Gtcotr/ss080623
Coming out can be an anxious time in a person’s life. Fear of what others may think … the uncertainty ofhow people knowing will affect the way they treat me; will I lose friends; will the new friends I make really accept me or will I be left out, without a support group and people I can depend on? Questions, questions, and more questions.
And yet, some people don’t even seem worried about coming out. They have a bigger than life personality and aren’t visibly bothered by what others think about them. They make friends everywhere they go, and they get excited about the thought of making a big splash. They just can’t wait to tell everyone.
This was the case with a very important man who lived in Jericho in Jesus’ day. This man, you know him as Zacchaeus, was involved and entrenched in a small but powerful group of community outcasts called Publicans. According to Jesus, these publicans were sinners and Zacchaeus was what the scriptures describes as “a notorious sinner.”
Zacchaeus was well known for being a liar, a cheat, and a thief. And, he had a license from the Roman government to do so. Businessmen, widows, families, orphans, fishermen, both the young and the old, the rich and the poor … publican tax collectors robbed and extorted them all. People in town tolerated Zacchaeusand they feared him, but they didn’t like him or respect him. We find no one in the city who spoke up in hopes Zacchaeus would change. They only knew him for what he had done, not for what he could do if he got his heart right with God.
I suppose the more public a person lives their life, the more public the coming out should be. At any rate the account of Zacchaeus is a well-known event that changed a lot of lives that day in Jericho and the surrounding communities. Let’s read the story from the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke and refresh our recollection about what happened that day.
Luke 19 NKJV
1 ¶ Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
5 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.”
6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
Now here is what we know:
Now here is what we don’t know:
Out of what?
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
25 years later, the Apostle Paul wrote his second letter to the Church in Corinth and encouraged them to come out like Zacchaeus did. Corinth was a modern sinful city filled with prostitutes and vices of all sorts and kinds. People belonged to guilds and clubs and groups that provided them with a sense of personal identity, physical safety, and financial security. Status was everything.
When a person got saved, it was very easy just keep doing the same thing, running with the same crowd, laughing at the same jokes, and looking the other way to avoid conflict with questionable practices. So much of the sin in Corinth was public sin. Getting saved was the easy part … changing your sinful ways was not. Sin was everywhere. Paul taught that:
Sinners should be led to Christ. Christians should not be led to sin.
Paul wrote a very simple set of instructions to those in the Church.
2 Corinthians 6 NKJV
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”
17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”
Come out!
Some Born Again Believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior should really consider coming out. And stop touching, or doing some things …
If you have accepted the truth that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, not just another good teacher or promised prophet, but the only begotten Son of God, the Word of God made Flesh, God incarnate, and if you have submitted and committed your life to Him, it is time to come out!
If you have been born again, here are some simple ways to begin living the change.
