The Bungee Cord 11-2023
Hello,
I have one week left on a 30 day trial to use Soundcloud.com to transfer audio files onto my Facebook page. So, consider yourselves the lucky (?) beneficiaries of my free trial period that will fill your ears with another song that I have written.
Zacchaeus lived in Jericho, and he had everything a person could want except friends. No one liked him because he collected taxes for the Romans who had taken over the country. He was a traitor. And the way that he had become so wealthy was to have collected more than the Romans required, which he pocketed. Because of the lavish lifestyle he lived, the people also considered him a thief. One other label that he wore was one that he did nothing to deserve; he was short.
So, one day when Jesus came to town, no one would let him stand at the roadside to see Jesus. Lucky for him, there was a Sycamore tree near the road which he decided to climb for a view or Jesus. When everyone saw him in the tree, they laughed at him for his juvenile action. And as they laughed, he gained another name: fool.
But when Jesus passed by and saw this grown man hanging in a tree, Jesus did not laugh. Instead Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house, something that no one in Jericho would have ever thought of doing….rubbing shoulders with a slimy eel of a person. Amazingly, Jesus’ visit to Zacchaeus’ house was transformational, because even before they got there Zacchaeus said, “‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ (Luke 19:8) Before Jesus, Zacchaeus had a cold, callous, compact, and self-concerned heart. After Jesus his heart was transformed into a fountain of goodness and mercy flowing out into the world.
There’s a point to this story that is often overlooked. Notice that Jesus never told Zacchaeus to do what he decided to do. Instead, Jesus’ goodness and mercy to Zacchaeus changed who Zacchaeus was, and that is what led to Zacchaeus’ actions. As I have studied the Bible, the same thing happened over and over again. Jesus’ goodness and mercy changed people’s hearts, and in turn the way they lived their lives were changed.
I believe that the same thing happens today in our lives. When Jesus invites himself into our lives, our hearts are changed: changed from vacuums of self-centeredness, to supercharged leaf-blowers of divine love and grace. Every time I write the Bungee Cord, I hope that it carries Jesus’ self-invite into your life as you hang in the limbs of a sycamore tree you have climbed. While the world laughs at you and calls you….fool, failure, betrayer, racist, weird,cheat, piece of filth, bad parent, addict, mooch, unwanted…I hope that as your eyes take in the Bungee Cord you experience Jesus opening up the door of your heart and gladly walking in….to change it, to change you, and to change the world.
Here's the song that I wrote that Zacchaeus sang when Jesus changed his heart, “Can’t Stop This River”. (Song Copyright Jerry Nuernberger 1998)
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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