Delivered September 4, 2011
Sometimes people are just passing through Sandwich. Sometimes such people are lost. They are on their way to somewhere else and suddenly find themselves in Center Sandwich. You will see them stopped on the side of the road, looking at a map or just looking confused. Not long ago I was walking to the post office and a car stopped, and the occupants asked me for directions. They wanted to know where the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center was. They seemed to expect it to be just around the corner. They were distressed to hear that they were in the wrong town and that the Science Center was a 20 minute drive back in the same direction from which they had come. They were just passing through.
Verse 1 of our passage says, “Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.” Jesus was just passing through Jericho. It was a common thing for pilgrims to pass through Jericho on their way to Jerusalem. Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world, having been occupied since 9000 BC. As an oasis in a dry land it was and is a place that a lot of people stopped at on the way to somewhere else. It was on the customary pilgrimage route from Galilee to Jerusalem. On this particular occasion, Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem for the Passover. Later in this chapter is the Palm Sunday story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. After three years of public ministry, Jesus had developed a reputation. So when news spread that Jesus was coming through town a crowd of people gathered along the roadside to get a glimpse of him.
One of these people was a man named Zacchaeus. Our gospel story tells us some things about Zacchaeus. Verse 2 says, “Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.” As a tax collector Zacchaeus was an official of the Roman government, and therefore not a popular guy. Rome was the occupying military force; for a Jew to collaborate with Rome was seen as a form of treason and betrayal of one’s country and people. Tax collectors were not popular. As the chief tax collector he would have likely been the least popular man in Jericho. It also says that he was rich. His wealth would have come from his occupation, which was known for its corruption. In the gospels the phrase term “tax collector” is often found in conjunction with the word “sinners.” For example Jesus was known to often associate with “tax collectors and sinners.” Being a tax collector meant involvement with graft, extortion and bribes. Zacchaeus would have been known for his unethical as well as unpatriotic behavior.
A third fact that our passage tells us about Zacchaeus is that he was short. Verse 3 “And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.” He probably had the physical condition known as dwarfism. He was a little person. Dwarfism is very noticeable and often carries negative connotations in society. Because of their unusually short height, people with dwarfism have often been ridiculed and discriminated against. In societies where physical labor was the usual form of livelihood, little people had to find creative ways to make a living. This probably accounts for him taking a job as a tax collector. And he apparently was very good at it. It would be tempting to do some armchair psychoanalysis of Zacchaeus here , but that would be speculation. But I think it would be fair to say that Zacchaeus’ life had not been an easy one physically, socially or emotionally. There are four points that I want to make about Zacchaeus in this story this morning.
I. First, Zacchaeus grasped the opportunity to see Jesus. Jesus was passing through town, and Zacchaeus made sure that he did not miss him. I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my life when I have missed opportunities simply because I did not take advantage of them at the time. For example, thirty years ago in my first church in Southern Illinois one of my deacons was a dean at the local community college. He was doing a film documentary on coal mining and needed someone to help him carry the equipment. One day he asked me to accompany him into a deep coal mine. I had several coal miners in my church, and this was a wonderful opportunity to see their working conditions first hand. Unless you work for the mining company people don’t get a chance to see these mines up close. But I looked at my busy schedule and told him I did not have the time. That was a mistake. Looking back on it, I should have made the time. I have no idea what I did on that day that seemed so important, but I should have gone down into that mine. I have never had the opportunity since.
At one point in my career I had to decide whether or not to pursue a PhD and go into teaching, as my professors were encouraging me to do. I already had been accepted into the PhD program and saw a teaching career ahead of me. But I was tired of school and really enjoying being a pastor, so I chose to switch to the DMin program and enter the life of pastoring churches. I am glad I did, but I sometimes wonder what my life might have been like if I had chosen the other path. In his famous and overquoted poem Robert Frost talks about coming to a fork in the road. He had to choose one path, but he said he “kept the first for another day. Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.” Once we take a road, we usually can’t go back.
We all have had to make irrevocable decisions that affected the rest of our lives. We all have had missed opportunities. We may have had missed spiritual opportunities. There are certain times in our lives when we sense that the Spirit of God is opening up an opportunity. We have to decide right then and there to step out on faith into the unknown following the leading of the Spirit, or stay with the known and familiar. After a while the opportunity passes, the portal closes, and we settle back into our familiar routine. God gives us opportunities like that throughout our lives. The more we say “yes” to God, the more opportunities arise. But if we keep saying “no” then we see fewer and fewer spiritual opportunities opening to us. “Use it or lose it.” Carpe diem. Seize the day, or let it drift away. When God calls, we must respond or the opportunity is gone. Zacchaeus seized the day. When he heard that Jesus was passing by, he left his tax collector’s booth and he sought out Jesus.
II. Second, Zacchaeus overcame obstacles. Zacchaeus was so short in stature that he could not see over the heads of people lining the street to get a glimpse of the Messiah. And he was so disliked in the community that no one was going to get out of the way so he could see. But he did not quit. He did not get angry at life and God for making him short, or get angry at the big people for not making room for him. He solved the problem. Verse says, “So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.” Zacchaeus did not let physical or social barriers stop him from meeting Jesus.
People let so many things stop them from meeting Jesus. People let their past stop them. They let bad experiences with a church stop them. Or they let no experience with religion stop them. They let the behavior of some Christians get in their way. What if Zacchaeus had let the bad opinion that the townspeople had of him stop him? So often we let the bad behavior of some Christians get in the way of our relationship with God. I have known a lot of Christians during my life and ministry. Most are wonderful folks, but a few of them were real jerks. They give Christianity a bad name. There are some Christians whom I cannot relate to at all; I am not so sure we have the same Lord except in name. It would have been easy for me at points in my life to focus on those bad experiences with bad people and turn my back on what is called Christianity. But that would be letting these people get in the way of my relationship with God. Too many people let other people get in the way of their relationship with God. Why? It is so much better to overcome the obstacles than to let them overcome you. Zacchaeus overcome the obstacles.
He saw the route that Jesus was taking through Jericho, and he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus. I love the image of Zacchaeus climbing a tree. I have not climbed a tree since I was a kid, I don’t even like climbing a ladder any more, especially after I had a fall. But when I was a kid I loved climbing trees. Big white pines are wonderful climbing trees. I used to climb way up high. I was one of those kids who built a platform of a few boards high in a tree just so could sit there for hours. As a child I think it was a spiritual experience. When you are up a tree it is precarious yet exhilarating at the same time. You feel insecure, yet alive. That must have been the way that this little man Zacchaeus felt. He was a little man, but he was taller than everyone that day! And he was about to have the most important spiritual experience of his life.
III. Third, Zacchaeus responded to Jesus’ invitation. Verses 5-6 “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.” Zacchaeus showed determination and creativity in running ahead and climbing the tree. But that was as far as he could go. It was up to Jesus to take it from there. And he did.Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house.
You have to understand the culture of the time to see how unusual it was for Jesus to say this. At that time and place there were well-defined rules when it came to hospitality. Hospitality was – and is still – a very important custom in Middle Eastern culture. One thing you never did was invite yourself to someone’s house. You waited to be invited, but you did not invite yourself. But Jesus does exactly that. “Jesus said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” He wasn’t just inviting himself for a meal; he was inviting himself to spend the night.
The fact that Jesus was breaking the cultural rule about hospitality makes a powerful point. In our spiritual relationship with God, it is God who takes the initiative. Jesus says to his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” This breaks our social rules also. We think that religion is a matter of personal choice. Freedom of religion, we call it. When it comes to God, we think it is our choice. We are all pro-choice when it comes to spirituality. We think we choose whether or not to believe in God. If we choose to believe in God, then we get to choose what type of God, what type of theology, what type of church. We custom make our spirituality to fit us. We pick and choose from the spiritual buffet set before us in our American culture.
I will tell you something you may not like. It is not our choice. God chooses. God calls us on God’s terms. All we get to do is say Yes or No. Jesus told Zacchaeus that he was coming to stay at this house. Zacchaeus did not have the option to say, “Today is not a good day, Jesus. How about tomorrow or possibly Sunday?” It was now or not at all. Tomorrow would be too late. Tomorrow, Jesus would already be on his way to Jerusalem and by Palm Sunday he was heading into the last days of his life. Within a fortnight Jesus would be dead. For Zacchaeus the only option he had was yes or no. Zacchaeus said Yes. Our passage says, “So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.”
When it comes to God, our choice is either yes or no. We do not get to fashion God after our image, according to our spiritual tastes and preferences. We do not get to accept God on our terms in our timing. As scripture says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” When God calls, our only choice is to respond now or not. As the Book of Hebrews says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” When you stop to consider for a moment, today is all we really have. Yesterday is just a memory a thought in your mind; the same is true of tomorrow. Today is the only time we have. All responses we make to God must be made in the “Today.”
IV. Fourth, Zacchaeus was changed. At that moment when Jesus called out to Zacchaeus and he responded, a transformation happened in Zacchaeus’life. Verses 8-9 “Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Up to that point Zacchaeus’ life was centered on money. As I said before, tax collectors were known to get a lot of their money by dishonest means. Here Zacchaeus’ life had changed instantly. He no longer cared about the money. When people heard that that Jesus was going to going to stay at Zacchaeus’ house, they complained according to verse 7 “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” But immediately Zacchaeus made it clear that he had changed. He said he would give away half of everything he owned to the poor and make fourfold restitution to everyone he had ever cheated. Clearly something has happened in Zacchaeus’ heart and soul. Jesus knows this. He exclaims, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Jesus is passing through Sandwich today. Christ is here in this place. He said clearly, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” Christ is present here. He said, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.” That is why we come here. We come here on Sunday mornings for the same reason that Zacchaeus climbed that tree – to hopefully get a glimpse of Jesus. That somehow in the midst of all this religious stuff we do here – singing hymns, and saying prayers and reading scripture – that we might catch a glimpse of Jesus. That we might hear his voice. And if we hear his voice, it will be as a call to us, saying, “I am going to come and stay at your house today.” If you hear that call of the Spirit inviting you to the spiritual life, just say yes.
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