Sunday Sermon: "We've All Got a Zacchaeus"

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Please pray with me: Gracious Savior, you have the words of eternal life. As the Scripture is read and preached in this hour, empower us to hear it with humility and openness, so that hearing it, we may respond with courage and conviction. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'" 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." 9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever.

SERMON: INTRODUCTION
In the interest of full disclosure, before I get into this morning’s sermon, I must start off by telling you that my aunt works for the IRS in Pittsburgh. So when it comes to preaching a sermon on Zacchaeus, I must confess that I am slightly more sympathetic to his plight than your average tax-paying citizen when it comes to tax collectors.

With all that being said, I think you would agree that nobody—not even those us who are related to and who love IRS agents—likes to pay taxes. Nobody. It seems like there’s a tax on just about everything we buy these days. And not just one tax—sometimes even two!

Because we don’t like to pay taxes, we tend also to dislike the IRS AND anyone who works for them. It’s one of those time honored traditions passed down from generation to generation, like turkey and football at Thanksgiving or “stockings hung by the chimney with care” at Christmas time.

#1
The dislike of paying taxes is a tradition that can be traced back through biblical times, like in our story from this morning. Now, Zacchaeus, he is not just a tax collector; he is a CHIEF tax collector. That means Zacchaeus would pay the tax bill for all the people in the area he was in charge of. Then, he would pay other tax collectors to collect what all the people owed him. And he and the tax collectors usually added a little inflation to the tax bills along the way. That way, Zacchaeus got all his money back plus a little extra. This plan worked so well for him that Luke even describes him as “wealthy.”

Needless to say, tax collectors were not terribly popular in those days. Nobody liked
Zacchaeus in the first place because he was a tax collector; and they doubly despised him because he was a CHIEF tax collector. And not only was he a chief tax collector, but he was also a Jew. So in the eyes of the people of Jericho, Zacchaeus was in cahoots with the Gentile government that was oppressing them through a clearly unfair tax system. To his neighbors, it was as though one of their own betrayed them each year at tax time.

It is a time honored tradition to dislike taxes and those who collect them. No one expected Zacchaeus to change. No one ever considered that he might be able to turn over a new leaf. They were so entrenched in their prejudice against him, they never game him a chance to change. He knew what their expectations of him were, and he did his darnedest to live up to those expectations.

#2
But Zacchaeus isn’t really rotten to the core like the people of Jericho thought he was. Luke tells us that “Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was” (verse 3). Luke also tells us that Zacchaeus is what nowadays we call “vertically challenged” so he has to climb up a sycamore tree in order to see over the heads of the others who had gathered to see Jesus. A guy willing to risk his dignity for the sake of simply seeing Jesus can’t be all bad, right?

Though the people of Jericho never gave Zacchaeus a chance to change, Jesus did. In front of the whole crowd, Jesus told Zacchaeus to come down because he must stay at his house for the evening. Of all the people in Jericho who had gathered along the road to see Jesus as he passed by, Jesus picked Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus thought he came looking for Jesus. But Zacchaeus was wrong. Really, Jesus came seeking Zacchaeus. Jesus came to seek the least and the lost.

Can’t you just hear the crowd mumbling to themselves, “But why him? He’s just a tax collector?” But Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham” (verse 9).

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified and he stopped in Jericho for one person. Jesus stopped for the one person the people of Jericho no one thought was worthy of his presence. Jesus stopped for Zacchaeus. That one simple act of kindness was enough to change Zacchaeus’s whole life. He became someone no one recognized.

#3
Friends, I’ve got to tell you, I’ve got a Zacchaeus or two in my life, and I’m not talking about tax collectors. I’m talking about people that I have given up on. There are some people I know so well . . . people I’ve tried to help so many times . . . and people I’ve seen screw up so badly so many times . . . that I know they cannot possibly change. So I gave up on them. It’s just easier that way.

But now I’ve got a problem. Because now, thanks to Luke and this dumb sermon, when I think of these people, all I can see is Zacchaeus climbing that stupid sycamore tree because he wanted to see Jesus and no one would move aside to let him in. And I feel like a big jerk. Jesus came to seek the least and the lost; and I’ve been ignoring them for years.

I suspect I’m not the only one in this situation. I KNOW that each one of you has a Zacchaeus or two lurking in the background somewhere in your life also. And I KNOW that you have given up on them and written them off, assuming that they’ll never, ever, EVER change, ever.

I actually kind of hope you’re with me in the whole feeling like a jerk thing for the way you have treated your Zacchaeuses over the years. I hope you feel like a jerk because that means you’re ready to confess your sin and seek forgiveness.

You might even feel guilty enough that you think I’m preaching this sermon right to you. But you’re wrong; I’m preaching this sermon more to myself than anyone else.

CONCLUSION
So, now what do we do? If you’re in the same boat as I am, you’ve got the same yucky, “I’m such a jerk” feeling in the pit of your stomach that I have. And it’s making me feel kind of crappy about taking Communion in a few minutes because I feel so guilty for the way that I have treated my Zacchaueses.

Luckily, I have a solution: confessing our sin, receiving forgiveness, and, like Zacchaeus, changing our ways. On the pieces of paper that are being handed out, I have a little “Service of Repentance” for us to use. It’s not too long. It is our chance to receive forgiveness for our sin and put us back into right relationship with God before we celebrate communion. We will be reminded of how we’ve mistreated the Zacchaeuses in our lives and will be reminded that Jesus, in the middle of his most important journey, stopped just for Zacchaeus. It’s the least we can do, too.

Invitation to Confession
Leader: I John 1:9 tells us that “If we confess our sins, People: God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins Leader: and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
People: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Leader: Please join with me in a prayer of confession.

Unison Prayer of Confession
People: Merciful God, we have sinned against You and the Zacchaeuses in our lives. You came to seek and to save the lost. But we have pushed them aside. We have given up on them, and written them off as worthless and unable to change. Forgive us when we give up too easily; forgive us when we become impatient too quickly; and most of all, forgive us for not seeing Jesus on the face of every person You have put in our lives. Help us to be like Zacchaeus and change our ways, not for ourselves, but for Your glory.

Declaration of Forgiveness
Leader: The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. I declare to you, in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
People: Amen.

The Peace
Leader: May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, and give you enough grace to pass it along the next time you meet your Zacchaeus face to face.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.