March 11, 2007
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on the Journey: The story of Zaccheus is really a simple story that begins with one man wanting to see Jesus so badly he defied social convention to do it, and was rewarded with an invitation to receive Jesus. It begins simply enough. Jesus is passing through the town of Jericho making his way toward Jerusalem when he meets Zaccheus who is described as a wealthy tax collector. In those days to be Jewish and a tax collector was to be thought of as nothing less than a collaborator with the Roman occupiers. Then it was the practice of the Roman government to hire local business people to collect all of their taxes, tolls, and fees. These chief tax collectors first had to pay all of the taxes, tolls, and fees up front. They were allowed to charge the people more than was owed as a kind of service fee or profit, like the 20-30% interest banks like to charge for using a credit card. These chief tax collectors were treated by their Jewish brothers and sisters as traitors for their work in supporting those who oppressed the Jews. Zaccheus was a successful man in material terms, but like the young ruler about whom Jesus said, "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Luke 18.18-25), Zaccheus knew that that there were some empty spaces in his life. Something was missing and he looked to Jesus to fill in the gap (New Interpreters’ Bible. Luke/John, vol. IX Nashville. Abingdon Press. 1995, p.356-357). As the gaps are filled, Zaccheus helps us learn some more about discipleship. First, discipleship begins with us being eager to see and know Jesus, no matter what. We learned the song when we were little, "Zaccheus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he; he climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see." Too short to see over or around the people lined up to get a glimpse of Jesus, too disrespected for people to let him stand in front of them, he did what he had to do to see Jesus. Zaccheus figured out that if he ran ahead and shimmied up that tall tree over there, he would get there before anyone else, even at the cost of his dignity. He did not care that no self-respecting grown man would be seen running down the road, or climbing a tree. He was willing to open himself to further contempt and ridicule by doing so. But it did not bother him, he just wanted to see Jesus (New Interpreters’ Bible, p. 357). It is our desire to see Jesus, to know that he is near, to be in his presence, to get from him all that God has given to him for us – all the love, grace, hope, courage, joy, humility, forgiveness and the ability to forgive that makes us do things the seem unusual if not absolutely strange to some. What Barbara Brown Taylor says of her Episcopal church experience is true for ours: "Our bread is given, not earned. We had nowhere else to go and nothing to do but sit there together, saying sonorous words in unison, listening to language we did not hear anywhere else in our lives. ‘Take heart. Go in peace. Bear fruit. Although we could have sat quietly with Bibles on our laps and read these things to ourselves, we took turns reading them out loud to each other instead. The words sounded different when [Rich] read them that they did when [Regina] read them. They sounded different from the mouth of a young mother than they did from the mouth of a widow. This was because the words did not come straight off the page. They percolated up through the silt and gravel of real people’s lives so that the meaning in them was fluid, not fixed. Listening to one another read Holy Scripture, some us learned what is meant by ‘the living word of God." "We also sang things we could have more easily said. The Lord be with you. And also with you. [We might think the same thing about the Gloria Patri and the Doxology]. None of us would have dreamed of doing this in the grocery store, but by doing it in church we remembered that there was another way to address one another…Where else did any of us sing anymore, especially with other people? Where else could someone pick up the alto line on the second verse of "Amazing Grace" and give five other people the courage to sing in harmony? Sometimes, when we were through, we would all just stand there listening until the last note turned entirely to air" (Barbara Brown Taylor. Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith. HarperSanFrancisco, 2006, p.93). What else do we do? We gather here on Sunday morning rain, shine, or a few inches of snow. We sing faith songs and pray and break bread and lift the cup of blessing. We declare that we worship a God whose reality gives meaning to our lives. Like Zaccheus, we want to see Jesus and we want to know that seeing him and knowing him will make all the difference in the world to our lives. Then having seen him, we are invited to become disciples of his by letting Jesus see us. Somehow Jesus knew who Zaccheus was. Had he been told about this notorious chief tax collector? Had someone whispered in his ear to stay away from him? We do not know. We do know however, that Jesus knew that Zaccheus needed him, and that because he "looked beyond his faults and saw his need", Jesus called Zaccheus to come down from his tree, and invited himself to Zaccheus’ house, and that the second thing we learn about discipleship is that it asks us to make room for Jesus, to welcome him into our lives, even if the people watching don’t understand. The crowd sees Jesus talking with Zaccheus, going toward his house, and they do not celebrate that Jesus has reached out to one in need of redemption. Instead they complain…"why is he going to his house?" "What could they have to talk about?" "Why didn’t Jesus invite himself to my house, it is closer, I am no tax collector, and people like me." Envy and jealousy can eat away the very core of us, they can make us blind and resentful, so that we do not see clearly and so that we are so angry and bitter that we miss the larger point. The people seeing Jesus and Zaccheus believe what is happening is that Jesus is in the home of a sinner. They do not understand that he is in the home of a soon to be redeemed man. Maybe that is their point. Do you know anyone whose life was an unhappy mess, but then they turned their life around, found meaning in a relationship with Jesus, and people still complained? That is what is happening with Zaccheus. But Jesus knows what is really going on. When he saw Zaccheus, "he knew who he was, and what he had done, but Jesus also sensed his loneliness, the estrangement, the alienation that Zaccheus was feeling that day, and his heart went out to him. In essence, Jesus says to him, ‘Zaccheus, I know who you are, I know all about you. I know what you have done. But I want to spend some time with you. Hurry and come down, and let’s have lunch together!’ Zaccheus felt the warmth, the love, the acceptance, the forgiveness, and he was so touched in that moment that his whole life was changed. It was turned completely around" (James W. Moore. On the Road Again: A Faith Journey. Nashville. Abingdon Press, 2006, p.25). The people fussed, but Zaccheus was able to focus for the first time on what was really important in his life. The third thing he teaches us about discipleship is that it gives us perspective to see that God is calling us through Jesus Christ to let go of some things so that we can make room for him. Then we can recognize our failures and shortcomings and do all we can to make things right. Zaccheus let go of his need to be the richest, most powerful man in town when he declared his intent to make restitution to people he had cheated. He will give half of his possessions to the poor. What would happen if we each called up an agency like Goodwill or Material Assistance Providers, a group that collects unused furniture to give to low income people so that they can furnish their homes, what if we called them and said, "I want to give you half the furniture in my house so that someone else can make use of it?" Wouldn’t our discipleship deepen? "The story of Zaccheus is a tale of unexpected twists and reversals. A chief tax collector embarrasses himself by running and climbing a tree, but Jesus’ ministry to the outcast and despised reaches the rich as well as the poor, tax collectors as well as other outcasts. Jesus has sought out and saved one who was lost…Zaccheus thought he was seeking to see Jesus, but in reality Jesus was seeking Zaccheus. So salvation cane come even to the house of a tax collector. Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus, but like Simeon, by the end of the story he could say to God, ‘my eyes have seen your salvation’" (New Interpreters’ Bible, p. 359). Zaccheus promised to restore the losses he helped to create. Each of us can decide for ourselves what the right thing to do it, how we can best be agents of restoration and relationships with God. We have said here that we will "build on our heritage of diversity by spreading a welcome table for all members of God’s family today", and that we will do so by "knowing God, building relationships, and doing justice." God calls us to join the journey of restoration. The fourth thing we learn about discipleship is that it carries with it a great promise. Jesus says to Zaccheus what he says to us, "today salvation has come to this house for you Zaccheus, are not reduced to being just a tax collector, or just the rich guy, or just anything. You are a child of God, a son of Abraham." Jesus says to him and to us, "I came for you because you were lost, I came for you because you were bound up in a system that dishonored people and yourself. I came for you because I wanted to find you and save you, and offer you the redemption of God." We are the sons and daughters of Abraham, we like Zaccheus have a heritage to know and to celebrated. We have worth, we belong to God, to a family, to a circle of friends, to so much greater than our individual selves. God loves us and nothing can change that. We don’t know what else Zaccheus did after promising to restore what he had taken. But I like to think he stood a little taller and walked a little faster, and in his new life, he was a happy man. The good news for us is that through the amazing grace and mercy of God, salvation can come to our house, our church, our lives today. It can come to our lives in fresh and new ways, and as we celebrate with Zaccheus, we can celebrate Jesus too. We can celebrate that he does not only pass through where we are, but that he has made his home among us, living in us and through us, changing our lives and the lives of others, making us new. He is looking up for us as we look for him to say, "come down, let me come to your house, your church, your life today, and see the amazing grace I have for you." Thanks be to God. Amen.
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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