Scripture Luke 19:1-10
He [Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 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.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “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 to save the lost.”
Sermon God’s Saints
I love a story of the saints of God. I especially love a story where we find an unexpected saint—someone we initially are pretty sure will turn out to be a villain.
Our story takes place in Jericho, a place we hear about several times in scripture. In the Old Testament, the taking of Jericho is a key scene in the story of the Israelites conquering the land of Canaan. In chapter 10 of the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus sets his parable of the Good Samaritan on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho; a dangerous road. In Luke chapter 18, just as he is about to enter Jericho, Jesus heals a blind beggar.
Today we find Jesus walking through Jericho—intending to passing through—and he is surrounded by a crowd. Then we meet Zacchaeus, and we get some important information about him: He’s a chief tax collector, and he’s rich.
We’ve already encountered the idea of the tax collector as a sinner, and that seems to be who Zacchaeus is. As a tax collector he is a collaborator He is considered also a traitor to his people. Not only that, he is a CHIEF tax collector. Meaning, he’s done this for a long time, and he’s worked his way up the ranks, and now he’s rich, as a result of his wrongdoing.
In this time and place, all this would be seen as sinful and as evidence this man was not truly a son of Abraham, the patriarch of the Israelites. People’s attitude toward him would be as toward a black sheep in the family, or even toward someone who had been cast out from the family altogether.
Still, we learn that Zacchaeus is eager to see Jesus. So eager that he climbs a sycamore fig tree to get a better view, as he’s a man of short stature. His being a short man adds to the negative list of things the narrator is pointing out. In the ancient Middle East as in the present day, there was a bias in favor of taller people, especially taller men. Zacchaeus’s size, because he was probably already hated by his neighbors, would be another point of ridicule.
Zacchaeus climbs. As Jesus approaches him, he looks up and says: Zacchaeus! Quick! Get down here! I’m coming to your house today. Zacchaeus scrambles down, pleased at this—thrilled, really, to welcome Jesus into his home. That’s when the grumbling starts. Everyone is grumbling.
“Can you believe this? Tiny Taxer is having the prophet over for dinner! What nerve!”
“I can’t believe a holy man is going into the house of a known sinner. He can’t be that holy.”
Jesus says nothing, but Zacchaeus earnestly turns to Jesus to say, Hold on. I’m ready to give half of what I own to the poor. If I’ve defrauded anyone, I will repay them four times as much as I took from them.
And Jesus turns to the crowd to make a joyful announcement: Today salvation has come to this house. Zacchaeus here is a son of Abraham after all. He adds, This is basically my job: to find the lost, and restore them to their true family.
And that’s it! The heartwarming story come to an end. A tasty Middle Eastern dinner awaits, and the community has witnessed Zacchaeus’ transformation. Like the beggar in chapter 18, like the victim of robbers in the parable, Zacchaeus has been healed. The End. Or, is it?
What if that’s not actually what we just witnessed?
One of the delights of our weekly Bible Study is that everyone brings their own Bibles, which is to say, their own translations. Some of us have the same translations, but many have Bibles they’ve had a long time, dating back to their confirmations. That means we often hear words other than the ones in front of us, as we take turns reading scripture aloud. We almost always chat about the differences. Two translation differences that show up in the story of Zacchaeus are striking.
Today, in verse 8 of our story, we read:
Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”
However, in the King James Version, for example, we read this:
And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
As it turns out, the Greek verbs describing Zacchaeus’s actions—to pay and to give back or restore—are in the present tense. And translators have, sometimes decided to translate them as being in the future tense.
This has big implications for our story. Instead of a story of a bad man undergoing an experience of transformation, in which he embraces Jesus’s and his people’s values, we have the story of a man who is already doing the right thing, quietly, while his neighbors assume he’s a bad man. And if there is any transformation, it’s in the opinion of Zacchaeus’s neighbors, in their attitude toward him.
So we have a choice. Is this story about the transformation of Zacchaeus? Or is it another story of God surprising us by revealing an unexpectedly good guy, which leads to the transformation of a community?
Jesus says of Zacchaeus, “… he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Our story shows Jesus restoring Zacchaeus’s reputation among his neighbors. Maybe his bad name was how he was lost. Maybe it’s his neighbors who were lost.
In Luke chapter 6 we find one of the most-quoted sayings of Jesus:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:39)
Sadly, in addition to being one of sayings of Jesus we quote the most, this is also one of those that lots of us fail to follow. I confess that I am among those who cast judgment when I shouldn’t.
We live in a time in which we are deeply divided politically and culturally, and judgment of one another is a symptom of that divide. On both sides of the divide, we have grown accustomed to casting those with whom we disagree in vile terms. On both sides of the divide, we have made judgments as to who are real Christians and who are not. On both sides of the divide, we have been engaged in unkindness, stereotyping, and rhetoric that has become violent. This is bad news.
The good news is that, according to studies, people on both sides of the divide also have some important and wonderful things in common.
Most Americans care about all Americans, regardless of political views. We want the best for each other.
Most Americans have at least a few friends that cross that divide—people they love, with whom they stay close, even though they disagree politically.
Most Americans believe living in a diverse community is better than living in a bubble with people who think like them. This means we want to know each other and understand each other better.
And a huge majority of Americans want our country to remain as one.
These common beliefs are important, because they offer the possibility of conversations that can be healing. They suggest that it is possible to build bridges with one another, far more than we have been led to believe. They suggest that, underneath it all, we still are, somehow, one. They also suggest that we can learn not to judge one another so harshly. We can learn to move forward with hope in our future together. But it’s still going to take some work.
The people of Jericho have judged Zacchaeus, held him in scorn, and attributed to him all the worst and most stereotypical characteristics of tax collectors, the rich, and even, sadly, the vertically challenged. And now they have been brought up short, because Zacchaeus is not the man they thought he was. He is a good man. In fact, as a follower of Jesus, he is already saint. We Presbyterians cleave to St. Paul’s definition of sainthood as including all who follow Jesus.
Being a saint does not mean being perfect. It does mean trying to walk in the way of Jesus, letting him teach us, and letting ourselves be molded by his love and compassion. It also means learning to love one another across our perceived differences.
I love a story of the saints of God. I especially love stories of the transformations of our hearts as we learn more about one another and ourselves. And best of all, I love a story in which the saints come together across divides and find new ways of becoming Christ’s beloved community.
Thanks be to God. Amen.