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Sermon and Reflections For Ordinary 31 - Proper 26 - Year C
Habakkuk 1:1-4,2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144; 2 Thess 1:1-4,11-12, Luke 19:1-10
"The Gospel In Sycamore"
Barry Robinson
From time to time we feature "Keeping The Faith in Babylon: A Pastoral Resource For Christians In Exile", a weekly set of comments and reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary texts by Barry Robinson (Lion's Head, Ontario, Canada). Barry describes his resource this way: "Keeping The Faith in Babylon... is a word of hope from a pastor in exile to those still serious about discipleship in a society (and, too often, a church) that has lost its way". Contact Barry at fernstone@fernstone.org to request samples and get further subscription information. Snail mail inquiries can be sent to Barry at the address at the bottom of this page.
KEEPING THE FAITH IN BABYLON
A pastoral resource for Christians in Exile Barry J. Robinson Ordinary 31 - Proper 26 - Year C Habakkuk 1:1-4,2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144; 2 Thess 1:1-4,11-12, Luke 19:1-10 "The Gospel In Sycamore" When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." CESAR: "And the rich person who sees a change coming in the world (and you see it coming if you read the Gospels) and doesn't take steps to be admitted into the just society that's going to come, into the new humanity that's not going to die (which is what eternal dwelling places means), that person is acting like an idiot." - Ernesto Cardenal, The Gospel in Solentiname There are some stories in the Bible that are so good that they just sort of sum up what it is all about - it meaning you and me and all the other peculiar people of our lives and this crazy thing we call the gospel of Jesus Christ and that strange breed of men and women we call 'the church', whose behaviour is enough to drive you to drink at times and, at others, enough to make your heart break. The story of Zacchaeus. When I was growing up in church, it was one of my favourite childhood stories; and I suspect it still is a favourite with every kid who has ever felt small or out of it and ends up, instead, being the centre of attention. But Luke didn't write it for children. He wrote it, I think, because it somehow epitomized for him the peculiar mystery of what continues to happen in and around Jesus of Nazareth. He wrote it because what happened in Jericho that day was what was happening in his own church fifty years later just as it is, no doubt, what is happening, one way and another, in your church and mine. Zacchaeus was one of those people Jesus seemed to like being around. There is no other way of putting it. The people he spent most of his time with, the people he liked to party with, the people he seemed to lavish his attention upon were the people most "church" people today wouldn't have the time of day for - people who seemed slightly demented in their behaviour, the social misfits and ne-er-do-wells, the deviant portion of the population we would not invite to our dinner parties. Zacchaeus fit the bill to a tee. For one thing he was filthy rich; for Luke says he was not only rich he was a tax collector. As we saw last week, the word achetelenos actually means 'chief toll collector'. Zacchaeus was not the little guy who sat at the toll booth and actually collected the tolls and tariffs the Romans charged the local populace. He was more like the local don who had managed to buy the contract to collect tolls in that region. Chief toll collector meant he managed the system; and it was a system that stunk to high heaven. Zacchaeus was the top of the heap, the guy who skimmed off the top of those who skimmed off the top. A career criminal who had managed to make it big. There wasn't a richer man in town nor a sleazier one. So that, when the famous rabbi from Nazareth came through town, the one renown for preaching his version of God's shalom - shaking down the rich in order to compensate the poor - the people of Jericho could hardly wait to hear what he was going to say to that old fat cat, Zacchaeus. "Give'm hell preacher!' they probably said as Jesus mounted his soap-box about to launch into his message for the locals. "Tell him to wise up! Clean up his act! Get outta' town!" Funny thing was, Zacchaeus had tried to get a ring-side seat for the action; but the street was so packed with people that he couldn't even get a glimpse of Jesus because he was too short, Luke says. Most of us have always thought that meant Zacchaeus was too short; and maybe he was. Interestingly enough, the Greek translation can be read both ways - because Zacchaeus was too short or because Jesus was. Maybe Zacchaeus was six-foot-one. Maybe Jesus was four-foot-ten. At least one later Jewish critic of Christianity commented on Jesus' short stature as contrary to what one might expect in a son of God. Who knows. What is important is that Zacchaeus was drawn to Jesus. Maybe it was just curiosity - something to while away a hot afternoon when there was nothing better to do but count his loot. Maybe too it was the rumours Zacchaeus couldn't help hearing about this rabbi's penchant for hanging around with the wrong kind of people. What kind of rabbi liked to swap drinking stories with whores and toll collectors? This he had to see; and he was so determined that he climbed a sycamore tree so that he could see more than the backs of his neighbours. It was then that Jesus spotted him, maybe dangling there over a limb, looking ridiculous, desperate just to see. "Zacchaeus," said Jesus, "get down out of there in a hurry. I'm coming to your house to spend the night with YOU!" Luke doesn't say whether Zacchaeus climbed down out of the tree or fell out of it. My guess is that it was the latter, that he was so astonished by what Jesus had to say that he literally lost his grip. In any case, that's when things got real quiet all of a sudden - like the quiet in a church when a preacher says something so unexpected and real that everybody waits to see what is going to happen next. At first, the good people of Jericho probably started snickering up their sleeves. "For a smart young preacher, he sure doesn't know much about people!" they laughed. Then, when they realized he did know who Zacchaeus was, they started murmuring to one another, "He can't be serious! There isn't a bigger crook in the county! Has he lost his marbles!?" This was no joke. It caused a scandal. + It is, at least, one of the points Luke is trying to make: that there was this resistance to the reality that Jesus was and is. What bothered the good people of Jericho was not so much what Jesus had to say to them, but the way he said it. It is one thing to believe in loving your neighbour, to believe in welcoming the lost, to believe in forgiving the guilty; but it is quite another thing to practice what you preach, to actually practice doing it. That's what bothered people about Jesus. He not only said that we should love God and one another. He actually went out and did it. He didn't just say God's embrace was wide enough to welcome everyone, he actually went out and embraced people no one else would. It upset the balance. It was too unsettling to the way things were. For, just as pious Jews made a habit of labelling people at the time of Jesus in order to define the boundaries of what was important to them, it wasn't long before Christians adopted the same type of discrimination. Only people of good moral character and impeccable credentials could be welcomed into the church. Only people who hadn't been divorced or didn't drink could be ministers; for Christians had a vested an interest in making the church look respectable once it had gained the acceptance of the surrounding culture. It is why some of the parables of Jesus, like the story of the man who had two sons, and some of the stories about Jesus, like the woman caught committing adultery, caused considerable controversy in the early church. They made Jesus look like a flake, like somebody who didn't have very good judgement at times. The story of Zacchaeus was another, enough to make some scholars wonder whether the part about Zacchaeus offering to pay back four times whatever he had stolen from people was a later addition in order to soften the blow. As if Jesus' acceptance depended upon Zacchaeus' act of contrition. "I'll give everything back in spades!" he said. Maybe he did say it. Maybe he even meant it. Regardless, Jesus said, "Three cheers for the Irish!" He welcomed him aboard anyway, which means any way he could get him; because that's what Jesus seemed to be about: finding and saving and rejoicing about getting somebody who was as good as dead back again. "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost." It would be nice to think that Zacchaeus got converted over night. That he got welcomed into the local chapter of the Lodge, was elected Head Elder because of his charitable work. Became a model citizen of Jericho. It's just that I doubt that it would have made all that much difference to Jesus. He wanted him back even when he was a sawed-off social disaster with a big bank account and a crooked job just the way God has always wanted each one of us back too, whether or not we ever manage to pay up personally for everything we've done. It's a story, in the end, about the continuing scandal and lunacy of a God who can't seem to help himself. Don't take my word for it. Just remember the story: of Aaron and the bull-shooters, Jacob, the con-man, Rahab, first of the red hot mamas, David, the stud, Paul, the bully, Peter, the big-mouth, even Judas, for heaven's sake. Even Zacchaeus before he got religion. He wanted all of them though they were as peculiar as hell. Treasured them, treasured us, not so much because of what they were or because of what they became but because they were his. Because we are his peculiar treasures; and, such as we are, we reveal his glory, which is to say, his incredibly bad taste for people who, if nothing else, just can't resist scrambling up whatever is handy just to catch a glimpse of what it would be like to be back home. + Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 - Habakkuk, a cultic prophet, probably living around 625-612 B.C.E., complains to God about a perennial problem: the presence of evil and the suffering of the innocent. What's the point of having faith in a just God under such circumstances? God tells Habakkuk to watch and wait for an answer. In the meantime, God says, the righteous shall "live" by faith. 1. When was the last time you complained to God? About what? 2. What did you hear in response? 3. In what sense is righteousness the only reward we need? 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4,11-12 - The Lectionary asks us to skip over verses 5-10 because it doesn't have the stomach for the jolting words asking for God's vengeance upon oppressors. But it is important to remember that all of this chapter is an attempt to address a church experiencing the terrible ordeal of persecution. While we may not agree with the idea of vengeance, the church has not always found images of a meek and gentle Jesus enough to cope with the threat of annihilation. Nevertheless, the author turns this promise that "God will see justice done for his people" into a prayer for the Thessalonians that they might be encouraged and strengthened. 1. In what ways do Christians experience persecution today? 2. What is the greatest temptation for the church in a time of tribulation? 3. What is "the time of trial" for you? 4. How does God strengthen you? Luke 19:1-10 - The story is Luke's with no parallels anywhere else. It builds on themes that are important to Luke, like "saving the lost" and "repentance". It also presents, in miniature, the drama of Jesus' life and message. The gospel is received by those who least deserve it. It astounds those who pride themselves on "keeping the law". 1. Why does Zacchaeus respond to Jesus the way he does? 2. Would his response have mattered to Jesus? 3. When have you see this drama happening in your own religious community? 4. In what sense is the story one of the oldest and deepest jokes? FOR FURTHER REFLECTION - "God does not want to save us by our own personal and private righteousness and wisdom. God wants to save us by a righteousness and wisdom apart from this, other than this: a righteousness which does not come from ourselves, is not brought to birth by ourselves. It is a righteousness which comes into us from somewhere else." - Martin Luther. 1. Have someone read or tell the story of Beauty and the Beast and then discuss how this illustrates this week's gospel. 2. When did such a love find you? HYMN: 'Tis the Gift to be Simple (Voices United 353)
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