Unlike
lots of children, I did not have a positive experience at Vacation Bible
School. One year the event was held at a
local park in Birmingham. Similar to how
we’ve done VBS for the past few years, the scene was wet in 1st
century Palestine. I was no older than 5
or 6.
We could go to the synagogue and
listen to Bible stories. There were
several places where we could make arts and crafts related to the theme of the
day. And then there was the market
square. The market was full of things to
buy using the money we made with aluminum foil and rubber hammers.
In addition to the many vendors,
there was a tax collector. The tax
collector must have been a 13-year-old youth.
He went around asking the children to pay their taxes. I tried my best to avoid this tax-collector
but he finally caught up with me.
He asked me for some percentage of
my money. I obeyed and gave him what he
asked for. Then he started pressing me
for more. And when I refused, he picked
me up by my ankles and literally started shaking me so coins would fall out of
my pocket.
Needless to say, I was
terrified. I didn’t think this was funny
at all. I can still remember how I felt
in that moment. I was confused, terrified,
and felt very alone. When my mom picked
me up, I informed her that I would not be returning the next day.
While I still do not support the
behavior of this tax-collector, the experience does speak a lot to how
tax-collectors were perceived during 1st century Palestine. They were contract workers for the Roman
government. And other than giving Rome
her due, they were not regulated in how they went about collecting taxes. Subsequently, they were bullies.
These tax-collectors would line
their pockets by overcharging the Jewish people. And to make matters worse these
tax-collectors in Palestine were of Jewish origin. As a consequence, these tax-collectors were
not allowed in the Jewish synagogue.
They were outcasts who had all the toys and nobody to play with.
In today’s lesson, one of these
despised tax-collectors, Zacchaeus, hears that Jesus is in town and he wants to
catch a glimpse. Yes, a “wee little man”
was he that climbed up on the sycamore tree.
He is both short in stature and standing in the Jewish community. But something draws Zacchaeus to Jesus.
And something draws Jesus to
Zacchaeus. Without warning, Jesus
catches a glimpse of wee-little Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree and calls, “Get
down from there! I’m coming to your
house for dinner.” How about that? Jesus invites himself to the house of the
most despised man in town.
Imagine that! Who is the most despised person that you know
in Selma? And now imagine that Jesus
comes along and invites himself to his or her house for dinner. What would you think? Why didn’t Jesus invite himself to my house
for dinner? I’m a good upstanding
citizen in Selma but Jesus wants to eat dinner with that scum of the earth. What gives?
The last line in today’s lesson
should give us a clue. Jesus says, “For
the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”
Jesus reaches out to Samaritans, to outcast women, to children, to the
poor, to the lost. If this is true, then
why should the people expect anything less than for Jesus to go after a
despised tax-collector? He’s an outcast
too. Why do they grumble, “this man
associates with sinners.”?
But let’s think about it in our own
context. The Church reaches out to those
from different religions and cultural contexts (i.e. the Samaritan). Many of you support ministries with women and
children at places like SABRA Sanctuary.
St. Paul’s is an integral part of feeding the poor and hungry at places
like the Miller Childers Food Pantry and Selma Area Food Bank. St. Paul’s hosts AA meetings twice a week for
those who are lost. All of that makes
sense.
But what about the person who steals
from the church? What about the person
who profits off the poor and vulnerable in the city? What kind of ministry do we have to reach out
for these poor souls who are lost?
I say this not necessarily so you go
out and start a ministry like this. That
would be great if you wanted to, but I’m not saying that God is necessarily
calling us to this kind of work. Rather,
I am trying to make a point. Reaching
out to the most despised people in our midst is not something we often think
about especially not the ones who take advantage of others.
But nonetheless, Jesus has dinner
with this notorious sinner. And guess
what happens? Zacchaeus’ encounter with
Jesus is a game changer. Suddenly, this
“wee-little man” pledges to give half of his possessions to the poor and to
repay fourfold to anyone who he has defrauded.
To make a long story short, Zacchaeus goes above and beyond the call of
duty.
What happened? Why the sudden change of heart? I can’t speculate on the specifics of
Zacchaeus’ change of heart, but his story is similar to so many who have
encountered Jesus. Something
transformative happens when we encounter Jesus.
Our hearts and minds and souls are reoriented. Our entire being is reoriented toward life in
the kingdom of God, a life where we gladly give up our possessions for the good
of the community.
Today, as we gather in worship and
prepare to receive Holy Communion at the Lord’s Table, we recognize that Jesus
has invited himself into our midst. In
this place of worship, we gather to encounter Jesus. No matter who you are or where you come from
Jesus invites himself to dine with us this morning.
You might be the outcast woman, the
non-believer, the hypocrite, the poor, the lost, the self-righteous Pharisee, or
even the despised tax-collector. Whoever
you are Jesus invites himself into your life because Jesus wants to have an
encounter with you.
Jesus wants to encounter you so you may know salvation as
Zacchaeus knew salvation. Salvation has
come to this house. And as the new
rector says at the Celebration of New Ministry, we also get to say, “I am not
worthy to have you come under my roof, yet you have called your servant to
stand in your house, and serve at your altar.
To you and to your service I devote myself, body, soul, and spirit.”
For some of you, this encounter might call you to give your
possessions to the poor and repay those you have defrauded. For others of you, this may entail you giving
$5 to the collection plate which is more than you can afford. For others, this might mean that you are
finally ready to admit that your life is not your own and that the only to get
by in this world is to give your life up to God.
Of course, I can’t tell you what your encounter with Jesus
should look like. In reality, it will
take repeated encounters with Jesus to understand the gift of salvation. Very few people, at least few people that I
know, can give me the time and day when they knew salvation. As my childhood preacher, John Claypool, used
to ask, what is saving your life today?
Jesus means to encounter us often in this place of worship. Jesus knows that we are a people who are slow
to understand and get with the program.
And that is why Jesus will invite himself into this place again and
again and again. Jesus wants to save you
again and again and again.
Even more, we can’t fully understand salvation until our
death. But Jesus wants to give us
glimpses of that heavenly life today because it is that heavenly life that will
bring salvation in a world that is bent on going to hell. Jesus wants us to enjoy life now. We don’t have to wait.
Beloved, what is saving your life today? As every Vacation Bible School alum knows,
the answer is, of course, Jesus. And the
good news is Jesus will reveal the saving power of his love in many different
ways.
The way Jesus saves you today will be different the way
Jesus saves you tomorrow. That is how
Jesus’ love works. Jesus is pursing you
in all the many different seasons of your life but the message remains constant. You are a beloved child of God no matter what
anybody ever says about you.
Now do you trust Jesus enough to live into this new name –
beloved of God? For if you do, then
salvation is yours today. Amen.
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