Rev. Linda B. Hirst

November 11, 2001

 Today is Stewardship Sunday, it is also the day we remember all the Saints and tomorrow we remember the Veterans.  It is my task to combine all three seamlessly into one simple, yet profound message.  Piece of cake.  I’m going to begin by telling the story of Zacchaeaus.

Read Luke 19:1-10

 We played a game last weekend at our women’s retreat - actually we played a lot of games,  and we discovered two things: we’re a very competitive bunch of women and we’re not as good as we think we  are at charades, but in this particular game we got together in small groups and asked the question: If you could choose to have lunch with anyone, who would it be.  Someone you admired, someone you’d like to be like.  And people chose their grandmothers, mothers, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, wise men and women who have influenced their lives.
I was a little more shallow than all the rest and chose Carol Burnett because I think she’s really funny and I’ve always wanted to be her - I would even have settled for Vicki Lawrence because she got to work with Carol Burnett, but after reading today’s scripture,  after hearing today’s story, I would choose differently.

 Today, I would choose Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus, that unloved, unwanted and unpopular little man who was hated by everyone;  the Pharisees, Sadducees, his fellow Jews.  Luke doesn’t tell us this in his story because his readers at that time already knew it,  but tax collectors were considered  the scum of earth, they rated right down there with thieves and other sinners.  In fact, a Pharisee might have been heard praying this prayer:  Dear God, I thank you that you have not made me like those sinners:  robbers, rogues and I thank you especially that you did not make me a tax collector.  If you began a story back then with these words:  There once was a tax collector,   your audience would shudder and probably boo.  No one liked a tax collector.  No one liked Zacchaeus, except as my husband pointed out,  perhaps his mother.

 And yet,  Zacchaeus’ story is a wonderful one!   It’s a story about what can happen  when you come face-to-face with the gospel.   Of what can happen when God reaches out and plucks you out of oblivion, or wherever you happen to be, dusts you off and sets you on your feet again with a new heart, a new direction, a new life.

  Zacchaeus’ story is a story of grace.  In fact, the song "Amazing Grace" could be written about Zacchaeus.   "I was lost but now am found.  I was blind but now I see."  The parables Jesus told earlier in the gospel of Luke could have been written about Zacchaeus.  Which of you having 100 sheep and losing one wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine and go in search of the lost one?  And then call all your friends and family to celebrate when you found it!  And which of you having ten silver coins and losing one wouldn’t sweep and search the house diligently until you found it?  And then once you did, call everyone you know to rejoice! Zacchaeus was lost but after meeting Jesus, he is found.

 This unwanted, unloved, unpopular, man has found love and forgiveness and acceptance in Christ.   Let all who hear rejoice!

 So now, I want to have lunch with Zacchaeus, I want to be like Zacchaeus.  And this is why.

 I want to be like Zacchaeus because he is a someone who needs God.  He is a sinner.  A lonely man living on the outside looking in.    If you’ve ever been shunned by friends or family for a mistake you’ve made, if you’ve ever moved to a new community and felt like you didn’t fit in,  if you’ve ever been part of a crowd and felt like you didn’t belong, if you’ve ever been picked last at kickball in recess when you were child, you  know just a little bit what it feels like to be Zacchaeus.  He needs love, mercy, forgiveness and acceptance.  He needs God.

 Of course we all need God, we all need love and mercy, forgiveness and acceptance.  But sometimes we act like we don’t.   Sometimes we act like we’ve got it together all on our own.

 On our women’s retreat we spent time talking about different women in the bible and their strengths and weaknesses - we talked about Lydia, Dorcas, Ruth, Tamar and Miriam.  And then we broke up into groups according to the woman we identified with most at that moment.  A good many of us ended up in Miriam’s group:  Miriam is Moses’ older sister.  She’s the one who put him in a basket when he was a baby so Pharaoh wouldn’t find him and kill him.  She’s the one who led the Israelites in singing and dancing after Moses led them through the Red Sea to safety and freedom.  Well Miriam, we decided, was independent, self-reliant, bossy and wasn’t afraid to make her opinion known even if it got her into trouble some times;  and these were her good qualities!  But she had her weaknesses, too.  She could be too independent, too self-reliant, sometimes she forgot to rely on God.

  Sometimes I am Miriam.  I think I’ve got it all together on my own.  I don’t need anyone’s help. I can handle everything myself.  I’m independent, I’m self-reliant...I’m good.   In fact, I’m so good I wonder  how my family, how the church gets on without me when I’m not around!  And then it all comes crashing down around me and I realize I’m as vulnerable and sad and lonely as the next person.  And I realize I need God.

 Zacchaeus reminds me that I need God not some of the time but all of the time.
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 And I want to be like Zacchaeus not only because is he a man who needs God, he’s a man who’s determined to see God, to get a glimpse of God, and he does whatever he needs to do to make sure that happens. Like everyone else in the city of Jericho, Zacchaeus has heard the stories of this man called Jesus, how he’s been traveling through the countryside healing the sick and teaching about the kingdom of heaven.  Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus, so he tries to push his way through the crowd  and when that doesn’t work, he climbs a tree.

 And because he was determined and persistent and creative, because he went out on a limb so to speak,  Zacchaeus got what he came for - he got a glimpse of God and then some.

 Which tells me that sometimes we have to be determined and persistent and creative,  go out on a limb,
take a risk, in order to see God.  During those times we’re feeling a little stagnant, a little lost, wondering where God is,  maybe we need to try something different.  Like go away on a retreat, or try a bible study or a book study or a small group even though it’s not something we’d normally do, it’s out of our comfort zone.

 Or try a mission trip, even a short one.  Try meditating alone or praying in a group.  Do something out of the ordinary, put ourselves out there in a way we never have before.  Chances are we’ll get a glimpse of God, and then some. Sometimes we have to be persistent and creative in our desire to see God.  We may even have to climb a tree.

 Another reason I want to be like Zacchaeus is I think he knows the secret to grace.  That when grace comes your way, you have to open your hands to receive it.  You have to say "Yes."

 When Jesus looked up in that tree and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I  must stay at your house today."  Zacchaeus didn’t pause to think about what his house looked like or if there was any food in the fridge.  He didn’t stop to think about the what the neighbors would think if they saw the Son of God going into his home;    He just said, "Yes." He jumped down from that tree and received Jesus with great joy.  He accepted this unexpected gift of grace with open hands.
 

 I want to do that, too. When God reaches out to me, unexpectedly with the gift of grace; the gift of love and forgiveness and acceptance, I want to be there with my hands open. I want to say "Yes."  Because sometimes I don’t.  Sometimes I miss God’s grace.  I’m busy, I’m preoccupied - I’m working on my list of things to do, I’m looking over here when I should be looking over there, I’m cranky,  I’m tired.  Sometimes I miss God’s grace.

 This week I was talking with a woman who had been on the retreat and she was saying how loved and embraced she felt by all the women who had been there and how loved and embraced she felt by God.
How this weekend God had reached out to her and touched her in a new way. She could feel God and see God everywhere and wasn’t it amazing!   And I wanted to say to her:  "When did this happen?  When did you see God?  How did I miss this?"  What was I doing instead?

 Sometimes I miss God’s grace.  And I don’t want to do. The next time God taps me on the shoulder and says, "Linda, I’m coming to your house today," I want to be like Zacchaeus, open my hands and say, "O.K. Let’s go."

 And finally, I want to be like Zacchaeus because he is an example of joy and an example of giving;  joyful giving (this is the Stewardship part).   When Zacchaeus comes face-to-face with  God, comes face-to-face with the gospel, it changes him.  He is given a new heart, a new direction and a new life.  And he responds to this gift with great joy, he responds by giving.  "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."  Half of my possessions, Lord I will give to the poor.  I have trouble tithing ... giving ten percent of my possessions.  Zacchaeus gave half and he did it with enthusiasm.

 That is joyful giving.  Giving thanks and praise to God with what you have; giving thanks and praise as you are able, giving thanks and praise for what God has done in your life.
 

wI have one story to tell;  I told it last year but it’s a good story so it’s worth telling and hearing again.  It’s about a man named Gary and he is my very own Zacchaeus.  He was lost and after coming face-to-face with God, he was found;  he was given a new heart, a new direction, a new life.
 

 I met Gary about 10 years ago when I worked with a housing ministry in Virginia. He lived in a small house with his wife and three  sons in the poorest section of town.  Gary had no job, he struggled with alcoholism, and his house was in tremendous need of a repair.  One day, we got a bunch of volunteers together and helped Gary repair his house, putting on a new roof, doing a bunch of other things that needed to be done.  Well Gary was so appreciative he asked if he could volunteer with us, helping to repair other people’s homes.  We were hesitant at first.  What if he showed up drunk.  What if he lost his temper as rumor said he did from time to time.  Eventually, we said o.k..  As it turned out Gary was a pretty decent carpenter - he learned fast, he was enthusiastic so we asked him if he’d like to work for us.  We could only pay him $5 an hour and hire him for about 15 hours a week - altogether he wouldn’t make more than $75.  Not anywhere near enough to feed a family of five, pay the rent and any other bills, but still he said "Yes" with a smile.

 One day I went to pick Gary up at his house to go to work and while I was there I saw a pamphlet on his kitchen table to sponsor a child.  For just $20 a month, he could adopt a child in India, help pay for the child’s schooling and housing.  And I couldn’t believe it.  I was furious.  He didn’t have enough money to take care of his own kids much less this child in India.  What was he thinking?

 I asked him with as much restraint as I could muster:  "Gary, you’re not going to sponsor a child, are you?"  And I was prepared to give him at least a dozen reasons why he shouldn't when he looked at me with this big smile on his face and said: "Yea.  Now that I’m making a little money I figure I can help someone else."   And there was nothing more to be said.

 Gary had come face-to-face with God through the volunteers who had fixed his home, through those of us who had given him a chance to work and earn even a small amount of income.  Gary had experienced God’s presence in his life and he responded with joyful giving as best as he was able.

 I want to be like Gary and Zacchaeus and respond to God’s presence in my life with joyful giving.  I want to give thanks and praise to God for all that God has done for me as best as I am able.  That means with my time, my talent and yes, even my money.

 I want to be like Zacchaeus and all the saints who have gone on before us who remind us that:
 * we need God in our lives all the time,
 * that sometimes in order to see God more clearly we have to go out on a limb,
 * that the secret to grace is opening up our hands and saying "Yes."
 * and that giving joyfully is the best response to God’s presence in our lives.

 The last thing Jesus says to Zacchaeus in this story, the last thing Jesus says to the crowd who is watching is this:  "Today salvation has come to this house."  Today, redemption, grace, hope and new life has come to Zacchaeus.

 I want to be like Zacchaeus.  Don’t you?

 Let us pray... Loving and good God, thank you for creating us, redeeming us, sustaining us, giving us grace, hope and new life each and every day.   Help us to see you, to need you, to accept your grace,
to live with your joy in every way.  Bless all who love you, all who serve you, all who have died for you.  May your loving grace be upon all of us this day and always.  Amen.