THIS MORNING WE ARE GOING TO MEET ONE OF THOSE VERY REAL PEOPLE OF THE BIBLE.  HIS NAME IS ZACCHAEUS.  HE WAS A CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR, AND A VERY RICH INDIVIDUAL.

WE ARE ALSO GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT A VERY IMPORTANT SUBJECT: THE ISSUE OF WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR LIFE WHEN WE FINALLY GIVE UP OUR FOOLISH STRUGGLE AND SURRENDER OURSELVES TO THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS.  THE WORD FOR IT IS CONVERSION. IT REFERS TO CHANGE OR TRANSITION.  AND IT REFERS TO THE LIFE ALTERING PROCESS THAT BEGINS THE MOMENT WE SAY YES TO JESUS AND ALLOW HIM TO BEGIN TO GENTLY MOLD AND SHAPE US INTO SOMETHING NEW AND TRULY ALIVE.

THERE IS AN OLD AFRICAN-AMERICAN PROVERB THAT SPEAKS TO THIS PROCESS THAT GOES LIKE THIS:  WE AIN'T WHAT WE OUGHTA BE; WE AIN'T WHAT WE WANNA BE; WE AIN'T WHAT WE GONNA BE; BUT THANK GOD, WE AIN'T WHAT WE WAS! (PAR)

CHANGE IN OUR LIFE IS SOMETHING THAT IS DISTURBING AND UNCOMFORTABLE, IT EVEN FEELS DANGEROUS AT TIMES.

FOR EXAMPLE, A FAMILY HAD A BABY WHO TURNED OUT TO BE A CARROT.  EVERYONE MOCKED THE POOR GUY, BUT HIS MOTHER LOVED HIM AND RAISED HIM WELL.  OTHER KIDS REJECTED HIM AND EXCLUDED HIM FROM THEIR GAMES.

ONE DAY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, THE TEACHER MADE THE CHILDREN LET THE CARROT PLAY BALL WITH THEM.  HE WAS PLAYING DEEP IN RIGHT FIELD.  THE BALLS NEVER WENT OUT THAT FAR. BUT ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY, THE BALL WAS HIT DEEP INTO RIGHT FIELD.  THE CARROT RAN FOR THE BALL - BACK - BACK - BACK - ALL THE WAY TO THE ROAD.  BANG!  THE CARROT WAS STRUCK BY A PASSING CAR.  HE WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL.  AFTER HOURS OF SURGERY, THE DOCTOR CAME OUT AND SAID, "HE WILL LIVE, BUT I'M AFRAID HE WILL BE A VEGETABLE FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE." (PAR)

WELL, SOME CHANGES IN OUR LIFE STATUS CAN BE MORE PAINFUL THAN OTHERS, CAN'T THEY?  BUT ONE THING IS CERTAIN, WITHOUT CHANGE, WE STAGNATE, WE NEVER GROW OR LEARN OR DEVELOP OUR POTENTIAL...AND OUR LIVES BECOME MEANINGLESS AND EMPTY...LACKING IN PURPOSE.

NOW RELIGIOUS CHANGE...OR WHAT WE CALL CONVERSION...IS AT THE HEART OF THE BIBLICAL MESSAGE.

I HEARD ABOUT A JEWISH MAN WHO MOVES INTO A CATHOLIC NEIGHBORHOOD.  EVERY FRIDAY THE CATHOLICS GO CRAZY BECAUSE, WHILE THEY ARE MOROSELY EATING FISH, THE JEW IS OUTSIDE BARBECUING STEAKS.  SO THE CATHOLICS WORK ON THE JEW TO CONVERT HIM.

FINALLY, BY THREATS AND PLEADING, THE CATHOLICS SUCCEED.  THEY TAKE THE JEW TO A PRIEST WHO SPRINKLES HOLY WATER ON THE HIM AND CHANTS: ..."BORN A JEW...RAISED A JEW...NOW A CATHOLIC."
 
THE CATHOLICS ARE ECSTATIC.  NO MORE DELICIOUS, BUT MADDENING SMELLS EVERY FRIDAY EVENING.  BUT THE NEXT FRIDAY EVENING, THE SCENT OF BARBECUE WAFTS THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD.  THE CATHOLICS ALL RUSH TO THE JEW'S HOUSE TO REMIND HIM OF HIS NEW DIET.  THEY SEE HIM STANDING OVER THE BARBEQUE COOKING STEAK.  HE IS SPRINKLING WATER ON THE MEAT AND SAYING:..."BORN A COW...RAISED A COW...NOW A FISH."

THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE, THE MESSAGE IS THAT IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE.  YOU CAN BECOME SOMEONE NEW AND YOU CAN DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.  YOU ARE NOT A PRISONER OF YOUR TRACK RECORD.  CONVERSION, WHETHER SUDDEN OR GRADUAL, IS GOD'S GIFT TO EVERYBODY, REGARDLESS OF YOUR THEOLOGICAL OR POLITICAL STANCE, IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO REPENT AND TURN TO GOD.

STORIES OF FAMOUS CONVERSIONS ABOUND.  SOME OF THEM SUDDEN, OTHERS MORE GRADUAL.  JOHN WESLEY, WHO WAS A SON OF AN ANGLICAN PRIEST AND A MISSIONARY TO AMERICA, HAD ONE.  HE HAD RETURNED TO ENGLAND FOLLOWING A MISSION TRIP TO AMERICA. HE WAS DISCOURAGED AND DEFEATED AS HE SAT IN THE ALDERSGATE
CHAPEL ONE DAY WHEN, AS HE PUT IT, HE FOUND HIS HEART STRANGELY WARMED.  HE WAS CONVERTED AND BECAME THE SOURCE OF LIFE FOR THE METHODISTS AND FOR ALL OF ENGLAND.

WILLIAM BOOTH WAS AN UNLIKELY CONVERT.  HE WAS A ROUGH MAN, BUT A MAN WHO WAS APPALLED THAT THE POOR AND THE HOMELESS HAD NOWHERE TO TURN.  ONE DAY HE PRAYED, "LORD, I GIVE YOU EVERYTHING THERE IS IN THIS MAN, WILLIAM BOOTH.  DO WITH ME WHAT YOU WILL."  WITH THAT ONE MAN'S CONVERSION, THE SALVATION ARMY WAS BORN AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF LIVES HAVE BEEN CHANGED.

IN TERMS OF THE CONVERSION EXPERIENCE, THE STORY OF ZACCHAEUS IS AN IMPORTANT CASE STUDY.  JESUS WAS VISITING JERICHO, A TOWN BY THE JORDAN RIVER FAR BELOW SEA LEVEL.  IT WAS AN IMPORTANT CITY...A HISTORIC CITY...A CENTER OF COMMERCE AND TRADE.  KING HEROD HAD A PALACE THERE.  MARK ANTONY ONCE GAVE THE CITY TO CLEOPATRA AS A GIFT AND JOSHUA AND HIS TRUMPETERS HAD BROUGHT DOWN ITS WALLS.

AS JESUS PASSED THROUGH THE CITY, THE CROWDS CAME OUT TO SEE HIM.  HIS REPUTATION HAD PRECEDED HIM...A STRANGE, HOLY MAN, A MAN WHO PERFORMED MIRACLES, WHO MIGHT EVEN BE THE MESSIAH.  ZACCHAEUS WAS A PART OF THAT CROWD.  HE WAS A CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR...WEALTHY BECAUSE HE RECEIVED A SHARE OF THE TAXES COLLECTED BY THE TAX COLLECTORS UNDER HIS AUTHORITY.  HE WAS HATED AND DESPISED BY THE CROWD...TAX COLLECTORS WERE KNOWN TO GAIN THEIR WEALTH BY STEALING FROM THE PEOPLE...THEY WERE REGARDED AS SINNERS.  BUT ZACCHAEUS WAS ALSO A SHORT MAN AND UNABLE TO SEE OVER THE CROWD IN FRONT OF HIM.  SO HE CLIMBED A TREE...A RATHER IGNOBLE THING FOR SOMEONE OF HIS POSITION IN LIFE.  BUT I GUESS WHEN YOU ARE RICH, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO PROVE...YOU CAN EVEN DO SOMETHING A LITTLE RIDICULOUS...LIKE CLIMB A TREE.

JESUS ARRIVED AND NOTICED ZACCHAEUS.  HE CALLED HIM TO COME DOWN AND TO FEED HIS DISCIPLES AND HIMSELF.  ZACCHAEUS IMMEDIATELY CLIMBED DOWN AND RAN HOME TO GET THE SERVANTS GOING ON THE LUNCH MENU.  WHY ZACCHAEUS, OF ALL PEOPLE?  WHY WOULD JESUS PICK A CORRUPT TAX COLLECTOR OUT OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE.  I BELIEVE THAT JESUS WENT THROUGH JERICHO LOOKING FOR THE MOST READY AND OPEN PERSON THERE.  ALTHOUGH ZACCHAEUS APPEARED TO BE THE LEAST PIOUS AND THE LEAST RELIGIOUS, HE WAS THE MOST HUNGRY FOR THE NEW LIFE JESUS HELD OUT TO HIM.

THEY WENT HOME AND AS THEY ATE TOGETHER, ZACCHAEUS BECAME A CONVERT.  HIS ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS CAUSED HIM TO IMMEDIATELY BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS THE LONG AWAITED MESSIAH. AND HIS FAITH WAS PUT TO WORK IN THAT INSTANT.  HE SAYS, "GUESS WHAT?  I'M GOING TO PAY BACK EVERYTHING I'VE DEFRAUDED FOURFOLD."  NOW THAT WAS NOT BEING ESPECIALLY GENEROUS...ACCORDING TO THE LAW THAT WAS WHAT WAS REQUIRED IF YOU DEFRAUDED SOMEONE.  WHERE HE REALLY BECAME GENEROUS WAS WHEN HE PLEDGED TO GIVE AWAY HALF OF HIS GOODS...THAT WAS CONVINCING EVIDENCE OF HIS CONVERSION.

JESUS TOLD HIM THAT IN THAT MOMENT, SALVATION HAD COME TO ZACCHAEUS AND HIS ENTIRE HOUSE.  ZACCHAEUS'S LIFE WAS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN IN AN INSTANT.  HIS VALUES, HIS MORALS, HIS ETHICS, HIS ENTIRE BELIEF SYSTEM...EVERYTHING WAS TURNED TOPSY-TURVY.  HE GAVE UP HIS MONEY AND HIS OLD LIFESTYLE, AND SALVATION WAS PRONOUNCED.

CONVERSION HAS BEEN DEFINED BY WILLIAM JAMES IN HIS VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE: "TO BE CONVERTED IS A PROCESS, GRADUAL OR SUDDEN, BY WHICH A SELF, HITHERTO DIVIDED AND CONSCIOUSLY WRONG, INFERIOR AND UNHAPPY, BECOMES UNIFIED AND CONSCIOUSLY RIGHT, SUPERIOR AND HAPPY IN CONSEQUENCE OF ITS FIRMER HOLD UPON RELIGIOUS REALITIES." SOMETIMES IT IS SUDDEN AND DRAMATIC.  OTHER TIMES IT CAN DEVELOP OVER TIME...LIKE THE PROCESS A BABY GOES THROUGH IN HER MOTHER'S WOMB. THE BIRTH PROCESS IN ITS FINAL STAGES TAKES JUST MINUTES OR EVEN SECONDS...BUT THAT BABY HAS BEEN COMING FOR NINE MONTHS.  SOMETIMES CONVERSION LOOKS SUDDEN, BUT THE STRUGGLE MAY HAVE BEEN GOING ON FOR A LONG TIME. ONE DAY YOU GET TIRED OF ALL THE PAIN AND STRUGGLE...OF TRYING TO FIX LIFE BY YOURSELF...AND YOU STOP RUNNING AND HE OVERTAKES YOU.

BUT THE GOOD NEWS THAT IS EMPHASIZED OVER AND OVER THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE IS THAT IT IS NEVER TOO LATE - YOU CAN BEGIN AGAIN.  NOT ONLY CAN YOU BEGIN ONCE MORE, YOU CAN BEGIN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.  OUR GOD IS A GOD OF UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES AND NEW BEGINNINGS.  THE WITNESS OF SCRIPTURE SAYS THAT THE SO CALLED SAINTS WERE ALL FLAWED, FAILED, SINNERS - JUST LIKE YOU AND JUST LIKE ME.  JUST LISTEN TO WHO A FEW OF THEM WERE: ABRAHAM THE LIAR.  JACOB THE CON ARTIST AND CHEAT.  MOSES THE MURDERER.  DAVID THE ADULTERER.  RAHAB THE PROSTITUTE.  PETER THE COWARD.  EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM AN UNLIKELY CONVERT WHO HAD TO BEGIN OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITH GOD.

BRUCE LARSON TELLS ABOUT A MAN WHO RETIRED AFTER FORTY YEARS IN A JOB THAT REQUIRED CATCHING THE 7:30 BUS EVERY MORNING.  ON THE FIRST MORNING OF HIS RETIREMENT, HE COMMENTED ON THE BREAKFAST HIS WIFE HAD FIXED.  "HONEY, I DON'T LIKE EGGS THIS WAY."  "BUT, I'VE BEEN SERVING YOU EGGS OVER EASY FOR FORTY YEARS," SHE SAID.  "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE?"  "I NEVER HAD TIME," WAS THE REPLY.  IT'S A LOUSY EXCUSE - FOR HIM AND FOR US.  WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO CONSIDER CONVERSION?  TODAY IS ABOUT AS GOOD A DAY AS YOU ARE EVER GOING TO GET.  TODAY SALVATION CAN COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND TO MINE.  HOW ABOUT IT?