Every Soul Matters to God

Introduction

Well, good morning again. Seems like we just met just a few minutes ago, didn’t we? But it’s great to be back with you and to stand again at this hour and to talk about God’s word with you. If you will turn your Bibles or your click on your devices to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. We’ll be reading from those couple verses from that chapter in just a moment here. Appreciate so much to be again here with you at Bumby and to uh and preach at this time. I assume we have a lot of visitors here, Bob. Being a visitor myself, if you are a visitor here, I’m sure this congregation appreciates that so much. And come back and visit with him at every opportunity you might have to be here at South Bunby.

Let’s start reading in Luke chapter 19, starting in verse 1. And then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector and he was rich. He sought to see Jesus, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. And so he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said to him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house. And so he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.

And then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor. If I’ve taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold. And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to the house, because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost. Zacchaeus was a wee little man. A wee little man was he.

And the first images that I would have when I would hear that song was the man off the lucky charms box. Remember him, the leprechaun? I don’t know if he was that small or not, but he did have a big problem. He wasn’t very tall. And because of his height, he couldn’t see Jesus. And so he climbed that sycamore tree that he might see the Lord. But to the others around him, Zacchaeus had a bigger problem than his height. You see, he worked for the IRS. He’s a tax collector, a publican, a Roman collaborator, a traitor to his own nation. And they saw a sinner. But Jesus saw someone that he could try to reach.

That he could save. You know, throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ, we see a man who had compassion for the what we call the outcast. The lame, the blind, the diseased, the leprous, the demon possessed. And Jesus would touch them and heal them. He would restore their eyesight. He would give them the strength in their legs again. He would exercise the demons and make their skin clear again because of his love and compassion. But the greatest love and compassion that Christ ever brought to mankind is summed up by what he says to Zacchaeus. That he came to seek and save that which was lost. This morning I want to talk about two people that were lost. Two people that are really on the opposite ends of the spectrum.

In fact, these are two people that probably, if they’d met one another, they would have automatically hated one another. But there are two people that represent Christ’s effort to seek and save that which is lost. And so this morning we want to talk about two people that come from the book of John. The first one’s found in John chapter 3. Look in John chapter 3, as we talk about this man by the name of Nicodemus here. John chapter 3, starting in verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher. Come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

And Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now clip over one page in your Bibles there to John chapter 4. Look at verse 5 and following. John chapter 4, verse 5. He came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, therefore, beware from his journey, set thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. And for his disciples have gone away into the city to buy food. And then the woman, a Samaritan, said to him, How is it that you being a Jew asked to drink from me a Samaritan woman?

For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would not have asked him. And he would have given you living water. Two people. About as a different as you can get, isn’t there? On one hand, you’ve got Nicodemus. He’s described as a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee. He’s of the establishment. He knows all the customs and all the laws. He can speak the language. And when he would walk down the street, people will point and Nicodemus and say, There goes a righteous man. He was proud in that.

But on the other hand, we’ve got this woman, don’t we? What’s her name? Text doesn’t say, does it? Doesn’t say your name. She’s a Samaritan woman. And that day and age she would be as low as you can get on the totem pole of society. She’s come to draw water. Jesus was looking for her. How is she described? Well, she’s a moral woman, you have to say. She’s ran through 500 husbands. And Christ says, the one that you’re that you have right now isn’t your husband.

1. Jesus Did Not Embarrass Anyone

Two separate individuals. And yet Christ saw something in both of them to save. And I think he teaches us a lesson on how we should seek and save the lost today in our efforts to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. First off, how’d Jesus do it? Well, one thing that Jesus did not do is that Jesus did not embarrass anyone that he talked with. If you notice both passages, the Holy Spirit gives us a timestamp of when this took place.

Why is it sometimes when we talk about Nicodemus in our Bible classes, the first and foremost thing we want to talk about is, well, why did Nicodemus come to Jesus by night? We might spend a lot of time trying to discuss, well, why didn’t Nicodemus come to Jesus by night? Well, it may be that he hadn’t worked that day. Maybe he couldn’t get off. Maybe he didn’t have enough time to come during the day. There may be a lot of reasons why Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. But you know what? Jesus never brings that up. Yeah, he might have been ashamed to come to Jesus during the day. It might have been that reason. But Jesus never brings that up. You know why? Because Jesus could care less what time of day he came to him.

The mere fact that Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus, says this. It says, you know what? Maybe the way that I’ve been raised all this time. And maybe all the things I put so much faith in, maybe they’re not so any longer. I think it took everything in that man to come to Jesus because he was admitting that perhaps he’s wrong. And so he comes to Jesus. And Jesus doesn’t embarrass him in no way. The Samaritan woman. She’s drawing water at noon. According to the Bible, verse 6 there at the sixth hour. The custom of the day, that was not the normal time you draw water. You would draw your water in the early morning hours when it was cooler, perhaps. But here she’s come to the well at noon.

Now again, why she’s at the well at noon? Well, maybe she spilled the water that morning. Maybe they were out of water already. Or maybe she’s trying to avoid the Samaritan gossips. Whatever the case, she’s there at the well at noon and she runs into Jesus. And Jesus doesn’t embarrass her either, does he?

Instead, he saw somebody worth saving.

I think Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman were comfortable being around Jesus. Knowing that he wasn’t going to embarrass them, knowing that he wasn’t going to pressure them. Knowing that here’s a person that shows them interest in me. As he talked about those things that matter most in life. Brother, there’s a difference between tact and attack. And we need to understand that. I think we had a perfect example of that in John chapter 8. In John chapter 8, we have this woman who’s caught in the very act of adultery. And she brought to Jesus and said, Moses, the walking man in this that says should be stoned. What do you say? What did Jesus say? Jesus stoops down and writes. And finally says this, doesn’t he? Who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.

Now, Jesus was not letting her off for her immorality. He tells her to go and sin no more. But I do believe by Jesus’ attitude towards her and the fact that he did not attack her. Maybe this woman, maybe this woman would want to know more about this person who’s unlike all the others.

You know, in taking the word of God to the lost and dying of this world, we’re going to find people that are on various levels of spirituality. You’re going to find people that really are just ignorant about the word of God. They really don’t know anything about the Bible. I heard about two senators that were walking out in front of the Capitol one day. And they were discussing the fact that it seemed like no one knows anything about the Bible any longer. And finally, one of the senators said, Well, you don’t know your Bible. And the other sinner said, Well, yes, I do. Okay, he says, if you know your Bible, recite for me the Lord’s Prayer. And if you do it, I’ll give you $50.

The other senator said, You’re on. And so he started. Now I lay me down to rest. I pray the Lord. He goes on. The other senator stops and looks at him, preaches in the pocket, pulls out $50, I didn’t think you knew it. You know, some people are ignorant, aren’t they? Paul persecuted the church because he’s ignorant. And we’re going to run into a lot of people out there that just are really ignorant when it comes to the Bible. They don’t know nothing about it. And so we need to understand that when we come across those people, you’ve got to start from Genesis chapter 1. You’ve got to start from very basic elements to explain this book to them. There are other people that are intimidated by what the Bible has to say.

Over in Acts chapter 24 and verse 25, that Paul is reasoning before Felix. And it says that he reasoned about righteousness and self controlled in the judgment to come, and Philip was afraid and answered, go away from now. And when I have a convenient time, I will call for you. He’s intimidated by what he heard, wasn’t he? And as far as we know, he never called for Paul back. And so you have the ignorant, you have the intimidated. And then you just have sometimes the indifference.

They might know what’s in there, but they don’t really care. They may see that good for somebody, but not them. That’s the type of people we’re going to run across. That’s the type of people that we’re going to try to bring the gospel to. And so we need to be very careful about how we present that gospel. Because teaching the gospel is not a time to ridicule anybody’s lack of knowledge about the gospel. It’s not a time for me to demonstrate my knowledge over your ignorance. It’s a time to present what the Word of God has to say. Jesus never embarrassed anyone. Even in the hard things he had to say, he never tried to embarrass anyone. And we need to be careful about embarrassing people.

Because I’ll tell you one thing, an embarrassed person is never going to walk back through these doors into this assembly. The Lord gave us the golden rule. And we need to knew, we need to use it when it comes to talking to those who are lost. And those who are dying in this world.

2. Jesus Focused on What Really Mattered

Try to get him off his course. But Jesus always stayed focused upon that. We see that with in the case of Nicodemus and with the woman here. Jesus brings to bear the word of God. He focused on what really mattered, and that was salvation. Oh, they could have taken him down a dozen rabbit trails, but Jesus never allowed them to do that. He never got sidetracked from minor things. Matthew chapter 22, that we see where they came to him with a lot of these questions. And what they were trying to do is get Christ off track, getting sidetracked, you know. Well, what you know, we’ll bring the question about uh uh the uh about uh who’s his image is on a coin, and Jesus said if it’s Caesar, give to Caesar.

Is it laughter to pay, you know, our taxes? That’s all about getting Christ sidetracked. About the question about the woman he married seven brothers. The law deals with that. Jesus wasn’t going to take the bait. And it’s interesting that in Matthew chapter 22, what he says. He said, You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. What did he say over and over again in the Sermon on the Mount? A little phrase. What do the scriptures say? That’s what we appeal to. What do the scriptures say? Christ didn’t major in minors, and we shouldn’t either. When we talk to somebody, keep focused upon the scriptures. What does the Lord say? Not what some esteemed brother might say who wrote a book 50 years ago.

3. Jesus Saw Value in Every Person

What does the Lord say? That’s what we need to be bringing to those who are lost. And also Jesus. He saw value in every person. There are two numbers that ought to mean everything to a Christian. Two numbers. The number three and the number sixteen. Because you take those two numbers, three and sixteen, and you put them behind a man’s name by the name of John, and you have this. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. He doesn’t say so for God so loved America. For God so loved the whites. For God so loved the Asians. So God so loved the black. For God so loved the world that he gave Jesus. And Jesus saw value in every person. It didn’t matter the race, the ethnicity, the culture you’re from, the sex you are.

It didn’t matter with Jesus. Jesus saw value in every person. And folks, we need to also. Every soul matters to God. Every soul. Now we need to understand that as we take the gospel to every soul. Because it matters so much that they hear the gospel. Christ invited all to come to him in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28. And two people here in John chapter 3 and chapter 8, uh John chapter 4, that is, he found time for someone who was an expert in the law. And he found time for someone who you might say was probably ignorant of the law. Because every soul matters to him. He answered their questions, and he brought them salvation. And never once did Christ pre-qualified the people he came in contact with.

You know, we probably all know what it means to be pre-qualified. If you’re in school, maybe you’re gonna be a you want to be a doctor. Well, you’ve got to take what? Pre-med courses, or maybe you want to be an attorney, you want to make pre-law courses. And we see that banks sometimes they pre-qualify you perhaps for a loan or maybe a membership into something. Just a few months ago, my my my youngest daughter Molly, who’s 12 years old, got a letter from Triple A. She had been pre-qualified for triple A. That’s the honest truth. But we pre-qualify people, don’t we? We sum we kind of measure them up. Are they worthy of being in a in this type of program? Are they worthy of a loan?

Sometimes I think we do that with souls. We pre-qualify people. By the way they look. What race they’re from. Are they my culture? Or perhaps maybe the way they dress.

I was in one of the fine dining establishments there in Huntytown, Alabama, by the name of McDonald’s. You know, don’t you, Bob. I was sitting there, uh I had my breakfast and I was reading, and a young man came in and stood across from me. Had his hair and ponytail. Tattoos up the arms on the neck. Probably three earrings in both ears. And I looked over that fellow, and I couldn’t help but think, oh, am I so thankful that that’s not my son sitting over there? And then that young man with his ponytail and his tattoos and his earrings, bowed his head, and over his egg McMuffin and juice said a prayer. He shamed me. Because I did something the Lord never did. I pre-qualified him.

What type of prospect would Nicodemus be to us? He’s a religious man. He’s comfortable where he’s at. Well, he teaches Bible class where he goes. He’ll never change. Right him off. We’re wasting our time talking to him. Oh, let that woman. She’s living with someone who is not her husband. She’s raced through a bunch of men already. She’s immoral, and what I get from the scriptures seems like she enjoys being immortal. Count her out. She never listened to me. What did Jesus do? He took time for both of them, didn’t he?

Because he saw value in those souls. Let’s never let pre-qualifying get in the way of us teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s never get our let our prejudices and our bias get in the way of talking to people who need the gospel of Christ. Don’t do that. For when we do that, we’re not like Christ any longer, are we? I read a story a few years ago from Reader’s Digest. It’s about a young man that was a soldier in the Vietnam War, and he hadn’t contacted his parents for a number of months. And finally, they got a call from him. Oh, they were happy to hear him. They had heard from him in months. He’s fighting the war. And they were elated by the fact that a son has called them, and their son says, Dad, mom, I’m in San Francisco.

I want to come home. And they said, we can’t wait to see you. And they said, Well, there’s somebody I want to bring with me. There’s a man I met in the army. I want to bring him back with me. He doesn’t have any place to go. They said, bring him on. We’ve got plenty of room. And then the son says, Well, let me tell you one thing, though. He stepped on a mine in Vietnam and he lost an arm and a leg. And then the mother and the father started backing up. And the father said, You know what, son? He just needs to go to his home. And they’ll take care of him back then. And the son said, No, I want him to come and live with us.

Conclusion

And the father insisted, you are not to bring that young man home with you. And then the conversation ended. Well, the parents didn’t hear from the son until two weeks later they got a call from the San Francisco Police Department. The police department said that they think they’ve got their son here in the morgue. He jumped off a building. They think it was suicide. And they need them to come out and identify the body. And so that father and mother caught the first plane to San Francisco. And when they got there, they went down to the morgue. And the mortician pulled back the sheet. And there lay their son with one arm and one leg. Now, folks, aren’t you thankful that our God doesn’t treat us like those parents?

Aren’t you thankful that when he looks at us, the outcast, and that’s every one of us, he sees something worth saving. Praise God for that. Are you Christian this morning? If you’re not, you ought to be. Have you worn it all? Well, you can come back. The blood of Christ is there. He shed it for us. He shed it for every one of us. We need to take hold of that if we hadn’t. And you’re going to have that opportunity right now. Let’s stand and sing a song to encourage you to become a Christian.