KNOW: YOUR HOUSE

THE PRAYER      

• Find a quiet space.      
• Breathe deeply and recognise God with you in this moment.      
• When you are ready, speak to God about this time together.      
• After you've finished praying, go through the following passage a few times slowly and thoughtfully (preferably out loud).  
• Allow God to meet you in these words.

The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. Psalm 145:14-17 (NLT)

THE FIRST READING

Read this passage slowly (preferably out loud) as you allow God to meet you in these words. Pay attention to anything God might be saying as you do.

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 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.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10 (ESV)

RESPONSE

Take some time to respond (write down, draw, pray, etc.) to God’s prompting in the first reading of the passage. What is he highlighting and saying to you through this?

THE SECOND READING

Read the passage again (slowly and preferably out loud) through the “lens” of what The Spirit highlighted in the first reading. Listen for anything else the Spirit might be saying.

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 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.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10 (ESV)

THE REFLECTION

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.” (A.W. Tozer)

Have you ever thought about what you think about when you think about God? You should. Over the years, I have found that one of the great barriers to friendship with God has very little to do with God and very much to do with perception. In my experience, it is true to say that most people who want nothing to do with God somehow believe that God wants nothing to do with them. In their view, God is distant, disinterested, and disappointed. Is it any wonder that a god like that is less than compelling to those searching for a safe place to bring the many burdens of their heart?

This is why I love Jesus.

He is so... “ungodly”. At least that’s what the Pharisees and religious leaders thought. Grumbling as he sat with sinners, they had no category for the kind of God that Jesus was. That he is. Nor did Zacchaeus- as he hid there in his sycamore tree straining to see Jesus, the last thing he expected was to be seen by Jesus. He certainly didn’t expect to hear Jesus call his name. “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, I must stay at your house today." People like Jesus didn’t come to his house. They waited in their temples, classrooms, and sacred spaces. They waited for people like him to come to them. But not today. Today his godforsaken house would become the sacred space. Is it any wonder that he jumped out of his tree and received Jesus joyfully?

This is a lesson for us. Perhaps those who seem farthest from God are those most ready for his touch. Perhaps it is precisely the wounded heart, hard and callous from a lifetime of rejection, that is most susceptible to the gift of being seen. Perhaps love really is stronger than hate. Perhaps mercy triumphs over judgment.

As we learn to know those around us, it is good to remember what God is like. The God we find in Jesus does not keep people at a distance or trip them up with legality before he calls their name. The God we find in Jesus not only sees people in their sycamore tree but invites himself to their house.

In worshipping a God like Jesus, it would be a great gift to the world if we became a people like Jesus.