“Saintly Stature”
Luke 19:1-10; Ecclesiastes 3:11-15
Growing up, my
grandmother and I watched one particular television game show every Saturday
evening. This show premiered on CBS in September ’72
(when I was just three years old!) From
my earliest recollections onward, I was drawn to the pace of this audience
member contest, to the theme music, and to all the colorful and creative
aspects of the game. Above all, I was
captivated by this show’s original announcer, Johnny Olson. After
having watched so many episodes during my most formative years, I suppose I
shouldn’t have been surprised when his voice suddenly popped in my head while
reviewing today’s New Testament lesson quite early on Friday morning. Yes, I found myself hearing the words, “Zacchaeus
the Tax Collector, come on down! You’re
the next contestant on the Price Is Right!”
It was, of course,
Jesus’ authoritative voice that Zacchaeus heard calling him down from some spot
up a tree in the vicinity of ancient Jericho.
Why had this fellow been up there?
And on this Sunday following All Saints Day, what can we learn from his
story about what it means to be a saint?
By “saint,” I’m
referring to our Presbyterian understanding of this as someone who strives to
live a holy life. I trust and pray this
is all of us! To very briefly build on
my sermon from last week about living in hope, a fellow spiritual director has
written that “saints are people who are windows in this world. The light of God shines through them so
brightly that people say they have seen salvation in them and in the household
of their lives.”[i]
Now, when we hear the
name Zacchaeus, many of us immediately think about children and Sunday School
and a certain song about a wee little man.
It’s a very popular Bible story with kids because they can relate to
being and to feeling small. They know what it’s like to be at the back of big
crowd, straining to see something exciting up ahead. So a
story about a short guy scurrying up a sycamore to rise above his circumstances
in order to gain a better view of Jesus is heroic. While
it’s important to keep lifting this story up for the faith formation of our
children and grandchildren, it also speaks loudly and inspirationally to our adult
view of the world. Zacchaeus went up
the tree not only because he was physically short, but also because he
experienced great limitation in his personal standing. And so I see in his actions three particular
ways to measure our stature as saints, as holy ones – he actively tried to see for himself who Jesus is, he joyfully
responded to Jesus’ incredible invitation, and he understood that there is a
cost to following the Lord.
I.
Jesus’ reputation as a
great healer had preceded his arrival in the vicinity of Jericho. He drew a great crowd of people curious
about or completely aware of the need for holy healing, a crowd that did not
exactly welcome the likes of Zacchaeus. This was no doubt in part because of some
cultural discrimination against his short height. But in larger part it was because of the
powerful role in the Roman Empire he had chosen to elevate himself too. This is
fully described in this way by leading New Testament scholar N.T. Wright –
“Nobody in Jericho liked
Zacchaeus … he was exactly the kind of man everybody despised. Not only a tax-collector but a chief
tax-collector; that is, not only did he make money on the side, in addition to
his legitimate collections, but he almost certainly made more money from the
tax-collectors working under him … everyone knew that this was their money and
he had no right to it; everyone knew that there was nothing they could do about
it.”[ii]
So despite his great
wealth and social power, he did not stand tall or have any respectful worth in
the eyes of his community. We aren’t
specifically told how he felt about this, whether he relished it or regretted
it. We are only told that something
propelled him to actively see for himself who Jesus is. And by doing so, by climbing that tree for
a higher view, he learned that he was fully worth God’s time and attention
despite his sin.
Isn’t this something we
all want to see? To come to accept that
we are even more valuable than how we asses ourselves and how we are assessed by
certain standards of this world? I
believe it’s a measure of saintly stature every time we take the time to try
and see Jesus in our circumstances.
It’s how we can come to know His holy view of us and thus strive to
honor this sacred identity with our lives.
II.
The Lord indeed took
notice of the chief tax collector who’d crawled up that Sycamore tree. Now, Jesus’ ministry called for
repentance. How curious, then, that He
didn’t look up and shout something like, “Zacchaeus, you wee little woeful man,
come on down and turn away from your sin!”
He instead invited himself over to this man’s house. Oh how the crowd grumbled when Jesus declared
that going to the home of such a sinner must happen! They
were absolutely indignant about this unjust, offensive, downright insulting
invitation to a man who’d sinfully set himself above them for so long. For Zacchaeus, however, it was nothing but the
Good News of salvation. He joyfully
responded to this incredible invitation, and in doing so he came down from his
heights to experience the humbling, unconditional love of God. At the bottom of the tree, repentance took root!
It’s a measure of
saintly stature when we do the same, when we go out on a limb to radically open
ourselves up to Jesus’ invitations for us to live a holier life on daily ground. And
not just while we are in church sanctuaries, but even more so right in our
homes … the spaces that most reflect our core family and community values. Jesus,
after all, followed Zacchaeus home!
III.
When Zaccheaus came on
down, he then had something remarkable to say to the Lord. As a further joyful response to Jesus’
invitation, he made a personally costly pledge.
He turned away from greed and graft and turned toward the unconditionally
giving, accepting, loving way of the Lord.
He both pledged to give half of
all his possessions to the poor and to repay four times over anyone he may have
wrongly extracted money from. Tree
climbing led to holy invitation led to a full-on commitment to social justice! His new life with the Lord was about more
than just regret and a change of heart.
It was about restoration, making amends.
It’s a measure of
saintly stature to not only turn away from sin, but also to make choices that reflect
a personal cost to you in support of others, all to God’s glory.
IV.
All in all, whenever you
consider how Zacchaeus measures up as a saint –which again is someone striving to
live a holy life – don’t focus on his height or on his wealth.
Focus on how great an
effort he made to stand tall before the Lord.
In doing so, he got to see and to know Jesus and to trust Jesus saw and loved
him. Go and do the same by studying the
Bible, being in prayer, regularly attending worship, supporting neighbors, and by
constantly looking up and down and all around for God’s presence in your midst.
Focus on how despite the
negative opinions of others toward Zacchaeus, Jesus treasured him. Believe our Lord loves you and everyone unconditionally,
always inviting us to joyfully welcome Him into our hearts and our homes. We experience this when we accept and value
the power of His transforming Word over any and all negative voices that shake
our self-esteem and over any and all crowds that strive to keep us from
following Him.
And lastly, focus on Zacchaeus’
sacrificial response. Be inspired to do
the same through your generous giving of time, talent and financial resources to
our Lord’s ongoing ministry of reconciliation through our congregation and all
across this world.
When it comes to Christ’s
free gift of salvation for us all, it’s always a measure of saintly stature
when we too keep hearing the words, “Come on down!” for truly, that price is
right! Amen.
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