Year C

Luke 19:1-10

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

Would You Climb a Tree?

Would you climb a tree to see Jesus? It has been a great many years since I climbed a tree. I am excited to meet the Lord one day, and I am pretty short so I suppose if he did come to town and I was not able to see him over the people, I might…much like Zacchaeus did the day Jesus came to his town. This much loved story along with many other great drama stories of Jesus’ mission and purpose unfold in the scriptures conveying the message that God has special care for the outcasts or marginalized-shepherds, children, prostitutes, Samaritans, the blind and the tax collectors-God has special care for the poor-noted in Mary’s, Zechariah, and Simeon’s songs, in his pronouncements in the Beatitudes on the rich and blessings on the poor, and insinuated in the story of Lazarus and the Rich man.

God’s special care for the sick-noted in the number of demon-possessed who are healed by Jesus, the lepers who are cleansed, and the paralyzed who are restored to mobility- and God’s special care to women-Mary, Elizabeth, widows, the hemorrhaging woman, Mary and Martha, and the crippled woman. Luke and the other gospel writers want us to know that Jesus came into this world with a divine mission to carry out God’s purposes. It is in this context that Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem and the cross, spends time with the outcast tax collector Zacchaeus.

Tax collectors in Jesus’ day were hated collaborators with the Roman authorities. Not only did they betray their own nation, but they also worked within a corrupt system that allowed them to charge whatever commissions they wished, as long as they came up with the amount the Roman’s demanded. It was a pretty lucrative racket and Zacchaeus had done pretty well for himself. He did have to pay a price socially though. People probably said things behind his back; he was banned from the synagogue; the Pharisees wouldn’t so much as let the hem of their robes touch him-but the “good life” of fine clothes and rich food and a big house more than made up for the lack of friends.

But when he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is coming to Jericho—the religious teacher who he heard talks to tax collectors and sinners—it’s possible that an unusual feeling of loneliness comes over him; a loneliness that draws him out to go see this Jesus. So he ran ahead and because of his shortness and the crowd, he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus. As Jesus was passing by he looks up at the tax collector in the tree, and instead of saying “You greedy and treacherous little man”, he says, “Zacchaeus hurry and come down. I’m staying in your house today.” Well you can just image the talk around town that day. Jesus made a big impact on Jericho and it had nothing to do with anything he said. It had everything to do with where Jesus chose to spend his time.

Author Frederick Buechner, called this story “the gospel in sycamore” because Jesus communicated more love and forgiveness and caring for the outcast sinner by staying in the house of Zacchaeus than by any teaching or sermon he could have given. Jesus unveils the amazing grace of a God who is not an angry father but the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to seek out the wayward lamb. Jesus came to seek out the lost of every generation and place. And regardless of his past, God loves Zacchaeus and what this calls for is a big chance like it changed Zacchaeus and us when and if we take him home. God calls us to practice the presence of this amazing grace to all around us because all around us are the Zacchaeuses of the world—up their trees, at the fringes of the crowd.

According to the word of the Lord in the text today from the prophet Habakkuk, “The righteous will live by their faith.” This meant for the community of Judah in Habakkuk’s day that those within this faith community who remembered who they were and whose they were would find their religious and moral faithfulness honored. Although the tiny nation would suffer greatly under Babylonian aggression, those who remained faithful to the covenant that had given birth to the nation and lived its expected lifestyle in the world, they would find a compassionate and forgiving God. God’s promises will be fulfilled Habakkuk reminds us, even when justice and freedom from oppression seem to be getting further and further away.

“There is still a vision for the appointed time.” The vision will finally arrive. They are to believe it. Know it. Live into it. Make it plain to those they meet that they believe in the vision of the future God creates. Habakkuk gives us a marvelous testimony of faith and through him, God encourages those who strive for righteousness in their day. Paul writes to encourage the new believers in their faith at the church of Thessalonica. He praises God for growing the faith of the church and he prays that God “will “fulfill” by God’s power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul, when he came into the town of Thessalonica was on his second mission journey. After talking in the Jewish synagogue about Jesus as the promised Messiah, some of the congregation became angry so Paul and Silas left the synagogue and began speaking in the marketplace in town. Here the primary audience was Gentile, and many listened and responded to Paul’s call to repentance and belief in Jesus. Those Gentile converts joined the Jewish believers to form a new Christian community. Paul commends the new church for their faith and their love, and their witness that is helping others to see God. They are being exactly what they are meant to be: images, witnesses and mirrors of God.

Even though they are suffering persecutions, they accept their fate with gladness because it gives them even more of a chance to demonstrate their faith and trust. They chose to trust in God’s future. As Zacchaeus chooses to do and becomes what he was created for, a child of Abraham, an inheritor of God’s great promise of love and faithfulness. Salvation came to Zacchaeus’ house because he repented, changed his ways, and began to follow Jesus. And if we take Jesus home with us, it will call for a big change. For to have a heart like Jesus, is to look into the face of our neighbor and see one who is worthy of God’s love. This is the vision of the future God created for the people of Habakkuk’s day and for the church in Paul’s day and for us today. We are to know it. Live into it and make it plain to those we meet that we believe in the vision of God’s future. For the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost, and I’m sure that as one of those sinners, I would give it my best try to climb a tree to see Jesus….