It is important to remember that the evangelistic encounters we preachers encounter in the Gospels are designed to speak to Christians, not non-Christians (at least not primarily to non-Christians).

So, for instance, in Luke 19:1-10 Jesus meets Zacchaeus. In this narrative Zacchaeus becomes a Christian. Jesus announces in verse 9, “Today salvation has come to this house…”

It would be very easy to preach this narrative as an evangelistic sermon. You might reason that since it shows Zack getting saved, it should function well as a sermon geared toward seeing non-Christian listeners come to faith too.

I suggest two alternatives:

(1) Stick with the overall purpose of the Gospel and focus on the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 19:1-10 does tell us about who Jesus is and what He came to do: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (v. 10). These narratives are a time to remind Christians what Jesus has done for them. In the process of doing so, any non-Christians overhearing worship have an opportunity to hear the Gospel and respond with saving faith.

(2) Focus attention on what the narrative says about what saving faith is. Zack’s reaction to Jesus helps us see that saving faith includes repentance. In a day when easy-believism continues to show itself in our congregations, we do our Lord and His people a great service by fleshing out what it means to believe. In verse 8 Zack says, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Was that necessary? Could Zack have been saved without this radical change? Now, we all have an opportunity to assess whether our faith is working like Zack’s.

Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion contains any information about becoming a Christian. Then, look for similar ways to show how that information speaks to Christians about their Savior and their relationship to Him.

Preach well for His glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal