SEEKING OUT THE LOST: Pentecost 24

Isaiah 1:10-18
Psalm 32:1-7
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10

First Lesson: Isaiah 1:10-18

Challenges:

•  This lesson is amazing: nut it sets us down right in the middle of "our program currently in progress."  If you are not familiar with Isaiah's context and mission, this could be confusing.
• It is indeed VERY important to 'wash ourselves clean' and 'remove the evil of our doings' no doubt about it.  But this can place a very heavy burden on us: how do we know when we've done enough?

Opportunities:

• This message is one of the classic messages from Israel and Judah's prophets.  You can read it in Amos, Micah and many other places in addition to verses 10-18.   This could be an opportunity to talk about the overarching message of the prophets throughout the Old Testament.
• There is a powerful song called "Instead of a Show" by Jon Foreman which really captures this message.  Foreman's song is quoting Amos, but the sentiment is also found here in Isaiah 1.  Listen to the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk7Qzufdvro

The Good News:

• Verse 18 has some great news: sins that are like scarlet will become like snow.  Things will change: transformation is possible.  This present state is not the end.
• Also in verse 18, God is willing to come and "argue it out" with the people. It's not as if God can't be bothered to be involved in the lives of the people.  No: God is fully willing to be involved to the hilt.  Once again in scripture, we see God wanting to have a relationship with people, no matter how messy.

Psalm: Psalm 32:1-7

Challenges:

• Okay, this is a phenominal psalm, I don't know if I can find any challenges here. 
• Alright, maybe one challenge: in verse 7 refers to God as a "hiding place for me" and while this is certainly true, it can leave out our calling to "go and make disciples!"

Opportunities:

•  This is a great chance to talk about the benefits of "coming clean" and letting go of our baggage.  The "Skit Guys" do a very good skit about the "baggage" that we carry around. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk7Qzufdvro
• Rob Bell has a good Nooma Video about this called "Luggage." You can see a preview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdwNoi5ylw.
• This is a great opportunity to talk about the value of confession.  If done well, it's not about holding people down by making them feel bad: it's about making people free.

The Good News: 

•  This psalm provides a picture of a God of forgiveness, love and new beginnings.  God isn't "okay" with sin, God doesn't offer us a water-down, polite "oh, I guess it's okay" statement. Instead God forgives sin and makes people new.  That's much more powerful than a God who says, "Oh, it's okay, just keep doing what you're doing...I don't care."

Second Lesson: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Challenges:

• The opening greeting found in many of Paul's epistles can slip right past a person: it can feel
  "what a person should say..." It could be easy to mentally skip right past this.
• Verse 4: says "therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God..." What ever happened to "then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded..." (Romans 3:27) There is quite a bit of context with both passages, but it's something to consider.

Opportunities:

• Over and over again I see a theme showing up in the New Testament Epistles: we are freed/saved/made right/loved/transformed/whatever by God through Jesus Christ and it is for a PURPOSE.  We are given a gift, but it's a gift that's meant to be used for others.  I think of the scene in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where Peter, Susan and Lucy are all given gifts by Father Christmas, but he tells them that they are "tools and not toys."  They are to be used.  We see this in verse 12: there is a purpose in God's gift.

The Good News:

• If we are going to be worthy at all, it will be because of an act of God, not by our own doing.
• I believe that this doesn't mean we should just sit around, waiting to be made worthy.  Not only does this sound pointless to me, it also sounds rather boring.  Instead, let's live as if were the case while praying that God would make it so.

Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

Challenges:

• Here's the question:  what leads to Zaccheaus' new life?  His desire to see Jesus or Jesus' response to him?  Would any of this happened if Zacchaeus hadn't climbed a tree?  Really, I suppose such questions miss the point.  To answer one way or the other really shows more about your theology than about the story.  Frankly I think this is a "both/and" example rather than an "either/or."
• People might not be familiar with the fact that tax collectors were not only swindlers and unethical lowlifes.  They were also collaborators with the occupying powers. Frankly, I doubt that I would have felt much (if any) love toward them.

Opportunities:

• There are so many possibilities with this story that it is impossible to list them all. (Is that a challenge?) Many people remember the children's song about this story ("Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he...") perhaps you could start out with this, or fit it in somewhere.
• There would be absolutely NOTHING wrong with centering on the interaction between Jesus and Zacchaeus.  It could also be interesting to look at the story from the point of view of the crowd who was also present: the ones who grumbled about Jesus going to be the guest of a sinner.  The possibilities here are endless: where some of them changed by Jesus action? Where some of their hearts closed off to what the Lord was doing?  I believe that at least a few people in the crowd were given salvation from their own grumbling and anger by Jesus' actions.  This is a great time to talk about the restoration of community and wholeness.
• Another great opportunity to talk about who in Luke's Gospel, salvation is something that happens NOW in the present time.  It's not just something we are waiting for (although that fits into it too), it's something that comes to people in their lives, "where they live," (in this case literally).  You could talk about all sorts of ways that salvation can come NOW for us: overcoming a substance addiction, the restoration of a relationship, the beginning of medical treatment, etc., etc.  

The Good News:  

• Again, there's so much Good News here, it's hard to know where to begin.  Salvation comes NOW when we encounter Jesus.  
• I think it is key that Zacchaeus is given the opportunity to become "the good guy" after many years of being something else. This is what abundant life looks like: giving away things he thought were important (money, riches) while gaining something much, much more rewarding, whole and grand.
• Verse 10, Verse 10, Verse 10: copy it down a hundred times, memorize it, tape it up over your door and give it a "champion tap" every time you leave your office:  "...The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost."  There is it in a nutshell.