There are many different kinds of Search and Rescue Teams that exist. They are generally differentiated by either terrain or climate. Thus we have Mountain S&R Teams, Ground, Canine, Urban, Air-Sea, Snow, Desert and even Combat S&R Teams. These teams have learned through trial and error procedures that will enable them to have the greatest possible chance of saving a person. Even as dedicated and trained as they can be, they are never 100% successful in "saving" everyone.
Today, we are going to look at a story in Luke 19 about a man named Zacchaeus (Za-key-us). We'll call him Zach for short. Here we are going to see that Jesus is a team leader on the greatest Search and Rescue operation of all time, the Earth Search and Rescue Team. Jesus makes this clear as he states in Luke 19:10, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
The account starts out by telling us that Zach was a chief Tax-collector and he was rich. Now men back then, no different from today, didn't like taxes. It was probably even more resentful when a guy would show up at your door telling you that you need to cough up X amount of dollars (shekels) right now. These guys were despised. Also, Zach was a chief tax-collector. He was a head ringleader of these money grubbers. Also, the tax-collectors often lined their pockets by collecting more than was due. John the Baptist referred to this in Luke 3:13 when he warned the tax-collectors that they needed to repent by only charging what was due. We also see later in verse 8 that it was common to lie about what was owed, a false accusation. The fact that Zach was rich implies that he was good at getting more out of people than was required. People hated him for it and he was not a welcome part of their society. In fact, it is bad enough already, but Zach was collecting taxes for a foreign, conquering power aka Rome. He was working for the enemy, a regular Benedict Arnold.
On top of this he has a name that means, "pure one." Yep, I'm sure Zach that was salt in people's wounds. But Zach, no doubt, had his own wounds. It mentions that he was so short that he had to climb a tree to be able to see Jesus. Anyone who has gone through life with something that makes you weaker or less than most of the rest can identify with Zach. He no doubt had his own wounds from childhood and adulthood. All the countless ways that he perhaps had been ridiculed and pushed away by those who were "better". Whatever he had in his life, it had prepared him to take a job that would use the power of a foreign governement to get rich off of his own people. Zach was a lost man. He was cutoff and separated from his people, but he was also cutoff and separated from his God.
But here was the kicker, Zach knew he was missing something. Zach wasn't happy. He was seeking to find out if there was anything different about this Jesus guy who was creating such a stir. Something in Zach was crying out for help, looking for help. He even humbled himself enough to publically come see Jesus and climb a tree where everyone would see him.
Who was seeking whom that day? Clearly Zach sought Jesus to get a better understanding of who he was. But Jesus was also seeking Zach as he testified in verse 10. Here is the greater point. God's business is seeking out and saving that which is lost. It is a Terrestrial Search and Rescue mission. Jesus understood this and was "about his Father's business." Jesus was on the look out and when he saw Zach he knew this was a guy who was in trouble, but wanted help.
Now this brings up the Principle of Personal Responsibility. It is easy to see what the other guy should have done and to shift the blame to them. But in the end we all are responsible for what we have done. As I earlier talked about Zach's life, it would be easy to blame everything on society, or to blame everything on Zach. If you are Zach you blame society and those who have wounded and rejected you. If you are those being taxed then you blame Zach for all his errors and sins. It is easy for a lost person to say, "someone should have sought me out." That would be true, but that is not Zach's responsibility. His responsibility as a lost person is to recognize that he is lost, stop walking and start calling for help. Many a lost person has refused to cry out for help and though others should have sought them out, they still are responsible to recognize they need help. Those cries are not always audible, but they are real none the less and Jesus saw the cry of Zach's heart that day. He wanted free. On the other hand, those who are "found" have the responsibility to look for those who are lost. We have a responsibility to be about our father's business.
Now Jesus responds in a very tender and gracious way to Zach and I think we could learn a lot from him.
To be saved means to be delivered from those enemies that hold us captive. What was holding Zach? Yes the devil had succeeded in separating Zach from the herd and was in the process of devouring him through this life. However, Zach was just as much a prisoner to his own thinking and mind. How often do we let the actions, words, and sins of others keep us in a place we don't want to be? How often do we use the blame of others to stay stuck in a situation our heart cries to be free from? Jesus broke through all of that by simply loving Zach. He noticed him and cared enough to be a part of his life. Zach didn't just have his sins forgiven. He didn't just get a "get-out-of-jail-free card." His heart had been so saved from taking advantage of others that now he wanted to make things right. He was being delivered from that mindset that would want to make others pay for my wounds.
God help us to see that we have been called to come alongside the greatest Search and Rescue Leader of all time, Jesus. And, may God help us to sense the obligation we have to those who are lost, not just from the external duty, but even more from the internal compulsion of love.