Rev. Don Campbell
Luke 18:15-19:48
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019
“SEEKING AND SAVING THE LOST”
Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and rich, an outcast from the Jewish community, and all his money could not buy him respectability. His tenacity got both the attention of Jesus that of the pious: “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” (19:5-7). Jesus gave Zacchaeus more than respectability; he gave him salvation and a place in the Scriptures, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (v. 10).
The church is Christ’s body on earth. His mission is our mission, but no one of us has inherited the whole of that responsibility. The church should be an island of refuge, welcoming shipwrecked souls, but this is too passive. The church must be an island of refuge from which search and rescue missions are launched to seek and save the lost.
In most congregations, there are at least a half-dozen lifeboats that need crews (ministries that need ministers, both male and female).
The ministry of peacemaking involves holding one’s tongue as well as removing the stingers left by the tongues of others.
The ministry of meekness is never overcrowded: “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited” (Romans 12:16, NIV)
The ministry of listening is another critical ministry—not listening for a place to interrupt, because impatient listening is a form of minimizing the person’s problem, but listening for the hopes, the fears, and the frustrations of the hurting.
Then there is the ministry of helpfulness—not passing by on the other side of the road. We have a member at 90 West Chestnut who has no title, no official position, and no desire to stand before the assembly and speak, but wherever there is a need, he is there. He never thinks of himself as a minister, but God does.
Next is the ministry of bearing and forbearing one with another’s weakness, personality traits, and trespasses. Just as it takes a lot of forbearance by husbands and wives to have successful 50, 60, even 70-year marriages, it takes a lot of forbearance to have a happy and stable congregation for generations.
Rounding out the half-dozen is the ministry of proclaiming—free encounters born out of a relationship where one has truly listened, served, and borne the burdens of others. This is not pulpit preaching but sharing the bread of life.
CONNECTIONS
1. I like the King James Version on 1 Corinthians 16:15. Paul said that the household of Stephanas had addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Does the church need more ministry addicts?
2. Why do some people always seem to see a need and others see none?
