Luke 19:1-10
1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When 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.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus 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.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10 (NRSV)
Sermon
All who saw it began to grumble.
When I was young and single working at my first job…in North Battleford…many of my co-workers were also young and single. We spent a significant amount of time together…after work. At least once a week we ate out at local restaurants. We got to know the serving staff and they got to know us quite well… Because of this the service was generally quite good… However, one of our group was never completely satisfied… Before we could even settle ourselves he began grumbling…He grumbled about the service… about the food…about anything else he could think of… He always had to modify to menu items or give detailed instructions on how it should be prepared… Frequently he sent food back to the kitchen when he was not satisfied… He made a point of wiping the dish washer spots off of his cutlery…and he talked out of the side of his mouth about the service…and refused to leave a tip.
I suspected that he thought that he was making constructive comments which improve the quality of service. But course the grumbling had an unintended effect… It did not improve service for him…in fact it did just the opposite… Even if he was the first to order…often he was the last to get his meal…sometimes the order was forgotten… or it was mixed up… He got mashed instead of fries…gravy or no gravy. In sharp contrast… service to the rest of the group was very good… food was delivered quickly and with a big smile… And often everyone was almost done eating their meal… when his finally arrived.
Because of his constant grumbling the rest of our group attempted to distance ourselves from the grumbler. We tried to sit at the far end of the table…so we would not have to hear the grumbling. And we never grumbled about our meals even if something was not quite right. And because we felt embarrassed for the server… we all left more generous tips …then we may have on different occasions… For us being in the presence of a grumbler… was an uncomfortable experience.
Today Jesus too hears from grumblers… Many are the people who have spent a large amount of time with him. They have answered his call and are following him on his journey to Jerusalem… On the way…they have heard him tell parables about Lost Sheep and Lost Coins… about an unjust judge and the poor widow … about poor Lazarus and the rich man…about the Pharisee and the poor tax collector. They have accompanied Jesus….who heals forgotten shunned Lepers even a foreign one. They think that they have it all figured out… Jesus is a David and Goliath personality… He forgives sinners while being critical prominent religious authorities…He is on the side of poverty against riches… he sides with the insignificant against the prominent…
With this wonderful knowledge…they follow Jesus through the streets of Jericho. The come upon Zacchaeus a prominent chief tax collector…”bad”…he is rich…“bad” … He collects tax for the evil Roman Empire… Therefore this is an easy one…it is easy to know who Jesus will side with… To their astonishment Jesus speaks with Zacchaeus and even invites himself to his house. How can he do this? Jesus has jumped outside of the boundaries that he seems to have been building. He crosses over to the side of the very people who have drawn his criticism. “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Shame… Shame… Shame…
Note…different to other encounters that Jesus has with other grumblers…today he seems not to hear them… All of his attention is focused on Zacchaeus… We can imagine him sighing contentedly and smiling broadly… as he pronounces; “Today salvation has come to this house,” while the grumblers are left to wonder about this new revelation about Jesus.
Sometimes we too wonder about Jesus… As his followers do… we too assume that we have it all figured out… We too assume that Jesus’ love is limited to those who need him most…the poor… the oppressed…the sick…to the widow. We also assume that Jesus also has a special love for those of us who have been especially faithful disciples. But today Jesus surprises us… and shows us one more time that his care is not limited… It is not limited to Jesus’ followers… It is not limited to the disadvantaged…
While his care is for everyone close to him… it is not limited to us… In fact Jesus’ care has no limits. Jesus has come to seek out and to save the lost. Jesus is on a constant mission to seek out and save all of the lost…not just some of the lost… and they don’t to be a member of any group to make their salvation more assured. Today even though a curious Zacchaeus climbs a tree trying to see who is passing…it is Jesus who opens the conversation between them… It is Jesus who invites himself into his home and then into the heart of Zacchaeus. The attention and smile Jesus gives drowns out the grumbling noises. Jesus silences the noises… Jesus cares… Jesus honors… and Jesus brings salvation today.
Being called down and given the honor to host Jesus in his house… is a life changing experience for Zacchaeus. Suddenly the usual things of his life can no longer be the same. Suddenly he is able to see things differently than before. He sees his own riches…in relation to what others have around him. He is moved to compassionately share with the poor. He is also moved to rectify any harm he has caused people. Not only does salvation come to his house today… but salvation also comes to his community.
Today as Zacchaeus does…let our curiosity open our eyes to look for our Savior… And let our ears be open to the invitation from Jesus to fully enter into our lives. And let us open our hearts to understand our world differently. Then let us open our selves to be used to bring salvation to our world. Thank be to God. Amen
Out of the Wilderness 