BELONGING TO CHRIST WE ARE ONE

(Preached on Sunday, November 4, 2007)

When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, AZacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.@                 -Luke 19:5

 

Frederick Buechner calls the story of Zacchaeus Athe Gospel in sycamore.@  He says it is about Athe unflagging lunacy of God.  The unending seaminess of man.  The meeting between them that is always a matter of life or death and usually both.@  This is first and foremost a story of God=s amazing, unmerited grace.  It is a story that reminds us that the first word from God is always a word of invitation.  For this God we see in Jesus, this God we seek to serve, is merciful to the lowly, showing steadfast love to the broken and contrite C not because of who they are or because of what they do, but because of who God is.

This is pure grace.

 

We need a lot of grace today.  It is tremendously saddening the amount of anger coming from so many sectors of American society.  You find it on the left and on the right and maybe even in the middle.  The polarization of our society and our nation is seemingly at an all time high.  I am not sure it is true, but it certainly feels that way.  It seems everyone is angry at everyone else and none of us is able to carry on rational conversation.  This is true in the political arena, in the boardroom, in our schools, on our streets, even in our churches.  Leonard Pitts pointed out on Thursday that the number of hate groups in America has increased 40% since 2000.  Where is there hope for our nation and our world when it is filled with so much anger and hate?

 

The Agospel in sycamore,@ this story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, offers us a vision of that hope.  But to understand that vision, we need to better understand this story.  His song has been sung in Sunday Schools for generations, but his full character has been under-appreciated.  AZacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.  He climbed up into the sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.@  His claim to fame may come in a children=s song, but there is nothing childlike about him C except his size, or perhaps his age.  Right there we see the first questionable translation in this story: the word usually translated Ashort@ in our Bibles, when referring to Zacchaeus, actually is better interpreted as Ayoung.@  Translators have tended to go with short, because the story says he climbed a tree, but that could as easily have been an illustration of his youth, agility and ingenuity.

 

Second, there is his name.  AZacchaeus@ means Aclean@ or Ainnocent.@  This could be foreshadowing his transformation, or it could be a hint that he was a good man, not a bad man.  We generally have assumed he was bad because he was rich and he was a tax collector.  And the people grumble that he is Aa sinner.@  There are no specifics given for his sin. 

 

When Zacchaeus responds to their grumbling, translators have made a big assumption.  This proclamation by Zacchaeus is usually translated in future tense, AI will do this, I will do that.@  In fact, the Greek verbs are written in present tense: AMaster, I give away half my income to the poor C and if I=m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.@  It actually sounds more like a statement assuring Jesus that contrary to what his neighbors seem to think of him, his practice is to strive for generosity and fairness toward all those he meets. 

 

Perhapsa, then, Jesus= declaration that ASalvation has come to this house, for this man, too, is a son of Abraham,@ is not about transformation in Zacchaeus.  Perhaps it is a call for his neighbors to respect him for what he truly is, and not shove him to the side with their petty prejudices against rich folks and tax collectors.  In effect, this story is a call for people to be seen with grace and mercy rather than with suspicion and judgment.

 

How do we overcome those prejudices, suspicions and judgments?  By remembering who we are, who we all are: children of Abraham, or better still, children of God, sister or brother of Christ, one of God=s saints!  There is something divine about each one of us; something infinitely precious and glorious.

 

This should be relatively easy for us to remember in the Church.  Especially in the United Church of Christ.  Our very name indicates that we belong to Christ, and therefore, we are one.  The key phrase here is Abelongs.@  That indicates something more than belief; it is a vital relationship.  It=s not like belonging to a club where hazing or proven credentials are required.  It=s more like belonging to a nurturing parent, family, or community. 

 

To say Awe belong to Christ@ is to say we are in a relationship, not a commitment to a set of beliefs.  It is also a statement of humility, for we belong to Christ, not to ourselves.  No one person, creed, statement, denomination, or church holds all the truth, only Christ, only God.  What we say about God in Christ Abegins in wonder, and when theological thought has done its best, the wonder remains.@  God is not an object to be contained, but a holy mystery to encounter together.  Where there is justice, peace, and compassion, we see the living God at work.

There=s an 11^th commandment that main-line Protestants observe sometimes more than the first 10.  BE NICE!  Not always, of course.  Folks can get pretty cranky sometimes, but often the main agenda at a meeting seems to be to get through the discussion or the coffee break without any disagreements surfacing.  The prophet Isaiah heard God saying ACome now, let us argue it out.@  There is a powerful Hebrew tradition of debate used to burrow down into the truth.  Of course their arguments sometimes broke down into eye-scratching cat fights, but the rabbi=s worked at the skill of debate that involved a genuine listening to the other side.  That involves a respect for both the person and that person=s viewpoint.  It involves the tacit understanding that truth is there on both sides of the debate.

 

This skill of debate involving genuine listening with respect for the other and the understanding that there is truth on both sides of the debate is a skill we really need in our world today.  With all the richness of diversity, instead of this outlook, we find ourselves in little groups, each judging others by their worst characteristics and most vulnerable stands, and judging our own groups by our strengths. 

 

But, belonging to Christ, united as one, we Christians could, by the way we deal with our differences, be a powerful witness to the wider community.  If we debated our differences in the best of that rabbinic tradition C if we debated differences with the assumption that both sides of the issue have validity C if we could show people how we listen really hard to be sure we hear what the other is saying, that would be a significant and useful gift to the wider world.  Not what we are debating, but how we are debating.  With others, and with God.  And whether we debate to learn or debate to win.