October 31, 2010, Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost, All Souls' Episcopal Church

Reaching Out to the Outcasts
 Luke 19: 1 – 10

 There is an old Chinese proverb that says:

“Who knows this morning what will happen tonight?”

Our gospel story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, is so illustrative of the proverb. A man climbs up a tree. A man climbs down a tree. But in between and afterwards is the encounter of a lifetime. This short little man’s whole day was a life changing revelation.

 The town of Jericho, the home of Zacchaeus and our Gospel story was a very important and prosperous place. Situated in the Jordan Valley, it dominated the approach to Jerusalem. It was the site of a great palm forest and was famous for its balsam tree groves. The historian, Josephus, called it “a divine region”, and Rome exported its dates and balsam all over the world. All of this made Jericho a very prosperous and lucrative setting for a tax collector. But our little tax collector had earned him the contempt of virtually everyone in the region.

 A couple of things conspired to render a tax collector an object of scorn. He was, for one thing, a traitor. He had forsaken his own people and had become an agent of a despised occupying foreign power. He was a “quisling”. The Jews hated Roman domination, and their hatred was most intense toward one of their own who had betrayed them by joining with the Romans. He was barred from the synagogue. In their day, it is hardly surprising that robbers, harlots, murderers and tax collectors were lumped together…… Today tax collectors seem to come mainly from Washington, DC!

 Not only did Zacchaeus generate the hatred of people by turning to Rome, but the system under which he operated was one that was  easily abused. It had long been a rotten system. Rome farmed out the actual collecting of taxes to the highest bidders. Rome wanted a certain amount. The agent then added whatever he wanted. Those who objected were in defiance to Roman Law. And one does not defy Roman Law. The system had been altered some by New Testament times, but corruption was not overcome. The passage in our Gospel hints at the corruption that had been practiced by Zacchaeus. He had said to Jesus that he would give “half of my goods” to the poor, and even more revealing is his comment that “if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it four-fold”. That “four-fold”.

 might be an indication of the extent of his corruption. He was a little man in stature, and even though “rich” materially, He was “lost” as a spiritual human being!

 But along comes Jesus.

Emerson once wrote:

“Souls are not saved in bundles”

 Here in our story, we find Jesus calling someone to Him as He did so many times before one on one. Zacchaeus, the tax collector, was a natural outcast. Zacchaeus was rich, but like anyone of us, could not buy back his past. In actuality He was just waiting to be called back in the fold.  Receiving the Call from Jesus, justified it fully by making “good” immediately on all of the things that he had done wrong                               ‘

Jesus’ willingness to reach out to the disenfranchised set Him apart from many religious leaders of his day. Jesus was constantly accused by the upper establishment of fraternizing with the low life’s and the untouchables of his era as if He was doing something unethical. “Guilt by association” was a big deal in those days. In fact, for the Jew, one could become ceremonially unclean by simply associating with the rift-raft of first-century Jerusalem.

 But Jesus made it clear by His words and His example that He wants His followers to reach out to those rejected by the mainstream. Why did Jesus then want them and us today to focus our outreach “on the least of these my brethren”?  Here are two reasons:

 First, many outsiders know already that they are lost and need God. In contrast, sometimes, those that are popular and easily accepted don’t sense the need to be reconciled with God. They have lost spiritual focus.

 Second, people who have been rejected by society often have a strong emotional need and desire to “belong”  , and unfortunately don’t always find this need met by looking in the places where the mainstream population finds it. Some are even rejected by the institutional church, if not officially, then by simply being ignored.

Some outcasts find what fellowship they can with bad associates and abusive relationships oftimes numbing their need through substance abuse.

 Yet the Gospel is for the in-crowd and the out-crowd. When mentored by Christians who are living out the unconditional love of Christ, some marginalized rejected people become utterly unstoppable working for the Kingdom of God. They represent those Jesus described as “those who have been forgiven much” who in turn “love much.”

 Please remember, as our Gospel pictured, God comes to us. God doesn’t wait for us; He reaches out for Zacchaeus……He reaches out for you and for me. As I said the last time I was in this pulpit, he searches for the one lost sheep and the one lost coin in us. We are His agents. Francis Thompson’s well known poem “The Hound of Heaven” tells in dramatic fashion how God relentlessly pursues even those who are not just lost but who are running full tilt away from God.

 Many in the world today who are running away are living wasted lives watching the days and years slip by wondering why life seems so flat, so meaningless, so lacking of joy and hope. Something is blocking the way.

 There is the true story of a middle aged woman who had a doctorate in Science from Harvard. She had gone to church in the days of her youth, but as a scientist, she had come to discount anything one could not see. She said, (quote) “Scientists go through an anti-religious, anti-spiritual brainwashing. If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist. But” she confessed,” I was trying to deal with the terrifying future I saw , and I wanted to steer humanity toward a more positive future. But I began to feel like a pretty frail instrument. I realized that I needed to feel a Power greater than myself. Otherwise, I would have given up. I needed help.” (end of quote)

 Finally, she allowed God into her life, and at last her life began to be meaningful and hopeful. Yes, God still talks to those who take time to listen. Such a change is what every person needs who is wandering, laboring through the days and years, without the presence and Power of God by their side.

 That is what Zacchaeus came to understand in the presence of Christ. Zacchaeus began to feel so fulfilled, so whole, so purposeful and his smallness disappeared and a very large man, spiritually speaking, appeared instead.

 Reminds me of a story:

A young boy named Tommy was taken to the ballet by his grandmother. He had never been to the ballet before and he was interested in the way the girls twirled on their toes. Tommy wondered why they did that. Finally, he leaned over to his Grandmother and said, “Gran, why don’t they get taller people?”

 Christ is one who can take any person with the smallest of spirits and make that person spiritually tall. You see, the gaze of Christ offers transformation  Zacchaeus received this Gaze of Christ. He received this transformation.

  In the total context of things, Zacchaeus had qualities of love, compassion and caring inside himself that he probably did not realize were there. Jesus brought them out by reaching out and persisting and by affirming Zacchaeus worth.

 There is a story told of a mother was putting her daughter to bed. The daughter expressed her fear of the dark.

“But, honey”, said the mother, “you know that even when it is dark, God is watching over you even though He is invisible.”

“I know that Mommy, but I want God to have a face.”

 God does have a face in Jesus Christ, and many saw that face years ago ……..Today, when we reach out to the outcasts to the “loners” in our society today,  we become the Face of Christ!

 We find that outcasts are all around us. They may not appear to be outcasts. They may not be tax collectors, but they could be a neighbor across the street or a business associate or a golfing buddy or a “whiz kid” that you are mentoring. We are like a spark that can become a flame, and we really are doing no more than what God has already done for us. We are all outcasts of sorts.  Regardless of how we appear on the outside, the mechanisms of the human condition are all the same, and apart from the intervention of the Spirit of God, we would all be utterly lost.

 The whole unpredictable story of the tax collector ends in joy. The Chinese proverb is so appropriate. Who knows this morning what will happen tonight? Zacchaeus unlikely drama that day now shines brilliantly with redemption. Human nature is now confronted by God’s unflagging Divine affection for sinners. Only God could bring this about. It is an Amazing Grace in all its splendor!

 As we walk out of these doors today, may we all be filled with His Grace and as Christ met Zacchaeus, may you and I  remember that souls are not saved in bundles and that we must reach out to the “least of these” in our world one on one as we attempt to touch lives in His Name. The distance of our reach doesn’t matter; it’s only the first step that counts!

“In the Name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost”