Zacchaeus: A journey from greed to wisdom
Hespeler, 5 March, 2017 © Scott
McAndless – Lent 1
Luke 19:1-10, Hebrews 13:1-6,
Psalm 112
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acchaeus was entirely comfortable
in that tree. That is one thing that we fail to understand about Zacchaeus in
his story in the Gospel of Luke. It says in the gospel that he climbed the tree
because he wanted to see Jesus and he was very short – was a wee little man –
and was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to see Jesus among the crowds that had
gathered in Jericho to see him. And
, sure, that was true enough as far as it went, but it fails to take
into account the fact that, as far as Zacchaeus was concerned, from the
branches of a tree was the perfect vantage point for the kind of encounter with
Jesus that he wanted.
Zacchaeus was,
you see, a certain type of a person. He was what you might call an observer of
life. He had an insatiable desire to perceive and study and understand whatever
he could to the best of his ability. As such he had a very long attention span
– could sit and observe the world for hours and never waver in his attentiveness.
And so, when he heard that someone as unique and interesting as Jesus of
Nazareth was passing through Jericho, of course he was going to arrange to
observe him.
And the tree
was perfect for him because it allowed him to see everything. The fact that he
had to run ahead and wait for Jesus to pass that way was no problem for him as
he never lost patience waiting to observe something interesting. But there was
another reason why the tree was so ideal. Zacchaeus was an observer but he was
a detached observer. He didn’t want to be down there interacting with what was
happening. As a matter of fact, he never really felt comfortable in a crowd
situation like that where people might touch him or invade his personal space.
No, it was just better to observe from a neutral vantage point. The tree was
ideal.
And there are
people like that, like Zacchaeus, aren’t there? I’ll bet you have known some.
They are the great observers of life but they often take a lot of persuasion to
go beyond watching and thinking about what they see and actually engage with
the world. They are often brilliant, often the very first to come up with new
ways of seeing things. But it is often easier for them to observe and think and
collect experiences than it is for them to do something with what they learn.
There are also
some other traits that are found in such people. Often they are people who are
looking for some security in their lives more than anything. This is often
because, at some point in their early development, they have gone through a
time when they strongly feared that their basic needs were in danger of not
being met. They weren’t assured that the food, shelter, clothing, affection or
belonging would be there for them. This means that they do not feel entirely
safe in this world and so they tend to withdraw from close contact, they
hesitate to trust too much and are strongly protective of their personal
spaces. They become content to merely observe the world and store up whatever
knowledge of the world they discover.
This same
sense of insecurity also compels them to store up possessions as a kind of
insurance against whatever may happen or go wrong in life. They keep everything
and hesitate to throw anything out because it all means something to them and,
as they always say, “You never know when you might need it.”
If this
particular kind of person has one big problem, therefore, it is avarice. Their
root sin is greed. I am not necessarily talking about that in terms of them
being stingy with money, though that can be part of it. They are stingy with
many things: their knowledge and understanding, their space, their emotions and
thoughts. They share none of it easily. And sometimes that can certainly also
mean that they are greedy with money.
I would
suggest to you that Zacchaeus in this story in Luke’s Gospel is a perfect
example of the kind of person that I am talking about here. Not only is he
someone who clearly prefers to take an objective vantage point in order to
observe and find out things and someone who would rather not mingle with the
crowd, he is also described as being very rich and having many possessions,
some of which he obtained by defrauding people. I don’t think that it is a big
stretch to say that Zacchaeus likely had some issues with greed as well.
So Zacchaeus
is a good example of this sort of person, but chances are that you have known
such a person yourself. They are wonderful people who have been able to bring
much good into this world through their ability to observe and understand. But
they, like all people have certain things that they struggle with. In this case,
those things seem to be intimacy and greed. The question is what can be done to
help such people?
The
traditional Christian answer to that question, by the way, has been to blame
and to shame. We just tell people that they are wrong to be greedy and to store
up possessions. We tell people that they should share with others more freely
even if that is hard for them. This has been the traditional moralistic
approach of the church to effecting ethical change in people’s lives in general.
But I am not sure how successful that strategy has been in really helping
people to change. We need a new strategy.
So I would
like us to climb up in our own sycamore tree and objectively observe what Jesus
does for Zacchaeus in this story. It is quite clear that, when Zacchaeus meets
Jesus, it does make a difference. He is a man transformed by the time Jesus
leaves town. So what is Jesus’ secret and is it possible that Jesus’ approach
may be just the kind of thing that people like Zacchaeus need to reach the
fullness of who they were always meant to be?
It is
interesting to note that Jesus’ approach is not to attack Zacchaeus over his
greed or tendency to store up personal possessions. Jesus does target something
else – he targets Zacchaeus’ tendency to isolate himself in order to observe.
Jesus comes to the place where Zacchaeus has set himself up in his nice safe tree
and looks right up at what he thought was his perfect hiding place and says, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must
stay at your house today.”
Do you realize what that feels like
for someone like Zacchaeus? Jesus has just invited himself into Zacchaeus’
personal space, his sanctum and the place where he keeps all of the possessions
that make him feel safe. Jesus just barges in, and invites himself into all of
this. It must have made Zacchaeus feel very vulnerable and off his guard. But
Jesus also knew that there was no way that Zacchaeus could refuse and that the
discomfort was necessary. Zacchaeus would always opt for protection and safety
unless the issue was forced. Jesus needed to get in.
But once Jesus
had broken through Zacchaeus’ layers of protection, something amazing happened.
Something almost unprecedented in all the ministry of Jesus. We are not told
the whole story and we kind of have to fill in the details. It says that
Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus, which likely means that he brought him into his
private space, fed him and put him up for the night or even for a few nights.
Luke sort of jumps over that part of the story and only reports on the reaction
that the time Jesus spent with him provoked in the town: “All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest
of one who is a sinner.’” All of that part of the story gets skipped, nevertheless,
it seems clear that Jesus must have spent at least some time when he had
Zacchaeus’ undivided attention.
And what did
Jesus do with that time? Well, that’s obvious. He did what he always did – he
talked to him about the kingdom of God. He probably told him stories and
parables to explain what the kingdom was like and, when Zacchaeus asked him
what someone had to do in order to be part of that kingdom, Jesus probably said
something like what he said to other people in similar circumstances: “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own,
and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then
come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21)
And Jesus,
generally speaking, didn’t have a lot of success in asking that kind of level
of response to the kingdom of God from people. When he said it to a rich, young
ruler, for example, the young man just turned and walked away in shock, unable
to even grasp what Jesus was saying.
But here is
where we see what is special and unique about Zacchaeus. Remember that
Zacchaeus was an observer – someone who had incredible focus and was always
ready to learn from whatever he observed. He was someone who was always ready
to absorb new knowledge like a sponge. He now applied those talents to observing
this Jesus who stood before him. And the result was that Zacchaeus was able to
absorb what Jesus was really trying to say probably better than any other
individual in the gospel story.
In other
words, Zacchaeus got the message of Jesus better than anybody else I can think
of in the entire gospel story. He indicates that by saying to Jesus, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will
give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back
four times as much.” Those are the words of someone who has understood what
the kingdom of God is actually about better than all the priests, all the
disciples and all the scribes you can find in the entire Bible. Zacchaeus got
the message that they all missed.
And so the
wonderful gift of these extraordinary people who are like Zacchaeus is this:
they can observe and absorb truth from what they observe to a degree that eludes
most of us. Once you break through to them and get past the protections that
they have ringed themselves with, you find a person who is able to listen, pay
heed and absorb like few others can. We live in an age when the art of
listening often seems all but forgotten. What a marvel a person like Zacchaeus
is in such a world.
We live in a
world filled with greed, driven by greed and often destroyed by greed. Of
course, our God doesn’t love greed and what it can do to people. But God is
compassionate and willing to understand us. He doesn’t just condemn the sin, he
seeks to heal the underlying problem. That is why, in the Letter to the
Hebrews, the message of God is not merely, “Keep
your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.”
God is always willing to speak to our heart and remind us why we don’t have to
seek security by storing up an abundance of things. And so the writer of the
Hebrews goes on: “for he has said, ‘I
will never leave you or forsake you.’”
God comes to
you as you are, understands what drives you and is committed enough to break
through your defences and speak to your heart. We see Jesus doing that very
thing for Zacchaeus; he will do it for all of us. If only we could all be as
ready as Zacchaeus was to really attend to what God has to say to us.
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