Receiving God's Wholeness - Part 5

DAILY BYTE

People commonly, but mistakenly, think that Christ’s work of salvation is something that happens just between him and them. They think that receiving God’s wholeness is a purely personal matter, and that the only relationship that needs to be transformed through the gospel is our vertical relationship with God.

Sadly, it’s a version of Christianity that many people settle for, but it bears little resemblance to the example of Jesus’ life, and offers little hope for the transformation of the world. It’s certainly a far more cozy and comfortable form of Christianity, but lacks the power and punch of the real thing - and of course the joy! The joy, the unbridled joy of a transformed life that is being made whole in every way, impacting every relationship, every experience, and every decision.

It was this kind of radical transformation that happened in Zacchaeus’ life the day he met Jesus in Jericho. In receiving Jesus into his home he probably didn’t realize the full implications of that act of hospitality. It was to change his life forever, but more than that, it was to change the lives of those around Zacchaeus forever too.

We don’t know what Jesus said to Zacchaeus as they sipped their cups of tea that day. Maybe it was nothing Jesus said, but the simple fact that he had sought out Zacchaeus and offered the gift of his presence, willing to risk himself in connecting with a notorious ‘sinner’ in spite of the clucking tongues outside. Whatever it was Zacchaeus suddenly “got it” - he got what Jesus was all about. He realized that his life was not simply his own. He realized that he shared a responsibility for those around him, particularly the poor. He realized that the things he was doing to damage the lives of others were damaging him also. He realized that there would be no peace, no freedom, no joy until he put right what he had done wrong, and started living in a whole new way.

Having encountered Jesus in this life-changing way Zacchaeus declares his commitment to rectifying the relationships all around him. And to this Jesus declares, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

The inescapable reality of the gospel is that when we get hold of it, or more accurately, when we allow it to get hold of us, everything in our lives comes under its searching scrutiny. Which sounds a little scary, but is in fact what makes it good news. The gift of God’s wholeness is precisely that - a gift of wholeness (not part-ness), that transforms the whole of us.

What joy, what freedom when this gift is received.

PRAY AS YOU GO:

Lord, there is part of me that just wants a cozy and comfortable kind of relationship with you that makes no other demands upon my life. But deep down I know that is not what you want for me. Thank you that you refuse to settle for a mediocre kind of faith. Thank you that you are passionately committed to my wholeness, in the fullest sense of that word. Open my eyes Lord to the lives and experience of people all around me, and show me what I can do to put my faith into action in all my relationships. And may the gift of your salvation, with all the joy and freedom it brings, be the gift that I receive from you each day. Amen.

FOCUS READING:

Luke 19:1-10 - NIV

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."