The Lord wants to Partner Personally with You. People took issue with Zacchaeus, a tax collector and a thief. But what happens when he encounters Jesus? After encountering Jesus, he wanted to atone for all his past sins. But people still grumbled. Zacchaeus knew that his identity was not tied up in his past sins; he knew he was forgiven and loved by Jesus and that in turn prompted him to pour out love and generosity. He received God’s mercy and poured out his life for the Lord. Jesus came to seek and save each of us and with Him each of us are redeemed. Someone who receives mercy also overflows with generosity. As a parish we have been very generous over the years and I believe it is because we have encountered Jesus and want to pour out his mercy in turn. The Lord is resource rich, and some of those resources are at our disposal and he wants us to make them available to Him and sometimes He brings us resources from unexpected places, people and material things both. If God has a plan for something, He backs it up. The Lord is most generous with everything. Can you ask the Lord these two questions?
1. Lord, what might you want to do here at Holy Trinity right now? Maybe he will put something on your heart. God wants to speak to us right now.
2. How Lord do you want me to be generous right now in my Parish? I know you are already generous but have a conversation with the Lord about your time, your gifts and skills, even your money; all those things.
I’m sure you will get some personal direction on how you can help as we move forward here together. I have found that the Lord wants to partner personally with us. No one gets to say to Zacchaeus or you or me that we are a sum of our past mistakes. Instead the Lord says, I want to have dinner at your place tonight. I love you! I choose you and I empower you to make a difference in the world for my sake. I seek out people just like you and as you receive from my generosity, I know that you will likewise be generous in my name.
