Dear Friends,
Well, it’s been a while! In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been away for a couple of weeks. Susan and I were able to take a trip to Europe that was both eye-opening and awe inspiring. We learned a lot about the places we visited in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Switzerland. It was fascinating to finally see some of the places that I have read about over the years and connect some of the dots of my understanding of European history. There are still a lot of dots that I have yet to connect. I feel as if I need to take a European history course!
My deep thanks to those who stepped forward and shared their preaching and worship leading skills in my absence. I really appreciate the willingness of Mark Renfrew, Cindy Loper and Joan Pell (a last-minute substitute for Gary McAnally who injured his knee) to lead our worship services for the past three weeks.
As the last vestiges of my jet lag begin to fade, I am turning my attention to worship this coming Sunday. My focus will be upon the meaning of the word, salvation. This is, of course, a word that is used a lot in religious circles, a word that has come to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
For some, it is merely a reference to their understanding of the “life to come,” a way of referring to their “eternal reward” after they die. Salvation, in this understanding then, has yet to be experienced. There is, however, another understanding of salvation that is inclined to see salvation as something that we can experience here and now and not just in the life to come.
With this difference in understanding in mind, I will be taking a look, this Sunday, at the familiar story of Zacchaeus and his encounter with Jesus (Luke 19: 1-10) This, of course, is a story that some of us have been aware of since our childhood days. Many of us can still recall that familiar Sunday school song about Zacchaeus being a “wee little man, a wee little man was he.”
We may even recall that he was a tax collector who, although he was very rich, he was not very happy. That is why he climbed to the top of a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus. Zacchaeus was looking for something more in his life and held out the hope that Jesus could help him find it. Well, as it turned out, Jesus noticed Zacchaeus at the top of the tree and told him to come down, that he had some things that he wanted to discuss with him. And the rest, of course, is history. Their conversation led to a major transformation in Zacchaeus’ life.
He proceeded to make amends for all the times he (as a tax collector) had cheated people out of their money. He also decided to give away half of his possessions to the poor. Zacchaeus, you see, was serious about his desire to change his life and get his act together! He was willing to put things in their proper perspective by giving away a good chunk of the fortune he had acquired. As a result, Jesus announced that “Today, salvation has come to this house!”
As this story makes clear, salvation wasn’t something that Zacchaeus would have to wait to experience. It was something that he could experience in the present moment of time—in other words, today!
As you prepare for worship this week, I would like to invite you to reflect upon your own understanding of salvation and how you would define it in your own experience of faith. Is it something that you anticipate in the distant future? Or, is it something in which you can participate here and now?
I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you and any conversation that we might have about the ways in which we can experience salvation, not only in our future, but in our present as well.
See You on Sunday!
Ron
P.S. DON’T FORGET TO “FALL BACK” BY SETTING YOUR CLOCKS BACK AN HOUR ON SATURDAY NIGHT. Otherwise, you may find yourself coming to church a bit early on Sunday morning.