"PULLING OFF THE RUBBLE!"

LUKE 19:1-10

A terrible earthquake hit several years ago in Turkey. Many small villages were devastated by the shock. In one small village lived a man and his son Armand. How that father loved Armand. He was the light in his eye; the beat in his heart. He loved him so much. On the day of the quake, Armand went off to school as he had so many other mornings. His dad told him as he left, "After school today I'll come for you!" When the quake hit, the whole village was demolished, including the school. It was a brick structure which just disintegrated and collapsed into a pile of rubble. Armand's father was terror-stricken and ran to the school to see about Armand. When I think of that tragedy, it makes me think of the plight of humanity. I think of the heap of evil, the pile of wrongdoing we are under while we indulge the flesh, follow our own dictates and are separated from Christ.

• MANKIND WITHOUT JESUS IS IN NEED OF BEING RESCUED:
• In the text we read of a man who needed saving; he was, in a manner of speaking, buried under a pile of rubble; the rubble of sin, selfishness, materialism and dishonesty.
• Verse 2: so he was rich? How do we know that he was so sinful? Aside from the general truth in Romans 3:10, 23:
• The crowd thought he was: they called him a sinner; he was rich because he collaborated with the enemy: verse 7.
• By his own admission: his riches were due to selfishness and fraud: verse 8.
• By Jesus' words: we know that zacchaeus was unsaved and lost: verse 10.
• This applies to all of us; all have sinned; all have fallen short; all are in need of a Savior! In spite of
• Pop-psychology: that says, "I'm okay; you're okay!" and denies any real guilt, mankind is guilty!
• Modern mindsets: that relegate sin to a distant past, as irrelevant to today's world, mankind is sinful!
• Demands for diversity: lifestyles that violate biblical morality, though acceptable to a large segment of society, are unacceptable to God.
• Avoidance of absolutes: there is an unchanging, unaltered divine standard of right and wrong.
• Knowing that we have sinned, are guilty and need rescue Jesus seeks to save us!

Knowing his son needed to be rescued, Armand's father joined the entire town in yanking off bricks and other fallen debris. They were desperate to reach the children who were buried there. For 2, 4, 6 hours they labored feverishly. Evening came and they worked; 8, 10, 16 hours. When morning came, some quit toiling and headed home. They argued, "there are no survivors; there is only silence; there is no use in digging any more." A handful stayed and worked, 18, 20, 24 hours. Then, they too left -- but not Armand's father. Others urged him, "you have to quit! Come with us! It's hopeless! Armand is dead; there's nothing you can do!" "No!" he said, "i told Armand I would come for him!" And ignoring them, Armand's father kept pulling off bricks and rubble seeking his son and any other survivors; 30, 32, 34 36 hours and he kept pulling rubble off the pile. Though others quit, he would not give up!

• JESUS DOESN'T GIVE UP ON US WHEN OTHERS WALK AWAY:
• Verses 3-7: you recall that tax-collectors were despised as traitors! Zacchaeus was hated, scorned, rejected. For all some in the crowd cared, Jesus could just let him go! "He's no good! He's not worth paying attention to! He's a crook and a traitor!" So they crowded him out! He was as welcome as a migraine! But he was important to Jesus in spite of that. He mattered too much to Jesus to simply let him go!
• Many religious people of Jesus' day and many churches today don't want to deal redemptively with the sinful even though they are repentant.
• Many wouldn't want the adulterous in their congregation; but God saved David when he repented, and Jesus said to the woman taken in adultery, "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more!" John 8:1-11
• Many wouldn't want the violent and cruel to be part of their religious community; but Jesus called Saul of Tarsus, the violent and savage persecutor of the church, and made an apostle of him.
• Many wouldn't want an occultic demoniac in their church; but Jesus delivered Mary Magdalene of seven demons and she became His friend and devoted helper.
• Many are like a congregation that received a woman into membership; the preacher was accosted by a gaggle of geese who honked at him, "We don't want that kind in our church!" He said, "that's okay; Jesus wants her in His!"
• Perhaps others have given up on you; maybe you've given up on yourself; it may be that failure after failure, sin after sin, wrong after wrong have convinced you that things can be no better and that you are forever hopeless!
• But He believes in you; he sees not what you were, not what you are, but what you can become; He wants you; He cherishes you; He seeks for you and is relentlessly, stubbornly determined to find and rescue you!

Armand's dad refused to quit searching! So, on the 38th hour Armand's father pulled off a piece of the demolished building and looked down and saw a hole, and through the hole he saw two little eyes -- two little eyes looking up appealingly into his! And Armand said, "dad, I knew you'd come for me! You said you would come for me!" Armand's father kept pulling rubble away; he saw other children in the hole. He reached down to Armand and said, "come on, Armand! I'll lift you out!" Armand said, "No, dad, no! Take the other children first; they're afraid. I told them you'd come for me -- and you came! I know you'll come back for me!" He lifted out all the other children, then reached down and took Armand's hand and lifted him out. How like Jesus!

• JESUS CHRIST CAME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THOSE WHO ARE LOST:
• Verses 8-10:
• He didn't come to bury us deeper in rules and regulations, in heavy burdens and demands; He didn't come to crush and overwhelm and bewilder us! He came to seek and to save!
• He is able to lift you out of the
• Pile of pornography and lust. He is able!
• Crater of covetousness and greed.
• Depths of depravity, drunkenness, debauchery and dissipation.
• Ruins of rebellion, revolt, and unholy self-will.
• Hole of haughtiness, pride, arrogance, self-righteousness.
• It is clear that if Armand had never been lifted out of the hole, he'd have perished there. So, it is clear that if we are not lifted out of sin, we'll perish there.

Jesus will save us from our sins but He will not save us in our sins! Therefore, He keeps seeking, calling, hoping. He couldn't, wouldn't and didn't give up; what we need to know today is that with Jesus in our lives there is never a reason to give up; He doesn't give up on us and we must not give up on ourselves. As long as we have breath and intelligence He seeks, digs, calls, saves. He is committed, He is determined, He is pledged to seek and to save and to rescue us. And when that piece of rubble is lifted and we look up to see the face of our Savior and hear His voice calling to us, and as we reach out in faith to Him, He lifts us up out of our pit of sin. If you are buried in sin, Jesus will not be satisfied until He finds you. He is calling -- do you hear His voice? He is earnestly looking for you -- will you be found? Don't stay in the dark, don't remain in the pit; His hand is outreached, take it; He'll rescue you. Jesus calls and as He calls, He urgently waits your reply.

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