Holy Grumbling Part 2

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 10, 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 19:1-10
“Holy Grumbling Part 2”


Jericho was not Jesus’ destination. Jericho is a city that is about a day’s walk from Jerusalem and as a result became a common place to stop rest and replenish for the next day’s journey. It was a place used to pilgrims and travelers. Despite it being common for people to travel through Jericho, news of Jesus arrival caused a stir. Everywhere Jesus went a crowd was sure to follow and Jericho was no exception.
Crowds and followers are funny things. Ask anyone who has been to the pinnacle of a very public career and they will tell you the adoring fans can become detractors rather quickly. As a result, those who are able to remain at the top for a long time, politicians, sports figures, celebrities and others know how to play to the crowd. Unfortunately, Jesus did not do this and was not interested in playing to the crowd. And his encounter with Zacchaeus in Jericho was a prime example.
Zacchaeus was not a well loved figure in the city. He was the chief tax collector. As a result he worked very closely with the Roman occupiers. Zacchaeus would take what little money people had and as a result he became very rich. Now it is important to note that traditionally people have assumed he became rich because he defrauded people. However, the scripture does not say that. He worked in a position that allowed him to become rather wealthy.
He was also someone who was not welcome in the faith community and in the community at large. It seems that he was a natural outcast. In a society where the average height for men was five foot five, Zacchaeus was considered too short to see in a crowd. We are talking about a very small man. So, I am guessing that he faced ridicule most of his life for his slight stature. Despite or maybe because of this he became very rich but also even more isolated. He may have had everything he wanted but he was alone. But despite this, despite being excluded his whole life, despite knowing the crowd would not want him around, Zacchaeus knew there was something about this rabbi he needed.
We know the story; Zacchaeus climbed the tree and waited. This is when Jesus goes to this man in the tree. Jesus calls him by name and invites himself to dinner. This is no small gesture. Jesus is not hungry and looking for a free meal at the rich man’s house. Beyond that, Jesus then stirs up the anger of the crowd. Faced with this familiar encounter we need to ask ourselves what does this all mean? Martyn Percy answers this very question when he says:
…in the midst of a crowd bestowing their adulation he refused to side with their base prejudices. Zacchaeus is affirmed for who he is. He does not repent, contrary to how the story is usually read: he has no need to. Rather, a person who is despised is allowed to flourish, and he is now seen as a person of generosity. Consistently, Jesus sides with the ostracized, the rejected, the unclean, the impure, the (alleged) sinner. He is no crowd pleaser, he is their confounder.
Jesus goes to the one, who the community decided was not worthy, and said this person is no sinner. He is a child of God and deserving of a place in the community as well.

I think it is important to go back to something I said last week about table manners.
The Pharisees did not eat with tax collectors and sinners for more than just exclusionary reasons. They do not eat with them because to do so means that they become equals instead of objects of mission to be served or sinners to be converted. If they do not eat with them they can maintain a distance. ‘Those people’ become objects of mission instead of a possible brother or sister in Christ. Our calling is to befriend people. Listen to them, learn from them. Go out and spend time in the fields in which they work. Do not tell people what you know they are seldom interested. Instead give them the time of day, get to know them ask them about themselves. In doing so you show the love of God in Christ because you let them know they matter because you listened. This is the mission of the church and it is our calling. We are called to risk our reputation for the kingdom of God. That is the calling of Jesus disciples.
Throughout his ministry Jesus calls us to the places where we might least expect. The traditional, the socially acceptable, the proper are not rejected in God’s kingdom but expected to move beyond their comfort and move beyond the walls. The church of Jesus Christ is called to move beyond itself. The mission of the church is not survival but transformation. We exist not for ourselves but for doing just what Jesus did. The love of God is for all people without restraint without limitation. This is the message of the Gospel and we need to hear it again and again. We are a people who have been called to go… Amen? Amen!