What do we know about Zacchaeus? Many of you may remember – from the song – that Zacchaeus was a “wee little man.” He was short. I’ve just come back from a trip and I was reminded that the best time to be short is on an airplane. But when there is a crowd, it is hard for those of us who are shorter to see.
Zacchaeus was also a rich tax collector. The job of tax collectors was to gather the tax from their neighbors and give it to the Roman occupiers of their country. Not surprisingly, many of the tax collectors charged an outrageous “surcharge” for themselves which made them quite wealthy. Since Zacchaeus was rich and a tax collector everyone assumed that he was rich because he was a cheat, a traitor and a sinner – and wanted nothing to do with him.
Luke’s Gospel has several stories about rich people interacting with Jesus. Just a few verses prior to this lesson, a rich man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. In that culture –like the Prosperity Gospel proponents of today - many assumed that the rich were the ones who were blessed and who were favored by God. But instead of telling the rich man what he could do or buy, Jesus told him that all he needed to do was give away his possessions and come and follow him. Saddened, the rich man left. In response, Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
That sounds impossible, causing some of Jesus’ followers to wonder, “Then who can be saved?” But Jesus told them, “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.”
And this is what happens in our Gospel today. For just a little way down the road we meet Zacchaeus, a rich tax collector who is short – both in height and estimation of his neighbors, climbing a tree in order to see Jesus. This wasn’t something that reputable people did in those days. And yet, unlike the rich ruler, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus so much that he was willing to look absolutely ridiculous– in order to even catch a glimpse of Jesus.
And, not only did Zacchaeus see Jesus, but Jesus saw Zacchaeus. Jesus saw Zacchaeus and called him by name. Jesus even invited himself to dinner – a sign of restoration to the community --- despite the grumbling of the neighbors.
In response, Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus gladly, and out of his joy, he responded with generosity to others. Zacchaeus declared that he is giving ½ of his possessions to the poor and that if he had cheated anyone – he would repay it fourfold.
Jesus declares that salvation had come –not only to the rich tax collector Zacchaeus, but to his whole household. Zacchaeus was not only restored to the community, but he and his whole household were claimed by God as an inheritor of eternal life. In answer to the disciples’ earlier question, “Who can be saved? Jesus said, “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.”
Zacchaeus and the ruler were both wealthy. But unlike the rich ruler who clung to his wealth as his security, Zacchaeus realized that there is more joy in sharing with the poor the money that had been entrusted to him than there is in holding onto his gold and silver. There is more righteousness in pursuing justice for those who he may have wronged – intentionally or not – than there is in exploiting loopholes to amass more funds for himself. Zacchaeus realized that there is more security in trusting in a relationship with Jesus than there is in trusting in his own wealth and power.
When Jesus called Zacchaeus by name and invited himself to dinner, he was welcoming Zacchaeus into a relationship with himself and the community. Zacchaeus had been on the outside because people assumed that he was a cheat and a traitor and, therefore, a sinner – that is, a person who falls short of being the person that God has made them to be.
Jesus also calls you and me by name and claims us as his own. Like Zacchaeus, we too are sinners, we too fall short of being the person that God has made us to be. And yet Jesus claims us as a fellow child of God – and invites us into community with one another and with God.
The question is – how will we respond?
The rich ruler turned away. But we are invited to respond like Zacchaeus – even if it makes us look a little foolish. Like Zacchaeus, we can respond generously and joyfully. And this is especially important when the world around us seems grim.
A few years ago, a woman who was depressed by the senseless killing of a young woman in Charlottesville during a protest against antisemitism found herself in a coffee shop. She said, “I just had that heavy weight on my chest. I just felt bummed out and sad about our situation, about humanity in general.” And then… without even thinking about it, she bought a gift card and gave it to the cashier and told her, “ I want you to use this for everybody who comes in after me, until it’s gone. I want you to treat everybody to a cup of coffee,” she said.
“All of a sudden, her depression about Charlottesville lifted. ‘My mood completely changed,’ she said. ‘It was that excitement, of being able to share with other people.’” It was, as she said, “the joy of giving.”
She wanted others to experience that joy too. So she gave her church a stack of $100 bills and asked them to give it to people in their church – to give to others.
The pastor of the church said that congregants confided they thought long and hard about how to use their $100, perhaps even more than they would have had they been handing out their own funds. The pastor said, “That to me is good theology anyway. It’s a good way to think about your life, that you’ve been entrusted with great gifts. And how do you turn around and use them?”
This is the question for us. How do we joyfully use what God has first entrusted to us? How do you experience the joy of giving the money, time, and skills that God has entrusted to you?
Today we will be witnesses as God through the Holy Spirit calls Soren Arthur by name and claims him as a child of God. His parents Nina and Rory and his sponsors and this congregation will be asked to pray for Soren and support him in his life with Christ. And we will all joyfully say “Yes!”
We will rejoice with Soren as a brother in Christ Jesus and together, we will seek to joyfully use the gifts that God has entrusted to each of us.
By our example, we will try to show Soren that we just as joyfully give money, time and talents to support the ministries of this church, our community and our world so that he and others may know God’s love. We won’t be perfect at it – we are still sinners who fall short.
But like Zacchaeus, we can trust that Jesus wants a relationship with each one of us. Regardless of who you are or where you are in your life, Jesus’ invitation still stands – even for the rich ruler who walked away – for the Holy Spirit is abundantly patient and continues to call us into community.
And so, as we rejoice with Soren and all of the Joygaards today, let us respond with joy and generosity, knowing that God is with us, calling us into community with God and with one another. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Pamela Stalheim Lane