The Wrong Kind of Guy
Sometimes it feels like Jesus’ parables were in an accidental order a hodgepodge – but then take a step back and look at the order and content. The grouping in chapter 18 before these verses deals with:
Luke 19:1-10 (NRSVue)
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 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.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”8 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.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
How do you see the people of the world, of the community, the bible, the church? When we read news from the paper we subscribe to daily or watch an update online, we see what we want – it is often called the ‘echo chambers’ of media where the Zuckerburgs, Bezoses, and Musks of the world have captured our biases and prejudices and fed them back to us for capital gain. Those ‘evil’ rich guys – and yet, they are only capturing something that was already there – yes magnifying it with the tools of our day. The polarities and biases we all carry were all too easy to magnify. They have been around for ages – how do we see others? Think of the witches of the world. What comes to mind when you think of a witch?[1]
Do you imagine the witch of Endor from the bible who had the power to talk to the dead – do you lean to Shakespeare and remember hags around a cauldron stirring and chanting double, double toil and trouble. Do you shift to fairy tales and Disney? Not surprisingly as the feminism movement grew, witches morphed along with society’s image. We get Bewitched – the not-so-common housewife with the twitchy nose. Harry Potter with a young Hermione who has a penchant for learning and knowledge - anyone? Then as if to take on our biases – popular play and movie Wicked comes along and poses two witches – which is it, the good or the bad, the beautiful or the green?
How do we see each other? Witches are a hint, but it carries over into the characters of the Bible and our faith leaders as well even our saints. Nancy Rockwell in her article about Zacchaeus A Short Story About Saints and Bullies[i] writes, “Saints are people who are windows in this world. The light of God shines through them so brightly that people say they have seen salvation in them, and in the household of their lives. A remarkable thing about them is that many were scapegoats early in their lives, bullied and called contemptible by folks around them.”
She puts forth St. Francis who dared include animals, Teresa of Avila who was way too outspoken for a woman, Mother Theresa who expressed doubts, Oscar Schindler who used his bad boy cover to save Jews in World War II and Nelson Mandela who was a public enemy in South Africa. What do we envision when we think of these saints – have we forgotten their outcast status, their unaccepted natures and remembered the memes and famous quotes setting aside the gritty people. Closer to home – which of Martin Luther King Jr.’s sermons would we quietly sit through?
How do you see Zacchaeus? Is Zacchaeus the rich sinner the right kind of guy for Jesus? Luke depicts him as short, rich, and a tax collector - a role that is stereotyped as having to be corrupt to gain wealth and power - yet rushing to climb a tree to see Jesus. The disciples along the road to Jerusalem have been asking who will get into the Kingdom – many of the parables present puzzles for us to work through to discover this answer. This guy?
The Greek name ‘Zacchaeus’ actually means righteousness or faithful. I’m confused – he is the wealthy chief tax collector. He is the guy who has been taking advantage of his neighbors defrauding them, right? Which is it of the parables we have just heard that gives us a clue? The one of the other tax collector who was more justified than the Pharisee or the one about the sad, rich man who brings to mind a camel trying to squirm through the eye of the needle?
Have we done Zacchaeus wrong? Two things deserve attention – for some reason, across time, the translators have change Zacchaeus’ response to Jesus from present tense to future tense – instead of him saying “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.” He actually says, “Look I give half of my possessions to the poor and if I defraud anyone I pay back four times as much.” And, Jesus believes him - ends this encounter telling us salvation has come to Zacchaeus’ house. Is this the answer to who will gain the Kingdom?
Why have we refused to see the Zacchaeus Jesus shows us? Are we like the crowd grumbling because of who we have stereotyped this guy to be? Maybe this story is exactly about this guy and how we see him and each other! This story is begging us to see differently – verbs of seeing appear four times. In verse two – Luke says behold/see a short, rich, tax collector named righteous. Verses three and four also have verbs about seeing – they are all about this short, righteous guy wanting to see Jesus and setting aside dignity to scramble up a tree to see. In verse five Jesus looks up and sees Zacchaeus.
Bear with me for a little more Greek – Jesus uses a different form of Zaccheaus’ name here – one that would have been a calling. Jesus looks up and sees the real Zaccheaus and calls him to a service like that of Martha to host. This tax collector has been ostracized, maybe bullied even, across the ages as we only remember his stature. Jesus is calling us to see past those labels, past our definitions of who is righteous, to accept the mercy of reconciliation. Rather than allowing this man to remain separated, Jesus calls him back to community, points to him as an example for us to follow. With the Jewish concept of salvation being for the whole community not us one at a time, this is Jesus holding out mercy for the entire community – this house has been visited by salvation.
Who do we think of as righteous – is the definition fluid like with witches and saints? Or do we reinforce our biases and live in our echo chambers refusing to look, to really see the God in each other? Have we done to one another stranger and friend, neighbor and enemy what has been done to Zacchaeus across the ages? Rockwell talks about seeing God shining out through the eyes of the saints. I believe in us seeing the God in each other – the Hindu concept of Namaste – the God in me sees the God in you. Named by another belief system and used by Buddhists, Jains and yogi practitioners the world round - yet feels so Christian.
Jesus along the journey calls us to see each other. He calls the least expected and continues to set our stereotypes and biases of how we define each other upside down. Who do we need to see differently? Who do you refuse to see even an inkling of God in? Rip the scales off of our eyes. As we walk toward Jerusalem with Jesus, the city of Jericho is like a toll plaza – it is the place of reckoning – have we listened to the lessons, are we seeing the outcasts, outsiders and outlaws differently? Do we remember the prostitute Rahab who helped the Israelite in this same city? Prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, the list goes on – Jesus points to all of them and us, pulling us back into relationship, intertwining us. Seeing a rich man receive salvation isn’t a call to prosperity gospel where I can keep my wealth because it is a reward from God – it is rather a call to follow Zacchaeus’s example returning four-fold – using all we have and all we are in the compassion and love of Jesus - to ensure every precious child of God is seen.
Who is righteous, who needs mercy – all of us. It is one of the greatest both-and stories. Jesus comes after every last one of us until all are united in love – until we all see each other this way. As you leave this place, see the God shining out not just in the eyes of the supposed saints of the world, but in the one who challenges you the most. In each and every beloved child of God. Welcome back to community those we have set aside, see them[ii]. Even the wrong kind of guy is welcome here – even us. Amen.
[i] https://www.patheos.com/blogs/biteintheapple/a-short-story-about-saints-and-bullies/
[ii] https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/3637-20131028JJ and https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/excerpts/view/14113
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