Year C

Luke 19:1-10

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

Out On a Limb for Jesus

I was never much of a tree climber. Growing up in Southwest Florida, we had palm trees in our yard and palm trees are not easy to climb. I do remember one tree in San Antonio, TX where my father was stationed that my brother and I spent hours on. We were preschool age and it was a big tree that was bent and low to the ground so we could climb it. I’m sure my mother wished she could have moved that tree with us when we moved to El Paso. I’ve never been tall either and there have been times when I wish there was a tree for me to climb so I could see above a crowd. I have no trouble understanding Zacchaeus’ dilemma today. Like me, at times, he couldn’t see but he wanted to.

We know two things about Zacchaeus from the very beginning of the story. He was a tax collector and he was rich. Zacchaeus is a common Jewish name. It means innocent, clean. Of course, Zacchaeus in Luke’s story was anything but innocent when it came to money dealings! Tax collectors were even less popular in those days than the IRS is today. In the opinion of his fellow Jews, Zacchaeus was collaborating with the hated Romans, no doubt defrauding his own people and getting rich in the process.

Apparently he was an informed person and curious. He had heard about Jesus and knew he was coming. He wanted to see him, but there was a crowd waiting to see Jesus and he was short. His limitations got in the way, and perhaps because he was so disliked, no one was willing to let him go to the front where he could see. But Zacchaeus was determined and innovative, unafraid to go out on a limb. And that’s exactly what he did! He climbed a tree so he could see Jesus-he sought the Lord and look what happened. Jesus came by, looked up, told Zacchaeus to come down and that he needed to stay at his house.

Jesus, staying with the hated, tax collector? Zacchaeus who went out on a limb to see Jesus, recognized later that it was Jesus who was seeking him. An old hymn written in 1880, author unknown puts it this way: I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew. God moved my soul, to seek God, seeking me. It was not that I found, O Savior true: No, I was found of thee. Zacchaeus, from that encounter with Jesus had a change of heart, a change of life!

He recognizes the fact that he has wronged many in the past and vows in the presence of all his guests to “give half of his possessions to the poor, and pay back four times as much as he owed to anyone he had defrauded.” Formerly clenched fists have become open hands. Zacchaeus’ heart became rich toward God through visible, intentional action. Yet, can you imagine the cost to him? Not only in terms of money, but think of the cost of his pride and of the change in his life-style. Yet, think of the freedom and joy those changes meant for the little rich man—Jesus captures his heart, and he hears Jesus say, “Today, salvation has come to this house.” Zacchaeus’ life was changed forever.

What about us? If we were in this situation, trying to see the Lord but couldn’t because of people or situations or because of our own limitations, would we be as quick to do something about it? What if Jesus were to confront us? The truth is we have been confronted by Jesus. Not in a physical way or in the same way he confronted Zacchaeus, but in our baptism, in the word of God, in our worship, in the sacraments, and in the faces of those around us. Confrontation with Jesus changes the course of one’s life. Are we willing to go out on a limb like Zacchaeus when we make decisions about what we do with our financial resources and the time and abilities God has given us?

Choices have consequences, but in God’s mercy, the good news is that we have more than one chance to choose. Zacchaeus thought he had made one set of choices, but faced with Jesus, he chooses again. This time he chooses to be what he is created for, an inheritor of God’s great promise of love and faithfulness. Paul writes in his second letter to the Thessalonians, commending them for the choices they have made, for their faith and their love. They have the satisfaction of knowing that their witness and financial resources are helping others to see God. Even though they are suffering persecution, they are not tempted to be like the people Habakkuk is speaking about. The Thessalonians accept their fate with gladness, because it gives them even more of a chance to demonstrate their faith and trust.  

As for the early church that Paul was writing to and for Luke, it is not enough to understand that Jesus is God’s Messiah and to believe in him, one’s life must reflect one’s confession. While the proud Pharisee in last Sunday’s parable reminds God of his faithful tithing, Zacchaeus offers half of his substantial wealth to the poor. When God calls us, we respond with faith, and this passage clearly portrays Zacchaeus’s response to the call of the Messiah. Very simply, he comes down out of his safe haven in the tree and stands with Jesus, who “happily welcomes him.” It wasn’t a matter of buying salvation! It was a matter of responding to the relationship Jesus offered. Jesus had room for the outcast in his heart and as a result Zacchaeus reached out to others. His heart is changed by the grace of God.

What if we were to respond as joyfully and dynamically as Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus gave 50 percent; do we have room in our hearts to respond with 10 or 15 percent? Jesus went out on a limb for us, on a cross and he calls us to respond to that sacrificial life with lives lived for the sake of others. When we move from a closed fist, not simply with money but with people and the gifts that we all have to offer, to an open hand that reaches out, brings in, and builds up, we experience that same changed heart by the grace of God. And, we can remember a happy saint of the church, Zacchaeus, as we seek to follow Christ in worship, in our work lives, and at home. For, “Today salvation has come to our house,” as it has for all those happy saints whose hearts were changed by the grace of God and who now live with God in eternity. 

We may not have to climb a tree to see Jesus above the crowd—Jesus will find us anyway. God seeks us out in our tree houses, whether they are places of hiding or places where we seek room for a view. If graced with a memorable encounter with God, perhaps our response will be as joyous as Zacchaeus’ and it will lead to our own kind of open fist commitment. “I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew. He moved my soul to seek him, seeking me; it was not I that found, O Savior true; No, I was found of thee. “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” and our lives are changed forever.