ALL SAINTS SUNDAY 2007 

Zacchaeus  [Luke 19:1-10]

      Have you ever been to a parade where you couldn’t see past the person in front of you? Perhaps the person in front of you was too tall or too wide or wearing a hat so big that you couldn’t seen the bands, the floats or the fire trucks...

I know this has happened to 5 foot 4 inch me.

And it was going to happen to Zacchaeus.

     Pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for the Passover were passing through Jericho. Some scholars estimate that tens of thousands of people would be on the road. And this road. the one through Jericho, was one of the two major routes.

Jesus, too, is going to Jerusalem.

     And this holy, holiday is turning into a circus around him. People wanted to see him, and hear him, and touch him. The word of his miracles, healings and teaching has preceded him. So the crowd is full of anticipation. There is jostling and juggling for a place.

If we piece together a time table....

The days of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest are at hand.

He’s turned water into wine and healed lepers, the deaf and the blind.

He’s fed thousands with bread that he took, blessed, broke and shared.

He’s walked on water and stilled the storm swept sea of Galilee.

Now, we tend to think that Zacchaeus acted implusively when he climbed that tree. That day.

I am not sure about that.

It’s not like he had a step ladder.

   But he had a plan. He ran ahead. To the sycamore tree which could have been a 50 high, wide tree with a sturdy trunk, wide spreading branches and big leaves. He knew where that tree was. He knew the advantage it would give him. He would be out of the dust kicked up by the trampling of many, many feet. He could enjoy the shade. And he would be able to see. He’d have a bird’s eye view.

   This was his town, his turf. He didn’t just happen upon this particular tree on this particular day. He knew it was there. By the side of the road. A personal ringside seat.

And when Jesus came to the spot he looked up. And spoke up....

"Zacchaeus, you come down, for I’m coming to your house this day."

[You know the song from childhood. Preacher sings.]

"Zacchaeus was a wee little man.

A wee little man was him.

He climbed up in sycamore tree

 for the Lord he wanted to see.

And the Lord said,

Zacchaeus, you come down, for I am coming to your house today." 

[You don’t know that song? Remedial Church School for you.]

   Maybe Zacchaeus thought quickly to himself: "How does he know my name? ... Why me?" Yet, Zacchaeus quickly slid down the tree, full of wonder and awe.

   But the crowds weren’t too pleased with Jesus’ choice of a new found friend. Zacchaeus was the most despised man in Jericho, a crook. Not only was he a tax collector; he was the chief tax collector. The big boss. The richest man in town. He worked for the Roman government, collecting their taxes. And everyone knew that tax collector’s padded the tax bills for their own personal benefit.

   So if A equals B. And B equals C. Then A and C meant that Zacchaeus was thief, a con man, but untouchable because he was protected by the Roman government. And the crowd murmured what a poor choice Jesus made.

   And we tend to agree with the crowd. The elder brother in us just shakes our head and says once again Jesus has picked an unfit person.  Once again, Jesus is going against convention.

   That’s what we think because not all our translations of scripture are helpful here. And preachers have not always been helpful.

   Over and over, sermons talk about how bad the cheating tax collector Zacchaeus was and how this encounter with Jesus changed him. Made him a new man. Preachers wax eloquent about this being one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible, about a short little man who climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus. They say it is "a story about a man who was transformed from greedy to generous,  from selfish to selfless, from a thieving heart to a thanksgiving heart."

And then manage to make this into a stewardship sermon.

Well, any sermon that calls us to commitment to Christ is a stewardship sermon. I understand stewardship to be all that we do with all that we have after we say we want to follow Jesus Christ as disciples.

Let’s get some help. Let’s look at Eugene Peterson’s translation in The Message, which is a paraphrase that has the tenses correct.

Listen again and hear the difference.

Luke 19:5-8

[5] When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home."

[6] Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him.

[7] Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, "What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?"

[8] Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, "Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I'm caught cheating, I pay four times the damages."

Did you hear the present tense?

I give away half my income.

Not I will from now on and in the future. I already do.

Did you hear the present tense?

If I’m found cheating, I pay 4 times the difference.

Not I will from now on and in the future. I already do.

Present tense. I already do.

This is my current behavior.

These statements are not offered as repentance.

They are just...offered by someone trying to say...I don’t know why I am judged so badly. I do my job scrupulously not unscrupulously.

This moment for Zacchaeus is like that awkward moment when you know your sibling or coworker is doing something hurtful or harmful and you are in the situation and you want to apologize but its not your apology to make. So you stammer...you can’t pretend it isn’t happening.

So that raises lots of questions for us.

This Sunday’s newspaper carries the front page headline:

Election in sight, but out of voters’ minds

So I offer this current event:

A recent IRS ruling has said that parts of a 2004 All Saints’ Sunday sermon delivered by a guest preacher at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California does include prohibited political speech, but the IRS has decided against revoking the church’s tax-exempt status.

Apparently, on the Sunday before the national election, The Rev. George Regas, the former rector, had pictured Jesus in a political debate with George W. Bush and John Kerry and Jesus was telling both men that war was wrong and that the poor should be fed.

The Church has already spent over $200,000 in legal costs. Now All Saints’ Pasadena has learned through information gained by invoking the federal sunshine laws that the US Department of Justice weighed in on the sermon before it hit the IRS’s radar. Interesting don’t you think?

Well, $200,000 is a lot of money. Yet, All Saints’ Pasadena has decided to push back and sue for recovery as they say there are no clearer guidelines now for churches than there were in 2004 and that this IRS action [ and, perhaps, Justice Department action] puts a chill into the hearts of preachers across the country.

So, I tell you this because Tuesday is an election day. Please, please vote. The Emmaus Library is giving out booklets prepared by the League of Women Voters to help you make an informed choice.

And I tell you this because sometimes the crowds or the authorities have it wrong. The crowds were against Zacchaeus that day. And a few days later the crowds and the authorities would be against Jesus of Nazareth.

The crowds around Jesus misjudged Zacchaeus and piled on....

Looks. Murmurs. And Cold shoulders.

[All you football fans know that piling on is an offense.]

Do you think Jesus misjudged Zacchaeus?

Jesus looked up at Zacchaeus.

Called him by name.

And I can picture Jesus putting his arm across Zacchaeus’ shoulders as they walked to Zacchaeus’ home.

Now what do you think they talked about as they walked?

What do you think Jesus and Zacchaeus talked about while they were at table fellowship, sharing a meal, Breaking and eating bread....?  What do you think these two companions said to one another?

 I wonder. Was Jesus really rewarding Zacchaeus for his zeal?

Jesus could see that Zacchaeus wanted to see. After all, he did climb up that tall sycamore tree with the large trunk, sturdy branches and big leaves.

Jesus said,

I’m coming to your house today.

I’m coming to your hearth.

I’m coming to your heart.

So, this is not a story of a lost sinner found and restored.

Zacchaeus was not lost to God. Zacchaeus was lost to the community.

Jesus does not tell Zacchaeus, "Go and sin no more."

This is the story of a devout man seeking to deepen his knowledge of and relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

This is the story that reminds us that no one is beyond God’s mercy. Even the struggling faithful who desperately want to get it right. The "struggling faithful who desperately want to get it right"...does that remind you of anyone you know?

We’re all a little like the woman who comes to Madge the beautician in the Palmolive ad...we despair of our rough hands and long for smooth ones... and what does Madge say?

"Palmolive softens hands while you do the dishes.

You’re soaking in it!"

My friends, my companions...

We are already soaking in God’s love and mercy.

We are fed and nourished on the Body and Blood of Christ.

God is shaping us as a strong community which can

welcome the outcast,

feed the hungry

and end war.

Yes. That and more.

Together we are the children of Abraham.

Together we are the children of God.

Together we are part of all the Saints,

living and dead,

past, present and future.

AMEN.