| Luke 19:1-10 "Living The Dream" |
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| Written by Rev. Don Lee | |
| Saturday, 18 March 2006 | |
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A college student needed a small two-hour course to fill out his schedule, so he signed up for Wildlife Zoology. After one week, the professor gave the class a test. She passed out a sheet of paper divided into squares. In each square was a carefully drawn picture of some bird legs. No bodies, no feet, just legs. The test asked each student to identify the birds from their legs. The student sat and stared at the test, getting more and more angry until, finally he stomped up to the front of the classroom, threw the test on the teacher's desk, and growled, "This is the worst test I’ve ever taken!" Taking out her grade-book, the teacher said, "Young man, you have just flunked this test! What’s your name?" The student pulled up his pant-leg and angrily shook his leg at the professor saying, "You tell me!" Okay, I know…it’s an odd story. But, honestly, so is the story of Zacchaeus from the Gospel of Luke! 1) The story takes place in a rather odd setting in the branches of a Sycamore tree in the City of Tumbling Walls, Jericho! Actually scholars believe the tree was a ficus sycamorus or fig tree. 2) It involves a person of questionable character, a tax collector named Zacchaeus. Tax collectors in 1st century Palestine were notorious for their greed, extracting money from the people for the benefit of their Roman Overlords, while enriching themselves in the process. 3) It follows with an ironic invitation. “Zacchaeus,” (the text never tells us how Jesus knows his name). “Zacchaeus, guess who’s coming to dinner?!” A religious teacher and known miracle worker will bring his entourage to dinner at the home of an infamous sinner. 4) It ends with a radically unpredictable response. Imagine making right every wrong you’ve ever committed; and then, giving half of what you own to the poor! Talk about extravagant! The only thing in this story that seems half-way normal is the crowd’s response! They cannot believe that Jesus, a religious teacher would have much of anything to do with such an notorious sinner, much less invite himself over for dinner! Just entering this man’s home will make Jesus ceremonially unclean. Then again Jesus is only living up to the accusations of the religious leaders: (Luke 15:1-2) “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” It’s called “guilt-by-association.” For his part, Jesus was often critical of the Pharisees and Scribes, the religious leaders of the day. One time he even referred to them as “white washed tombs…” Modern paraphrase? “I see dead people!” (Matthew 23:23) As one author puts it, “Religious people have always been a problem for God.” I’ll add a hearty Amen to that! There’s a distinct difference between the religion of the Pharisee’s and that of Jesus’. The Pharisees insisted people clean up their act before they could come to God. Jesus took the Gospel to where people were, and preached that God accepted them AS IS, so that in light of God’s love they might come to their senses (think Prodigal son) and turn back toward God. Writes Reggie McNeal, Author of The Present Future, “Instead of advancing religious institutionalism, Jesus talked about experiencing abundant life based on personal relationship with God. He gave himself away to poor people, sick people, unclean people, the disadvantaged, and disenfranchised from the religion of the privileged.” P. 28-29. The Present Future So lets see what Good News the story of Zacchaeus has for us: Our reading comes from the gospel of Luke 19:1-10. Please stand as you are able for the reading of the Gospel. He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ 6So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ 8Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ 9Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’ Prayer: God of love, open the doors to our minds and hearts so we can see Jesus. Amen. So, Zacchaeus! What were you doing in that tree? The narrator gives the simplistic answer, Zacchaeus was short and shimmied up the tree to get a better look. However, given his response to Jesus’ invitation, there’s clearly more going on here then meets the eye! Think about it. Jesus has performed no miracle. Healed no sickness, restored no sight, forgiven no sin, fed no stomach. He’s not even so much as preached a sermon! None of this…zero, zip, nada! Insert any of these of actions and you might expect to get the reaction Zacchaeus gives. But no! Passing through Jericho, surrounded by crowds, Jesus looks up and sees Zacchaeus watching him through the branches of a fig tree. Jesus calls out, “Hey you! Zacchaeus is it? Come down and lets have lunch.” That’s it. 1st, the branches of a 20-30 foot Fig Tree may be preferred seating for a parade, it is not the best place to be seen! During Spring Break we took our children to a park in our old neighborhood where they spontaneously broke into a game of hide n seek. Granted, there’s not a lot you can hide behind in a park! Playground equipment, a trash can, a tree…that pretty much does it. My daughter, the gymnast climbed up in one of the trees, and disappeared into its foliage. It was like she wasn’t even there. Zacchaeus, above the typical field of vision and surrounded by the dense foliage of the Ficus Sycamorus, would need to draw attention to himself to be seen. This is something Zacchaeus was not apt to do, given the disdain with which the community held him and his own sense of shame. 2ndly, once seen, I don’t think Zacchaeus ever expected Jesus to acknowledge him, much less offer to share a meal with him. In the Ancient Middle Eastern culture sharing a meal with someone was an expression of intimacy, even solidarity. Jesus confers a special honor on Zacchaeus by offering to receive hospitality from him. So lets match this bird to it’s proverbial pair of legs: I believe Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus without being seen. This might explain his wild response to Jesus’ invitation. That which I did not seek nor in my wildest dreams imagine, has taken place. God has chosen me! Seen past my sin, my brokenness and shame, and accepted me (as is). And it must have angered the crowd to no end for Jesus to extend his invitation to Zacchaeus. Would it make you angry to consider that former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic (a self avowed atheist) who died while on trial for war crimes was much a candidate for God’s grace as you or me? Anyone can clearly see that he did not deserve forgiveness or acceptance. But then again, according to scripture, nor do we. In C.S. Lewis’ book The Great Divorce, a visitor from Hell is greeted in heaven by a former employee who’d murdered a co-worker. So appalled that this murderer not only made it to heaven but has been sent to be his guide, the man prefers to return to Hell rather than remain in Heaven. If it weren’t for grace none of us “would-have-a-chance” with God. Zacchaeus is not only seen by Jesus, he’s known by him. Jesus somehow knows Zacchaeus’ name, greets him with respect; and treats him with honor. This is what my Faith tells me; No matter how badly you or I have screwed up in life, Jesus know us by name! Amen? God is in the business of breaking down even the walls us religious folk throw up! For his part, Zacchaeus gets it. He identifies the people his society considers “bottom rung,” the poor, (the orphan, the widowed, the alien) and shares his wealth with them. He does this because that’s the nature of grace! It’s extravagant and wasteful! I call this, Living the Dream! I am so excited about our partnership with Christ’ Foundry, the Hispanic church in the Bachman Lake area. I’ve been in conversation with members Gary McCoy and Albert Santella about ways that we can truly honor that relationship as a partnership. One of the things we are looking at is a La Posada celebration for our community, that the members of Christ’s Foundry could help us put together. It will involve going into the neighborhood around the church, meeting our neighbors and connecting with Hispanics in our community for this Christmas celebration in the Mexican tradition. The irony is, we may be breaking the law by doing this! The “Specter” immigration bill that’s being considered by the Senate criminalizes undocumented persons and seeks to penalize anyone that offers them aid. In this day and age of terrorism, we need laws that protect our borders, but laws that are also compassionate and realistic. I take issue with a law that forces the church to refuse charity to the undocumented, whether they be among the homeless at Austin Street, the Hispanic students of Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, the children of Christ’ Foundry, or the hungry of our own community. Our job is to love people for Jesus, PERIOD! That’s the message our elected leaders need to hear from us, the church! In the words of our baptismal covenant, we “ renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness and reject the evil power of this world. The spiritual forces of this world include things like poverty, oppressive governments, racism, sexism, AIDS, and greed. Holy Covenant is the power of God in this world, calling to those living in the shadows of darkness, and bringing to them the light of God’s love. We are called to take the good news of God’s grace to the streets! Ultimately, the story of Zacchaeus is about grace. God finding us, treating us better then we deserve. God tearing down walls that divide us from God and one another. God inciting in us a desire for a more just and loving world. Now I know we won’t all agree on how this is going to look. But we are all family here, and family doesn’t have to agree to know that we belong together. Just ask your mate, child or parent. Anne Lamott writes about being a part of a wedding rehearsal that went badly. She shared her concerns to the priest who responded, “I promise you it will all work out, in its own perfectly imperfect way. Weddings are about families, and families can be a bit of a mess under stress. But the love that will gather tomorrow night is much more important than anything else on earth, and bigger than anything else on earth, too. Because finally, that love is sovereign. P.249 Here’s what I believe: Because God’s love is sovereign, walls are stilling tumbling down! As we continue our wilderness journey through the Shadowlands of Lent, let us drink deeply of God’s grace and fill our jar full, for the journey ahead. God’s grace in the words of Isaiah 25:4, is “a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm…” Or in the words of a modern psalmist: 'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form. "Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm." -lyrics “Shelter from the Storm” by Bob Dylan |
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