Come Down, Zacchaeus!

DATE: November 10, 2013 — Gratitude Sunday
SCRIPTURE:
Luke 19:1-10, 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
©Rev. Alison J. Buttrick Patton

Seabury Center

Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector. Unusually short. But also unusually rich. And unusually unpopular. That’s how it went with tax collectors. We’ve met them before. They’re the ones who raised funds for the Roman Empire, and had a reputation for extorting extra money to line their own pockets. They made their fortunes on the backs of ordinary citizens. When the Pharisees wanted to insult Jesus, they accused him of ‘eating with tax collectors,’ (which, as we just read, happens to be true). Zacchaeus was walking through Jericho one day, ignoring the whispered ‘short jokes’ and hostile stares of his neighbors, wondering why there was so much traffic in the middle of the day but unable to see over the sea of backs and shoulders, when someone said:

“Jesus is coming.” The word passed from ear to ear, like an electric courant along a wire. Someone said: “Jesus is coming. They say there’s hope and healing in his touch and laughter in his eyes.” Someone said, “They say he has the power to cast out demons, and to forgive sins.” Someone said, “He eats with sinners – with people who have screwed up or just plain given up. ” Zacchaeus listened to the murmuring crowd, then, out of curiosity or something more urgent, he hiked up his robes and ran to the nearest Sycamore Tree, climbed one of its low-hanging branches and scanned the horizon…

No sooner had he found his purchase, than Zacchaeus caught sight of the guy everyone had been talking about. And to his utter surprise, Jesus caught sight of him. “Hurry and come down, Zacchaeus! [he said.] Dinner’s on you tonight!” So back down the tree Zacchaeus clambered, as the crowd tittered all around him. Someone said, “What’s Jesus thinking?” Someone said, “Doesn’t he realize what a rat Zacchaeus is?” Jesus just waited at the base of the tree. And while the rest of them grumbled, Zacchaeus beamed. Funny, how light-hearted he felt, all of a sudden, like he’d just gotten his first glimpse of real joy. In the time it took Jesus to say, “Hurry, Zacchaeus, come down,” something had shifted inside him, and the tax collector turned from tyrant to philanthropist, like an ecstatic Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas morning. “Here, Jesus: Take this: half of everything I own; give it to the poor, give it all…”

It’s a transformative moment for Zacchaeus. And it strikes me that where Zacchaeus started that morning, we’ve all been there, standing on the Jericho Road at some pivotal moment between what has been and what’s about to be. Out of curiosity, or something more urgent, we stand on tip-toe, try to see over the crowd, wonder what’s coming. It’s that precarious feeling we get whenever change is in the air: when we move to a new town, or change jobs, or lose a job, or have a baby, or end a marriage, or start a friendship… It’s a feeling with which we are familiar at Saugatuck Church: as we shift from burned building to rebuilt church, from one season of ministry to another, from one pastor to another… And like member Steph Bulkeley wisely said last week, (when she shared her ‘seed story’): not knowing exactly what’s coming, not being able to see past the bend in the road, that’s hard; it can make us anxious.

So we climb up a tree, strain our eyes, scan the horizon. Try to get a glimpse, some clue about what to expect. What do you see? Here’s what I see, when I climb up the tree and look around at all of you: I see a community inspired by generations of faithful members of Saugatuck Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, a congregation reaching out into Westport, gathering for worship, praying together, unleashing creativity, loving each other, raising up children –celebrating their gifts, and giving them space to lead. I see a church that has hosted homeless men and scores of twelve-step meetings, and is proud of having done so. I see the Saugatuck Nursery School, founded after Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968, to foster friendships among children of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds.

Right here in this room, I see Saugatuck members and friends who are serving our town of Westport, caring for and defending our green earth, working to end gun violence, eradicate hunger and increase access to affordable housing in our communities. I see you, members and friends of Saugatuck, speaking and acting prophetically in all kinds of ways and places.

I see people who show up for Bible Study every Wednesday morning: who ask probing questions, share deep reflections who bask in the sheer pleasure of being together. I see faithful Sunday School and confirmation teachers and mentors bringing their curiosity, commitment and creativity to the work of raising young people in faith. I see dedicated members working long hours to steer the rebuilding process, attending to big questions – like how we make sure that our building is fully accessible, and to the bazzilion detail questions, like where should the light switches go?

I see members singing and sitting in silent prayer. I see you making art together and making plans and making sure that everyone who wants to be here, gets a ride to church on Sunday morning.

I also see the shine in your eyes, when you tell stories about the ways that this faith community has touched, challenged, supported and blessed you. I see those pieces of yarn that Nancy Wargo handed out, to remind us that this congregation wrapped her in prayer like a blanket during her cancer surgery. I see the heaping plates of turkey and sweet potatoes, and a table full of pies, that you serve to 400 guests during the Community Feast every Thanksgiving. I remember what Robb Flugg said last week, about seeing signs of God’s Spirit everywhere during that feast, a Spirit [he said] “unaffected by the fire that left a charred church a few blocks away…”

THAT’S what I see, too. I see a church alive with God’s Spirit. And it makes me think: No wonder Zacchaeus joyfully welcomed Jesus into his home. No wonder he promised to give away half of all he owned, opened up his coffers and said, “Here, take this!” He saw, from his vantage point up in that tree, and later, from across the dinner table, something that stirred his heart: a man, yes. The rabbi Jesus. But something more: signs of God’s Spirit in him: Love, healing, and power radiating from Jesus’ eyes as they locked onto Zacchaeus, as he called to him, “Zacchaeus, come down!”

No one had ever noticed Zacchaeus like that before. No one had ever welcomed him like that. Normally, people looked out through a crack in the blinds when he got to the door, then closed the curtains tight. Normally, people on the streets turned their backs, grabbed their children, hurried away in the other direction. But not Jesus: Jesus looked him right in the eye and said, “Zacchaeus, come down. I need to eat at your house tonight!” He knew that Zacchaeus was a tax collector. He heard the murmurs of the scandalized crowd. Even so, he chose Zacchaeus.

One writer described their encounter this way: Jesus didn’t scold Zacchaeus, or demand that he repent. He invited Zacchaeus to experience God’s unconditional love. It’s that invitation that sparked Zacchaeus’s response – his urge to change. Zacchaeus had been accepted. He had ‘come into contact with his own dignity’ in the face of Jesus.¹ I love that: He had ‘come into contact with his own dignity.’ In other words: he saw his own worth (not his financial worth, but his human, God-created worth) reflected in Jesus’ eyes.

Here at Saugatuck Church, I see a community that invites people to ‘come into contact with their own dignity,’ to experience God’s unconditional love right where we are. As member Russ Brenneman wrote in our Facebook group this week: “My church is a place that lets me say silly things and doesn’t lock me up!” Saugatuck Church is an ‘open and affirming church,’ so we say you are welcome here, no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey: gay or straight or still sorting that out; married, partnered, single, searching. Welcome. We are all human here, like Zacchaeus, so along the way we stumble, fumble and fail – ourselves and each other. But still, we strive to treat one another with dignity and love. By God’s grace, we are making our way together.

How then, can you resist? If you see what I have seen, if you have felt what Nancy and Steph and Rob have felt – if you’ve looked around, looked in the eyes of your neighbor and glimpsed the eyes of Christ looking back, if you suspect, as I do, that here, just like in Jericho, lives are being transformed by the unconditional love of God, than surely you recognize the urge that swept over Zacchaeus, the urge to give. Out of gratitude. Out of wonder. Out of a genuine desire to share the joy.

God only knows what will take root and flourish, because of the seeds we plant together. As Steph pointed out last week, the future is in God’s hands. This I do know: Christ has caught sight of us, Saugatuck Church, has invited himself to our house, is hanging out right here in our midst. Knowing that makes all things possible: grace and generosity and justice: Food and homes and an end to violence and extravagant welcome. That’s what we’re about at Saugatuck Church: with God’s help, we are feeding and healing and transforming lives. Give to that, because you cannot resist. Give to that, and see what God will do.

Scripture Texts

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2A man was there named Zacchaeus [Zah-KAY-us]; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, because he was going to pass that way.

5When 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.” 6So Zacchaeus hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7All who saw it began to grumble and said, “Jesus has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”

8Zacchaeus 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.” 9Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Human One came to seek out and to save the lost.”

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

May God, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you . . .