Everyone Is Significant

Everyone is Significant

By Greg Johnson

January 28, 2007

http://www.LovingGodFellowship.org

Luke 19:1-10

Many today are being treated unfairly by others. They are looked at through judgmental and condemning eyes. It ought not to be so.

There is the mother of four children under the age of seven that has just had an abortion. It was a difficult decision for her as she evaluated her circumstances. Her husband is working two minimum wage jobs and they have no health insurance. They don’t have much food as most of the money her husband earns goes to paying rent. She would get a job, but could not afford child care for her four children while she and her husband worked. She wanted to have the child, but could not see another one of her offspring go without food and proper health attention. She made the only decision she felt she could make. It was a difficult decision and it continues to consume her thoughts as she watches her other four children grow up without proper nutrition and healthcare.

There is the person who has battled unnatural feelings for the same sex since High School. They know the feelings are unnatural. They don’t want to feel this way and desire help to overcome. They have gone to church only to be told that they are sinning and feel homophobic stares. They are trapped by their feelings and have nowhere to turn accept to their homosexual friends who are understanding of the battle that rages within them.

There is the person that is of Middle Eastern descent that has lived in America for years and has become an American citizen. They are Muslim but do not believe or act like the small percentage of extremist Muslims. They value and appreciate the life of others and just want to live in peace with their neighbors. Ever since 9/11 their world has changed. They can not go anywhere without feeling the stares and hearing the words of angry people who do not understand that they are not guilty of or accountable for acts of terror. They can’t help but question whether they will be accepted and valued in America as a person instead of stereotyped as a terroristic extremist.

There is the Latino that seeks a better life for their family that their home country can not offer. They are a hard worker with strong work ethic. There is no job to hard or dirty that they would not do to provide a better life for their family. Their mind is not on themselves and their safety. Their mind is on their family and the strong ties that bind them.

There is the African American living in the inner city. They have been raised in poverty and violence. They have heard a message of “all sinners will go to hell”, but they can not relate because they are already living in hell; right in their own neighborhood, a living hell. How could it possibly get any worse for them? They live with no hope and very little help. Their only help comes from drug dealers and from gangs.

There is the person that has been released from prison or the mental hospital with no where to go but to the streets and live a homeless life. No one will give them a chance at employment. No one wants them to be their neighbor. No one will help them break the cycle.

These are all people that have feelings of insignificance because of their circumstances and the treatment of others toward them. God’s Word tells us that everyone is significant to Jesus. Even a wretch such as I. Jesus said “(Luke 19:10 NIV) "the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

EVERYONE IS SIGNIFICANT TO JESUS.

Jesus looks at everyone through the same eyes of love. Jesus died for all and He reaches out to all in love and compassion. No matter what they have done and no matter what they have become, they are significant to Jesus and He is seeking after them. He desires to rescue them.

God’s Word says (Luke 19:1-10 NIV) "Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. {2} A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. {3} He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. {4} So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. {5} When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." {6} So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. {7} All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a ’sinner.’" {8} But 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." {9} Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. {10} For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.""