Ponderings

May 24, 2012

 

Luke 19

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

⁵ When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." ⁶ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner."

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

⁹ Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

 

 

I preached on this text on March 4. I want today to share a portion of that sermon.

 

I think you know that Zacchaeus was one of the most hated men in all of Jericho. He was not only a tax collector; he was the chief tax collector. In that day and time few persons were more despised than tax collectors. First, they were considered traitors because they were cooperating with Rome and, secondly, they were considered cheats. One Biblical historian helps us understand this when he writes:

 

History tells us that the Romans sold tax rights to local operators. Those operators had only to pay the Romans the amount that was in the contract, but they could charge people much higher than standard rates on many tax options. The local operator, who bought the tax rights from Rome, could get very rich by pocketing the difference between what was owed to Rome and what was actually collected from the people. Because of this system and abuses that all too often took place, tax-collectors were especially despised people.

 

So, Zacchaeus had become rich by adding hefty taxes for personal gain on the backs of the hard-working people of that Palestinian community.

 

It is clear, then, that Zacchaeus was a man who had his moral and spiritual focus in the wrong place. Don't you know that the reason Jesus reached out to Zacchaeus in that tree is because Jesus knew all about him and his spiritual condition? When Jesus said, Come down for I must stay at your house today, he was sending Zacchaeus a message to that he knew about him.

 

But then notice the response of the community when Jesus asks to go and have meal time with Zacchaeus. Luke says, All the people saw this and began to mutter, 'He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.'           Sometimes I think many Christians have it wrong. Sometimes I think we church folks forget why the Church exists. Some Christians, it seems to me, act as if the Church should put a sign outside its doors reading, Righteous Folks Welcome. I'd rather, however be a part of a faith community which acts as Jesus did with Zacchaeus. I want to be part of a faith community which has a sign out front saying, Reprobates welcome! For me that's being the Christian people and the Church Jesus is calling us to be.

 

Remember that old saying, The Church is not a haven for saints; it's a hospital for sinners. Jesus reached out to and welcomed the spiritually misguided and so should we. After all, if the Church is a haven for saints, none of us belong here!