Thank You, Jesus!

2016-11-17-thank-you-jesus

Saugatuck Congregational Church, UCC
© Rev. Alison J. Buttrick Patton
November 20, 2016

Scripture: Luke 19:1-10

This worship service is not about money.  And it is all about money. It is absolutely a call to all Saugatuck members and friends, all who suspect – or already know firsthand – that Saugatuck Congregational Church, United Church of Christ has something important, something faithful, something life-giving, life-restoring, life-transforming to offer.  It is a call to step up to the plate and make a financial contribution to sustain everything we do to nurture faith, seek justice, love kindness, pursue peace and share the gospel Good News. The gifts we gather will support this Community of Christ welcoming all people and learning to love and serve God and neighbor (in the words of our mission statement).  But today is not just about the money.  It’s about what that money does. It’s about how our money becomes an expression of gratitude and a statement of faith.

Some of us may have been raised to believe that money talk doesn’t belong in church, that it’s a bit untoward – like discussing our sex lives in public. I’ve always been intrigued by this, by the deep and mixed emotions that are stirred up by money – including my own.  Do you talk about money – with friends, with your own family, or in church? If not, why not? Why is it, that money matters feel so intensely private, so sensitive? I believe there’s a lot of good, faithful, uncomfortable, soul-healing work for us to do concerning our relationship to money.

As a young adult, I once attended a 2-day workshop about faith and money, during which we were asked to write a money autobiography – not just a history of what we had (or had not) earned, but an account of our relationship to money: Does it make me anxious, or secure? Did I grow up in a family that talked about money? Saved it? Needed it? Was embarrassed by what we did or did not have? It’s a fascinating exercise, one I commend to all of you.  You could treat it like a journal entry, a personal reflection, or, find a family member or friend that you trust, and turn it into a two-way conversation – during a walk, or over a cup of coffee (or tea).  Start by saying, “Money makes me feel…” and see where it takes you.

You could argue that the Gospel of Luke is, among others things, Jesus’ biography of money: an account of his attitudes about wealth.  As I noted just last week, Jesus talks about money more than about any other topic, except the Kingdom of God – and even his visions of the kingdom have an economic dimension:  “Blessed are you who are poor, for you will inherit the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus said he’d come to declare “Good News for the poor and… the Year of God’s Favor” – ‘God’s Favor’ which refers to the Jubilee year in which all debts were supposed to be forgiven, according to Jewish law.

Jesus tells multiple parables about keeping or sharing wealth: The parable about storing up wealth in bigger barns; the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  He tells one lawyer that in order to inherit the kingdom of Heaven, he must sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor.  In today’s story, Jesus praises a tax collector for giving away half of all he owns.  There’s no one prescription regarding how much of one’s wealth one should keep or share in order to be good with God; it seems to depend on the circumstances. But clearly, Jesus wants his listeners to think about their money; clearly, there is some connection between how we relate to money and how we express our faith.

Especially as described in the gospel of Luke, faith is ethical, practical, every-day tangible.  It’s not just about what we believe, it’s about how we act to embody that belief.  What we DO – with our time, our relationships and our resources.  The Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, say it this way:  “Let your life speak.”

How does the life of Zacchaeus speak, on that road through Jericho?  Zacchaeus, the small man with a large wallet – a tax collector, which means he was likely despised by his neighbors. Tax collectors not only worked for the Roman oppressors; they took advantage of their position to extort money from the working poor to line their own pockets.  It’s entirely likely that Zacchaeus couldn’t see Jesus coming down the road in part because the crowds wouldn’t let him through.  So he ran on ahead and climbed a tree.

The running and the climbing speak volumes. Both are completely undignified acts – reserved for small children on festival days. Grown men didn’t run; and they certainly did not climb trees.  Imagine a member of congress shimmying up a light post as the presidential motorcade drives by…

And yet, there was Zacchaeus, clinging to the branches and gazing out over the heads of the crowd.  It suggests that his enthusiasm, his curiosity, something… outweighed any worries about appearances. Maybe Zacchaeus had long ago given up worrying about what others thought.  Or maybe he just knew that a glimpse of this man Jesus was worth a little public humiliation.  Whatever the case, he didn’t anticipate what happened next:  Jesus noticing him up there in the tree, calling him by name, and inviting himself over to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. Zacchaeus didn’t seem to be embarrassed by this, either. Rather, the text says he was happy to receive Jesus.  In fact, everything about Zacchaeus suggests a kind of exuberance that deserves our attention.

The crowds, by contrast, were still grumbling. They didn’t approve of Jesus’ choice of dinner companion.  In response to the grumbling, Zacchaeus climbed down from the tree, stood at his full height, and declared his devotion to God. How?  By announcing that he was giving away half of his wealth, and promising that if ever he cheated anyone, he would restore the stolen funds fourfold, just as the law requires.  This is how he sought to prove that he did not deserve the disdain of the crowds. This is how he publicly honored the man who had just honored him with his time and attention.  This is how Zacchaeus said, “Thank you!”

There is some debate about whether Zacchaeus decided to give his money away on the spot, or whether he was describing something he had been doing all along.  Some interpreters have argued that Zacchaeus seizes this moment to repent of his bad behavior and seek forgiveness. According to this reading, Zacchaeus really is the sleazy, swindling tax collector that the crowd reviles. But the original Greek verbs are in the present tense, “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.” Also, a person who repents, typically kneels. By contrast, a person who defends himself stands. So, I think it entirely possible that this episode is meant to tell the story of a man who is already grateful, already faithful, a man whom Jesus singles out because of his faithfulness.

And where’s the evidence of that faithfulness? In the fact that Zacchaeus has clearly done some thinking about the connection between his faith and his money.  So that when he gets to meet Jesus face to face, the first thing he does to demonstrate his devotion is to share his financial strategy for giving thanks.

You have heard members of Saugatuck Church make the connections between their faith and their giving every Sunday this month.  I have been deeply moved by – and grateful for – the testimonies shared by Matt D’Auria, Martin Van Breems, Andrea Cross and, coming up this morning, Cynthia Wallace.

This is what they have reminded me, what Zacchaeus reminds me, this season: Money is not something untoward, something to be kept out of our sacred spaces and sacred conversations. On the contrary, all that we have is holy, because it all comes from God.  And we can use all the resources we have at our disposal to give God thanks, to show our love, to offer up our exuberant ‘Thank you, Jesus!’ for all the ways that Christ has welcomed us along the way.  We can put our money and our hearts to work – and why wouldn’t we do so?

When God has done so much in our midst: brought this congregation through the fire; gathered the people – long-time and new; helped us to foster a wide-open, welcoming space in which to explore our questions, express our praise and pursue God’s call to make a difference in the world. Can you feel it?  Have you seen it?  I’ve said it before, because this I believe: Here, the Spirit of God is alive – it sparks when we pass the peace, sit together in prayer, explore the pages of scripture or cook up meals for our neighbors.

It flashes in the eyes of the Saugatuck children who inspire us – children with their own emerging faith to share; in the hearts of our Octegenarians, with their years of wisdom and their deep devotion to this church – and in everyone in-between. It stirs us to faithful acts of service; and is strengthened by our interfaith ties.

That Spirit of God moves among us when we laugh together, and when we weep; as we walk the labyrinth on our front lawn and as we walk to find a cure for ALS; as we break bread and baptize babies, youth and adults; as we bless animals, clean the river, create art and make music; as we grapple with the cultural conflicts that break our hearts and listen together for God’s guidance; as we tend to the broken places and re-commit ourselves to pursue the flourishing of all God’s people…

Beloved in Christ:  God’s Spirit IS alive, and I for one am giving thanks!  Will you join me? With the exuberance of Zacchaeus let us take account of all we have: Our voices, our hands, our hearts; our buildings and our wide open spaces; our passion and our curiosity; our hope and wonder and vision for the future and, yes! Our money – Let all these be employed; let them become for us our expression of gratitude, our statement of faith, our thanks-be-to-God.

Amen.

Scripture:

Luke 19:1-10 Common English Bible (CEB)

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through town. A man there named Zacchaeus, a ruler among tax collectors, was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but, being a short man, he couldn’t because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When Jesus came to that spot, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay in your home today.” So Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus.

Everyone who saw this grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.”

Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this household because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 The Human One came to seek and save the lost.”