The Big Relief | Relief from Rejection

Luke 19:1-10

September 28, 2025

Rev. Teer Hardy

Here’s the problem: we’re pretty good at defending our trees. We like the safe distance. Voyeurism through the news, doom-scrolling, even church from the bleachers instead of the pews—it lets us watch without risking rejection. But the cost of staying up there is high. Loneliness calcifies. Isolation deepens. And grace—grace!—gets treated like a spectator sport.

Jesus didn’t die because he was nice; he died because he insisted on spending time with the wrong people. Which means if you’re feeling wrong, you’re exactly right. Jesus looks at you—yes, you—and says, “Come down. I must stay at your house today.”

So, for heaven’s sake, don’t stay in the tree. Come down. Let Jesus meddle in your business. Allow grace to cover you. Because the Big Relief is this: in Christ Jesus, loneliness is met with belonging, rejection is met with welcome, and even little losers like Zacchaeus—like us—are remembered by name.

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