Ministry

The right tools for the job and the right people in the right place.

Have you ever tried to play soccer using a calculator instead of a soccer ball? 

Or, in the opposite direction, tried to use a soccer ball in a Mathematics test rather than a calculator? 

Neither option is going to give us the results we need. 

That’s the illustration shared in Chapel this past week, where Charlotte and Maddie sought to share examples of something a man called Zaccheus experienced. 

Zaccheus was short man, and a tax collector, who lived in the time of Jesus (Luke 19:1-10). Rather than find healthy ways to connect with others, tax collectors tended to form small communities of ultra-wealthy people who got rich out of extorting money from others. 

In place of finding common ground in kindness, love, and faith, they formed communities centred on greed, betrayal and envy. 

Yet when Jesus met Zaccheus, he showed love and grace to Zaccheus, which prompted Zaccheus to change his ways – and to show generosity instead of greed, and kindness instead of selfishness. 

We all look for community. 

Some communities are good and healthy, and others aren’t. 

Some communities are good overall, but we might not be the right person in the right place, and we may need to find another community to belong to. 

But all of us can be like Jesus and welcome in outsiders like Zaccheus, and most importantly, Jesus welcomes all of us, and helps us be part of his community, the community of God. 

Knowing that God welcomes you into his community, who could you welcome into your community today? 

Chris Mann

College Pastor

Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and 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.’ (Luke 19:8)