CASTIMONIA

Sexual Purity Support & Recovery Group

amends

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Zacchaeus – Repentant Taxman

by applyingmybeliefs

Luke 19:8-9 – And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”  ESV

Zacchaeus was a short man with a big bank account.  Most of this came from his tax collecting activities where he was the conduit between the regular tax collectors and the governing authorities, and he skimmed off the top, or took a personal commission.  This meant that he was a thief, a thief with a high legal position.  In the story (Lk 19:1-10) we see some important truths.

First, Zacchaeus was very keen to see Jesus; he had to climb up a tree.  To put that in perspective, it would be like a high level IRS agent, a high paid bureaucrat, used to getting his way, having to demean himself.  Second, that Jesus saw him up the tree, and recognized that Zacchaeus was ready to repent.  Third, when all the regular folk saw that Jesus was going to the home of Zacchaeus they condemned Him.  Fourth, Zacchaeus, as a result of his encounter with Jesus, was able to shift from a desire to repent through to a choice to make amends.

The fifth and last point has a large significance for us in Christian recovery.  As a result of this choice to make amends Jesus indicates that salvation came to the entire household of Zacchaeus.  While Jesus was undoubtedly stating the household of Zacchaeus was saved, as in born again, our application is different.  For a Christ follower who takes the path of repentance and amends the salvation is in the form of sanctification, or a cleaning up of our internal darker places.

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Living Amends – VIDEO

I recently saw the movie The Monuments Men and thought it was fantastic.  I especially loved the part that in this movie, one of the characters, 2nd Lt. Donald Jeffries is a recovering alcoholic who basically allows God to change his life so that he can serve as part of this unit of troops dedicated to saving works of art during World War II.

The plot of this movie has been pasted below courtesy of Google:

During World War II, the Nazis steal countless pieces of art and hide them away. Some over-the-hill art scholars, historians, architects, and other experts form a unit to retrieve as many of the stolen masterpieces as possible. The mission becomes even more urgent when the team learns about Hitler’s “Nero Decree,” which orders destruction of the artworks if the Third Reich falls. Caught in a race against time, the men risk their lives to protect some of mankind’s greatest achievements.

What I saw in this movie was a great example of someone in recovery writing an Amends Letter as well as displaying the concept of Living Amends.  This is a great example for someone working Step Nine of the Twelve Steps on how to make amends to those that we cannot or should not contact.

I hope you enjoy watching this video as much as I enjoyed creating it.  As always, take what you like and leave the rest.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, & education, etc. This constitutes a ’fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED! All trademarks and copyrights remain the property of their owners.

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Castimonia Monday Night Meeting Topic – Step 9 Step Study

Step 9: We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:10,18)

Today’s meeting is the first meeting of the month which is typically a “Step Study” of the corresponding month.  Since September is the 9th month, we reviewed Step 9 in both The Twelve Steps for Christians and the SAA Green Book.

I believe the most important reason to make amends is to clean up “our side of the street.”  When we make amends to others, we are not asking for their forgiveness, we are simply taking ownership of what we did to wrong them and offering to “pay” for the damage we caused.  This “payment” can be done in terms of actual money or other non-financial reparations that need to be made in order to offset the damage we have done, such as being emotionally present if we were emotionally absent in our addiction.

In making amends, we do not concern ourselves with the out come of the amends or the other person’s reaction.  Their reaction is not a reflection on how well or poorly we made amends, that is their business and none of ours.  Our only task in making amends is to take ownership for what we did wrong and make amends as previously mentioned.

Some of the best amends we can make to others are what are called “living amends” or basically a change in lifestyle.  When our friends, family, etc… see that we are now living a different lifestyle filled with gratitude and thanksgiving, then our amends become living.  The change that began in the first few steps is now seen as evident when we make amends to others.  This change continues as we grow in maturity and in connection with God.

Finally, we must understand the second part of step 9 – except when to do those would injure them or others.  This is extremely important if our amends to certain individuals will harm them more than do good.  Perhaps they no long wish to have any contact with us, therefore, we respect their decisions and make amends privately, written in a letter form, to our Sponsor.  This is also true for those of us who are married and wish to make amends to old acting-out partners.  Amends to these past partners should only be done if our spouse approves of the amends and method, and maybe tags along too!  Many spouses do not want the addict to make contact with old acting-out partners, which is a completely acceptable request from the spouse.  In these cases, we also write letters to our old acting out partners and read those amends letters to our sponsor.