Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

THIRTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE C
LUKE 19:1-10

NOBODY REALLY LIKES TAX COLLECTORS. IT’S TRUE NOW, AND IT WAS TRUE IN JESUS’ TIME. THE WAY THINGS WORKED WAS THAT THE ROMAN EMPEROR WOULD DECIDE HOW MUCH TAX HE WOULD REQUIRE FROM HIS SUBJECTS. THIS AMOUNT WOULD BE DIVIDED UP AMONG THE LOCAL GOVERNORS, WHO IN TURN WOULD DECIDE ON HOW MUCH TAX EACH INDIVIDUAL ADULT MALE HAD TO COME UP WITH. THE COLLECTION OF THESE TAXES WOULD BE TURNED OVER TO A NATIVE, WHO WOULD BE GIVEN A CONTINGENT OF ROMAN SOLDIERS TO HELP WITH THE COLLECTION. THE TAX COLLECTOR WOULD LOSE HIS JOB AND POSSIBLY MORE, IF HE DID NOT COLLECT THE REQUIRED TAXES. ON THE OTHER HAND, ANYTHING HE COLLECTED IN EXCESS HE COULD KEEP; THAT WAS HIS PAY. AND HE COULD DEFINITELY INCREASE THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE ROMAN SOLDIERS TO HELP COLLECT TAXES BY SHARING SOME OF THE EXCESS WITH THEM. ALTHOUGH ROMAN LAW SPECIFIED THE PERCENTAGE OF THE TAKE THAT THE TAX COLLECTOR COULD KEEP, IN DAYS WHEN TAXES WERE OFTEN MEASURED IN GRAIN AND CATTLE, AND PEOPLE WERE ILLITERATE, AND THERE WAS NO REAL ENFORCEMENT, TAX COLLECTORS COULD BECOME QUITE WEALTHY.
THERE WERE PROBABLY HONEST TAX COLLECTORS, AND PERHAPS ZACCHEUS WAS ONE; OUR GOSPEL PASSAGE DOESN’T REALLY SAY. BUT ONE THING IS SURE; IF HE WAS THE CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR, AND IF HE WAS A RICH MAN, HE WAS NOT REGARDED AS HONEST, AND HE HAD FEW FRIENDS AMONG HIS FELLOW JEWS. HE MAY HAVE BEEN BARRED FROM ATTENDING THE SYNAGOGUE; HE PROBABLY DIDN’T VENTURE OUT IN PUBLIC UNLESS HE HAD HIS ROMAN SOLDIERS WITH HIM; AND IN GENERAL, HE MUST HAVE LED A LONELY LIFE. BUT ZACCHEUS MAY HAVE FIGURED IT WAS ALL WORTH IT; HE HAD MONEY TO BURN.
SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS WAS A GREAT SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, AND IN FACT WORKED WITH SAINT THERESA OF AVILA, AMONG MANY OTHERS. A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR IS SOMEONE WHO TRIES TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE BECOME CLOSER TO GOD, REFORM THEIR LIVES, AND REALIZE THEIR POTENTIAL AS SPIRITUAL PEOPLE. MOST SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS START BY EXAMINING THE LIFE OF THE DIRECTEE, OR CLIENT. USUALLY IT’S NOT HARD TO FIND AN AREA WHERE THINGS ARE LACKING; WHERE THERE IS SELFISHNESS, DISHONESTY, LAZINESS, DISTRACTION – ALL THOSE HABITS WHICH BOG PEOPLE DOWN AND LEAD THEM INTO SIN. AND WHEN THESE ARE POINTED OUT, AND PLANS ARE MADE TO OVERCOME THEM, THE CLIENT REVIEWS HIS PROGRESS WITH THE DIRECTOR, AND THE DIRECTOR TRIES TO HELP THE CLIENT SEE WHERE GOD IS WORKING IN HIS LIFE. IT IS A GOOD SYSTEM. BUT JOHN OF THE CROSS DID IT DIFFERENTLY. HE STARTED OUT BY FINDING THE VERY BEST THING ABOUT THE PERSON BEING DIRECTED. HE CONCENTRATED ON THAT, AND ENCOURAGED THE PERSON TO DEVELOP AND EXPAND THAT PART OF HIS SOUL. IF THE PERSON HAD A GREAT TALENT, WELL, HOW CAN IT BE HONED AND MADE BETTER, FOR GOD’S SAKE? AND BY CONCENTRATING ON THIS, THE FAULTS AND BAD HABITS GRADUALLY DISAPPEARED. AFTER ALL, IF IT WAS EASY TO OVERCOME BAD HABITS, WE’D DO IT. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT’S MUCH MORE PLEASANT TO BUILD UP WHAT IS ALREADY GOOD; SOMETIMES ALL WE NEED IS ENCOURAGEMENT AND PERMISSION.
JESUS SEES ZACCHEUS IN A TREE; HE IS A SMALL MAN, BOTH IN PHYSICAL SIZE, AND PROBABLY IN HIS SOUL. HE KNOWS EVERYONE HATES HIM, AND HE HAS DECIDED HE DOESN’T CARE. HE GOES HOME AND COUNTS HIS MONEY AND HIS POSSESSIONS, IGNORING THAT DESIRE FOR HUMAN COMPANIONSHIP, FOR A CLOSE FRIEND. AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT JESUS KNOWS ABOUT ZACCHEUS; SOME OF HIS COMPANIONS HAVE PROBABLY ALREADY IDENTIFIED THE MAN IN THE TREE, PERHAPS WITH A FEW CURSES. AND JESUS SEES HOW ISOLATED AND LONELY THE LITTLE MAN IS, AND RATHER THAN CONDEMN HIM, OFFERS HIM HIS FRIENDSHIP, OFFERS TABLE FELLOWSHIP. “COME DOWN,” HE SAYS, “FOR I MUST STAY IN YOUR HOUSE.”
ZACCHEUS IS NOT ONLY UP A TREE, HE IS ON THE FENCE. HE HAD BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT JESUS; HE HAD BEEN A WILLING BYSTANDER. BUT NOW HE HAS A DECISION TO MAKE. DOES HE ACCEPT THE OFFER? AND IN ACCEPTING, ZACCHEUS CHANGES. JESUS SEES THAT THERE IS GOOD IN THE MAN, AND ZACCHEUS RESPONDS FROM HIS GOOD NATURE. “I WILL GIVE HALF MY WEALTH TO THE POOR, AND IF I HAVE CHEATED ANYONE, I WILL REPAY THEM FOUR TIMES OVER.” AND DESPITE THE GRUMBLING OF THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THE TOWN, JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES JOIN ZACCHEUS, AND PROBABLY OTHER OUTCASTS, IN A BANQUET IN ZACCHEUS’ HOME – MAYBE THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS THAT ZACCHEUS WAS SURROUNDED BY FRIENDLY PEOPLE AND GOOD CHEER.
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, A FATHER OF THE CHURCH WHO LIVED ABOUT 150 YEARS AFTER CHRIST, SAID THAT ZACCHEUS WAS THE APOSTLE NAMED MATTHIAS, WHO WAS APPOINTED TO REPLACE JUDAS ISCARIOT AFTER THE RESURRECTION. THERE IS ANOTHER STORY FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH THAT ZACCHEUS WAS THE FIRST BISHOP OF CASAREA. IN ANY EVENT, THE ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS CHANGED HIS LIFE.
JESUS GIVES US A VERY PRACTICAL LESSON HERE. LOOK AT THE PEOPLE YOU MEET, AND FIND THE GOOD IN THEM. CALL OUT TO THAT GOOD, AND THEY WILL BECOME BETTER PEOPLE. LOOK AT THE BAD, ON THE OTHER HAND, AND THEY CAN ONLY BECOME WORSE. AN OLD SAYING: “TREAT SOMEONE AS THEY ARE, AND THEY WILL BECOME WORSE; TREAT THEM AS THEY OUGHT TO BE, AND THEY WILL BECOME BETTER.” AND ANOTHER LESSON: JESUS LOOKS AT WHAT IS GOOD IN YOU AND I, AND INVITES US TO BECOME BETTER; HE DOES NOT LOOK AT WHAT IS BAD AND CONDEMN US.