Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

Luke 9:1-10

I think most of the time we see this story as one in which Jesus forgives a sinner and offers him salvation. But when you look at the story more closely, I think the point may be very different. I think Jesus is demonstrating something to us, something we need to reflect on. CS Lewis said the following:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, to some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations… There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal." We humans are naturally cautious. When we encounter a stranger, we look for clues. Do we want to be closer to this person? Do we want to avoid him or her? Or do we want to go on with our lives as though that person doesn’t exist?

Zaccheus is not only a tax collector, but the chief tax collector. Jericho is a good sized city, and Zaccheus is wealthy. He’s also someone everyone looks down upon, figuratively because he has a hated profession, and literally because he’s short. And over the years Zaccheus has ceased to care what people think about him. His reputation is in ruins and can’t get worse. Tax collectors in those days were protected by the Roman soldiers, so Zaccheus could come and go freely, although probably having to put up with bad looks and the silent treatment. And I’m sure that as he stood there by the side of the road trying to get a look at Jesus, none of his fellow citizens felt the slightest desire to move aside.

So Zacheus climbs a tree. We all are a little shocked at this, but to the people of that time and place, no grown man would climb a tree. It was like running around with your fly open, or a piece of toilet paper stuck to your shoe. But Zaccheus obviously didn’t care what people thought. His reputation couldn’t get much worse.. Jericho was noted as “The City of Palms' ', so it's interesting that Luke calls our attention to the tree Zaccheus climbed. A sycamore tree is not a native of Israel. The few sycamores had been imported from Egypt. Zaccheus, the outcast, climbs a foreign tree.

Jesus calls him by name and invites himself to stay in his house. There is a subtle message here that we of course don’t pick up unless we know Greek and Hebrew, or are proficient with Googling, like me. Zaccheus is probably a Greek form of the Hebrew name “Zacal” which means “The one who is untainted”, or “The one who is pure”. And that fits, you see, because as we will see, Zaccheus is not what his fellow citizens think of him, he is untainted.

Zaccheus climbs down from the tree as the people of the city grumble and toss around words like sinner. Luke tells us that Zaccheus stood there -- standing his ground, as it were -- and tells Jesus not that “I will give half my possessions to the poor” but that “I give half my possessions to the poor”. Our translation puts this in the future but in the Greek text it’s happening right now, and the same is the case with his statement about extortion -- it’s his policy that if he finds out that more than the prescribed amount is taken, he returns four times its worth. Zaccheus is revealing to Jesus and the people around him that he is honest, in fact more than honest. Jewish law required that every three years you would give your tithe to the poor, the widow, and so on, instead of to the temple. Zaccheus goes beyond that. Jewish law says that if you find you’ve overcharged someone, you return the value plus twenty percent. Zacchaeus goes way beyond that. When Zaccheus finishes with his statement, Jesus doesn't say, as he might have said elsewhere, “Your sins are forgiven”, he says, “This man too is a son of Abraham”. His actions show that.

So what should we take away from this little story? I think we should ask whether our approach is like that of Jesus -- who sees through the superficial to the goodness of the person in and of himself. Our chance encounters are where God wants us to work. Jesus, in the gospel story, intends to pass through the town. He encounters Zaccheus, who badly needs his reputation restored. Jesus recognizes the goodness of the man and sees that everyone else does as well. He stays with Zaccheus, giving him an honor that the townspeople would envy, because Jesus’ reputation as a prophet and miracle worker preceded him. And in this restoration of Zaccheus to the community, it’s a first step in Zaccheus’ own salvation. As CS Lewis said, “All day long we are helping each other in some way to one or the other of these destinations.” Let us be conscious of the power which we have.