He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘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.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’      Luke 19:1-10                

We have completed our formal Stewardship emphasis at RHPC but I realized I didn’t use all my stewardship stories!

On Pledge Sunday at a Presbyterian Church in a distant city a little girl became restless as the minister’s Pledge Sunday sermon dragged on and on and on. Finally she leaned over to her parents and whispered, “If we give him the money now, will he let us go?”

On another Pledge Sunday, parents were sitting with their extremely fidgety 8 and 10 year old boys who would not be quiet. About halfway through the sermon, the father leaned over and whispered to his boys, “If you don’t be quiet, the minister is going to lose his place and will have to start the sermon all over again!” The boys stopped talking.

In the car on the way home from church one Sunday the father said, “I didn’t think the sermon was very good.” The mother said, “Well, the music wasn’t very good either.” The little daughter in the back seat said, “What did you expect for a dollar?”

Thank you for pledging. The results look very encouraging. Thank you!

We have heard a wonderful song about Zacchaeus this morning.

The version I know must have originated in Scotland:

“Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he.

He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.

And as the Savior passed him by, he looked up in the tree,

He said, “Zacchaeus, you come down from that tree,

For I’m coming to your house for tea.”

“Wee,” “tea,”…surely this is the Scottish version!

When Zacchaeus, a despised collector of taxes for Rome, was befriended by Jesus, Zacchaeus’s life was changed forever, resulting in remarkable generosity.

A change of heart results in a change of life’s priorities.

At the time of Jesus Rome occupied Palestine. Roman officials would contract with local Jewish men to collect the prescribed taxes and tolls in a given area. The “chief tax collectors” were required to pay the contract in advance. Then they would employ others to collect the taxes, hoping that the amount ultimately collected would make a nice profit. Those Jewish men who collected taxes for the Romans were assumed to be dishonest and they were hated by their Jewish brethren for “selling out” to their Gentile oppressors.1

When I read the story of Zacchaeus and reflect on those words, “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,” I am reminded of Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol, where Ebenezer Scrooge has a change of heart and priorities by seeing his past and future played out before him.

Ebenezer then wants to make a difference and touch the lives around him through overflowing generosity, but he is afraid that his chance for redemption has passed him by. Suddenly he awakes and realizes that he has not missed his chance, nor had he missed Christmas. His newfound joy is manifested in the change his life takes.

His generosity is released! You remember the final words of Dickens’ work, "...and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, ‘God bless Us, Every One!’"

(This year at the REP “A Christmas Carol” is directed by Linda Brand – her 8th season and Bob Brand is Charles Dickens, the narrator – Bob appearing for his 19th season!)

The Quaker theologian Richard Foster has said that the conversion of the purse may be the most difficult conversion for those of us in the modern world. After all, we live in a culture that measures people by their wealth. We live in a culture where we are urged in virtually every moment to possess more and more.

In this morning’s Gospel passage, Zacchaeus has a problem “seeing.” He is a “wee little man.” He can’t see Jesus because of the crowds. He runs and climbs a tree – something very unbecoming to a chief tax collector. And then a miracle occurs for Zacchaeus. Jesus looks up, sees Zacchaeus and says, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”  We consider inviting yourself over to someone’s home a breach of etiquette.

In this case Jesus bestows special recognition and honor on Zacchaeus by offering to receive his hospitality.

In our culture it is hard for us to see the radical nature of Jesus’ grace-filled action: Jesus wants to go to the home of a despised, unclean tax-collector?!

You mean Jesus accepts me!?!?!!?!!?

You mean Jesus wants to eat a meal with me!?!?!

You mean we might be friends!

Here in this story we see the amazing transforming power of grace, mercy, love and acceptance.

A miracle occurs – Zacchaeus receives new eyes – he sees life differently, he sees people differently!  He has a change of heart.

Zacchaeus says 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.”

Zacchaeus’s INTENTION changes from a person out to make a buck at the expense of others to someone whose INTENTION it is to be generous and bless others.

We receive God’s grace, mercy, love and acceptance in Christ. 

Our hearts and lives are changed. Our priorities are changed.  We become the kind of people who extend grace, mercy, love and acceptance to others.  Miracles do occur!!!!!!!!!!!

We understand that every day can be lived in service to God.

May God continue to transform our hearts and our priorities.

1 See R. Alan Culpepper’s commentary on Luke in The New Interpreter’s Bible.