October 31, 2010
Read Luke 19:1-10.
At this point anyone who grew up in English speaking Sunday Schools is thinking about the song, so let’s go ahead and get that out of the way. Feel free to sing along.
How’s that for a cheesy intro? Zacchaeus is the classic children’s story. The story is told and sang and colored and dramatized in Sunday Schools around the world. In fact, this story has been told so many times that it has become trite. But maybe the short little man still has something to say.
If we read through the whole book of Luke with a careful eye, we see something surprising in the Zacchaeus story - everything! This is a narrative summary of the whole gospel of Luke up to this point. In one simple story, Luke has woven together all of the key themes of his entire story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
We can’t review the entire book of Luke, but we can get the idea of what’s going on in another place where Luke gives a summary of Jesus’ life and ministry. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus is beginning his ministry. The first official words of Jesus’ ministry in Luke are a quote from the prophet Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come. All of these themes are repeated in Luke 18 and 19.
For example, in Luke 18 a very rich, very religious guy asked Jesus a question: “What should I do to get eternal life?” Jesus (the guy of grace and love) answers in a surprising way. Jesus lists the commandments, the rules that all the religious guys love: don’t sleep around, don’t kill, don’t lie, etc. Jesus seems to be setting the guy up for a fall.
The rich, religious guy’s chest kind of puffs up a little: “I’ve done all that since I was a boy.”
Jesus says, “OK, then, there’s just one more little thing. Sell everything you have, and give it to the poor.”
Then, there’s the tragic line: “When the man heard this, he became very sad, for he was very rich.” He didn’t own his money. His money owned him. He couldn’t give it up to save his life. He was a captive. Jesus could have set him free, but instead, the rich guy walked away sad.
Jesus takes advantage of this teaching moment, and he says, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! ... But what is impossible for people is possible with God.” (Luke 18:18-27)
Jesus pulls his disciples aside and says, “Look guys, you’ve got to realize something. We’re going to Jerusalem, and they’re going to kill me. It’s going to be bad, but I will rise again. This is all to fulfill what the prophets said about me” (Luke 18:31-34). (At this point the disciples seem to be blind. They just don’t get it.)
Then, the very next story is about a blind guy. The blind guy hears Jesus is passing through, so he starts shouting and making a scene. People tell him to shut up, but he just yells louder: “Jesus, Messiah, have mercy on me!” Jesus heals him, and the blind man sees.
So we’ve got the rich guy who is a slave to his cash. Then, Jesus’ reminder that he’s going to die and rise again as the prophets predicted. Then, a blind guy who can see again. Then, with all of this build up, we come to Zacchaeus.
The other rich guy was very “moral” but very addicted to his stuff. He went home sad and captive. Zacchaeus experiences a total turn-around. He had been the chief tax-collector. He was basically an organized crime boss in collusion with the government. He knew all about money: how to get it, how to keep it, and how to grow it. But his encounter with Jesus revolutionized his life, and he couldn’t give his cash away fast enough. I imagine that was pretty good news to the poor around Jericho. One of the richest, meanest guys in town suddenly got generous.
So far, this story sounds like it’s all about money. But really it’s not. Money is just the surrounding context. This story is really about the heart. When Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to bring Good News to the poor,” he wasn’t proclaiming an economic revolution. This isn’t the poor rising up against the rich. In fact, one of the most shocking things about Jesus was that he showed love and grace to everyone: beggars, rich guys, prostitutes, religious leaders, Bible teachers, terrorists, and traitors. This is a story about what happens in our hearts when Jesus starts to bring the Good News to us.
First, when we really start to smell the Good News our hearts get hungry. Zacchaeus was a rich man. He was powerful. He was feared in Jericho. He had expensive clothes. But he was hungry to see Jesus. He wanted to see Jesus so bad that he risked his reputation. He went beyond his fear of what others would think. He was willing to endure the jokes about being the short guy, willing to risk an embarrassing fall, willing to risk more rejection from his neighbors. More than anything else in the world, he wanted to see Jesus. He had a hungry heart.
The first step to really getting the Good News of Jesus is to feel hungry inside. We all have a hunger for a food that this world can’t provide. We shove all kinds of things into that hole: food, clothes, success, friends, games, travel - you name it, we’ve tried it. It all helps ... a little ... for a little while. But the hunger is still there. The pain has never stopped crying out.
Amazingly, the first step to true satisfaction is being dissatisfied with our lives as they are now. The next time that dissatisfaction starts to bubble up and you wonder what’s wrong with the world or what’s wrong with your life or what’s wrong with you. Don’t push it down. Don’t numb the pain. Feel it. Feel that hunger for what it is. You are hungry for God. We are hungry for Jesus. We need hungry hearts.
The next step to experiencing the amazingly Good News of Jesus is humility. We need humble hearts. We are all poor. Jesus came to “bring Good News to the poor,” and we’re all poor. Yes, I know I’m always telling you that we’re all rich, and that’s true, too. But on a fundamental level, we are all desperately poor. We are all sinners in need of God’s grace. We are all bankrupt before God.
Did you notice the grumblers in this story? Everyone saw Jesus show kindness to the meanest guy in town, and everyone was angry. “Don’t you get it Jesus? He’s the bad guy! He’s our enemy. He’s on the other side. He’s one of THOSE people.”
We can be like that, too, sometimes. “Oh, don’t hang out with THOSE people. You don’t want your kids to be with THOSE kids. We don’t want THOSE people in our church. THOSE people need repent!”
The good news begins with seeing that there aren’t any of THOSE people who are different or more sinful than THESE people. THOSE people are no worse than THIS person, me. We are all poor sinners. We are all desperate for God’s grace. None of us can claim any rights or moral benefit over another. The good news starts with humble hearts.
The next key to experiencing the Good News of Jesus Christ is openness. We need open hearts. Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house, and Zacchaeus could have responded in lots of negative ways. “Oh, I’m not ready. I need to go shopping. The house is a mess. I’m not good enough. Thanks for the offer Jesus, but I’m too much of a sinner to let you get close to me.”
Jesus is always knocking at our door. Most of us keep Jesus in the lobby of our home. You know that little shoe area by the door. Most of us keep Jesus there. We never let him take his shoes off and come inside. We spend our whole lives talking to him at the door. “What if he doesn’t like what he sees? The bed isn’t made. The dishes aren’t washed. The toilet is all crusty. What if I’m really not good enough? What if he looks under my couch? What if he looks into those dark places of my heart? What if he sees that all of my worst fears are really true? If he sees who I really am, he could never love me.”
The Zacchaeus story is short. Luke doesn’t tell us what happened during the meal. We don’t know what Jesus said or what food was served. We don’t know if they were laughing or serious or both. But we know something about Jewish culture. Eating together was a big, big deal. Eating a meal in someone’s house was a sign of honor and acceptance and friendship.
Sharing this meal with Jesus changed Zacchaeus. Experiencing Jesus’ love and acceptance softened his heart. Within the course of a single meal, he reevaluated his whole life. Within the course of a single meal, he changed directions. Once he knew that Jesus, the messenger of God, forgave him and accepted him, he was set free. His old hunger for money and more and more and more was gone.
Zacchaeus opened his heart to Jesus, and Jesus set him free. Jesus still sets people free. All we need are open hearts.
The last part of receiving the Good News of Jesus is to have healing hearts. Jesus gospel for the poor is that we can all experience God’s forgiveness and begin a new free life through him. In this new and free life, we are called and empowered to live like Jesus, the healer.
When Jesus met his disciples after his resurrection, “he said, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’ Then he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:21-22). We are commissioned to live like Jesus. The same mission God gave Jesus, Jesus gives us: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.”
As our wounded hearts are healed, we are empowered to become agents of healing. As we receive God’s amazingly generous grace, we become amazingly generous people. Like Zacchaeus we give generously to the poor. We help the oppressed go free. We release the captives. We proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. We announce the fresh start. We give generously, and we live generously. Like Jesus, we give grace freely. We remember that we are poor, but we also remember that we have a rich grace to share - not as someone with all the answers, but as someone who has been filled to overflowing with love. So we share it. We love people. We love people so much that they ask where all of this love is coming from. This is the “Good News for the poor” Jesus came to bring.
A Catholic priest named Andrew Marr said something really profound about this story. He said Jesus wasn’t just trying to convert one person here. Jesus was trying to convert the whole town. Jesus wanted to convert Zacchaeus and through that process convert everyone else in Jericho. Jesus wanted to convert all the religious folks who were judging the sinners and irreligious folks. Jesus wanted to convert all the irreligious folks who thought they could never measure up and never wanted anything to do with those religious windbags anyway. Jesus wanted to convert all the rich folks who were keeping their money for themselves. Jesus wanted to convert all the poor folks who were angry or despairing or dying or all of the above. Jesus wanted to convert the whole town.
Here’s the deal folks. Jesus wants to convert you just like Zacchaeus. He wants you to humble yourself and to realize that we’re all a bunch of sinners who need grace. he wants you to open your hearts to his love and grace. He wants to transform you so that you live with his love.
But Jesus doesn’t just want you. Jesus is trying to convert the whole world. He wants to change you so thoroughly and so deeply that you live with love and grace. He wants to fill you up to the top with his love so that you live generously and give generously. Jesus wants to convert all the religious people around us who keep all the rules and all the irreligious people who hate church. Jesus wants to convert all the poor people around us who need a helping hand and all the rich people who are drowning in their stuff. Jesus wants to convert the whole world.
It all starts right here - in our hearts. What is your heart like? Is it hungry or bored? Is your heart humble or proud? Is your heart open to being changed by Jesus or closed off to anything new? Is your heart healing other hearts or are you focused on yourself? How is your heart?
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