Rev. George
Miller
March 21, 2021
Luke 19:1-10
To fully grasp the gravity,
we must fully grasp the depravity…. This
statement may not make sense now, but hopefully it will at the end.
Tuesday, during Bible Study,
we discussed today’s reading in great length.
One of our participants shared a song they learned as a child about
Zacchaeus being a “wee little man.”
It sounded cute, innocent,
and fun, but, like many of the biblical stories we teach our kids, there may be
nothing cute or innocent about today’s reading.
Think of other biblical
stories we share with kids that are not appropriate at all.
Noah and the ark- why do we
teach kids about an angry deity that wipes out the world, not to mention, there’s
a part where Noah gets drunk and is sexually violated by his son.
David and Goliath- how many
Sunday Schools share that after David knocked Goliath over with his slingshot,
he ran over, took out his sword, stabbed him in the back and chopped off his head?
Has Zacchaeus experienced a similar
fate, seen as “cute” when perhaps this story is much, much darker?
Is he more akin to the Big
Bad Wolf than to one of Mary’s little lambs?
We have Zacchaeus, described
as short in stature, scurrying about, climbing up a tree just so he can see Jesus.
There’s something comical
about this image, almost as if Zacchaeus is a little squirrel or monkey.
His actions seems to be so
pure and earnest. He’s heard the newest popstar
is in town and he just wants a glimpse.
But what if…. what if his
actions are so kinetic, so intense because Zacchaeus actually has a lot of
regret, and a lot of darkness in his life?
After all, Zacchaeus is totally
despised by everyone around him.
He’s a tax collector. “Big deal!” we may say, but back then it was
a big deal. Tax collectors were seen as non-patriots
and traitors, working for the enemy.
In this story, the Roman
government has taken over the Jewish territory of Jericho. They’ve placed idols in the Temple; they use
offerings to pay for infrastructure.
Their soldiers are in the
streets stirring fear into the citizens, their rulers are living lavishly off
the people’s money.
Tax Collectors could charge
what they want, keep the change, and toss you in jail if you don’t meet their
demands.
Zacchaeus is not just a tax
collector- he is THE head tax collector.
He’s the Don, the Alpha, the apex of all tax collectors in town.
Zacchaeus may have been
small in stature, but he was deep in pockets, with access to an unjust court
system.
What if Zacchaeus is not
cute at all? What if he really is the
Big Bad Wolf, the Wicked Witch of the West?
After all, he is the last
person Jesus interacts with before entering Jerusalem. This is the last outsider we meet before
going into the Holy City.
What if Zacchaeus is meant to
represent all that is really bad, sinful, lost, and undeserving?
We may not fully understand
just how despised tax collectors were, but would we understand better if
Zacchaeus’s name was Benedict Arnold?
What if Zacchaeus was a 1990’s
crack dealer on the streets of Chicago?
What if Zacchaeus made his
money by trafficking children? If his
name was Jeffrey Epstein or R. Kelly?
Can we now understand why
someone like him would scramble up a tree?
Can we better understand why there would be grumbling in the street?
Can appreciate what a
collective shock it would’ve been to all the faithful Jews around to hear Jesus
say “Zacchaeus/Benedict/Jeffrey/R.- hurry on down for I must stay at your home.”
To fully grasp the gravity,
we must fully grasp the depravity.
Perhaps we have misunderstood
this story for the past 2,000 years. That it’s not “Oh look at Little
Zacchaeus, what a monkey of a man.”
Perhaps this story is more
like “Look at Zacchaeus- the one who can put your mother and father in jail and
rip your family apart in one swift action.”
Perhaps this story is more
akin to “Look at Zacchaeus- the one who can have an officer kneel on your neck
for 7 and a half minutes.”
Perhaps this is Zacchaeus,
the overseer, the racist southern sheriff, the gang lord of Haiti.
We see his scurrying around
and climbing up a tree as cute, but what if those are actually the actions of
someone who feels great guilt, such a sense of sin that his ramped-up physicality
matches a deep pit of guilt stemming from unethical behavior, money stolen, and
lives destroyed?
To fully grasp the gravity,
we must fully grasp the depravity.
So, if all these suggestions
are even partially true, it makes what Jesus does even that much more radical, amazing.
Instead of telling Zacchaeus
he is
-going to hell
-publicly humiliating him,
-or telling him to say 10
Our Fathers and give all he has to the church,
what does Jesus do?
He says to this wretched
outsider, this enemy of the people- “Zacchaeus-“
“Invite me into your home.”
“Bring me inside your life.”
“Let me spend some time with
you.”
In the eyes of the people,
if there is anyone who deserves the absence of God, if there’s anyone who deserves
to be lost in the reeds and weeds, if there is anyone who deserves to have a
house fall down upon them, it’s Zacchaeus.
But Jesus, Emmanuel, says “Here
I am, Zacchaeus/Benedict/Jeffrey/R.- welcome me in.”
To fully grasp the gravity,
we must fully grasp the depravity.
That gravity is GRACE.
Grace goes against all
logic. Grace transforms. Grace goes beyond anything you, I, our
Conference Minister, our General Minister, the Pope can ever manifest in our
own life.
Grace, which says “No matter
what, no matter who, God is going to enter into your life and be beside you.”
While others grumble against
you, while others groan, Jesus says “Invite me over, let me.”
What if, what if all those
parables in chapter 15 were designed to bring us to this very special moment.
What if the stories of the lost
sheep, the joyful father, the woman with the broom who sweeps and sweeps until
she finds that invaluable coin is really all leading up to this story?
This story of a man so
squished by feelings of guilt that he just had to run up that tree, he had to
see with his own eyes.
What if Zacchaeus had heard
those stories of the sheep, the dad, the woman, and he said
“I’m tired, I’m tired. I’m tired of feeling lost. I’m tired of being in the reeds and
weeds. I’m tired of hurting others, I’m tired
of hurting myself.”
What if Zacchaeus said, “I’m
so tired of being tired that I’m ready to do anything I can to be found, even
if it’s looking foolish, even if it’s being around people who hate me, even if
its running up a tree like a monkey, a rat, or a snake?”
“If Jesus is really here to
save the lost, then let him start with me.”
Friends, none of us are
perfect.
None of us have hands that
are clean.
All of us have done
something unjust.
All of us have said
something unkind.
All of us have missed
chances to step unselfishly with the Lord.
But it does not mean we stop.
It does not mean we quit.
It does not mean we consider
ourselves lost. It doesn’t mean we give
up on God.
It doesn’t mean that we give
up on ourselves.
What it means is that we
keep on keepin’ on.
We keep climbing that tree.
We keep focused on grace that
is amazing.
We keep mindful that if
grace can be extended to someone like Zacchaeus, than grace can even be
extended to a someone even like you, even like me.
Amen.
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