Have you ever felt the need to make up for lost time? You wish you had done things differently and now you try to make up for you did not do as you wish you had. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Millions share your feeling.
This message was presented at a Friday Evening Meeting of the Celebrate Recovery at the New Salem Baptist Church. Bonnie Crawford was the lead minister for the ministry. This Friday Night was one she called on me to share. I am Oscar Crawford. This message is Making Up for Lost Time, What Zaccheus and Ebenezer Scrooge had in Common. All who you may feel free to use this in places and in settings you believe it would be a blessing.
Making Up For Lost Time
And
Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord; “BEHOLD, Lord, the half of my goods I
give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false
accusation, I restore to him fourfold.”
And
Jesus said unto him, “This day is salvation come to your house, forasmuch as he
(Zaccheus) is also a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to seek and
save that which is lost.”
Luke 19 vss 8 – 10
Holy Spirit, indwell this moment and
all of us fully that the word may come forth so clear, the ear of our hearts
will hear. Save, restore, and encourage
your created living souls, us. Release
more power for the ministry of building God’s (kingdom domain) on the earth,
one soul or seven billion souls at a time.
Such is your unlimited capacity to supersede the natural with your
supernatural nature.
Reveal yourself in such a way that we
cannot believe what we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and feel with our
hearts. Where you do your thing, where
your spirit passes through; lives change, physical and financial conditions
change, relationships change, conflicts become peace, powerlessness becomes
power, the haughty become humble, and the humble are lifted up to lead and
serve. Thank you for all that you have
already done and all that you are going to do in the omnipotent name of
Jesus. Amen.
I
thank God for the privilege of my life and ministry. It is one incredible moment after
another. It has brought us (You and I) together for the shared NOW of such a time as
this. This is the hour of somebody’s or
a group of somebody’s deliverance.
If
you believe God can do all things his word says he can do, you ought to shout
with a shout of triumph and shout with the shout of a victor. Praise him like a conqueror. Glorify him like a champion. Our God is an awesome God. Are you listening?
I
hope you will be attentive for these moments we will share together. They are moments of destiny, defining moments
that lead us from where we are to where God is purposing us.
Say
to yourself and those closest to you, “Let’s be attentive”.
I
want to begin our time together raising a few questions that each of us must
answer as honestly as we can.
1.
Have
you ever felt like you were just spinning your wheels, not really getting anywhere?
2.
Have
you ever been invested in a relationship you have concluded was going nowhere
and you felt like you could not get out?
3. Have you ever been hooked on an
activity that was not good for you that you could not shake?
4. Have you ever looked back over your
life and felt like you have wasted your life?
Please be honest with yourself and with God.
If
you have answered yes to any of the questions, I believe there is a word from
the Lord that will encourage.
Like
many of you, Christmas (the time honored among many Christians as the time of
Jesus birth) is my favorite time of the year.
There is just something about Christmas that seems to bring out the
better nature in most people, if even for a short period of time. People seem a bit more kind, a bit more
courteous and a bit more polite the closer we draw to December 25th.
People
with special needs, who are doing without things that are necessary for life,
i.e., the poor, the homeless, the imprisoned, the ill; all receive more help
during Christmas than at any other time of the year. Celebrities volunteer to help serve meals and
distribute clothes in homeless shelters.
Churches
and other groups assist struggling families in need during the Christmas Season
so much, it logically follows that we are compelled to raise the question, why
can’t our spiritually based culture maintain this spirit and generous nature
all the year? Why can’t we?
One
of the things I personally enjoy each Christmas Season is seeing how many
different versions of Charles Dicken’s, A Christmas Carol, I can see. I saw ten different ones this year. There were the cartoon versions that included
Mickey’s Christmas Carol, the Muppets’ Christmas Carol, the Flintstones
Christmas Carol; the original black and white MGM studio versions; other old
black and white classics; the colorized versions of the black and white
classics; Bill Murray’s Scrooged; a version with Cicely Tyson; and the latest,
A Diva’s Christmas Carol with Vanessa Williams.
I cherish these films and in the words of Tiny Tim, God Bless Them
Everyone.
The
central figure of a Christmas Carol is Ebenezer Scrooge. He is a mean spirited old so and so of a man
concerned only about using people and making profit. We learn how cruel he is early on in the
story but do not learn how he became this way until later on.
We
learn that Scrooge is not that different from many of us. He is a human being living with more than his
share of pain. Can we stop her for a
moment? How many people do you know
living in emotional pain, right now?
We
learn that Scrooge’s mother died giving him birth. His father hated him for it. He was sent away early in his life to a
boarding school. He was there for for
years and not allowed to come home until his late teens at the request of his
sister he called Little Fan.
Scrooge
loves his sister. She inspires love in
him. His sister dies giving birth to a
son. He now hates his nephew, Fred or
killing his only love Little Fan as his father hated him for killing his mother.
He
has seen this behavioral response to pain modeled only too well by his own
father. Scrooge is mad at God but takes
his wrath out on people.
Time
Out: How many people do you know that
are mad with God over something lost; a fortune, a loved one, or a job? Have you ever been angry with God because you
lost something and blamed God for your loss?
Scrooge
falls in love with and becomes engaged to a beautiful young woman named
Belle. When Scrooge falls in love with
money and the pursuit of money, he lets Belle go. He does not care who he hurts
because money gives him the power to cause legal profitable pain. He does not care who he hurts, it is just business.
At the opening of the film, volunteers
seeking donations on Christmas Eve to help London’s poor and needy seek a donation
from Ebenezer Scrooge. His response is
rude. He summarily dismisses them.
His nephew Fred drops by to wish him a
Merry Christmas and invited him to Christmas Dinner with his wife, himself and
friends. Scrooge responds with the word
humbug which means non sense. Fred wishes
him a Merry Christmas again on his way out.
When his office closed on Christmas
Eve, he stopped at a local establishment for a meager dinner and made his way
home. Upon arrival at his door, his
doorknocker turned into the face of Marley.
Scrooge is shaken but too mean to take
it seriously. During the night, Marley’s
ghost shows up to warn of a lifetime wasted on chasing money. Scrooge is yet mean and argues with the ghost
he thinks may be a hallucination as a result of something he has eaten.
When he grows convinced of Marley’s
real presence, he listens. He learns he
will be visited by three other ghosts during the night.
The first is the ghost of Christmas
past. This ghost shows Scrooge his
miserable childhood that is the source origin of his unresolved pain. You are aware unresolved pain in your life
can make you act crazy, treat yourself and other people really bad. This was the lot of Ebenezer Scrooge.
The second is the ghost of Christmas
present. This ghost shows Scrooge the
happiness among the people and families that he knows. Most make fun of him and despise him. His servant Bob Cratchit cares for him and
prays for him. His nephew raises his
glass to his ruthless uncle. None can
see Scrooge present.
The third is the ghost of Christmas yet
to come. This ghost shows him his death
and all the people who are happy he is dead.
He is escorted to the cemetery and shown his own tombstone.
No, this is not a pizza
commercial. This is Scrooge’s end. Scrooge breaks and begins to beg for an
opportunity to do better. He promises
that if he can escape this path, he will keep Christmas in his heart
everyday. He is holding on to death’s
robes as he begs for another chance, when he finds himself holding on the
curtains of his bed.
He feels himself to see if he is real
and alive. He gets up and starts to
dance in ways you often see people dance in spirit filled churches.
He yells out the window at a boy
passing buy. He asks what day it
is. He learns it is Christmas. He sends the boy with money to buy a big
Turkey to send to Bob Cratchit’s house.
He cleans up and takes to the
streets. He runs into but the men who had asked for a
donation just 24 hours earlier. They see
Scrooge and wish to avoid him when he makes his apology for the man he has
been. He whispers in the ear of one of
the men the amount he will give. He is
shock. He whispers in the ear of his
partner.
Scrooge says to them, “I have a great
many years to make up”.
He then goes to his servant Bob Cratchit’s
home with food and gifts. He commits to
them to be their loving partner in life to help with their family as if his
own.
Then he is off to his nephew’s home to
share Christmas with him and his wife.
This story does not say they lived happily ever after. You just know things are going to be
different and much better than ever before because of the changed heart of one
man.
What does all this have to do with
Zaccheus? I am so glad you asked because
it has everything to do with Zaccheus.
Zaccheus was one of the Scrooges of his time. He was a Jewish tax collector for the Romans
and the temple. He was a despised and
hated short man. He was so short that
when he heard Jesus was coming by, he climbed up in a tree to have a look at
him.
When Jesus passed by and saw him, Jesus
called him down and invited himself to Zaccheus’s house. The people were in shock. Of all the places Jesus could go, why would
he go to the home of a sinner tax collector.
You heard the
scripture say that after Jesus had spent time at his house, we witness another
man changed from following the money god of this world to the God of Israel
Father of Jesus.
Listen to what
he says, “BEHOLD, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have
taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore to him fourfold”.
When we are
saved from our broke, busted and disgusted situation, we have a passion for
cleaning up what we have messed up. Making
up for lost time is important.
Scrooge made up
for lost time. Zaccheus made up for lost
time. What do you say now that we have
this opportunity to make up for lost time?
