[00:00:01] Welcome to the River Church podcast. We're all about bringing the life, hope and love of Jesus to everyone around us. For more information, check out our
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[00:00:14] i do a little bit of community stuff here at Dartford, but I just want to add to what's already been said. You are. If this is your first time, you are so welcome. You're meant to be here. It's not a mistake.
[00:00:26] God meets us in every space.
[00:00:28] So guys, we moved recently, so this is our last Sunday. No, it's not. I'm just kidding. Sorry, sorry.
[00:00:37] I've done that joke to a few people now. But you know what, maybe you have moved house and you just know the faff of everything, how long it takes. I know some people even here right now are still. Mark. Oh, you know what, we're still praying for you, man. We're still going. But there's so much. There's all the fees, there's the surveys, there's the printing fees. Why is there a printing fee for the contract? I don't know, I don't get it. But it's all crazy and nuts and there was a point where we thought it was going to fall through a number of times and then we managed to get everything line up but there was a little problem with the contract. They had to resend it to us to get it re signed and re witnessed. Problem was we were in Scotland when they did that, so we had to buy a printer so we could print off the contracts because we didn't want to go and do it in a random place. But we were like nine hours away from anyone that we knew.
[00:01:27] What are we going to do?
[00:01:29] Praise God. We texted a friend who we knew was sometimes in Edinburgh because he travels around doing a bit of ministry and he happened to be there. So we drove over to Edinburgh and we got it all signed and sorted and he witnessed for us and we had a lovely catch up as well. But the funny thing is it's such an important thing and because of him we got to be in our home. I think that's too dramatic to say, but you know what, to be a witness, all he had to do was know us, be able to talk about us if he got called about it and frankly be present.
[00:02:05] Those were the two big things that he needed to be. And honestly his presence meant we could move.
[00:02:13] You know, when we speak about witness or evangelism, I know many people get very excited, some people get very nervous and very scared, but actually I think we often make it more in our heads than what it is. And actually witness, when you boil it right down, is talking about what we've seen, talking about who we know, as in Jesus and being present.
[00:02:38] You know, if we follow Jesus, then we're called to be witnesses. But, you know, it is really important. And in fact, I would say that our witness as a discipline is serious, but it's also simple, actually, a lot more simple than we make it out to be. It is serious, you know. And why is it serious?
[00:02:58] 30% of the people in the UK, these are some stats, experience hopelessness on a regular basis.
[00:03:07] One in six people will experience depression in their lives.
[00:03:11] 27% of people in the UK regularly experience loneliness.
[00:03:18] Witness is really serious because we've got the answer.
[00:03:22] We've got Jesus, we know Jesus and we can introduce people to this Jesus, we can bring hope to the hopeless. In fact, that's one of the calls we have in our lives. So, you know, it is absolutely. It's a big, important thing. But the problem is sometimes we let ourselves get crushed by the fact that it's important and it's serious, when actually it's a lot more simple than that. You know, we're not called to be polished evangelists, as though there's such a thing, actually.
[00:03:47] And actually it's a lot. I think it's a lot more about presence and not performance.
[00:03:55] It's a lot more about being present in the way Jesus was present with people, rather than our clever performance.
[00:04:02] And so actually, we're called to be everyday witnesses, his presence, not performance.
[00:04:10] So today we're going to look at a little story. It's a story you might well have heard. It's Jesus meeting with Zacchaeus.
[00:04:17] We're going to look at a few bits about how Jesus shared, but also particularly the way in which he was with people, the way he was present, and maybe how the practice of hospitality might be one of the primary ways in which Jesus shared.
[00:04:32] Before we get into it, I just want to give you a couple of quick freebies.
[00:04:37] Do you know there's a verse that talks about out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth.
[00:04:43] There you go. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
[00:04:47] Sometimes we get into this thing where we sort of separate discipleship and we separate mission and sharing and evangelism, as though they're two separate things. The fact is, one will always affect the other. So your primary calling in all of your sharing, your faith and everything is to keep pursuing Jesus, because it's out of the overflow of the heart, what God's doing, that's what will come out.
[00:05:11] But also, I want to look at Jesus and just sort of how he witnessed. How did Jesus share the gospel? What was his message?
[00:05:19] So do you know, when we think about that, we often jump here. It's a good place to jump. Isn't that. I think we've spoke about this morning. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but to save the world. For through him. Amen.
[00:05:41] Amen.
[00:05:43] You know, we all love that verse because it encapsulates the story really well.
[00:05:47] But did Jesus, whenever he did his moon, did he go up to everybody and just say, do you know? For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, whoever believes in him shall not perish and will have eternal life.
[00:05:58] Did you know that God so loved the world that he gave? I don't think he did, actually.
[00:06:03] In fact, Jesus often takes one thing he has multiple ways. He shares the good news and differently. So think about Matthew 5. He says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the earth. That wasn't sort of what people were thinking at the time. That's not the way the world worked. If you were poor, you were not wanted, you were away, you were not useful for society.
[00:06:28] Jesus says, you'll inherit the earth.
[00:06:30] Matthew 10, verse 7 says, he proclaims this. The kingdom of heaven has come near. This morning Already we've been talking, talking about how God, who many people think is so far away because he's perfect and we're not. We've got sin, we get things wrong, we do awful things. But the kingdom of God and God himself draws near to us.
[00:06:49] In John 1, verse 12, it says, but to all who did receive him and believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. God makes us his family. Do you see how this is the gospel? But Jesus shares. Sometimes he just shares one thing.
[00:07:09] Jesus talks about forgiveness and freedom from shame and guilt. And that's why when we think about how we share, we can share, not out of guilt, that we've got to do this thing and get it right and get it all perfect. We're not salesmen. We get to share out of the freedom of the joy of our relationship. Jesus shared truth, but he did it through story. He did it through presence, and he did it through relationship.
[00:07:30] Do you know we had an evangelism seminar On Monday. It was really great, really fun.
[00:07:35] But someone said there, you know, I just don't feel quite qualified to share my faith.
[00:07:39] I don't know enough about the Bible. I'm not clever enough. Oh, goodness me.
[00:07:44] Half the disciples probably couldn't read.
[00:07:47] But in the Gospels, Jesus sends out people who've not long met him.
[00:07:53] They didn't have a theology degree, they simply shared what they knew. This is who he is, and this is what he's done in my life.
[00:08:01] You can do that too, guys, your story, I love this. Your story is your strongest sermon.
[00:08:11] Your story is your strongest sermon. Who is Jesus to you? What has he done in your life?
[00:08:18] Now I'm going to ask a bit of interaction. I meant to say at the beginning to kind of prep you guys, but I didn't. So here we go.
[00:08:23] Let's pause for a minute, turn to the person next to you, and just take 60 seconds just to answer, what difference has Jesus made in my life? What's the one thing I could share about Jesus today?
[00:08:37] 60 seconds each. Go.
[00:08:46] Okay, let's draw those conversations to a close.
[00:08:56] Was that encouraging?
[00:08:59] Yeah, yeah, it was encouraging for me. Just hearing people go in, it's great. I kind of didn't want to stop you, actually. But this is the often misunderstood thing about witness. You are just sharing what you've seen.
[00:09:13] God has done great things in your life. Whether you had a dramatic turn from being against God and then turning and being saved like that, or whether you've grown up in church your whole life and you've just seen the faithfulness of him through prayer and things, you have something worth sharing. You have the answer.
[00:09:30] So we need to share it.
[00:09:33] Right? Let's jump over to Zacchaeus and Jesus. So we've talked a little bit, touched on how to share what we can share. But let's talk about the method. What was it that Jesus did? How did he share? And we might be a bit surprised as we look through. So we're going to go to Luke 19.
[00:09:51] We're going to do verse one to 10. It's going to come up on the screen, but do follow in your Bibles. That's fine.
[00:09:59] Let's do it. Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man there by the name of Zacchaeus.
[00:10:06] Was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd.
[00:10:16] So we ran ahead and. And climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him, since Jesus would come in that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.
[00:10:32] Oh, too early. So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
[00:10:37] All the people saw this and began to mutter, he's gone to be the guest of a sinner.
[00:10:43] But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, look, Lord, here. Now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. Jesus said to him, today, salvation has come to this house because this man too is a son of Abraham, for the son of man came to seek and save the lost.
[00:11:08] So there's a couple of things we can sort of take out of this straight away.
[00:11:12] So let's have a look.
[00:11:14] What stands out to me is that Jesus takes the first step, doesn't wait for people to run to him. He sees this guy who's sort of just clambering on a branch trying to get a view, and he sees him and he doesn't think. He doesn't think, oh, okay, what's that guy doing? He goes straight to him and he invites himself over. It's pretty forward, isn't it, actually? But it's not uncommon in the culture of the time. Jesus takes the first step, I must stay at your house today. But also, he breaks social norms. Maybe you've heard this before, but Zacchaeus was a tax collector, which doesn't mean he worked for hmrc. It's a bit different for back then. Basically, what they would do is they had an oppressive regime, the Romans, who would tax people very heavily. But then what they would do, tax collectors, they put their own little tax on top just to make sure they were making some extra money. And then they'd get the Romans to enforce it. Zacchaeus was not a great guy.
[00:12:05] He was a bad guy and not liked in society. And so it's unsurprising that when Jesus says, I want to come and have dinner with you, people like, started twitching. People like, what is this guy doing? Does he not know he's supposed to be this great guy? Does he not know that this guy's a bad guy?
[00:12:23] Jesus didn't excuse Zacchaeus wrongs, but he didn't let those wrongs stop him from loving Zacchaeus either.
[00:12:31] There's real power and actually who you're willing to share a table with, it's really important.
[00:12:39] But what happens, Jesus presence leads to absolute transformation. We don't Know actually what the conversation was, isn't that interesting. We don't know what they talked about when he had dinner. Did they sit there in silence? I doubt it. But we don't know what they talked about. But what we do know is Zacchaeus reaction. He is completely turned around.
[00:13:00] He's repentant, he changes. And actually Jesus says today salvation has come to his house because this man too is the son of Abraham, for the son of man came to seek and save the lost.
[00:13:11] When Jesus is present with people, the situation changes. Do you know this isn't a one off for Jesus? Jesus constantly shares meals with outcasts and strangers and outsiders, people who they're just not the people you want to hang out with.
[00:13:25] There's tax collectors, prostitutes, people on the margins of society. He breaks barriers by opening his life to others, not just through his words, but by making himself available.
[00:13:37] Is it possible that one of Jesus primary methods of witness is hospitality?
[00:13:47] Let's chat again.
[00:13:49] What does hospitality mean to you?
[00:13:52] Can you think of someone who's shown it to you and how 60 seconds each, go, okay guys, let's draw those conversations to a close.
[00:14:10] Let's draw them in.
[00:14:15] When we think about hospitality, people often think, oh, it means being a great host, you know, cooking really nice decorating, having a nice sort of home space and entertaining people really well. Well yeah, it's part of it.
[00:14:30] But you know what, Biblical hospitality is deeper. It's about welcoming the stranger, the outsider, the one who can't rep you. In Luke 14 it says, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.
[00:14:48] Do you know from a really young age we're taught this very important, very monumental rule, don't talk to strangers.
[00:14:56] How many of us are still obeying that rule as adults?
[00:15:00] Yeah, yeah, no, some hands. It's true, isn't it? You know, but for adults in the kingdom, this just becomes a bit of a barrier. And it's not that we don't mean to.
[00:15:09] We're busy people. Things get in the way, barriers get up, oh, I can't invite that person because of that, because they don't know that person. But actually we're called to invite everyone to be part of what we're doing, to be part of our lives, as Jesus did.
[00:15:24] What would it look like to open up your circle? What would it look like to open up your space, your home?
[00:15:33] As churches, we're trying to live this out. We want to reach our neighbors and our towns with love of Jesus. We know they need to see it.
[00:15:40] Not just with events, but we want to be present.
[00:15:43] We're trying to create spaces to be open and available and to walk through life together. In Dartford, that's looked like community events. It's looked like alpha courses and connect groups and all sorts of things.
[00:15:55] We've had Easter egg hunts and soon again we're going to be in Dartford Park.
[00:15:59] The main reason is we want to connect with people and bring them the hope of Jesus. That's massive.
[00:16:06] But in truth, the greatest growth will often come not from a specific event or moment, but it comes from our everyday witness as individuals, as families, as neighborhoods, from lives lived wide open.
[00:16:24] So where do we start? Well, again, let's think about the story. We have to take the first step.
[00:16:31] What could your first step in witnessing through hospitality look like?
[00:16:38] For us, we've always tried to connect with our neighbours.
[00:16:41] When we move in somewhere new, we knock on doors, we say hello.
[00:16:45] At Christmas and Easter, we give out chocolates. And this summer we're posting some invites to try and have an open house barbecue. People drop in.
[00:16:54] Bit scary because it's new people and stuff, but we really want to get to know our neighbors, we really want to have that relationship with them. But trust does take time. But just like Jesus did with Zacchaeus, we need to take the first step now. Maybe some people might be saying, colin, I don't have a big home. I don't have. I'm really rubbish at cooking.
[00:17:14] I'm just. I'm not naturally great with people.
[00:17:18] Does that mean I'm terrible at this? No, no. Goodness, no. I rebuke that in the name of Jesus.
[00:17:26] Do you know, Jesus didn't have a home to bring people to, but people felt at home when they were with him.
[00:17:34] The key thing is, it's that feeling of home. You know, when you get home and you belong and you're there. We actually carry that with us wherever we go. It's not just about a building or bricks, it's about the people. And we are the people of God who carry Jesus wherever we go. So if your house isn't the space, then don't worry.
[00:17:52] Go for coffee, invite someone for a walk, meet in the park, borrow someone else's house. Jesus does it all the time. Ian's got a lovely house, so right in it.
[00:18:02] Maybe ask him first, you know, be polite. But, you know, why not?
[00:18:08] Do you know the Bible says, it says, go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. Start going next door, start by going to work, start by going to the park, you know, go into the world and make disciples.
[00:18:22] Next, we want to break the norms just like Jesus did. You know, sometimes being a witness means breaking those unspoken rules. And I'm just going it right now for everyone who's still following that rule. Don't talk to strangers. I'm going to break that rule in the name of Jesus. You are released from your parents rule on that one. Maybe not sort of if you're a kid, maybe wisdom parents check me on this one.
[00:18:43] But actually if you're adults, you are released from that.
[00:18:49] I'm someone who I think sometimes people, oh great, you do these two things. I just sort of throw myself into the pool even though I can't swim.
[00:18:57] Because I know that as time goes on, I'll grow and I'll learn. There was a time I remembered I was on a train to Scotland. Yes, on a train. Yes. One of the worst places. You know, I remember I tried to speak to someone on a train once and he literally just paper up, you know, it was awful. But on this time I was on train to Scotland. I've got five hours on a train. There were four of us sharing a table and we all followed that rule. Don't speak strangers. I forgot my lunch. So I went over to the cafe car and you know, I grabbed some bits and then I saw these, this big box of really big ridiculous sized cookies and then some crisps and things. I thought, okay, I'm going to grab loads of this, I'm going to get table snacks and see how badly it goes.
[00:19:38] So I got back and I plonked them on the table and one person looked at me and said, what's this? And I replied, look, honestly, I just felt a bit bad stuff in my face while you guys didn't have anything. So if you want anything, please do take it.
[00:19:53] Do you know what though? It broke the silence slowly people started taking and we started chatting and then conversation started. Then stories were shared. And then before I got off the train, I'd shared my testimony. I'd shared the gospel with these people.
[00:20:09] Food, eh? Who knew? Who knew that food opens up conversations?
[00:20:14] What if every meal was an opportunity to connect?
[00:20:17] What are the spaces in your life? And actually this is maybe a point we need to think about because we think, oh, I got on train, I can't do this. We can't talk about that here. We can't invite that person into this space. That would feel weird.
[00:20:30] What are the spaces in your life where certain people are maybe unintentionally excluded.
[00:20:37] You know, I was thinking about someone challenged me on this the other day. You know, like, they said, who's welcome at your house? I was like, well, anyone. Anyone can be welcome at my house. Well, how do they know, though, if they've not been invited?
[00:20:46] I was like, oh, so if you change it to who's been invited to my house? I'm like, oh, yeah. Actually, I don't want people to not be welcome. I want everyone to be welcome. But that does mean I have to make the invitation.
[00:20:57] That's the first step and that's how we break the norms.
[00:21:01] Who's outside the in crowd, in your life, in school, in work, in friendship and circles?
[00:21:08] Let's just be clear with Jesus. Everyone's invited, not just welcome.
[00:21:14] Do you know, I love this lady, Rosaria Butterfield. She was once a strong critic of Christianity.
[00:21:21] She was an activist with LGBT and stuff, but she came to Faith through regular meals with a local pastor. That's how she puts it. And she says this. Let God use your home, your apartment, your dorm room, front yard, gym, garden, to turn strangers into neighbors and neighbors into family. Because that's the point.
[00:21:42] Building the church and living like a family, the family of God. I love that. It's from her book that says the gospel comes with a house key.
[00:21:51] This is more than a method, this is a way of life.
[00:21:55] Evangelism and witness isn't a sprint, it's a marathon that we run together.
[00:22:02] Lastly, let them see Jesus. Do you know it's much easier to share with people when Jesus is just part of our normal flow of conversation. When we're talking about what's going on at church, we're talking about our prayers.
[00:22:17] What Zacchaeus needed most, more than anything was to see and spend time with Jesus. If you're a believer, then Jesus will shine out of you. You can't help it, so don't hide it.
[00:22:31] Let the gospel move through your life to others. Invite someone to run errands with you. Find those spaces. I know one of the things is we're so busy, we're never going to stop being busy. Guys, I'm sorry to let you know that, but we still have to find those spaces. So run errands together, celebrate great things together, offer to pray, you know, show patience, but most of all, be present. And I'll tell you why that's really important is in suffering.
[00:22:57] I'm going to name and fame someone very quickly. I didn't put this in, but I do apologise.
[00:23:02] There's a family called the Boden de Mels. And they are fantastic when it comes to hospitality.
[00:23:09] Whenever I've, from first moment I've met them, they're just warm, they're welcome people and they know how to look after us. But I know they don't do it just with people in our church. They do it with people on the street, they do it with people they've just met.
[00:23:22] And I know for me, we were going through a couple of times of very difficult sort of suffering and they were there, they were present, and that included crying with us.
[00:23:31] Sometimes the gospel will come as we're present with people and suddenly things happen in their lives. I've had it happen with my neighbors and we've been there in a way that we couldn't have if we hadn't started by just handing out chocolates and saying hello.
[00:23:50] Let them see the light that Jesus has put in. You put it on a hill, don't put a basket on top of it. The gospel comes to us on the way to someone else. So open up your life and let them see Jesus.
[00:24:03] Can you imagine a world where Christians everywhere saw hospitality not as an extra task to fit in, but as a way of life?
[00:24:11] Where homes, parks, cafes, bus stops became places of welcome, where strangers became friends and friends discovered the love of Jesus not through slick salesman talk or presentations, but through shared meals, open hearts and faithful presence.
[00:24:30] That kind of world is possible because that's the world Jesus came to create.
[00:24:38] We are just everyday witnesses walking the forgotten pathway of hospitality and pointing to the one who welcomed us first.
[00:24:50] I feel like the right response for us guys is again to turn to one another and to pray.
[00:24:57] So I'm just going to ask you this. What's the one thing that we've shared today that's been really helpful, that's given you encouragement, that stirred you to reach out to the neighbour, to invite someone in, to walk across the room to the some person at work and to connect with them.
[00:25:16] And then let's pray. Let's pray for those people in our lives who we want to reach. Let's pray for ourselves, for confidence, not to be weighed down by the fear of us getting wrong, not being good enough and stuff, but to be free, to have the confidence just to share what we know about Jesus, just to be present in people's lives, turn to person next to you. Let's share, let's pray.
