Zacchaeus the committed: Last Sunday's Sermon

The Readings

Old Testament

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?

Or cry to you "Violence!"
and you will not save?

Why do you make me see wrong-doing
and look at trouble?

Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.

So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.

The wicked surround the righteous--
therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

I will stand at my watchpost,
and station myself on the rampart;

I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

Then the Lord answered me and said:

Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.

For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.

Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.

The Epistle

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.

To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 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." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." 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." Then Jesus said to him, "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."

The Sermon

Habakkuk is a minor prophet who lived and wrote around 600 BCE. This reading starts out very mournfully. He writes, “Oh Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen, or cry to you violence and you will not save.” This lament was written 2,600 years ago and it still is asked: Why do bad things happen to good people? The answer, if there is an answer, is still the same. We do not know. We do not know the mind of God. We must have faith that whatever happens will work out in one way or another in this life or the next.

Paul talks of faith in his letter to the Thessalonians. The words in this letter that are the most heartening to me are these: “We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing.” Paul is proud of his faith community in Thessalonica.

The bishop in his address to the state convention singled out you at St. Andrew's and proudly spoke of you as a faithful church. He especially spoke of your evangelism. He referred to his conversations with you when he asked how you had decided to come to our church. How you had freely spoken of your faith to your friends and relatives and they became a part of our church family. It almost got a little gushy at times. He in many ways used you as an example of how a healthy church looks. You reach out to others to spread the Good News.

Jesus was spreading the Good News to whoever wanted to hear. Even those who had climbed into trees. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. He was more than just a tax collector. He was a chief tax collector which means he had risen through the ranks of those whom the Jewish community considered a pretty despicable group.

The Jewish community considered Rome to be an occupying invader of their land and the people who collected taxes for them to be complicit in that occupation. Not only that, but tax collectors were known to collect more taxes than required and pocketing the difference. In turn, tax collectors made themselves wealthy. Zacchaeus was one of them!

Jesus made a radical move that day in calling up to Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree and asking him to come down so that they could dine together. Over dinner, Zacchaeus, commits to change his ways and to make amends for his misdeeds.  At that moment he is given salvation by Jesus.

Jesus is reaching out to us as well. We have all been lost at times and Jesus in ready for us to commit to making amends, to do what is right, to ask for forgiveness and experience salvation through God's saving grace.

Being a Christian is not about balancing the scales. It doesn't work that way. I have done many regrettable things in my life and I would guess all of us have. Our task is to be like Zacchaeus and reflect on our sins and commit to making changes that bring us in a closer relationship with God.

Jesus is inviting us to supper. He wants us to commit. Like Zacchaeus, he offers us salvation.