GETTING OURSELVES OUT OF THE TREE
With Jesus Christ and the
power of the Kingdom of God in his heart, the little man has become quite big!
Today's Gospel is about a
little man who is a big man. No, it's not an old Bruce Willis movie! Luke's
Gospel tells us about a short man named Zacchaeus who's a tax collector. Like
all people short in stature, he has to put up with people treating him as though
he were a child. He has to deal with people who see power in relationship to
size. However, he finds a way to have power over those who are much taller and
stronger.
Zacchaeus learned accounting
and has a job working for the Romans. He is a tax collector sitting at a desk
with Roman guards standing behind him. Strong people, tall people, come to him
with hat in hand pleading with him to have mercy on them and not demand the
little they had to live on. It is up to Zacchaeus to determine how much they
have to pay and how much of their money he will keep. He's rich and they are
poor. He find humor in the fact that the same people who poke fun at him,
treating him like a child, are the same people who are now groveling before
him. They are tall but weak. He is short, but one of the most powerful men in
Jericho. He has the power of Rome behind him and he has the last laugh, or so
he thinks!
Then he hears the disturbance
- Jesus of Nazareth is entering Jericho. A huge crowd has formed to hear what
He has to say and to beg for healing. Zacchaeus is just as curious as everyone
else and wants to know who this man named Jesus is. But, the crowd is so thick,
and he is so short, that he can't even see Jesus. However, he doesn't allow
that to be an obstacle. He climbs a tree and sees Jesus. He watches Him,
listens to His words, and realizes that his life has to be changed and
transformed.
Jesus looks up, sees him and
says, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your
house" (Lk 19:5). Zacchaeus comes down quickly and leaves his position of
power. He trades in the power of the world for the power of the Lord. He knows
that his riches were achieved dishonestly, so he gives half of what he owns to
the poor and declares that he will repay in fourfold anyone whom he has
cheated. With Jesus Christ and the power of the Kingdom of God in his heart,
the little man has become quite big!
Sometimes we put ourselves in
positions where we think we are above others. We make rules for our families,
or for our work, or here in the retreat center, and we are amazed by our own
power. In our minds we think: "I am the father/mother and this is the way
it is" or "I am the director here, and I enjoy the power I have to
direct this retreat center." And we take joy in our power because we think
it really makes us, short as we are, tall.
Then Jesus walks into town
and calls us out of our trees. He reminds us that our contrived positions of
power are rather superficial. A sudden sickness, a change in careers or assignments,
a flood or natural disaster, can all be a cause for our power to be gone. He
tells us that the only power that lasts is His power, for He sacrifices and
gives Himself to others. The more He gives the more powerful He becomes. His
power is the power of sacrificial love.
Jesus, Himself, climbs a tree
- the tree of the Cross. And from that tree, we come to the realization that
His power is infinite. We come down from our trees - our positions of contrived
power - and ask to share in His power; the power of the Cross. We recognize our
arrogance, our self content and our sins. Emptying ourselves of all we have
before the Lord. We seek forgiveness. We give to the poor. We repay those whom
we have injured and we say, "I am sorry."
Jesus comes to dine in our
houses tonight! The story of Zacchaeus is your story and mine. It is the story
of the little person who becomes big when he seeks the power of the Lord, the
power of Sacrificial Love!