GCC Programs-Adult Ministries

Habakkuk 1:1-4
Luke 19:1-10
Howard W. Roberts
November 4, 2007

"Amy Freedlow, come on down!" barks the announcer. The camera turns on Amy and shows her surprised, excited face. In this context the phrase, come on down, is filled with excitement. The audience cheers but with a hollow sound of enthusiasm. They're glad someone was chosen, but disappointed it was Amy Freedlow instead of them.

"Zacchaeus, come on down!" Jesus said. In this context the phrase, come on down, is filled with hope. The crowd turned their attention to the tree where Zacchaeus was. And the crowd sneered and snickered. They despised Zacchaeus and now they laughed at Jesus for having anything to do with him.

In telling about Zacchaeus, Luke gives one of the most descriptive accounts of a seeker recorded in Scripture. Luke's words about Zacchaeus are, "He was trying to see Jesus." Isn't that what all of us are doing or need to do? Aren't we all seekers, trying to see Jesus? Let's take a look at Zaachaeus. We'll discover he looks a lot like us or we look a lot like him.

Only Luke tells this story. What he tells isn't much. He give the facts, but only a minimum of those. It is so characteristic of Luke to tell a story like this one. It is the story of a person shut out, an outcast from the society and culture. No one wanted to have anything to do with Zacchaeus. He was a middle man of all middle men. He was caught in the middle and despised by people on both sides.

Zacchaeus was a first century tax collector. The Romans collected personal and property taxes themselves, but farmed out the collection of customs on goods to tax collectors. The tax collectors earned their livelihood from the customs tax they collected. Apparently dishonesty was prevalent among tax collectors. The tax collectors generally were more affluent than others in the community which added to the suspicion and hostility that citizens had toward them.

Do you see how such an arrangement immediately set up a hostile situation? A man wants to earn a living. He observes that collecting taxes is an adequate, if not lucrative job. He begins collecting the custom taxes and is spit on from both sides. He's a Jew, a native of the land and the Roman officer to whom he gives the collected revenue doesn't want to have anything to do with him. All he wants is an exact accounting of the funds; bring in the money and leave. And the people paying the custom taxes don't want to have anything to do with him. He is a traitor. He has sold out to the occupied forces. He is aiding and abetting the enemy. They isolate him. They may have to pay the taxes, but they don't have to like the man who collects them. This is what the setting and climate were like where Zacchaeus worked. A person would have to become calloused to work in an environment like that. He probably would develop a stern, hard, impenetateable outer shell. He would never let people know he was a sensitive person hurt by the words and attitudes of people treating him like an outcast or like one with a plague.

Tradition has said Zacchaeus was a short man and that he climbed a tree so he could see over the crowd. Whether Zacchaeus was short physically, he was short in a lot of other ways. He was short on respect. He was short on acceptance. He was short on reputation. He was short on integrity. He was short on being trusted. He was short on friends. There is no way to know if all of Zacchaeus' shortness was justified.

The attitude of the people forced Zacchaeus up a tree for a variety of reasons. He climbed it for his own protection. The fact he was mingling in the crowd reveals either his courage or his desperation. For Zacchaeus to be in the crowd gave the people the opportunity to spit on him, kick him, push, shove, and bruise him. A crowd has no conscience and often will do things that individuals would never consider. People in a crowd will take advantage of the opportunity to do something for which no one will be held accountable. Were I Zacchaeus, knowing how people felt about me as he knew, I'd try to get out of people's reach. I'd climb a tree too.

The fact Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus certainly identifies something of what Zacchaeus' emotional state was. He felt isolated and lonely and was saying with body language, "It's lonely here!"
Haven't all of us said the same thing with body language? With empty eyes and drawn faces we have said, "It's lonely here." Many of us are saying it right now. Is there anybody who has not been lonely at some time in life? I read about a high school senior who was running for class president. It was a forgone conclusion that she would win although she was not the most attractive candidate nor the best speaker. After she won, someone ask her what the secret was to her popularity. It seemed everyone had great respect for her. She attributed her interest in people to some advice her grandmother gave her when she had said, "Ann, remember everybody is just a little bit lonely."

Some time ago an ad ran in a Kansas paper: "I will listen to you talk for thirty minutes without comment for $5.00." Does that sound like a hoax? Would anybody call? You bet! It wasn't long before the individual who ran the ad was receiving between ten and twenty calls a day. The pain of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half-hour of companionship.

Often emotional pain is much more agonizing and paralyzing than physical pain. Loneliness is one of the most agonizing emotional pains any of us experiences. Loneliness is being by yourself when you don't want to be.      Zacchaeus climbed the tree to get a better view. Maybe he climbed it to hide, but to hide hoping to be found. He was willing to try anything for a half-hour of companionship. Jesus found him, saw him, looked him square in the eye and said, "Zacchaeus, come on down!" And the people snickered up their sleeves because Jesus didn't know any better than to invite himself to the house of a man that no one else would touch with a ten foot pole.

Zacchaeus was hurting because he was isolated and insulated and so are we. He was short on hope, meaning, value, and purpose in life. He was seeking insight, understanding, healing. He sounds so much like us. We become isolated by going at life alone. On occasions we go it alone because that is what we choose. Other times we are forced to go at life alone because others do not and will not be associated with us. It may be because of a stand we have taken, a conviction we hold, a profession we practice, a disease we have, body odor, our sexual orientation, or the color of our skin. Whenever we are isolated, regardless of the cause of the isolation, there is a dimension of our survival instinct that takes over and insulates us. We put on a mask and pretend, pretend to be happy, pretend to be enjoying life. We say that sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can never hurt us. We lie! We claim we really enjoy spending time by ourselves. We may when we can make the choice of whether or not to be alone. But to be lonely, isolated is to be by yourself when you don't want to be.

Jesus knew what Zacchaeus was saying and seeking by being up a tree, out on a limb and God knows what we are saying and seeking when we isolate ourselves. I'm so glad Jesus said, "Zacchaeus, come on down." If through Jesus God can say, "Zacchaeus, come on down," then God can say, "Howard, come on down," "Sarah, come on down," "Tom, come on down," and "Amy, come on down." Come on down from your perches of isolation, insulation, and loneliness. Come on down to relationship, to friendship, to forgiveness, to love, to grace, to acceptance.

The story is told that Michelangelo was seen rolling a huge rock down the street. He was asked what he was doing and replied, "There is an angel in here just waiting to come out." Jesus saw in Zacchaeus a peculiar treasure. The treasure was not who the world had made him; rather, the treasure was what he had in him at his best to be because ultimately, of course, it was not the world that made him at all.

Here is evidence that people behave differently when they are treated differently. All his professional life Zacchaeus had been treated like he had the plague or leprosy and so he was always seen on the fringes of life. People related to him only when they absolutely had to and what went on could not in the wildest imagination be called relating. Along came Jesus with his open invitation, "Come on down." Suddenly, the seeker was being sought. Rather than Zacchaeus seeking Jesus, Jesus was seeking Zacchaeus. This is the way God works. Long before we ever think of seeking God, God already is seeking us. In Zacchaeus' case, not only were words exchanged over lunch, but a life was changed. He said if he had cheated anyone, he would repay them four fold.

Jesus summarized his relationship with Zacchaeus by saying, "Salvation has come to this house today . . ." Salvation means deliverance or having enough space to get away from doing evil. Zacchaeus was lost because he was in the wrong place. Up a tree, out on a limb, isolated, lonely, insulated, he was in the wrong place. The place he needed to be was in relationship, relationship with God and with fellow human beings. Zacchaeus was delivered from the control of things, delivered from isolation and insulation, delivered from the rejection of others, and delivered into the love and grace and forgiveness, and acceptance of God, delivered into relationship.

Luke told this story as an illustration of what can happen to all of us sawed-off social disasters who walk around in any generation and in every generation. Our situation is different from that of Zacchaeus. We are the religious in-crowd, not the outcasts. Few, if any of us look at Zacchaeus and see ourselves. We don't collect taxes, we pay them. We aren't short people; we stand on our soap boxes to conceal our spiritual shortness. No crowd keeps us from seeing and hearing a celebrity. We just turn on the television. We have worked hard to be respectable and we've communicated to our children that they had better not disgrace the family because what other people think about us is just about, if not, the most important thing in the world. Our camouflage is more sophisticated than sycamore leaves. We hide ourselves so well behind the faces we wear that often we don't even know who we are. We have done so many wonderful things that if we could get Jesus to eat lunch with us we would talk his ear off for about thirty seconds repeating all our grand accomplishments. Then we would be out on a limb! But Jesus would look at us, eye to eye, and say, "Come on down! You are a treasure for what you are at your best because I know who made you who you are." "Come on down!" I'm so glad Jesus sought Zacchaeus. If God through Jesus could seek him, God could seek me. God is seeking me. God is seeking you. Are you looking and listening?
Notes

. Frederick Buechner, Peculiar Treasures, San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1979, p. 180.
2. Buechner, Peculiar Treasure, p. 181.


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COME ON DOWN
Habakkuk 1:1-4 Luke 19:1-10 Howard W. Roberts November 4, 2007 "Amy Freedlow, come on down!" barks the announcer. The camera turns on Amy and shows her surprised, excited face. In this context the phrase, come on down, is filled with excitement. The audience cheers but with a hollow sound of enthusiasm. They're glad someone was chosen, but disappointed it was Amy Freedlow instead of them. "Zacchaeus, come on down!" Jesus said. In this context the phrase, come on down, is filled with hope. The crowd turned their attention to the tree where Zacchaeus was. And the crowd sneered and snickered. They despised Zacchaeus and now they laughed at Jesus for having anything to do with him. In telling about Zacchaeus, Luke gives one of the most descriptive accounts of a seeker recorded in Scripture. Luke's words about Zacchaeus are, "He was trying to see Jesus." Isn't that what all of us are doing or need to do? Aren't we all seekers, trying to see Jesus? Let's take a look at Zaachaeus. We'll discover he looks a lot like us or we look a lot like him. Only Luke tells this story. What he tells isn't much. He give the facts, but only a minimum of those. It is so characteristic of Luke to tell a story like this one. It is the story of a person shut out, an outcast from the society and culture. No one wanted to have anything to do with Zacchaeus. He was a middle man of all middle men. He was caught in the middle and despised by people on both sides. Zacchaeus was a first century tax collector. The Romans collected personal and property taxes themselves, but farmed out the collection of customs on goods to tax collectors. The tax collectors earned their livelihood from the customs tax they collected. Apparently dishonesty was prevalent among tax collectors. The tax collectors generally were more affluent than others in the community which added to the suspicion and hostility that citizens had toward them. Do you see how such an arrangement immediately set up a hostile situation? A man wants to earn a living. He observes that collecting taxes is an adequate, if not lucrative job. He begins collecting the custom taxes and is spit on from both sides. He's a Jew, a native of the land and the Roman officer to whom he gives the collected revenue doesn't want to have anything to do with him. All he wants is an exact accounting of the funds; bring in the money and leave. And the people paying the custom taxes don't want to have anything to do with him. He is a traitor. He has sold out to the occupied forces. He is aiding and abetting the enemy. They isolate him. They may have to pay the taxes, but they don't have to like the man who collects them. This is what the setting and climate were like where Zacchaeus worked. A person would have to become calloused to work in an environment like that. He probably would develop a stern, hard, impenetateable outer shell. He would never let people know he was a sensitive person hurt by the words and attitudes of people treating him like an outcast or like one with a plague. Tradition has said Zacchaeus was a short man and that he climbed a tree so he could see over the crowd. Whether Zacchaeus was short physically, he was short in a lot of other ways. He was short on respect. He was short on acceptance. He was short on reputation. He was short on integrity. He was short on being trusted. He was short on friends. There is no way to know if all of Zacchaeus' shortness was justified. Although we know very little about Zacchaeus, we know immediately upon meeting him in Luke's story that he was despised and rejected. The biblical writers categorize the tax collectors with the sinners, indicating that as far as the people were concerned they were one and the same. Although Zacchaeus' name means "pure" or "righteous one," nobody treated him according to his name but rather according to his profession. Zacchaeus was guilty by association. Frederick Buechner describes Zacchaeus as "a sawed-off little social disaster with a big bank account and a crooked job. . ." Zacchaeus was a lonely, abused man. He may have been wealthy, but he wasn't happy. Even if he were honest, he was abused by his fellow citizens. They treated him as a social outcast simply because of his profession. The attitude of the people forced Zacchaeus up a tree for a variety of reasons. He climbed it for his own protection. The fact he was mingling in the crowd reveals either his courage or his desperation. For Zacchaeus to be in the crowd gave the people the opportunity to spit on him, kick him, push, shove, and bruise him. A crowd has no conscience and often will do things that individuals would never consider. People in a crowd will take advantage of the opportunity to do something for which no one will be held accountable. Were I Zacchaeus, knowing how people felt about me as he knew, I'd try to get out of people's reach. I'd climb a tree too. The fact Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus certainly identifies something of what Zacchaeus' emotional state was. He felt isolated and lonely and was saying with body language, "It's lonely here!" Haven't all of us said the same thing with body language? With empty eyes and drawn faces we have said, "It's lonely here." Many of us are saying it right now. Is there anybody who has not been lonely at some time in life? I read about a high school senior who was running for class president. It was a forgone conclusion that she would win although she was not the most attractive candidate nor the best speaker. After she won, someone ask her what the secret was to her popularity. It seemed everyone had great respect for her. She attributed her interest in people to some advice her grandmother gave her when she had said, "Ann, remember everybody is just a little bit lonely." Some time ago an ad ran in a Kansas paper: "I will listen to you talk for thirty minutes without comment for $5.00." Does that sound like a hoax? Would anybody call? You bet! It wasn't long before the individual who ran the ad was receiving between ten and twenty calls a day. The pain of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half-hour of companionship. Often emotional pain is much more agonizing and paralyzing than physical pain. Loneliness is one of the most agonizing emotional pains any of us experiences. Loneliness is being by yourself when you don't want to be. Zacchaeus climbed the tree to get a better view. Maybe he climbed it to hide, but to hide hoping to be found. He was willing to try anything for a half-hour of companionship. Jesus found him, saw him, looked him square in the eye and said, "Zacchaeus, come on down!" And the people snickered up their sleeves because Jesus didn't know any better than to invite himself to the house of a man that no one else would touch with a ten foot pole. Zacchaeus was hurting because he was isolated and insulated and so are we. He was short on hope, meaning, value, and purpose in life. He was seeking insight, understanding, healing. He sounds so much like us. We become isolated by going at life alone. On occasions we go it alone because that is what we choose. Other times we are forced to go at life alone because others do not and will not be associated with us. It may be because of a stand we have taken, a conviction we hold, a profession we practice, a disease we have, body odor, our sexual orientation, or the color of our skin. Whenever we are isolated, regardless of the cause of the isolation, there is a dimension of our survival instinct that takes over and insulates us. We put on a mask and pretend, pretend to be happy, pretend to be enjoying life. We say that sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can never hurt us. We lie! We claim we really enjoy spending time by ourselves. We may when we can make the choice of whether or not to be alone. But to be lonely, isolated is to be by yourself when you don't want to be. Jesus knew what Zacchaeus was saying and seeking by being up a tree, out on a limb and God knows what we are saying and seeking when we isolate ourselves. I'm so glad Jesus said, "Zacchaeus, come on down." If through Jesus God can say, "Zacchaeus, come on down," then God can say, "Howard, come on down," "Sarah, come on down," "Tom, come on down," and "Amy, come on down." Come on down from your perches of isolation, insulation, and loneliness. Come on down to relationship, to friendship, to forgiveness, to love, to grace, to acceptance. The story is told that Michelangelo was seen rolling a huge rock down the street. He was asked what he was doing and replied, "There is an angel in here just waiting to come out." Jesus saw in Zacchaeus a peculiar treasure. The treasure was not who the world had made him; rather, the treasure was what he had in him at his best to be because ultimately, of course, it was not the world that made him at all. Here is evidence that people behave differently when they are treated differently. All his professional life Zacchaeus had been treated like he had the plague or leprosy and so he was always seen on the fringes of life. People related to him only when they absolutely had to and what went on could not in the wildest imagination be called relating. Along came Jesus with his open invitation, "Come on down." Suddenly, the seeker was being sought. Rather than Zacchaeus seeking Jesus, Jesus was seeking Zacchaeus. This is the way God works. Long before we ever think of seeking God, God already is seeking us. In Zacchaeus' case, not only were words exchanged over lunch, but a life was changed. He said if he had cheated anyone, he would repay them four fold. Jesus summarized his relationship with Zacchaeus by saying, "Salvation has come to this house today . . ." Salvation means deliverance or having enough space to get away from doing evil. Zacchaeus was lost because he was in the wrong place. Up a tree, out on a limb, isolated, lonely, insulated, he was in the wrong place. The place he needed to be was in relationship, relationship with God and with fellow human beings. Zacchaeus was delivered from the control of things, delivered from isolation and insulation, delivered from the rejection of others, and delivered into the love and grace and forgiveness, and acceptance of God, delivered into relationship. Luke told this story as an illustration of what can happen to all of us sawed-off social disasters who walk around in any generation and in every generation. Our situation is different from that of Zacchaeus. We are the religious in-crowd, not the outcasts. Few, if any of us look at Zacchaeus and see ourselves. We don't collect taxes, we pay them. We aren't short people; we stand on our soap boxes to conceal our spiritual shortness. No crowd keeps us from seeing and hearing a celebrity. We just turn on the television. We have worked hard to be respectable and we've communicated to our children that they had better not disgrace the family because what other people think about us is just about, if not, the most important thing in the world. Our camouflage is more sophisticated than sycamore leaves. We hide ourselves so well behind the faces we wear that often we don't even know who we are. We have done so many wonderful things that if we could get Jesus to eat lunch with us we would talk his ear off for about thirty seconds repeating all our grand accomplishments. Then we would be out on a limb! But Jesus would look at us, eye to eye, and say, "Come on down! You are a treasure for what you are at your best because I know who made you who you are." "Come on down!" I'm so glad Jesus sought Zacchaeus. If God through Jesus could seek him, God could seek me. God is seeking me. God is seeking you. Are you looking and listening? Notes . Frederick Buechner, Peculiar Treasures, San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1979, p. 180. 2. Buechner, Peculiar Treasure, p. 181.
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