Salvation Has Come to This Home

Our household has been experiencing the ups and downs of corporate life and combined living arrangements similar to the many households here in the Village. However these past weeks we have experiencing the delight of being in the center of supernatural God breathed life filling our household members. 

It makes me think of the passage where Jesus comes down the road and Zacchaeus climbs a tree to see Jesus. He is short in stature so he needs a better vantage point. As Jesus moves toward the place Zacchaeus is at, he looks up and sees him. "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today." So, Zacchaeus comes down and was glad to welcome him into his home. But all the people who saw this happen begin to complain that Jesus went into the home of a notorious sinner!

So in defense of himself and to show Jesus he was sincere he stands up and says to the Lord, "Lord, I'll give half of my possessions to the poor. I'll pay four times as much as I owe if I have cheated anyone in any way."

Then Jesus says to him, "Zacchaeus, today salvation has come to this home", because he, too, was a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:9-10

Now Zacchaeus must have been a really bad person to get a reputation like that. He may have cheated and lied and did things that made people distrust him and just plain despise seeing him. But Jesus didn't come to save the righteous ones, he came to save the sinners. Zacchaeus was one of those sinners who didn't have a "want to" for God. His "want to" was for himself and what he "wanted to" do.

When he heard Jesus was coming I believe something stirred in his heart. There was an expectancy that began to well up inside of him. An excitement in anticipation of something happening. He started to see the "want to" in himself change from a selfish motivated desire, into an opportunity to experience a new life. His "want to" changed. He embraced what God had to give him and saw with his heart who he was and repented of it. His heart was changed and his "want to" became that of what God "wanted to" do with his life. He was changed.

When you live in a household of people there are many opportunities to express your "want to" in light of what you want individually and the sparks can fly as things get worked out. We have a way about working things out with one another rather than allowing things to separate us from one another. This brings with it a renewal of hope for working out our salvation in a practical way.

It makes the word of God real in the sense that you don't just talk about loving your brothers and sisters, you actually get to practice it with one another. You find out where your "want to" is and where it needs to be with God. There is light and you have to walk in that light which exposes you constantly. The intentions of your heart become apparent to you and to others around you. You are seen for who you really are inside because there is no place to hide.

So it is in the village as we live out our lives with one another each day. There are many people who can say, "I couldn't live with so many people around me constantly and knowing my business all the time." They are speaking the truth because they don't "want to" be exposed for who they really are. They don't want to walk in the light of God and have all the deep dark stuff inside of them removed or changed into righteousness. They want to hide and pretend to be someone that cares about others but really doesn't. Then when they are tired of a person or the going ons of God they can retreat and hide in their room or go away for a while. If that doesn't work then they can always blame others for their reluctance to change and not getting their way.

We have a beautiful house full of beautiful people who desperately need each other to demonstrate God to each other. Each one needs to do their part. Each one needs to see each other as the integral part of their lives. Love is the common bond and it becomes the peace of God as that love is worked out in each one. Unity becomes the strength of their lives as they come together and lean on each other for the daily needs of their lives in God. The bond of peace and the fruit of the Spirit lives vibrantly within each one.

 We have a household that is experiencing salvation each and every day. God is saving us from ourselves and towards one another. He is saving us from the darkness that wants to dwell in us and leading us into the light of his "want to" every day. He is our God and we are his people. He leads the way and we follow.



Where else would we go? Who else would we go with? What else would we do? We know that there is the way of the world but that way is the path that leads to destruction. We don't want that. We have heard Gods voice and him asking, "Who will we send?" and our response is, "Here we are. Send us." We have become one in his spirit and we have no other "want to" than to do His will.