I am...interruptible

He entered Jericho and was passing through.  There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man.  So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since He was about to pass that way.  When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, because today I must stay at your house." 

So he quickly came down and welcomed Him joyfully.  All who saw it began to complain, "He's gone to lodge with a sinful man!" 

But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, I'll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord!  And if I have extorted anything from onyone, I'll pay back four times as much! 

"Today salvation has come to this house,"  Jesus told him, "because he too is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost."   Luke 19.1-10

My church has been doing a series on Life Interrupted. 

 

The interruption of Luke 19 is not a challenge to move to another land or confront a quick-tempered King. Zacchaeus’ interruption is maybe the most difficult of the three. Zacchaeus is challenged to repent of his damning sin and give himself completely to Jesus.

Some stand and watch Jesus. Some climb trees in order to see him better.

Some surrender completely to Jesus. Some think they are good enough already.  Jim Johnson~Sunnybrook Christian Church 10/09

I know it's not a coincidence that this has come about at the same time that I've been feeling a big interruption evolving in my own life.  Or that it has come about just as I've joined a Bible study by Margaret Feinberg called The Sacred Echo.  Margaret says, "As I've been growing in my relationship with God, I'm finding that I'm not listening for the whisper as much as I am the echo. Often when God speaks, He will say the same thing through a sermon, a passage of scripture, a chance conversation, or an unexpected encounter. When we begin looking for these sacred echoes then we are better able to recognize God's voice in our life and more confidently walk in the fullness of what God has for us."

God has a huge interruption in store for me and my family.  H U G E.  Something that I thought I have wanted for years and now the more I think about it the more I think it just doesn't make sense.  However, anytime I think that I just can't do it I feel his love and grace and know that I can.  And I will.

What do you do when it seems that Jesus is calling you by name and issuing a challenge that will radically change the direction of your life?