As we continue to experience the Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Almighty Sovereign, you are always working within us, calling us into your presence. Help us to hear that call anew, so that we might prepare our hearts and lives for you as a place to dwell. Speak Lord, your servants are listening. If these words are not Your Word, may they be forgotten and come to naught. But if they be Thy Word, may they adhere to our hearts, forever transforming us from glory into glory, into the creatures you would have us be, Thou who art our Rock and Redeemer, Amen.

Hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in the gospel of Luke. Listen. Luke 19.1-10. The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.

Children sing about Zacchaeus. They draw pictures in Sunday School of him in a tree while Jesus walks along in the crowd below. I hadn’t seen the two children’s bulletins when I wrote this, but I’m sure there is something about Zacchaeus in there, something familiar. The problem is that our contemporary society has been so quick to psychologize the characters in the biblical narratives. What was Zacchaeus feeling when Jesus invited himself over? We know, because we have analyzed the situation, though our contemporary society’s eye. Bible studies and sermons tend to explain away the real good news of this story. So, if today you don’t hear the same thing you’ve always heard about Zacchaeus, good.

Why does Zacchaeus go to see who Jesus is in the first place? Again, Jesus’ popularity would have made everyone curious. News of him spread, the gospels tell us. He was constantly hiding his face from the paparazzi, trying to elude the tabloid reporters. Everywhere he went, throngs followed him, sometimes as large as 5,000. It would be quite natural for Zacchaeus, for anyone to want to see for themselves this person that preached, taught, healed, and raised the dead.

The story about Zacchaeus’s determination and diligence often encourages misinterpretation of this passage. Zacchaeus is described as a tax collector, he’s rich, he’s short, and he climbs a tree so he could see Jesus. Sermons often suggest that Zack has an inferiority complex because of his stature, so he overcompensated by amassing wealth. Jesus’ love freed Zack from his complex. Thus, Jesus was the first psychologist, beating out our friend Sigmund by almost one thousand nine hundred years. Course, there is absolutely nothing in the biblical account to suggest that Zacchaeus had a complex. At the time of the first century, complexes hadn’t been invented yet. Zacchaeus would have had no idea what a complex was.

Instead of going the traditional route, let’s do something a little crazy, and just see what Luke does tell us. Zacchaeus was rich. He got rich by working as a big time tax supervisor for the Romans. He was with the IRS, or the equivalent thereof. We all love the IRS, don’t we Bob? The people didn’t like Zacchaeus, not because he was rich. Actually, most ancient people would have equated being rich with some sort of divine blessing. The rich were generally liked, or at least respected. Zacchaeus would have been disliked because he worked for the Romans. Today’s equivalent would be if Canada declared war on us, took us over, and subjugated us to do whatever they said. So, if an American began to work for the Canadian government, perpetuating the oppressive system, that person would probably not be well liked. Zacchaeus went to work for the people who occupied the homeland, and got rich at it. If this means anything, it means that our guy Zack had few social or religious scruples. He was probably greedy. With that in mind, let us see that Jesus Christ loved Zacchaeus anyway. That is the good news. Even self-centered greed isn’t beyond the boundaries of God’s love made present in Jesus Christ and experienced today through the Holy Spirit.

Who is Jesus? That curiosity brought Zacchaeus out of his house and up the tree, and it brings folks like you and me out of our houses and to church worship services, bible studies, and interactive fellowship groups. Zacchaeus found out that Jesus was one who reached out to those whom others assumed to be off God’s list. “I must stay at your house today,” Jesus says. And in verse 10, we find out why Jesus must. “The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

Most folks back then thought that the Messiah would bring judgment. The Messiah was to bring judgment to the unfaithful, to the people who occupied Israel, to the Samaritans, to the people who weren’t living right, to all kinds. Today, many folks think that the Messiah brings judgment. The Messiah not only will come again with judgment, but also now sits in judgment of the unfaithful, of the unclean, of those who differ with us ideologically, and theologically. To be fair, Jesus Christ is the agent of God’s judgment. As such, he mediates the presence of God’s saving grace. God’s grace does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, save us. Only when you let go of trying to save yourself can you be saved.

Here’s the interesting part I think. Jesus reaches out to Zacchaeus, and he comes into the realm of saving grace, and as he does so, he is transformed. Luke says Zacchaeus is joyful. The words in the NRSV, as read today “was happy to welcome him” literally read, “he received him rejoicing.” This person who heaped up a fortune by less than terrific means, was suddenly moved by the gracious presence of Jesus to generosity beyond belief. Zack didn’t merely tithe, he gave away half of all that he had. He gave away half. Don’t dismiss that with thoughts of, “Well, that just shows how much he had, that he could afford to give away half.” If you are rich, it doesn’t mean that you give more, statistically speaking. And those statistics go for both percentages and actual dollars. Was Zacchaeus rich? Surely he was. Does that mean he had piles of money just lying around instead of spending his money on good food, the finer things of life, and in obtaining the quote good life? We don’t know. But I doubt it. It is rare that a person have money, that a person strive for it enough to work for the oppressive enemy, and then not use it. And Zack gave away half of all that he had. I don’t care who you are, or how much extra money you have lying around, giving away half of what you have is going to be a sacrifice. And not only that, Zacchaeus promised to set right anything he had done wrong.

Apparently, coming into the presence of the saving grace of God can transform people to being very generous. May we experience the graciousness and generosity of God. Amen.