Video and sermon text for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost
21st Sunday after Pentecost
2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
Luke 19:1-10
O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Today’s gospel reading serves as a commentary on last Sunday’s Gospel. In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard Jesus’ parable directed to those who trusted in their own efforts for salvation. The parable paints a vivid word picture. In the temple two men are praying: a Pharisee and a tax collector. The righteous Pharisee prays a righteous prayer while the humbled tax collector prays a simple prayer. The Pharisee announces with many words and examples his piety to God and those that will hear him while the tax collector speaks only to God. The tax collector confesses his sinfulness and earnestly pleads for God’s mercy. He is humbled by his transgressions and is reduced to begging.
Today, we do not encounter a parable, but a living tax collector. He has a name: Zaccheus. And before we all break out into song about how “Zacheus was a wee little man and wee little man was he…”, I would like to note that this flesh and blood tax collector acts like a man who is humbled.
Luke tells us that Zaccheus is a chief tax collector and is rich. With the social clout that he had as a head tax collector with extraordinary wealth, he could have had his bodyguards or soldiers take him right up to Jesus. They would have no trouble breaking their way through the crowd. Or, he could have arranged for Jesus to come to his home. But none of the usual worldly ways of announcing his prestige are on display. Instead, he climbs a tree to see Jesus.
There are times when I wish the Bible provided more details, more backstory into the people and events that occurred. I would like to know how Zaccheus came to faith in Jesus. When he does not push his way through the crowd to get to Jesus and instead chooses to climb a tree to get a glimpse of the Lord, he is acting in a humble way. And, if he is wearing the kind of clothing he ought to be wearing as a distinguished businessman and governmental representative, quite frankly, his shimming up the sycamore tree would have been a most undistinguished and undignified sight to behold.
How did Zaccheus come to faith in Jesus? Did he hear Jesus preach? Did he witness a miracle? Does he know someone who was healed? What put Zaccheus in his spiritual state? We are not told. We only know that he desperately needed to see Jesus as he passed by. And, that when Jesus saw him, he already knew his name. Jesus took Zaccheus up on his unspoken invitation.
Before Jesus and other witnesses, Zaccheus spoke words of concrete repentance: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” That is quite a turnaround which, of course, is exactly what repentance is: a turn around, a change of direction in thought, word, and deed.
Jesus says that he comes to seek and save the lost. The world says that Zaccheus is a success story. He is wealthy. He has a prominent place in society. People fear him. Yet, God’s Word reveals another story. Before Jesus, even though Zaccheus is a son of Abraham, he is lost. He is exactly the kind of person that God railed about through the prophet Isaiah. As a son of Abraham, he would have offered the appropriate sacrifices to the Lord in the temple. He would have kept many of the ceremonial traditions of his ancestors. He would have fasted, eaten Kosher, kept the Passover meal, and so on. But because he is lost spiritually, it all would have stunk to the Lord. His heart was not in it. Because in order for him to become wealthy as a tax collector, he had to cheat his people. He would have taken advantage of those who could not enact some kind of justice upon him in retaliation. He would hide behind legality while he stole from ordinary citizens and become wealthy at their expense. He would have loved the Lord as necessary for appearances but he certainly did not love all of his neighbors as himself. His soul, his sins, his injustice would be as Isaiah declares, like scarlet and red like crimson.
But all of that is changed now. Zaccheus has placed his faith in Jesus, not himself. He is repentant. Jesus accepts his repentance. “Today salvation has come to this house.” The lost is found. Jesus lifts up the humbled and declares him forgiven.
Whatever your circumstances, you too have come to faith in Jesus as the Christ. You have received the good news that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and he rose from the dead on the third day. Jesus’ cross and resurrection broke the power of sin, death and the devil over you. You were lost, but Jesus found you, just like he promised he would. Today, in this house of the Lord, you have confessed your sins before God and your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. You have declared your desire to turn anew to the Lord and His ways. Jesus declares you forgiven. In the Holy Lord’s Supper, we meet Jesus face to face. He calls us to Him. He lifts us up. He declares. Today, salvation has come to you!
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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