WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.440 So there's a story in Luke chapter 19 as Jesus is passing through Jericho. 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:09.119 And this is a story about a short, rich man named Zacchaeus, right? 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:12.320 You remember the wee little man named Zacchaeus, maybe you remember the song. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:18.320 And this guy's rich because he's a tax collector, which means he worked for Rome and he went around and he collected taxes from everybody else. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:26.640 And then usually what happened, almost always, was these guys not only did it collect the taxes, but then they used their power and they're forced to collect a little bit more for themselves. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:28.000 So they're also thieves. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:29.519 And this is what this guy was. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:31.760 And on this day, Jesus has come through Jericho. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:32.640 It's almost like a parade. 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:34.000 It's a crowd. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:38.799 And Zacchaeus he runs ahead, he climbs up into a tree. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:42.000 Because he wants to see this man, this Jesus. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:48.799 You've got to imagine this guy's wealthy, he has money, he has resources, he probably has a nice house, he probably has a nice camel or two. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:50.000 I mean, he has it going on. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:52.799 He has what he wants, but in some regard, he doesn't belong. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:59.039 In some regard, he doesn't belong to the people around him because he's the tax collector, he's the outcast. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.880 But he hears about this Jesus who accepts people who don't belong. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:06.959 So he climbs this tree just to see this Jesus. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:14.000 And we get these amazing verses because I think we all we are all wondering if we belong. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:16.079 And is belonging possible? 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:17.920 Is belonging possible for us? 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:28.079 Like if God actually sees us, if he actually does see us, like as we are, not like we pretend to be when we show up at church, but as we actually are, truly, truly are. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:30.000 Would God actually accept us? 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:31.920 And that's where these verses are amazing. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:34.560 Verse uh 5 and chapter 19 of Luke. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:41.359 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:45.200 So he hurried and he came down and received him joyfully. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:50.879 And when they saw it, the crowd, the religious people, when they saw it, they all grumbled. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:53.760 He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:55.280 See, they just can't place this. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:57.760 They have no framework for this. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:00.719 All these religious moralists are here and they're seeing this. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:02.159 They have no placement for this. 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:04.879 Jesus stops the parade for this guy, they know this. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:07.439 This was the guy stealing money from them. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:16.000 And by Jesus going to this non-Jewish, non-kosher home, this is Jesus saying to all these people, this man belongs. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:18.639 This is the man that belongs. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:38.240 And maybe that doesn't feel new to you because you've heard it enough times, but if you've ever not belonged, or if you've ever screwed up, or you've ever been a part of a mindset or a place where you always have to be good enough, get good enough, maintain good enough, and then you can belong to God. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:43.520 If you've ever been in any of those situations, this truth is amazing. 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:49.039 Now the secret none of us are really telling each other is we're all wondering if we belong. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:50.319 Right? 00:02:50.400 --> 00:03:07.360 And maybe you have some friends, maybe you have a great family, maybe you joined a club, maybe you have a good work life scenario, maybe you have a sweet somebody, but still, even then, in all of that goodness, even then underneath, there is this hum for us that we're wondering, we're wondering. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:09.120 We're wondering about belonging. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:13.039 We're wondering, are these people accepting me for me? 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:15.599 Are they accepting me for some performance? 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:16.400 Do I belong? 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:18.479 Is it possible that I could belong? 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:20.479 And here's what we find to be true. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:25.599 Where we find our belonging has a huge effect on our life. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:28.560 Where we find our belonging has huge effect on our life. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:40.319 And so now we're in the season of Lent, those 40 days leading up to Easter, and so we're taking a break from working our way through books of the Bible to take these laid-out passages for us that are in the lectionary to guide our teaching. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.240 So we have two passages this morning. 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:47.520 One in Luke, Luke 13, not the one I just referenced, but Luke 13, and then also one in Philippians. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:50.400 We'll get two different images from these passages. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:52.879 And each of these images has something for us. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:54.319 So I'll make a few points. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.520 We'll look at these passages, we'll see what we can learn. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:02.240 Point number one is this you have secure belonging in God. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:04.639 You have secure belonging in God. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:15.039 We see it in our text in Luke 13, which I read, there's the religious people are there, and they warn Jesus that Herod wants to kill him, and Jesus says, to tell that fox, and that's an insult, by the way. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:16.399 That's an insult at the time. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:19.680 He says, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.319 But the third day I finish my course. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:28.879 And then he says in verse 34, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:38.720 How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her broad under her wings, and you were not willing. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:41.120 So there it is. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:53.439 You really didn't expect it to come to church and see that Jesus says, I'm like a mama chicken, and you are like my little chic, and I want to have you under my wing. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:55.279 You belong to me. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:58.240 You should exist under my wing. 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:01.120 Last summer I was at my uncle's house. 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.560 Our whole family was up there visiting my family in Seattle. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:19.519 We're at my uncle's house, it was on this beautiful lake, and so we're on the back deck of my uncle's house, and back deck, a little bit of lawn, and then the lake, and we're all sitting out there, we're talking, and sure enough, a bald eagle just comes, just soaring like right at us from across this really wide lake. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:21.439 And he's, I mean, we see him just a little speck. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:22.000 He's getting closer. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:22.800 Is that an eagle? 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:23.199 Is that an eagle? 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:24.079 Oh, it's a body eagle. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:25.040 We're all getting excited. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.600 He just comes right at us, and as soon as she gets near us and she starts to lift up. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:30.959 It's just sore. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:32.800 I mean, the we need just huge wings. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:39.680 I mean, she looks so regal, and her eyes were piercing, and you go, like, I want to belong to that. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:40.720 Like, that's what I want. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:42.879 I want to belong to a bald eagle. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:46.800 Like, that's so regal and majestic, right? 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:50.240 And we get images like that in the Bible of God. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:54.800 We get regal, majestic, mighty images of God. 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:56.959 We get them, but not here. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:02.240 Here we get a mama chicken, is what we get. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:04.319 And there's a reason. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:08.720 The reason is that nobody's afraid of a hen. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:10.079 Right? 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:13.120 Like you're not afraid of a mama chicken, right? 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:16.319 Like a mama chicken is approachable. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:18.959 And that's the point. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:20.639 God is approachable. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:29.839 In Jesus, we we get this approachability of God that we can approach God and He's loving and He's caring. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:32.399 Point number two is sort of that. 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:36.079 Your belonging with God is secure because of Jesus. 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:41.519 That's good news because it's not on you, it's not on your work, it's on Jesus' work. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.160 Your belonging with God is secure because of Jesus. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:45.680 Is there in verse 32? 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:50.480 He said to them, Go and tell that fox, behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:55.600 And then here's the hint that it's all about his work, and on the third day I finish my course. 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:56.160 Right? 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:01.439 He's alluding toward Good Friday, where he will die for our sin. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:09.759 Our sin is put upon him, his righteousness is given to us, and then the third day, Easter morning, he rises from the dead to conquer death. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:11.519 That's his work for us. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:18.959 Author Barbara Taylor says this Jesus won't be king of the jungle in this or any other story. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:27.680 What he will be is a mother hen who stands between the chicks and those who mean to do them harm. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:32.480 She has no fangs, no claws, no rippling muscles. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:37.680 All she has is her willingness to shield her babies with her own body. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:42.160 If the fox wants them, he will have to kill her first. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:50.000 And that's the image for us that our security is not by our fight and our work, our security is because of the mama chicken. 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:50.959 That's what Jesus is saying. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:55.040 I'm the mama chicken, I will stand between you and the enemy. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:56.800 I will stand between you and the lies. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:58.800 I'll stand between you and your guilt. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:02.560 I'll stand between you and your inability to earn righteousness. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:07.360 I'll be your righteousness, I'll be your absolution, I'll be your forgiveness. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:12.639 Point number three, our belonging and satisfaction is in God alone. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:16.399 Our belonging and satisfaction is in God alone. 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:28.480 Christy and I watched A Star Is Born This Week, the Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga movie, and Cooper, he plays this rock star named Jack, and Jack has hits and stardom and fame and money. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:30.879 And he has he is all that people would think. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:41.279 That's what you want, but he's also coping with a past of hurt and neglect as a child, and he's an alcoholic and he's a drug addict. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:49.120 The first two that they meet one night, the first time they meet, they they meet, and and there's this sweet little scene. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:54.480 They're sitting in a parking lot and they're on a curb, and it's the beginning of the song Shallow, which you've probably heard. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:56.720 It's all over the radio at this point. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:00.000 And she says to him, she sort of like whispers it to him. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.120 She says, She says, Tell me something, boy. 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:07.679 Aren't you tired trying to fill that void? 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.120 Or do you need more? 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.919 Ain't it hard keeping it so hardcore? 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.120 And then later on, he he sings to her. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:22.240 He says, Tell me something, girl. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:25.200 Are you happy in this modern world? 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:27.600 Or do you need more? 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:31.120 Is there something else you're searching for? 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:37.679 And in the song they both sing, I'm fallen, and all the good times I find myself longing for change. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:41.679 And in the bad times, I fear myself. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:45.039 No, what are they talking about? 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:47.200 Why is this soundtrack number one right now? 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:49.840 Well, maybe because it's Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, right? 00:09:49.919 --> 00:10:03.519 But it is number one, it's sustaining itself, and it's because they capture, they capture our condition and our struggle that we just keep trying to live outside the wing. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:08.159 We keep trying to find our satisfaction and security outside of God. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:13.840 And it's only in relationship with the Father that finally our hearts are at rest. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:20.559 Paul speaks of this search, strong words in Philippians 3, 18 and 19. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:30.000 For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you, even with tears, they walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:42.320 Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and their glory, they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:51.600 So enemies of the cross, that would mean they live outside the cross's proclamation of redemption for them and righteousness for them and identity for them and belonging for them. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:53.519 They're gonna do it themselves. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:57.039 Enemies in the cross are gonna do it themselves. 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:03.840 And I would just ask anybody who tries this, like, how's that work? 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:05.200 How's it working? 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:07.279 Is it working out? 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:17.519 And Paul says, you go that way, your mind will be limited without any sight beyond the immediate temporal world. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:28.720 He says, you will try to find glory in shameful things because you'll be trying to fill that void, and in all of it, your God will be your belly. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:31.440 That's a beautiful metaphor. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:32.720 Dark, but beautiful. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:36.399 Years ago, a mentor of mine took me to Israel with a group of people. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:44.879 We traveled around to different sites and he would teach lessons in the different sites, and we went to this ancient theater at Caesarea by the sea. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:49.440 Big outdoor stadiums, huge stands down to a stage. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:12:00.960 And the Romans they would come and they would fill these stands and they would watch the theater, the people sing, and whatever play was going on, and they would eat and they would eat and they would eat and they would gorge themselves. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:09.200 Now there was a room underneath the stadium, and you went into this little room, a little long room, and you went in, and there's this long trough. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:15.200 And at first I walked in, I thought this was like an ancient urnal, like the old Braves Stadium, and you know what I'm talking about. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:16.159 It's like one long trough. 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:17.759 You're like, this is odd, this is weird. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:18.799 And that's what I thought it was. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:20.960 It was like, oh, this is where the Braves got it from. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:22.799 It's not what it was. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:28.399 The Romans would eat and eat and eat and engorge themselves so they could not eat any more. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:37.919 They would excuse themselves from the theater, they would walk down, they'd go in this room, they would vomit, they would return to their seat to eat more. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:42.320 And they would do it over and over and over again. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.480 And it's easy to kind of laugh at, like, oh, how primitive. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:48.080 What a primitive people. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.240 I can't imagine doing anything like that. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:52.000 But we do it, don't we? 00:12:52.080 --> 00:13:00.000 I mean, we consume status and you know, money, experiences, materials, love, religious, you know, moralistic deeds. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:08.080 And we think if we can consume enough, I can get enough in that in my belly, if I can get enough of it, then I'll then I'll finally belong to God. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:11.679 Then maybe I'll be full in this world. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:17.679 And then we have this Zacchaeus, like we talked about earlier on. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:21.440 We have this Zacchaeus, who I think he had consumed a lot. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:25.600 He had the money to, and he's realizing it's not enough. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:31.360 And he's like climbing up in a tree just to see, just to see Jesus. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:43.519 Paul goes on to write in Philippians 3, verse 20, but our citizenship, but our belonging is in heaven. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:45.600 So it's beyond this world. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.879 It's more than the physical, more than the temporal. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:14:00.399 And from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:12.080 Therefore, my brothers, and we say my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:18.080 A lot of days we don't feel like this uh citizen of heaven. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:22.720 There's a lot of days we don't feel like we are a friend of God or belong to God. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.879 Because we wonder like, could God actually still love me? 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:42.639 If he sees me, if he really knows me, because of this guilt or this addiction or this woundedness, this condemnation, this grief, this loneliness, this inability to get our act together, this fear, this anxiety, whatever it is. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:47.440 Could I possibly belong to God? 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:51.679 And the amazing answer is yes. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:54.240 Forever, yes. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:57.120 And that's what we have in Jesus' work for us. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:59.919 See, this morning, it's all good news to you this morning. 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:01.600 It's all good news. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:03.840 It's yes to you. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:10.960 So I am a little obsessed with the movie A Stars Born, so indulge me, even if you didn't like the movie, it's okay. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:12.639 You know, that's fine, you don't have to like it. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:14.399 We can still be friends on that. 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:18.080 Um, I might think less of you a little bit, but we can still be friends. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:20.480 And I won't ruin the movie, so you can start to calm down. 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:25.440 People get nervous at this point if a pastor mentions a movie two times in a sermon. 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:35.440 But there's this scene, there's this scene, and Jack horribly embarrasses, I'll be very vague, Jack horribly embarrasses Allie. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:37.039 And it's heart-wrenching. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:40.000 I was we're watching it, I started talking to the TV. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:45.360 I don't know if you have that moment in your house, you're watching something, you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't do that. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:52.960 You know, like I'm talking out loud to the TV, and it is heart-wrenching, it is, it is shame, it's shameful, it is failure. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.559 She's just trying to kind of like survive through it. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:06.320 He just made a fool of himself, and afterward, he's he's he's apologizing and he says, I embarrassed you. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:09.440 She doesn't hesitate. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:12.559 She says, I'm not embarrassed of you. 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:16.799 And he says, and your dad. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:19.759 My father loves you. 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:33.759 I cover you. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.360 I cover that in a walk with you. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:44.320 And my father loves you. 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:50.000 About sixteen hundred years ago, there was a man named Patrick that lived. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.559 And he went to Ireland to be a missionary. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:03.679 To tell people this about this Jesus and his forgiveness and his righteousness. 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:09.759 So let's close with his prayer as we close this sermon. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:11.200 Let's pray together. 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:50.960 Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:58.640 Father, would you help us to hear? 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:17.519 That you are not embarrassed of us, that you are as approachable as a mother hen, that in Jesus you have satisfied all your justice toward our failure and our sin and the sin of the world. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:19.759 It is all satisfied. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:34.079 That you hold no condemnation toward us, that in fact you just want us to live under the wing, close to you, and you are always willing, always willing to be between us and our enemies. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:47.839 Give us greater faith and greater trust that you are, in fact, our absolution, our righteousness, our security, our satisfaction, and our full belonging that we need. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:49.440 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:50.400 Amen.