A TALE OF TWO MEN

(Preached on Sunday, June 6, 2004)

Zacchaeus 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.”                                          -Luke 19:8

 

For generations, children have played a word game that goes like this.  In fact, let’s play it together.  Whatever I say, you respond with the phrase, “Just like me.” 

Got it?

I was out in the sun (just like me).

Down at the beach (just like me).

I wanted some ice cream (just like me).

I walked up to the store (just like me).

I passed a beach wear store (just like me).

I decided to buy a hat (just like me).

I picked one out with a wide brim (just like me).

I tried it on (just like me).

I looked in the mirror (just like me).

I saw a monkey (just like me).

 

Today is a decision day for us.  It is a day when we must look in the mirror, face ourselves and God, and make an Estimate of our Giving for the next year, that will tell us a lot about the state of our faith.  And before us from the scripture we have two stories about two men who faced similar days of decision.  And the question is, of which one will we be able to say, “just like me?”

 

At first glance, we undoubtedly want to identify with the unnamed ruler. 

He is a good man with some power and wealth.

The Bible does not disparage him. 

If he is ruler, he has a certain place of respect and power in his community. 

We know he is good, because he is able to say to Jesus that he has kept all the commandments since he was young. 

He does not cheat, lie, steal, abuse, kill, harm anyone.

He respects and honors his parents. 

And he is very rich.

Who wouldn’t want to be like him?

 

Especially when you compare him with Zacchaeus.

We don’t know a lot about Zacchaeus, but we can infer quite a bit.

Zacchaeus is a tax collector.

That means he also has power and money.

But he doesn’t have respect. 

He is feared, not honored, in his community.

As a tax collector, he worked for the Romans, the hated occupying nation who subjected the Jews to their will and laws and taxes.

As a tax collector, the Romans did not care what he did so long as he raised the money they wanted from the region.

He could keep anything he raised above and beyond what they levied and he had the force of the Roman army to help him do so.

Not only was he a tax collector, he was a chief tax collector, which means he was responsible for an entire region and supervised other tax collectors. 

So he was assuredly very, very rich.

But not well-loved; no, his neighbors considered him a traitor and were certain he had cheated and swindled them, taking more than he should from their purses to pad his own purse and lifestyle. 

Plus, he was short!

Not a very enviable person.

 

Both men have encounters with Jesus. 

The ruler seeks Jesus out to ask him what more can he do to assure his standing with God?  He wants to be better.

So Jesus tells him there is only one thing lacking.

He should go, sell all he owns, give the money to the poor, which will fill his soul with good feelings beyond measure, knowing he has helped improve the lives of others, and then he should come and follow Jesus, continuing in that life of spreading love and care for all people.

But he couldn’t do it. 

For he was very rich.

You see, the more we have, the more we want. 

It is like an economic law that having more only feeds our desire to have even more.

So that people discover, as they grow in wealth, instead of living the easy life they always dreamed would come when they earned more money, instead they only want to work and gather more wealth.

Such behavior is an indicator we are soul-sick with greed.

 

Jesus does not condemn wealth per se. 

If he did, he might have instructed the rich ruler only to renounce all that he has.

Rather than highlighting poverty as an ideal for all to live, Jesus counsels the man to dispose of his belongings for the sake for the poor, in such a way that the man would embrace a life oriented toward God’s purposes of caring for all the creation, especially the weaker members.

Having money was not neutral for Jesus.

He constantly made the link between money and God’s realm, calling the rich to mercy and justice, generosity and hospitality.

For the sake of the poor and for the sake of their own soul health.

 

Zacchaeus, on the other hand is only curious about seeing this miracle-working teacher. 

He only wants to get a look.

Instead, he finds himself confronted with overwhelming love, acceptance, and grace. 

As a result his life is transformed, turned upside down, radically changed. 

This man who had been living only for himself up to that moment, now begins to live for others.

Zacchaeus was a stunted man, short of stature, who had distorted self-image that had corrupted his life.

He knew he wasn’t a good man; he knew he wasn’t liked by his neighbors; he knew he wasn’t worthy of love.

But when he met Jesus, he met love; he met acceptance; he met unconditional grace and he now knew himself as one made for loving; for giving; for sharing.

When he looked in the eyes of Jesus, he didn’t see what he saw in the eyes of his neighbors: the reflection of a greedy, ruthless, despicable traitor who collected taxes for the occupying power of Rome.

No, he looked in the eyes of Jesus and saw reflected back a beloved child of God.

As a result he began to recover his lost beauty and to bear fruits to prove it: “Half my possessions I give to the poor.  And those whom I have cheated will receive a fourfold repayment.”

To which Jesus replied: “This day has salvation come to this house.  For Zacchaeus too is a child of Abraham.”

 

Zacchaeus demonstrates the actions of a steward: one who shares a proportionally generous part of his or her economic goods out of genuine concern for the well-being of others.”

By his actions Zacchaeus is becoming a follower of Jesus, not because he is becoming poor, but because he is putting first in his life God’s purposes — caring for other people, especially the poor.

The story of Zacchaeus demonstrates that Jesus did not call all of his followers to become poor, but he called us all to put God first in our lives. 

That means trusting the love of God for us; trusting that God will provide for our needs; and sharing God’s love by sharing what we have with others to help take care of their needs.

 

As we hold the mirror of the scripture up to our lives today, which man is reflected back to us?

Are we more like Zacchaeus who discovered himself to be a child of God beloved and accepted and embraced and as a result responded by sharing what he had with others?

Or are we more like the rich ruler, who went away sad becasue he was very rich in money that he wanted to keep and us in his own way?

Each of us must ask ourselves that question today.

As your pastor, let me share what I see.

There is something divine in each one of you; something infinitely precious and glorious which God, who is truly more glorious than all the billions of suns in the universe, is tirelessly seeking to embrace and call forth to share with others.

Now, some of you may we be thinking: “Preacher, you’ve got it wrong in my case.  There is nothing precious about me.  If you only knew my ugly thoughts and feelings; if you knew about my broken promises and sullied ideals; if you knew my lack of prayer and lack of faith; if you knew about my simmering resentments and lusts; if you only knew the real me, preacher, you would not stand up there saying I am precious.”

I don’t agree.  I don’t need to know.

God knows, that is all that matters.

The real you is not the sins and follies of your life.

God knows and loves and treasures you.

My faith in your preciousness is not based on observation or investigation; it is based on revelation.

That is, your true identity flows from God; from that immense, beautiful, throbbing Spirit who is within and behind all creation, and whom Jesus revealed in his life and death and resurrection.

I will never accept that you are a failure, or that you are useless, or that you cannot follow Jesus.

You may have failed to do so a million times, but that does not alter God’s belief in you and God’s love for you.

So, be yourself!  Affirm what you are in God’s eyes.

Lift up your heads.  Reach forwards towards that day when God shall complete the work of grace in you and you shall have actually become the glorious being you are in God’s eyes.

Embrace the love of God for yourself, and allow that love to guide you in your decision this day.