Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C (2019)
“Hey, did you hear that Zacchaeus was studying to be a rabbi.” “Yeah, well at least all his sermons will be short."
Zacchaeus was undoubtedly a very wise man; he knew in his heart that he didn't belong with the rest of the crowd who stood cheering wildly for Jesus as walked along the main street of their town. Why did he even bother showing up? Why did he climb up that tree—and go out on a limb?
Luke tells us that he wanted to see what Jesus looked like; however, Luke probably had a much deeper reason. There still must have been some spark of goodness that burned in Zacchaeus' heart.
He was different from the rest. He lived a lonely life— isolated not by his poverty, but by his riches— which insulated him against the hardships of life, and secluded him from his fellow townspeople, who were, by and large, very poor.
And still the searching eye of Jesus found him— that same attentive eye which had spotted Nathaniel sitting under a fig tree. And although Jesus, the Good Shepherd, was surrounded by a noisy flock, he always kept his eyes open for any of the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Suddenly, Jesus stops under that sycamore tree and catches the glance of Zaccheaus. The people looked up too and saw Zaccheaus sitting there— out on that proverbial limb. The people probably waited breathlessly for Jesus to scold and lecture Zacchaeus for his selfishness, his greed, and his dishonesty.
But Jesus did not always do what people expected. He refused to read Zaccheaus the riot act. Instead, he did something which made him quite unpopular— he asked Zaccheaus if he could dine in his house— and without hesitating for a moment Zaccheaus said “yes!”
Jesus departs his adoring fans, who remain behind, grumbling and complaining— they all knew how much a scoundrel and a crook Zaccheaus was— they all knew how much he was beyond changing his ways; and yet, the real reason they were so upset with Jesus was not that they thought Zaccheaus was beyond redemption, but that he didn't deserve it! The crowd did not want to see him saved— they wanted to see him condemned.
I don’t have to tell you that it’s easy to get discouraged when we look at the world around us. We have access to so much information that we hear about nearly every negative thing happening across the globe.
So many instances of one group of people despising or looking down on another (and usually vice-versa). So many people hungry or without shelter or without a government that will look out for them and protect them.
So many young people being exposed to so many grownup things at way too early an age. So many relationships falling apart. And so, so much hatred being spewed across the internet every second of every day. And it can be discouraging. Really, really discouraging.
And with all this “bad” stuff we see or hear every day, all this negativity, we might be asking ourselves, “Where is God? I really don’t see him anywhere. Has he abandoned us? Is he absent? Has he left us to fend for ourselves?”
But then we have Zacchaeus. Good old Zacchaeus. And we wonder: maybe God is not really absent. Maybe he’s “somewhere else”. Maybe he’s right in our midst. Close. Near enough to touch. Ready to have an encounter with us.
Yet, we often find ourselves “in the back,” blocked from seeing God by so many obstacles—things which don’t allow us the right vantage point, the proper perspective, the best opportunity to see the Lord all around us.
What’s in our way? Our prejudices for sure. Our preconceived notions about how things are supposed to be. Our egos. Our selfishness. Our cynicism. Our sense of entitlement. The list could go on and on. All these things get in the way—keep uf from seeing the goodness and the hope and the promise and the beauty—that is, God—all around us.
Maybe we need our own sycamore tree—a new way of seeing. A different perspective. We need to do what Zacchaeus did—find ways to embrace a different perspective of seeing, embrace a different view. Maybe we simply need to ask Jesus to help us see the world as he sees it, as he sees you, me, and every person.
In the person of Zacchaeus, we are given this timeless lesson: Do not be afraid to start over. This time you’re not starting from scratch. You’re starting from experience.