even if you don't feel like you want to be, there's something in you that needs it. 00:53:17.119 --> 00:53:20.960 So maybe you're Zacchaeus, or maybe you identify with the crowd who murmured. 00:53:21.840 --> 00:53:22.960 Not that person. 00:53:23.360 --> 00:53:25.199 That that person's on the periphery. 00:53:25.360 --> 00:53:28.000 That person, I don't have time to tell you another story I want to, but I'm not going to. 00:53:28.159 --> 00:53:29.199 I'll save it for another time. 00:53:29.360 --> 00:53:44.800 But one of the most significant things that ever happened in my life was when I had the opportunity to go after somebody who was so far gone, not somebody you'd go after, and lo and behold, they turned around and gave their life to the Lord, and I couldn't believe it. 00:53:44.880 --> 00:53:49.280 And it was the time that set me up for my life, realizing, oh my gosh, prayer works. 00:53:49.440 --> 00:53:51.280 It actually changes something. 00:53:51.519 --> 00:53:57.519 And so the one that's on the most periphery is probably the one that God's inviting you to be hospitable with. 00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:01.119 So, Lord, we thank you for the power of hospitality. 00:54:01.199 --> 00:54:02.320 We thank you for the kingdom. 00:54:02.400 --> 00:54:04.000 Jamil, you can come on up probably. 00:54:04.239 --> 00:54:08.000 We thank you, God, that you are on the throne today leading us well. 00:54:08.559 --> 00:54:23.039 I thank you for that little plant that's in the bush, or rather in the pot outside the doors right now, and the gift that that is, at least to my heart, a promise from you that you are growing something new, that there's there's freshness on the vine, and there's opportunity. 00:54:23.360 --> 00:54:33.679 And so, God, I thank you for a group like this, a room like this that's hungry for you, who's after your heart and being about the kingdom. 00:54:33.920 --> 00:54:39.199 And so thank you for highlighting this and anything else you're doing with us. 00:54:39.840 --> 00:54:40.960 In Jesus' name. 00:54:41.199 --> 00:54:41.760 Amen. 00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:47.119 Why don't you take just about five minutes, turn your chairs, and pray for each other? 00:54:47.360 --> 00:54:53.360 And if there's anything highlighted from any of this that you want to respond to, maybe be vulnerable and go for it.