Sermon for October 30th, 2016

Luke 19:1-10

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Zacchaeus' Sacrifice: Seeing the Lord

(Jumps a few times...catches place in tree)

What? It's not easy being a wee little man!

For one of my size, it's harder to see, or to be seen--you either get stepped on by the crowd, or else you get stuck in the top of a tree.

What do you see when you look at me? Do you see a man small in stature or a man great in generosity? Do you see an important man? The 2nd wealthiest man in all Jericho, perhaps? Or just a wee little man stuck in a treetop?

People see what they want to see.

That crowd back there, they look at me, and all they can see is ἁμαρτωλῷ (hamartolo). A retched sinner. I know most of them well enough. I go to church with them, at the Jericho Presbyterian Church. Simon the shepherd over there, he works for the grocery store. So does Jacob the fisherman. Both of 'em, dirt poor. Ruben the blacksmith over there, he works for the chariot dealership. He does alright, thanks to all the Romans here now. It's no sin to sell things to the Romans. Only to work for them.

Me? I work for the IRS. The Imperial Revenue Service. The Romans. And so, I'm a sinner. ἁμαρτωλῷ

People see what they want to see.

The first time I climbed up this sycamore tree, I wanted to see the Lord. He had just arrived in Jericho, and