I REALLY ENJOYED MY HIDEY HOLE, AND THE SENSE OF SECURITY it brought me as I watched my seeker foe fail at every attempt to find me! At some time, the game would end, and it would be time to come in for dinner. Sometimes I was wary of coming out of my place, because my friends might be waiting to discover how I so successfully eluded them. This would lead to hours of staying where I was, afraid to be found out. In desperation, I would resist the call of my mother, until dad came home and I heard his call. I knew that if I didn’t respond to his call, I would be left without any dinner, and maybe a sore bottom! Parents get scared when their children are missing, and don’t respond to their calls. They want us to come out, be found, and come home.
Jesus must have felt the same way about Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus had heard that Jesus was coming to town, so he followed to swelling sea of onlookers who were gathering to get a good look at this new prophet. Zack knew his place in the crowd, and it was not a good one. As a tax collector, he had cheated the very people he was bumping and bouncing off of. He knew that he wasn’t going to get a choice place to see Jesus. I think God was already working on his heart, as the bible tells us of his heartfelt confession and commitment to reconciling his past wrongs right there on the spot. Maybe he was thinking, “who am I that Jesus would want to see me. I bet if he saw me, he would tell me how wrong, greedy, and selfish I have been. He may even insight the people to stone me as a traitor to my people. Maybe if I climb up this tree, I can hide in the branches and get a good look at him.” We are led to believe he climbed the tree because he was a ‘wee little man’. I think he may have also climbed it to hide from the one he hoped could save him. Jesus begins working his way through the crowd, comes to the tree Zack is in, and does the most alarming thing, he invites Zack to dinner! In fact, one version of the event records Jesus as saying “Hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. Everybody there looked up and saw a little cheating, selfish man. Jesus saw a dinner guest that need the bread of life! Well, Zack jumps down comes up to Jesus and commits his life and pocketbook to the master. “Half the goods of my house will be given to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay them back four times” Jesus responded “ Today salvation has come to this house, for I have come to seek and to save the lost”. Jesus was the ultimate SEEKER! He was driven by love to seek out the very people the religious culture looked down on and shunned publicly. Where are you today? Are you hiding In your sin, afraid to be seen by God? Sorry, but He sees you anyway, and he loves what He sees! He hates what sin has done to you, all the waste, pain and loss caused by going your own way, and making your own decisions based on your own set of standards. He hates how the world looks at you, and how people decide your worth based on appearance, dress, and the toys you own. He looks at you and longs to tell you how he loves you, cares for you, and wants to invite you to his house for dinner. A friend of mine Albert Long put it very eloquently when he said, “ The only thing Jesus wants you to take from you are the things that hurt you physically, the things that hurt you emotionally, and the phoniness within you.” Pretty fair trade, wouldn’t you agree?
One final thought on the second glance. I try to give second glances all I can, but for the right reasons now. I smile at everyone who looks my way, no matter what they look like. I’ve learned that people on a busy street or in the mall are looking for the second glance all the time. They are looking for a horizontal connection, one of attraction, attention, and mutual admiration. With Jesus in me, I give them the second glance of unconditional love, acceptance, and joy. I want them to remember that they were seen today, in a new, fresh, and somehow better way. Sometimes they look down immediately, looking for their hidey hole before I judge them as too fat, too skinny, or not fashionable enough. My heart, or rather Jesus in me, yearns for just one more second of connection in order to communicate the truth of His unconditional love. Others stare right back at me, tight lipped and ready to fight. They dare me to find something wrong with them, dare me to NOT be impressed by their dress, their physique, and their power walk. My heart breaks for the defensive way they live their lives, pushing away the very people God wants to use to bring them peace and acceptance. Then I connect with those who dare to look up, and receive what they hope for every day, but never see. They faithfully look for it, but go unrewarded. I sense God’s spirit literally reaching out from me into their core, touching them powerfully with His love, acceptance, and delight. This is the power of the second glance, when Jesus fulfills the promise to flow out of us like living water. That two second glance brings water to a thirsty soul, hope for knowing unconditional love, and a desire to pass it along to the next thirsty soul.
It’s time to come out of the hidey hole. It’s time to face life in all it’s beauty and brokenness. It’s time to take a chance, holding Jesus’ hand tightly, and walk with eyes wide open towards the next horizon He takes you to!
By the way, my hidey hole was the tenth tree on the left of the old road, underneath the roots where I piled rocks and earth up. Good luck!