Sermon: The Man in the Tree

Delivered at Bethel United Methodist Church and at Salem United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on November 13, 2016

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The Man in the Tree

Audio Version

[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."

Luke 19:1-10 (NRSV)

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Break our hearts for what breaks Yours

From "Jesus, Friend of Sinners" by Casting Crowns

Jericho was, at one time, a cursed city.  When the Israelites entered the Promised Land after their long trek through the desert, Jericho was the first city they attacked.  The Israelite soldiers circled the fortified city once per day for six days.  On the seventh day, they circled the city seven times; the priests blew their horns; the soldiers shouted; and the walls of the city miraculously "came tumbling down."  They then invaded the city and slaughtered all of the people and livestock, sparing only the family of the woman who harbored Joshua's reconnaissance team.  They took no spoils but instead burned the entire city to the ground.  Joshua then declared that anyone who dared to rebuild the city of Jericho would be cursed by God.  At the cost of his oldest child, he would lay the foundations, and, at the cost of his youngest child, he would build the city gates.¹

Centuries later, a very wicked king named Ahab came to power, and, along with his wife Jezebel, he turned the people of Israel against their God.  At that time, a man named Hiel oversaw the reconstruction of Jericho, perhaps as an act of rebellion against Israel's God and heritage.  Just as Joshua had prophesied, Hiel lost his oldest son when the foundations were laid and later lost his youngest son when the city gates were built.²  After the city was established, the people of Jericho found themselves with a serious problem.  Contaminated water made people deathly ill, caused miscarriages, and rendered the soil unfit for growing crops.  Perhaps, rattling around in the people's minds was Joshua's curse.³  When the people turned to the prophet Elisha for help, he dumped a bowl of salt into the city's spring and pronounced the water clean.  Miraculously, the water no longer made people sick or caused the land to be unfruitful.⁴

By Jesus' day, Jericho had become prosperous.  Dates and balsam trees from the city were exported throughout the Roman Empire, generating a lot of revenue, and the location of the city within the Jordan Valley made it a gateway to Jerusalem and to the lands east of the Jordan River.⁵  This city also happened to be, according to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus' last stop on His way to Jerusalem.

In the city of Jericho, we meet a man named Zacchaeus, who was probably considered to be a curse by most of the residents.  An old children's song tells us that "Zacchaeus was a wee little man... and a wee little man was he."  This "wee little man" might have had a below average height, but he had an above average income.  He had amassed a great deal of wealth by working as a tax collector, and a prosperous city like Jericho was a good place to work as a tax collector.  In the days of the Roman Empire, tax collectors would bid on a district, and the one who could promise the most money to the Empire would be assigned to the district.  Any money he collected in excess of the amount he promised the Empire was his to keep.  This system, which obviously lent itself to abuse, allowed tax collectors to line their pockets quite nicely.  Some speculate that this broken system might have been retired by the time of Jesus, but, even so, it still would have shaped the people's opinions of tax collectors like Zacchaeus.⁶

The Jewish people hated their Roman oppressors, and, because Zacchaeus was an employee of the Roman Empire who lived high on the hog thanks to the Roman occupation, he would have been regarded as a traitor by his fellow Jews.  Zacchaeus was not just any tax collector: he was the chief tax collector of his region.  Not only did he profit from his own collections, he also received a cut of the profits of all the tax collectors who reported to him.⁷  As chief tax collector – and chief scumbag – Zacchaeus had likely earned for himself the title of most hated man in Jericho.  In the eloquent words of N.T. Wright,
One can only imagine the reaction of neighbours, and even of friends and relatives, as Zacchaeus's house became more lavishly decorated, as more slaves ran about at his bidding, as his clothes became finer and his food richer.  Everyone knew that this was their money and that he had no right to it; everyone knew that there was nothing they could do about it.⁸

As the town pariah, this first-century Bernie Madoff⁹ longed for something that all the money in the world could not buy.  It was this longing that drew Zacchaeus to the traveling teacher, healer, and prophet known as Jesus of Nazareth.¹⁰  Perhaps he had heard something about Jesus' strange stories of lost sheep and wayward sons.¹¹  Perhaps he had heard that Jesus risked uncleanness to heal people whose medical problems had made them unclean and untouchable.¹²  Perhaps he had heard that Jesus once stuck up for a prostitute who crashed a Pharisee's dinner party and made an awkward scene at the dinner table.¹³  Perhaps he had heard that Jesus shared meals with undesirables like tax collectors as if they were some of His best friends.¹⁴  Perhaps he had even heard rumors that Jesus had chosen a tax collector like him to be one of His pupils.¹⁵

Whatever Zacchaeus had previously heard about Jesus, when he learned that Jesus was passing through Jericho, he knew that he had to catch a glimpse of Him.  When he went out to see Jesus, he could not see because of the crowd.  Naturally, he couldn't see because he was, as some people say, "vertically challenged," but it is quite likely that the crowd didn't want him to see Jesus.  All things considered, Zacchaeus was actually quite brave to go out among the crowd.  The size of the crowd would have afforded any angry resident of Jericho the opportunity to give him an anonymous shove, kick, or punch.¹⁶  Determined to see Jesus, Zacchaeus employed a skill he might not have used since the days of his childhood: he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree.  He probably just wanted to catch a glimpse of the mysterious Jesus of Nazareth and maybe even glean some words of wisdom as He passed by.  He had not anticipated what would happen next.  As soon as Jesus arrived at Zacchaeus's location, He stopped at the tree, looked up at Zacchaeus, and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today."

Zacchaeus turned over a new leaf after meeting Jesus.  He pledged to give half of his possessions to those in need, and he promised to make fourfold restitution to anyone he had cheated.¹⁷  According to the Jewish Law, anyone who confessed to fraud or theft was only required to repay the amount of the damages plus one fifth.  Fourfold restitution was reserved for deliberately destructive actions.¹⁸  Basically, Zacchaeus confronted the destructive nature of his actions, took ownership of all the ways he had wronged the residents of Jericho, and committed to set things right.  He resolved to leave behind a life of dishonesty and greed to embrace a life of integrity and generosity.
   
So what could Jesus have possibly said to Zacchaeus that would have caused such a radical change?  All we really know Jesus said to Zacchaeus is, "Hey, Zacchaeus!  We need somewhere to stay tonight.  Mind if we crash at your place?"

Jesus had a way of making the excluded feel included.

In the Gospel of John, we read that one day, while passing through a Samaritan town, Jesus sat down beside a well to rest while the Disciples went to the market to buy food.  When a woman came to the well to draw some water, Jesus asked her for a drink.  Women normally drew water in the morning, but this woman waited until noon so that she could avoid her peers, for a string of broken marriages in her past had given her a bad reputation.  It is remarkable that Jesus, a Jew, would even ask a Samaritan woman for a drink, since Jews and Samaritans generally hated each other, but Jesus was speaking with an outcast among outcasts.¹⁹  Jesus took the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her that left her a changed woman.  She forgot all about her shame and told everyone in town about the man she had come to believe was their long-awaited messiah.²⁰

Never underestimate the power of a simple act of inclusion.  Simply sitting with someone, talking with someone, sharing a meal with someone, asking someone for help and gratefully accepting his or her help, or doing anything that says to someone, "I'm with you, and I'm for you," has the potential to make an impact in a person's life.

During my first two years of college, I was, for the most part, a loner and a hermit, mostly because I was a commuter.  Though I occasionally hung out with some of my high school friends who also attended the same university, I typically drove to campus every day, attended my classes, and then went home.

At the beginning of my Junior year, I learned about the Wesley Fellowship, the Untied Methodist group on campus.  The young men and women in this group knew how to make a person feel welcomed, included, and loved.  During the fall, I joined the group for a retreat at Lake Junaluska, and, during the retreat, we had a healing service.  When my turn came to sit in the middle of the circle, everyone placed their hands on me, and I felt the love of everyone in the room.  On one Friday evening not too long afterward, I went to the campus chapel to attend a lecture.  I saw some of my friends from the group sitting together on one of the pews, but, because the pew was full, I took a seat on the pew behind them where I would still be able to talk with them.  Three of my friends – Kim, Ginger, and John – stood up and moved back to sit with me.  I doubt they even remember doing this, but this small act of inclusion meant a lot to me.  Another friend turned around and said, "We could have squeezed you in."

It it any wonder that I would remain involved with such a group for three years after I graduated?

Being involved with the Wesley Fellowship changed my life.  For years, I had known that I needed to be a Christian, but this group made realize that I actually wanted to be a Christian.  I began to see church less as an event I attended every Sunday morning and more as a community built on love.  I think that maybe the inclusive nature of the group is part of what gave me the desire to make sure that the people around me feel included.

Theologian Paul Tillich describes God's grace as that which reaches out to us in our darkest moments, when we are at our lowest, and says, "You are accepted.  You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know...  Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!"  According to Tillich, in the moment we are "struck by grace," nothing might seem different, yet somehow everything is changed.²¹  To receive God's grace is to accept that we are accepted by God, and to extend that grace to other people is to accept them just as they are.

Does it sound offensive to you that someone as criminally unacceptable as Zacchaeus should be accepted just as he is?  If you find such an idea repugnant, you would have been in good company among the crowd in Jericho that day.  When Jesus made His request to stay at Zacchaeus's house, people began grumbling about the fact that He would be willing to associate with such a despicable sinner, but, to borrow a phrase from St. Paul, "where sin abounded, grace abounded much more."²²  Grace can be offensive to us when we become a little too sure of our own goodness and forget that we too are in need of grace.

It is not our place to change people: that job belongs to God, and to God alone.  Our job is to love our neighbors and even our enemies as Christ loves us, following His example.  In the words of John Pavlovitz, "It's a really bad idea to set out to change another person.  Instead, set out to love them, and they will become whatever they are supposed to become"  Jesus did not tell Zacchaeus that he needed to change; instead, Jesus simply reached out to him and accepted him just as he was.  Zacchaeus was changed by the grace Jesus showed him: he saw past the person he had been and began to see the person he could be.  He was saved from his former self and from the alienation his actions had brought him, and a new faith was born within him.

Jesus says of Zacchaeus, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham."  Abraham, who had the faith to leave everything familiar to him and go to the place where God had called him to go, is the revered ancestor of the Jewish people.  One question that comes up multiple times in the New Testament concerns what it means to be a child of Abraham, for it is not merely a matter of ancestry.  In one Gospel, Jesus suggests that a child of Abraham is one who does Abraham's works.²³  St. Paul argues that a child of Abraham is one who shares Abraham's faith.²⁴  I find it noteworthy that Zacchaeus did not express any desire to leave everything and follow Jesus like a number of others who encountered Him.  Following Jesus on His travels would have been an easy way for Zacchaeus to get out of dodge, away from all the people who hated him, press the reset button on his life, and start over.  Instead, he chose to stay in Jericho to repair his relationship with the people of the city and to make amends to the people he had wronged.  It requires great faith to venture out into worlds unknown, like Abraham, but sometimes we need great faith just to face the world we know.

We cannot change people, and, if we attempt to change people, we will only do more harm than good.  We can only love people and accept them just as they are.  Ironically, knowing that we're loved and accepted just as we are can change us in profound ways.  We, who have received the love and grace of God, must extend this love and grace to others.  When we love other people as Christ loves us, allowing God to work through us, there is no telling what kind of miracles God might work in their hearts.

Amen.


Notes:

1. Joshua 6
2. 1 Kings 16:29-34
3. Rob Bell.  "Salt in the Water."  Mars Hill Bible Church Podcast, 05/02/2010.
4. 2 Kings 2:19-22
5. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Luke.  2001, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 276
6. Barclay, pp. 76-77
7. N.T. Wright.  Luke for Everyone.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 222
8. Wright, pp. 222-223
9. I think I originally heard Rob Bell make this comparison in one of his sermons.
10. Barclay, p. 278
11. Luke 15
12. Luke 5:12-16; Luke 8:43-48; Luke 17:11-19
13. Luke 7:36-50
14. Luke 5:29-32
15. Luke 5:27-28
16. Barclay, p. 278
17. Several years ago, I learned from my pastor that there is some ambiguity in the original Greek text in regards to the verb tense Zacchaeus uses.  Zacchaeus might be telling Jesus what he will do, but it is possible that he is telling Jesus what he already does.  The latter reading is reflected in the Common English Bible.  Zacchaeus is typically understood to have been a greedy and dishonest tax collector, but it is possible that he was actually an honest and generous tax collector who was misjudged by the people.  I have chosen the conventional reading for the purpose of this sermon.
18. Barclay, p. 278  (See also Leviticus 6:2-5 and Exodus 22:1.)
19. Adam Hamilton.  The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus.  2012, Abingdon Press.  pp. 127-128
20. John 4:1-42
21. Paul Tillich.  The Shaking of the Foundations.  ch. 19
22. Romans 5:20 (NKJV)
23. John 8:39
24. Romans 4:16

Zacchaeus was painted by Niels Larsen Stevns in 1913.