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!

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 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 worthless sinner.

The first time I climbed up this sycamore tree, I wanted to see the Lord.