Lessons in humility

First sermon preached (ever)...

Homily for November 3^rd 2013. 9am. St Mark Church, Cheltenham

Luke 19: 1-10

May I speak in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Some of you may be wondering who I am and possibly even, what is he doing standing there? A little like tax collectors at the time of Jesus. I suppose you could say that at I’m an outsider here.  I’m new to St Mark, or I certainly felt like I was an outsider eight weeks ago. So even though I was expected, it did feel a little like I was looking at a crowd from afar from the branches of a tree.

So in some ways I can imagine a little of how Zaccheaus felt in our Gospel reading today. I can imagine that day in Jericho must have been hot and that crowds were jostling to see. Zaccheaus wanted to see Jesus so much he arrived early and climbed a tree. He knew it was on the route Jesus would be following into town. So, even though I can imagine a little of how he felt, I do hope that I’m not disliked as much as Zaccheaus was then! In fact, I’ve been made to feel really very welcome. Coming here has also been very helpful in my journey to discern God’s call and for that I must say a heartfelt, thank you.

Zaccheaus though, was a tax collector, in fact, the chief tax collector. At the time of Jesus, they were really disliked, hated even because they had the authority of the Emperor to collect tax, but always took extra for themselves with no come back from the Romans. So to be the chief of these people would have meant Zaccheaus must have been not just wealthy, greedy, manipulative and hungry for power but also lonely and on the edge of society.

Since becoming a tax collector though, something must have changed. We’re not told what, he doesn’t appear anywhere else in the Bible, but he must have heard about a preacher, a prophet, a healer, Jesus and Zaccheaus really wanted to see him. He was a grown man and he was prepared to risk his reputation and pride by climbing a tree (which to be fair could have been to just avoid the crowds and the height would also have given him a much better view (for he was only little)), but this view point would have made sure he could see Jesus safely. From above.

Things didn’t quite work out how he had planned though, instead of being able to quietly observe, he was seen, in fact it seems like Jesus had known he would be there a long time ago. When he is called down by Jesus with the words, “Zaccheaus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today,” there is no doubt from Zaccheaus, he immediately welcomes Jesus – something in Zaccheaus’s heart has made him so completely open, that whatever has happened in the past,  Zaccheaus has become a changed man. So much so that when the crowd question him, he offers to give half of his things to the poor (which is far more than the ten percent we are sometimes encouraged by the Bible to give today). He also offers to pay back anything he had acquired illegally four times over. This fulfils amounts prescribed in Exodus and 2 Samuel, which were much more severe than books like Leviticus or Numbers which specify just a fifth of the value as restitution. This is a significant, real commitment of repentance for past wrongs.

What is much more significant here though is the acceptance by Zaccheaus of the sin he has committed in abusing his position to pursue false idols like money and power. He has accepted this wrong so completely that he has sought forgiveness, repented and turned away from a past of pain and hurt.   This was already in his heart when Jesus saw him and then called him down from the tree, as a friend would and then asked to come to his house. When Zaccheaus immediately offers, without being asked, to pay back his ill-gotten gains, Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

No one else refers to Jesus by the title, “Son of Man,” – except Jesus himself. By seeking and saving the lost, Jesus is identifying himself with the Good Shepherd, referred to in the Old Testament by Ezekiel in chapter 34, who will search out and save lost sheep and this is precisely what Jesus has done here, as he also explained in the parable of the lost sheep, which we heard a few weeks ago. This time however, there is no parable, this is a real event and Zaccheaus was already on the verge of giving himself to God in faith before Jesus arrived in Jericho, but when Jesus recognised him as a lost sheep, Zaccheaus was ready. He was saved.

So the question is, are we ready? We are all human and we all make mistakes but can we also be like Zaccheaus? Can our hearts be filled with repentance and love? Can we give ourselves to Jesus and be ready to follow him when he looks us in the eye and says follow me? The journey isn’t easy, we have to be humble, make sacrifices and not let worldly idols overwhelm us (like wealth and possessions) but something much greater is there waiting, the shepherd is calling, are we ready to listen?

Amen.