03-13-22 “Jesus is all in for the all out”

Scripture   Luke 18:31-19:10 (The MSG)

Baseball – strike 3 you’re out – Dad – Cupping his chin in his hand raising his face so his eyes met the eyes of his father, he said, “Wow son you are a fantastic pitcher.”

 
This dad was all in for his son – who was literally ‘all out’.
 
Jesus does this same thing for his children over and over again. He sees people who have been cast out of society, have removed themselves from mainstream society, or perceive they are an outcast. He helps them see things from the perspective of the one who is all in on their behalf.
 
Jesus was all in for women, who, compared to men, were outcasts in society (woman at the well, widow of Nain, widow in the temple who gave only 2 cents to the church, Mary Magdalene, Mary & Martha, his own mother, Mary, the woman caught in the act of adultery.
Jesus was all in for the Jew's racial enemies (Outcasts) the story of the good Samaritan, the roman soldier whose servant needed healing and Jesus said about him he had not seen such faith among the Jews, again, the woman at the well was a Samaritan as well as her whole village.
Jesus was all in for the oppressed, the lepers, the lame man who came through a roof or the one who sat by the healing pools, the children.
 
All of these people were seen by others, or by themselves as outcasts from either society or certainly from a nearness to God. Jesus comes along and shows them his love and that he desires the very best for them and welcomes them into his family – his kingdom.
          Let’s look at 2 examples of this as Jesus is headed to the cross. Even though he is facing his own death, he takes time to change a strikeout into a well-pitched game.
          Before we get to those two stories, let’s back up and look at one of story that happened earlier in Jesus' ministry that serves as a template for every time Jesus changes our perspective, changes our heart, and changes our final destination.

WOMAN CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF ADULTERY

John 8:3-12
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
          But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
         
2/3                                                                                                                                      03-13-22
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
          When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
 
BLIND MAN
Then Jesus took the Twelve off to the side and said, "Listen carefully. We're on our way up to Jerusalem. Everything written in the Prophets about the Son of Man will take place. 32 He will be handed over to the Romans, jeered at, made sport of, and spit on. Then, after giving him the third degree, they will kill him. 33 In three days he will rise, alive." 34 But they didn't get it, could make neither heads nor tails of what he was talking about.
35 He came to the outskirts of Jericho. A blind man was sitting beside the road asking for handouts. 36 When he heard the rustle of the crowd, he asked what was going on. 37 They told him, "Jesus the Nazarene is going by."
38 He yelled, "Jesus! Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!"
39 Those ahead of Jesus told the man to shut up, but he only yelled all the louder, "Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!"
40 Jesus stopped and ordered him to be brought over. When he had come near, Jesus asked, 41 "What do you want from me?"
He said, "Master, I want to see again."
42 Jesus said, "Go ahead — see again! Your faith has saved and healed you!" 43 The healing was instant: He looked up, seeing — and then followed Jesus, glorifying God. Everyone in the street joined in, shouting praise to God.
 
ZACCHAEUS
19 Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. 2 There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. 3 He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way — he was a short man and couldn't see over the crowd. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.
5 When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home." Revelation 3:20 – The road to Emmaus story
6 Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. 7 Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, "What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?"
8 Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, "Master, I give away half my income to the poor — and if I'm caught cheating, I pay four times the damages."
9 Jesus said, "Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! 10 For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost."

CONCLUSION

 
Ephesians 2:14-22  (About Jews and Gentiles – meaning about insiders and outsiders)
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.                                                   Church Theme Text:
          19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
RUSSIAN PASTOR
John was a priest in Kronstadt, Russia, in the mid-to late-nineteenth century. That was a time and place of dirty marketplaces. Imperial Russia was decadent, rotting beneath its own weight, and the streets were dangerous, rife with poverty and depravity. Crime ran amok. Alcoholism was rampant. Prostitutes crowded the corners, thieves the alleys. There was no safe place, so most people who weren't part of that world didn't venture out into it. Most of the clergy, used to a life of privilege and status, used what waning powers they had to insulate themselves from the widespread peril and hardship.
Not so Father John. His daily practice was to don his robe and descend into the meanest part of the city. He'd walk among the addicts and the predators, the prostitutes and the thieves, the orphans and the widows, and he did it with healing in his wings. He would find the most broken and dissolute man or woman he could track down, lying in a gutter or standing on a street corner. He would cup their chin in his large hand and lift their face so they were looking directly in his eyes. "This," he would say, meaning this way of life, this means of survival, this condition I found you in, "this is beneath your dignity. You were created to house the glory of the living God."
 INVITATION
          As you feel like an outcast (depressed, down, anxious, unloved, unworthy, a victim, too poor, too uneducated, not good looking enough, not rich enough – just not enough in any way), after stooping to write in the dirt, God is cupping his hand under your chin and raising your eyes to meet His and saying, This way of life is beneath you’re your dignity, you were created to house the glory of the living God. Now stand, go your way, sin no more, and show my love to the world!”