Sermon 10/31/04
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner… - Luke 19:1-10
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Today, for a second week in a row, we happen upon a tax collector in our gospel lesson, this time in the form of the most famous biblical tax collector, Zacchaeus. I don't know about you, but I can't read this story about Zacchaeus without immediately thinking of the Sunday School Song that I learned, complete with motions, that starts, "Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he . . . " But it seems that thing that we most remember about this story has to do with obsessing over Zacchaeus' size, instead of worrying about what actually happened in this scene between this tax collector and Jesus. As always, there's more to this story, if we're willing to look beyond the old Sunday School tune to the message that is being shared with us.
We read that Jesus was traveling through Jericho, which happened to be the home of this rich tax collector, Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus wanted to see this Jesus-character, but the crowd was packed and pressing in, and Zacchaeus wasn't able, because of his height, to get a good view. He didn't hesitate to take some drastic measures to make sure he didn't miss out. Running ahead, he climbed a tree for a better view. Jesus, spotting him, called he down, saying that he would stay at Zacchaeus' house that very day. This shocked and upset the crowds, who immediately took to grumbling that Zacchaeus was - gasp - a sinner! A known sinner! But Zacchaeus stood his ground, saying, look: I will give half of my possessions to the poor, and I will payback four-fold anyone who I've defrauded. Jesus declares for everyone to here: "Today salvation come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.
We can actually find many questions to ask about this simple story. Why was Zacchaeus so eager to meet Jesus? What did this tax collector come hoping to see? Why did he respond so drastically, so instantly to seeing Jesus and having Jesus invite himself to Zacchaeus' home? After all, it is not as though Jesus had healed him or performed some miracle for him, right? But all around, Zacchaeus' behaviors are anything but usual. Last week I quipped that tax collectors in Jesus' day shared the same status that they do today in our own society. But today I should highlight the differences that are important to understanding how Zacchaeus' neighbors would have viewed him. We may not like giving of our hard-earned money to the IRS, but Jewish tax collectors in Jesus' time were working for the Roman government, the very government that had occupied the homeland of the Jews against their will. (1) The tax collectors, then, were basically seen as working for the enemy just for personal financial gain. They were truly despised. So, then, it is no wonder that the crowds grumbled when Jesus invited himself to this man's home. This tax collector was not just someone they looked down on, but someone who would extract money from them, overcharge them, and work with the very government who was occupying their homeland. How would you feel toward such a person? But Zacchaeus seems to tune this all out in his determination to see Jesus. He ran ahead, we read, and climbed a tree. "This," according to Pastor Mark Williams, "was a very undignified thing to do. In Jesus' day, grown men did not run. Running was for children's games. And grown men did not climb trees. For Zacchaeus to run and to climb a tree was degrading. But the crowd in Zacchaeus' hometown probably expected as much from him. He was a tax collector after all." (2)
And then, Jesus approaches, and seems to spot Zacchaeus right away, in his awkward perch, and calls him down into the crowd, and says he will be coming to stay with Zacchaeus - more specifically, that it is necessary for him to stay with this man. The crowd grumbles. But again, Zacchaeus tunes them out. He stood there, we read, as if Jesus' inviting himself to this home has made the speech and murmuring of others totally irrelevant. Jesus has called his name, invited himself in, and Zacchaeus responds. And he doesn't just respond by heading off to prepare, or even by thanking Jesus. Instead, he immediately pledges to make drastic changes in his life and his treatment of others. He declares he will give half of his possessions away, and payback four-fold any he has done wrong. Perhaps we skeptics may wonder if Zacchaeus will follow through with his promises, but Jesus seems wholly satisfied, saying, "today, salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."
Any way we look at things in this story, and place we put ourselves in I think we find lessons for our own lives. First, I think, we can look up into the trees. Zacchaeus, though he may be wealthy as a tax collector, is obviously in many ways an outsider to the community. He is on the fringe, literally up a tree because of his stature and his status. In our text, the crowds are upset with Jesus for looking up and calling out to Zacchaeus, because he is a sinner. Brian Stoffregen points out the disturbing fact that whenever the crowds are grumbling at Jesus they are grumbling because Jesus is extending grace to someone. (3) Do we do the same? Do we complain that it's not right and not fair when God loves someone we find unlovable? We insist that it is not the case. But I think deep inside us, we begrudge people, to some extent, of God's love, when they're not trying as hard to be faithful as we are. Who would we not want called down from the trees into our communities of faith? Who have we pushed outside of our congregation and community because we don't really think they deserve God's unconditional love?
Second, we can go beyond looking up to see who we've left out. We can be like the sycamore tree. (4) We can and have a responsibility to lift others up to where they can see God more clearly, especially when others have made it hard for them to be close to God. We who call ourselves Christians have extraordinary power as reflections of God, because we are made in God's image. If someone looks to you as a person of faith, will they see in you someone who can show them the love of God, or someone who makes them feel further away from God's love? You have a power that you must wield with responsibility. Who is outside our community? How can you bring them in? How can you reach out to them?
Third, we can examine ourselves to see how we are like Zacchaeus. Last week, we tried to put ourselves into the position of the Pharisee instead of taking the then-underdog roll of the tax collector. But if you really wanted to play the part of the tax-collector, today is your chance. Sure, Zacchaeus finds favor and acceptance in the eyes of Jesus. But he doesn't just go on his way, unchanged by Jesus' treatment. He makes drastic changes to the way he's been living. Would you, will you, change your life to live as God has called you to do? This man who has sinned against those in his community doesn't just say he's sorry. He makes restitution and reparations: he pays back what he's taken wrongly and pays it back four-fold. He changes his own life, and makes amends to those he has wronged. Do you have repayments to make? Restitution? What are you willing to give in response to God's call on your life?
And finally, we can remember that as much as we are looking for God, God has already been looking for us. Zacchaeus climbs the tree to look for Jesus, but Jesus was already looking for him, seeking out time with Zacchaeus. How can we react after we have been in the divine presence of God? How do we react when confronted with God's grace and unconditional love? Stoffregen writes, "The "seeker" Zacchaeus, becomes the "sought". While he is trying to see Jesus, apparently Jesus had already seen him . . . While he is trying to discover who Jesus is, Jesus already knows more about him than he knows himself." (5) God is seeking you, whether you are up in the tree, whether you're down in the crowd, whether your lifting others up so that they can see - God is looking for you, wanting to meet with you, because you, too, are a precious and beloved child of God, a recipient of God's grace and unconditional love. For Christ has come to seek out and to save us. Hurry and come down. Christ is here to dwell in the home of your heart. Make room for your guest. Amen.
(1, 2) http://www.woodlandparkumc.org/NewFiles/11-4-01.html - Pastor Mark Williams
(3, 5) Brian P. Stoffregen, http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke19x1.htm
(4) See David Skidmore, http://www.youthspecialties.com/articles/topics/outreach/sycamore.php
* special thanks to Sermon Nuggets, http://home.twcny.rr.com/lyndale/Pentecost%2022C.htm, for pointing me to some of these sources.