Sermon: “Rich Man Up a Tree” When I was brave enough, which was really only now and then, I would climb up a tree, slide carefully out on a limb – then I’d hook my legs around the branch and hang upside down. Not to worry, I was a whole lot lighter then – and the tree and I would survive this exercise. Climbing a tree is an adventure, a challenge, it’s something fun to do. But there are also times in your life when you feel like you are “up a tree.” Not literally of course, but emotionally, maybe spiritually. And it is not fun at all. Sometimes we feel stuck – like a cat stuck up a tree. It might be a feeling of hopelessness, or despair - a sense that life is not going in the direction you thought it would go at this point in your life, and your not able to make a change. Sometimes events in your life do not unfold as you had expected them to – and you feel lost and powerless to move in a positive direction. My mother had a phrase for this – but it’s not one you can say completely in church. It has to do with being up a certain kind of creek – a nasty and smelly kind of creek. Sometimes you find yourself up this creek, without a paddle. In this morning lesson from Luke’s gospel we meet such a person – who is both literally, and perhaps emotionally and spiritually up a tree. He was up that creek without a paddle – he sensed his life was not going in the right direction. His name was Zacchaeus. And for some reason Zacchaeus was mysteriously drawn to Jesus. He wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus, as he passed through Jericho, on his way to Jerusalem. Perhaps he’d heard of Jesus, and sensed that Jesus could help him. Maybe Jesus has some answers for him that he could not find anywhere else. For what it’s worth, Zacchaeus has the singular distinction as the only person in the New Testament whose height is described. Luke tells us he was “short of stature.” Other translations say he was a “short man.” The words here from Luke are at least better than the words in that song we know and sang with the young disciples today: Zacchaeus was a “wee little man.” Not a very flattering lyric. Certainly not very P.C. Then there’s that Randy Newman song, “short people” – “short people got no reason…” Having a Napoleon complex – or short man syndrome – being vertically challenged - our culture, and perhaps the culture of that time could be very demeaning to those whose height was less than others. In addition to his vertical stature, Luke tells us that Zacchaeus was also a chief tax collector, and was rich. Not the most popular of people – many Jews felt that tax collectors were traitors to the Jewish nation, since their work supported the Roman occupation. Being the chief tax collector means he had middle and lower management tax collectors working for him, paying him a cut of their take. And we remember how Jesus, here in Luke, deals with wealth and money and riches. He’s tends to be pretty tough. Jesus notes how hard it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God – it’s like a camel going through the eye of a needle. Then there’s the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. You might remember where the rich man ended up after his death, all because he did not notice and did not help Lazarus during his earthly life. It just so happened that a group of pastors and elders were talking about the lesson after a Presbytery committee meeting, the Monday night after this lesson was read – many of us who follow the lectionary preached on it. This one pastor, serving in one of our wealthier churches, said he told his congregation that if you had money and didn’t share it with the poor, you were going to hell. Our eyes got pretty big at that – then someone remembered – out loud - that this pastor was the “interim” pastor of this church, and he could get away with such talk. Now we are not told this, but I have to wonder if Zacchaeus was aware of how others regarded him. Maybe he didn’t care what other people thought. “So what.” Then again, maybe he did. Maybe he cared deeply, but felt stuck to do anything about it – a victim of his own circumstances, maybe he felt powerless to change - like being up a tree, and up a creek, sans paddle. Maybe he wondered what Jesus would think of him, his line of work, and his wealth. Still – this rich, short of stature tax collector – one of the least popular people in Jericho – he still finds himself drawn to Jesus, perhaps because he feels like he’s up a tree, and up that creek. He hears Jesus is passing through town – and he wants to see him. With the parade route full of people – and with no one willing to move out of the way for Zacchaeus to be able to see what’s happening - he runs ahead and climbs up in the sycamore tree. Here’s our Rich Man, up a tree. Zacchaeus – who was hoping to just catch a glimpse of Jesus – finds himself being greeted by Jesus – who already knows his name – and who very nearly commands Zacchaeus to come down from that tree – right now – “for I must stay at your house today.” What a shock – what a surprise that must have been for Zacchaeus? That Jesus would want to come to his house? So he comes down, and receives Jesus with a warm welcome. The Revised Standard Version reads, “He received Jesus joyfully.” Who’d have thought – Jesus, wanting to meet and talk with and spend time with and have a visit with a chief tax collector, this rich man up a tree. Zacchaeus, who was hoping just for a look at Jesus, finds himself having a luncheon with Jesus - much to the dismay, we notice, of the crowds – the crowds who also knew Zacchaeus, their despised chief tax collector, a man they regarded with disdain and disgust. They start to murmur – complain, fuss (no reminder bracelets on their wrists) - “Jesus is going to lunch at a sinner’s house.” (Humph). And their complaining and fussing is not just about Zacchaeus, but about Jesus as well. Or maybe some in the crowd thought that Jesus would confront Zacchaeus, - give him the tongue lashing he deserved – and urge him to repent before is was too late, lest he end up like that other rich man with Lazarus, two chapters back. But that’s not what happened. In fact, something quite extraordinary happens. During that visit, over luncheon that day, something totally transformative happens to Zacchaeus. Something powerful - something life changing – something amazing – we could call “amazing grace.” Notice Jesus doesn’t say anything here. No tongue-lashing, no words of judgment. Instead, by Jesus’ mere presence in that room, present to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus is changed. He moves away from and out of that tree – and down from that nasty creek – and toward a life of heart-felt generosity. He moves away from hopelessness and despair, and toward hope and confidence. His life is now more in line with God’s desires and purposes for him. And all of this happens by the mere presence of Jesus: Zacchaeus stood there – (stood there, in the presence of Jesus) 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.” By experiencing the presence of Jesus, Zacchaeus come to realize that his life does not consist in the abundance of possessions – so he gives half of his possessions – half of his net worth – to the poor. He comes to see that being in and living in the presence of Jesus Christ moves a person to a radical transformation of their behavior – which includes honesty in one’s personal and business dealings – with deception and fraud. Now here we see a rich man and a tax collector who gets it. A chief tax collector, a rich man up a tree in more ways that one – his whole life is changed by the presence of Jesus. By Jesus – who unlike the crowd accepted Zacchaeus for who he was, who looked at Zacchaeus and saw not just a sinner, like the crowds did, but also “a son of Abraham” – a child of God. And this transforming moment, for Zacchaeus – Jesus calls it “salvation.” Then Jesus said to Zacchaeus - “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.” In the church we get very concerned with matters of salvation. And we should. The very first of the “great ends of the church” in our Book of Order is “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.” But sometimes we get bogged down with salvation questions – like who, exactly is saved, and who is not? What happens to those who are not saved? Are you sure you are saved? What must we do to be saved? – by which we usually mean what must we do to get into heaven? This story in Luke gives us one valuable foundational answer, which should relieve our anxiety over these questions: salvation is, fundamentally, the transforming presence of Jesus Christ in your life and in my life – here and now. Salvation is Jesus, in your life, and in mine. It is about heaven, yes – but not exclusively. It’s also about service – here and now, living our lives with the loving and transforming presence of Jesus Christ, who is with us by the Holy Spirit, whom we receive in our baptism, and who nourishes us in the bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper. To paraphrase Muhammad Ali: “Don’t worry about no pie in the sky when you die - You want something here on the ground while you're still around.” That something is the transforming presence of Jesus – who is God with us – here on the ground while we are still around – who is here to help us when we are up a tree, up a creek – when we feel hopeless or full of despair. The transforming presence of Jesus brings us salvation – today, right here and right now – and every day of our lives. And all God’s people said. Amen. |