GUEST OF A SINNER
1. Little man Zacchaeus sat high above the crowd.
Jesus saw him watching there, spoke to him out loud,
“I must stay with you today,
come down from your tree.”
You were the guest of a sinner long ago,
So be my guest, come & stay with me.
2. Little man Zacchaeus stood later on that day,
‘Half of what I own’, he said, ‘I will give away –
paying back the ones I robbed
— now at last I’m free!
3. Ah, Zaccheus, how you longed for the one who came.
He fulfilled your desperate need, took away your shame.
Jesus, come into my house,
fill this vacancy.
4. Be the guest of everyone, light the darkest room,
make your home in every heart, heal the deepest wound;
where there's failure and despair,
bring your company.
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1986. Isn't the story of Zacchaeus terrific? (Luke 19:1-10) I wrote an earlier song called "Zac the little man" (in 1975) but I like this one a lot more. Gospel stories like this one have been so important to me in understanding what God's about and figuring out our situation in relation to the Creator. In my early 20's I liked the letters of Paul more, but it's the Gospels that have inspired and informed more of my songs for the last 15 years or so. They're more songlike - full of stories of course, and also images and pictures - and they also help to keep faith in tension, open-ended and in a state of flux. |
ALWS 29/5/24
In May 2023 we travelled to the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia, seeing work supported by Australian Lutheran World Service. Dorothy and I are Ambassadors for the ALWS programme, Lives You Touch. We are encouraging people to leave money in their will for the work of ALWS. We committed to leave a third of our will many years ago and hope many others can touch lives in this way.
Last year we visited churches in SA, Vic, Qld and WA with Jonathan & Julie Krause promoting the cause of ALWS.
Coming up soon:
* Nuriootpa (St Petri) Saturday June 22, 4 pm
To be confirmed:
Bordertown July 28,
Everton Park (Qld) August 17,
Canberra August 24
Looking forward to seeing you at one of these events