Wee Little Man

Scripture:  Luke 19:1-9

 I have a very vivid memory from when I was somewhere around 4 ½ and my family was visiting a museum.   My mom had dressed my brother and me in identical outfits.   My brother is sixteen months younger than me, but at that time we were the exact same height.   I remember multiple people on that day making comments about us being twins, and I remember insisting that I was the “big brother.”  Within a couple of years from that point though, all I could claim is that I was the older one because my brother had surpassed me in height.   Despite my best efforts, I never caught back up.  I objectively know it is silly, but to this day it really annoys me when someone assumes my brother is older just because he is taller.   Growing up with a taller young brother always made me feel short, even though my height is more or less right at the average for an American man.   I say all of this to point out that I can empathize a bit with Zacchaeus, because Zacchaeus has been enshrined and forever known as a wee little man, a wee little man was he. 

This is a little unfair to Zacchaeus.  This morning’s scripture does specify that he was short, but his height is not actually the primary reason why he could not see Jesus.  It is unfair to make height the primary attribute we remember about Zacchaeus because it is the least important thing about him in the scripture.  In this morning’s scripture we see how grace can transform lives.  Zacchaeus is noticed and fully seen by Jesus.  Jesus gives us an example to follow, when we take the time to see the people who are often excluded and love the hard to love, then the lost are found. 

The story in this morning’s scripture is only recorded in the gospel of Luke.  It takes place while Jesus is traveling from Gailee to Jerusalem for the final time.  This morning’s story takes place just a couple of days before the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday.  It takes place when the hype and buzz around Jesus was at its highest.  Stories of Jesus’ miracles had clearly traveled around the region, and it gave Jesus a bit of a local celebrity status.  It is no surprise that as he came into Jericho, he drew a crowd.  People wanted to see if Jesus, the miracle worker, was the real deal.  They wanted to see if this man might actually be the messiah.  Zacchaeus was one of these people. 

It is probably fair to say that Zacchaeus was not a popular person around Jericho.  This is because he was a tax collector.  Even today that combination of words is one that tends to instantly bristle us the wrong way.   I imagine employees of the IRS go out of their way to describe their job as anything other than tax collectors.  Not only that, but Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector.   This means that not only was he a tax collector but he administrated other tax collectors.   In general, being a tax collector is not a profession goes into because they want to win popularity contests, but in first century Israel they were especially reviled. 

Tax collectors were viewed as thieves and traitors. During this time Israel was subjugated territory.  They were, not by choice, under the rule of the Roman Empire.  The tax collectors were locals, recruited by the Romans, to take money from the people and ship it off to Rome.    The taxes could feel oppressive, and it was made worse by the fact that it was one of your own doing the oppression, which is why tax collectors were viewed as traitors.   They were viewed as thieves because tax collectors did not have a salary.   They received their income from the taxes they collected.  A certain amount had to be sent in, but beyond that the tax collectors had a lot of discretion regarding how much they collected.   As you can imagine, most tax collectors brought in enough taxes so that they could live quite comfortably.  This lifestyle happened completely at the literal expense of their neighbor.  It had to really grind people’s gears to see the tax collector living so comfortably while they were struggling just to get by. 

While the scripture mentions Zacchaeus could not see because he was short, it really feels like there is more to the story, because unless Zacchaeus was truly tiny there should have been ways he could have seen between people, squeezed through gaps, or somehow found a way to be able to see.  The only way that he would have truly been shut out is if the people of Jericho were doing their best to exclude him and keep him out.   This is not too hard to imagine.  Actively keeping Zacchaeus on the outside of the crowd so that he could not see is extremely petty, but it was a way the people of Jericho could exert some control of a person who had actively made their lives worse.   Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus and he could not.  While his height is mentioned as a factor, it is likely that how the other people of Jericho treated him was a greater factor.  Despite that, Zacchaeus did not give up, and tried to find a more creative way to see Jesus.   In general this is a story that really inspires me to put myself there.  It is a story that has me trying to understand the person of Zacchaeus and visualize how their interaction went. 

 I have to wonder why was this so important to Zacchaeus?  Was it just curiosity or was Zacchaeus wanting something from Jesus?  What stories of Jesus had Zacchaeus heard? I have to wonder, had Zacchaeus heard about how Jesus ate with sinners, and how Jesus extended grace to the people that others had written off?  I have to wonder if Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus because of the guilt and shame he had felt from his life choices?  I have to wonder if it was the possibility of a changed life that led Zacchaeus to climb a tree in order to see the life changing rabbi?
Whatever his reasons for wanting to see Jesus were, Zaccheus probably got more than attention than he wanted.  When I read this scripture, I imagine Jesus looking at him and speaking in a commanding voice, Zacchaeus, come down immediately.”   I imagine there being a pregnant pause, where Zacchaeus’ blood ran cold because he was fully seen.  I imagine the crowd being full of anticipation because they were about to see this hated man get what was coming to him.   But then Jesus continues, and does the unexpected, he invites himself over to Zacchaeus’ house. 

  When Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’s house he bestowed honor upon him.  He communicated that Zacchaeus is someone worthy of attention, time, and even blessing.    We get the sense by the muttering of the crowds, that no one had ever really communicated that to Zacchaeus.  They muttered and grumbled.  They saw Zacchaeus as a sinner not worth redemption.  But Jesus saw Zacchaeus in a different light. By asking to come to Zacchaeus’ house Jesus was communicating that despite all that he had done, Zacchaeus was not outside of God’s grace and love.   Not only did Jesus communicate to Zacchaeus that he was worthy of attention, but Jesus also communicated that he is worthy of acceptance.    In doing so, Jesus touched a chord deep in Zacchaeus that caused him to do an instant 180. He pledges to immediately to correct course and begin making right his wrongdoings.

Zacchaeus’s response is worth noting.  He knew that he acted wrongly, he knew that he had benefited at the expense of others.   Zacchaeus does more than just apologize for his wrong actions Zacchaeus repented and backed up that repentance with his actions.  Zacchaeus says he will repay people four times what he had cheated on them.  This is the prescription found in the Old Testament law.  When someone acknowledged their guilt in theft, they provided restitution by returning four times what was taken.   Zacchaeus does not just seek absolution for his wrongdoing; he seeks to correct it and make things right.  Not only does he correct it, but he seeks to go above and beyond by then giving half of what he has to the poor.   The actions of Zacchaeus are the actions of someone who has experienced a changed heart, who has been transformed by grace.  This is why Jesus proclaimed, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

In this morning’s scripture Zacchaeus gives an example of repentance that we can learn from, but Jesus gives us a different example we can follow.  Zacchaeus was pushed to the outside of his community.  He was not a person others wanted to associate with, but Jesus still took the time to recognize him.   Not only did Jesus recognize him, but he sought him out and included him.   There are a lot of people today who are like a modern-day Zacchaeus.  Sometimes these people, Like Zacchaeus, can be hard to love.  Sometimes it is possible that these people may even deserve this reputation to some degree.   However, the example that Jesus gives us is that even those people are still in need of God’s salvation.  The people who we would rather not associate with and pass silent judgement on are still people who God loves and who Jesus died for.   The example Jesus gives us is a reminder that there are no outsiders to God’s love.   Zacchaeus was a traitor and a thief, but Jesus was not willing to give up on him.   In the same way we should be willing to see, engage, and invite people who generally feel like they are excluded from a life of faith. 

While some of these people, like Zacchaeus, are a little harder to love due to the ways they have actively done harm, there is a lot of low hanging fruit.  There are a lot of people, who feel like they have been shut out from Jesus and must go to extremes to see him.  There are so many people who feel like they are shut out of full inclusion into the Christian faith because of stigmas.  Those who have struggled with addiction feel like they don’t belong.   Those who are divorced and single feel like there is not a place for them in church.   Those who live with neuro divergence can find it difficult to engage in worship as we offer it.  Those who struggle with mental illness feel that their illness is shunned in church settings, and those who are just trying to live as their most authentic self constantly get told by others that God did not create them the way God created them.   There are so many people who feel that they do not have a place in the family of God because of stigma associated with their life that keeps them out.  That is heartbreaking.  It is wrong.  It should not be that way.

The example that Jesus gives us in this morning’s scripture is one of radical inclusion.  IT is an example that the gospel is for everyone.  It is a reminder that Jesus does not just hang out in the rarefied air of saints, but he eats with sinners.   Our table should reflect the table of Christ.  All are invited; all are welcome.   There are no excluding stigmas in the kingdom of God, and there should be none in Christ’s church.  It is imperative that we make sure we are never ever standing in the way of someone getting to Jesus.   People should not have to find trees to get around our way of doing things, our ideology, or our judgmental attitudes to get to Christ.    Instead of being roadblocks to the people who are like Zacchaeus in our midst, we should instead reflect Christ to them.   It is through us, not despite us, that people should find the forgiving, live changing love of Jesus.   

This morning’s scripture is about how a wee little man became a man of big faith.  Zacchaeus entered a life of discipleship.  May his story be an inspiration to our own faith story and may our own level of discipleship grow from knowing it.  As followers of Jesus, may we seek to follow the example that Jesus gives us in this morning’s scripture.  May we also ask God to show who are the people like Zacchaeus in our community.   May we be willing to reach out to those people, invite them, and may we shine the love of Jesus Christ into their lives.  May we take this task seriously, because as this morning’s scripture reminds us, “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”   By the grace of God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, may we do our part to help the lost get found.