This post, by Doreen Raymer, is a reflection on the “Consequences of Meeting Jesus” sermon as part of the “Unraveled” sermon series.
The little man who climbed a tree….I was struck by his ingenuity – finding a way to see this famous teacher, overcoming the obstacle, namely his short height – and also by his determination to see Jesus. He seems almost like a fan today would behave in order to see his favourite rock star; he’s desperate to get a glimpse of Jesus.
When Zacchaeus is noticed by Jesus, he is stunned, of course, but also thrilled; and despite the jeers of the crowd, he walks Him to his house, proud to be in His company.
Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house. (Usually it’s the host that invites the guest, not the guest who invites himself. Some of us would not have been thrilled; we wouldn’t have been ready for a guest.) Are we to understand this part of the story as suggesting that Christ doesn’t wait to be invited into our lives, but instead takes the initiative? I think, that as with Zacchaeus, Christ needs to know we are ready to receive Him and to welcome Him.
My acceptance of Christ came when our associate minister at the time, the Rev. Barley, used the picture painted by Holman Hunt, of Christ standing at a door without a handle, knocking. The door represents my heart and it was explained that only I could let Him in. He wouldn’t force His way in. I don’t think this contradicts the Zacchaeus story because in that story it was apparent that Christ was welcome. As a hated man in his society, Zacchaeus wouldn’t have had the nerve to invite Jesus, to open himself up to possible rejection or to put Jesus in the awkward position of having to say ‘no’. Their time together in Zacchaeus’ house could only have happened if Jesus invited Himself. He knew Zacchaeus was yearning for it, and that yearning was a form of invitation.
Zacchaeus spilled out his ‘sins’…without being asked about them; and promised to return four fold anything he had taken illicitly…..also without being prompted. Is that the affect Christ can have…..that merely being in His presence, recognizing Him as perfect, makes us compare ourselves to Him beside whom we come out badly? I recall Elaine applauding Zacchaeus for promising to repay those he had stolen from, and with generous interest. It is one thing to be made aware of one’s sin or weakness, but quite another to take immediate action to turn from it. (Whether he followed through or not we aren’t told, but considering that Christ says that “this day salvation has come to your house,” we can assume that Christ knows Zacchaeus means what he says.)
Jesus doesn’t speak to us out loud today, but speaks through a bible reading, or a comment from a friend, or maybe just through the shining example of someone we admire and envy for certain qualities we don’t have. There are still ways that the Holy Spirit can make us aware of our shortcomings. When that happens, do we go defensive and explain the cause of our sin? Do we compare ourselves with someone else and say we aren’t as bad as she or he is? Do we resolve to do better, but take no action to improve ourselves? These are the likeliest ways we could respond differently than Zacchaeus did. He confessed and stated what he was going to do about the sins….and we assume he took action.
What about the crowd around him who disapproved of Jesus selecting the wickedest of all men to have a meal with…Did Jesus not know about his reputation? Because if He did, He would have shunned Zacchaeus, passing by both the tree and the man, pretending not to notice him.
How do we treat acquaintances who are not easy to like, perhaps because of certain attributes that we rightly recognize as bad. Do we keep our distance? Do we rebuke them? Or do we follow Christ’s example and offer them our friendship ‘no strings attached’? Christ offered His friendship before Zacchaeus apologized for his greed and offered to make restitution…..
Can we think of other occasions when Jesus took notice of someone that the godly Pharisees shunned?
Applying this story to ourselves: Is there a ‘sin’ in our lives that we recognize as sin? Are we ready to do something about it?