St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
October 30, 2016
Year C, Proper 26:
The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Psalm 119:137-144
2 Thessalonians
1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10
Trying to See Jesus
So,
have I mentioned to you that we have a bunch of baptisms coming up?
It’s
true! We have a couple of baptisms next Sunday, when we’ll celebrate All
Saints’ Sunday, and a couple more the following Sunday.
One
of the many good lessons I learned from my friend and mentor Lauren Ackland, the
recently-retired rector for Grace Church in Madison, is the practice of
inviting children to come close when we have a baptism, giving these little
people a chance to see, to see the water, to see the candles, to see God at
work, to see God bonding with the newest member of the Body of Christ.
I
was reminded of the little kids eagerly straining to see the action at the
baptismal font, when I first started reflecting on today’s gospel lesson.
It’s
the second Sunday in a row that we hear a story involving a tax collector.
If
you were here last week you may remember we heard the Parable of the Pharisee
and the Tax Collector, both praying, though not quite together, in the
Jerusalem Temple.
If
you were here you may remember that in first century Israel tax collectors
weren’t just disliked the way today many Americans aren’t crazy about the IRS.
No,
the tax collectors were Jews who collaborated with the hated Roman occupiers.
The tax collectors were traitors who lined their pockets by fleecing their own
people.
So,
last week we heard the Pharisee interrupt his prayer of thanksgiving in order to
judge the tax collector standing off by himself praying, the sinful tax
collector who betrayed his own people by working for the oppressive Romans, the
tax collector who must have needed a lot of courage to even just enter the
Temple, the tax collector who must have needed a lot of faith to beg the God of
Israel for mercy.
Well,
today we meet another tax collector and this one has a name, Zacchaeus, which,
ironically enough, comes from the Hebrew word that means “righteous” or
“upright” or “justice.”
But,
Zacchaeus is not just a tax collector, which would be bad enough. No, we’re
told that he’s a “chief tax collector” and that he’s “rich.”
And,
we know and all the people around him knew that he’s a rich man because he
worked for the Romans and took advantage of his own people.
So,
it’s safe to assume that Zacchaeus wasn’t going to win any popularity contests
in Jericho.
But.
But,
this traitorous and unlikable and despised man is very eager, maybe even desperate, to get to see who Jesus was.
We’re
not told why he wants to see who
Jesus was. Maybe he just heard all the commotion. Or, maybe he had heard from
others, maybe even some of the other tax collectors, about this unusual and
powerful rabbi from Nazareth who proclaimed a downside-up kingdom in which it’s
not the rich but the poor who are truly blessed.
Maybe
he had heard about Jesus, this mysterious teacher and healer who hung out with
the wrong kinds of people and who declared in a parable that the sinful tax
collector who prayed, who begged for mercy, even the despised tax collector, was
not beyond God’s love.
So,
we don’t know why exactly, but for whatever reason or reasons, not very tall
and pretty unpopular Zacchaeus climbs up the sycamore tree to see who Jesus
was.
And,
Zacchaeus the chief tax collector gets a whole lot more than he bargained for.
Jesus
spots the tax collector in the tree and, in his very Jesus-like way, invites
himself over to Zacchaeus’ house, invites himself over to the home of probably the
least popular person in the city, knowing that this will drive all of the “righteous”
and “upright” people right up the wall.
Yes,
Zacchaeus gets a whole lot more than just a glimpse of Jesus. He’s transformed by Jesus, giving away half
of his possessions to the poor and paying back four times worth of what he’s
defrauded – and, he doesn’t say that he’ll do this someday (We’ve heard that
before, right? Yeah, soon, Jesus, I promise, but first I just have to…).
No,
Zacchaeus says he’s doing these things now – the Greek is in the present
tense - Zacchaeus is giving away his wealth, is making amends, right here,
right now.
Zacchaeus
got to see who Jesus was – and this corrupt and probably hated man was
transformed by the encounter.
Trying
to see Jesus.
It
was hard for short and sinful Zacchaeus to see Jesus and, unfortunately, today
it’s hard for a lot of people to see Jesus, too.
It’s
hard to see Jesus because sometimes we think that we’ve done things that are
too bad, that somehow we are unworthy, that we’re convinced that we’ll be
rejected by the church, rejected by Jesus.
It’s
hard to see Jesus because in our country so often the loudest, most prominent
Christians offer a watered-down false gospel while enriching themselves, living
large flying around in private jets and living in mansions.
It’s
hard to see Jesus because in our country so often the loudest, most prominent
Christians are quick to condemn and so slow to forgive.
It’s
hard to see Jesus because so many Christians, both leaders and followers, have
gotten sucked into our broken and destructive political system, endorsing
candidates and parties, demonizing opponents, twisting words and shading the
truth, assuming the worst and never extending the benefit of the doubt to the
“other side.”
It’s
hard to see Jesus because so many of us Christians have retreated behind our
church walls, content to be with our own people and care for one another, but
really not so interested in welcoming the stranger and not willing to love
those of our time who are despised like a first century tax collector.
It’s
hard to see Jesus because we, the Body of Christ in the world, live pretty much
like everyone else in the world, no better and sometimes far worse.
It’s
hard to see Jesus because so many of us haven’t taken seriously our baptismal
promise to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.
It’s
hard to see Jesus because we, the Body of Christ in the world, have so often hidden
him from view.
But.
We
don’t always know why, but the truth is that people are still trying to see
Jesus – and are still being transformed by the encounter.
You
all know that I love baptizing people, but I love just as much when we welcome
people to our church for the first time, people who are climbing the tree,
trying to see who Jesus is.
In
many cases these newcomers are people who had never really been part of the
church, who maybe thought because of who or what they are, for whatever
reasons, that they wouldn’t be welcome.
Some
are people who had never really been able to see Jesus.
In
some cases these newcomers had been away from the church for years or even
decades, people who maybe had been disappointed or even hurt by the church and
who weren’t at all sure if they really wanted to be part of this.
Walking
into a church for the first time is probably harder than climbing a tree.
But,
the amazing thing is, like those of us who’ve been at this a long time, right
here at St. Paul’s they have gotten to see Jesus, not perfectly of course, but
they have gotten to see Jesus in God’s Word, in the Bread and the Wine, in the
loving welcome they’ve often received from our diverse community, and in the
work we do out there, feeding and serving and praying for more and more people
each week.
They
– we – have seen Jesus.
And,
Jesus, in is very Jesus-like way, has invited himself into their homes, has invited
himself into our lives, transforming all of us into more loving and more
generous people, truly becoming the Body of Christ, right here and right now.
Amen.
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