Sermon based on Luke 19:1-10, the story of Zacchaeus for Kerr Presbyterian Church.
Return to At Home Worship for June 21, 2020.
Let us Pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
For what would you climb out on a limb?
Climbing out on a limb is hard work. Anyone like to climb trees? My nanny baby has recently discovered a love of tree climbing. It takes a certain amount of skill. A certain amount of courage. And certain amount of motivation.
For what would you climb out on a limb?
Although some of us just love the thrill of climbing, the thrill of risk-taking, most of us need something to motive us to climb up and out. Something to encourage us to leave the relative safety of the ground and seek a new perspective.
For what would you climb out on a limb?
When you climb out limb you take a chance physically, emotionally, and socially.
–Physically because you put yourself into a new place. If we think of a literal tree branch, you could put yourself at risk of bodily harm climbing a tree. But thinking metaphorically, going out on a limb physically could also mean taking a new job or moving to a new city. We change physically when we go out on a limb.
–You take a chance emotionally because when you climb out on a limb metaphorically you experience all the things that you would experience if you were climbing out literally. Your heart races when you try something new for the first time. You feel adrenaline—fear mixed with excitement. And gaining new perspective brings joy but also sorrow, too, as your realize mistakes of the past.
–And when you climb out on a limb you take a chance socially. There is no place to hid when you are out on a limb. Whether the chance you take produces a great harvest of mulberries or whether it leads to you falling out of the tree with a broken arm, everyone will know. Our lives are changed when we climb out on a limb.
So, today I’m asking: For what would you climb out on a limb?
Our story today is one of the beloved through the ages. The story of a man who climbs out on a limb to get a glimpse of Jesus.
As the story is set, Luke tells his readers all they need to know about this tree-climber: he beings, “A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich” (Luke 19:2, NRSV).
Now when you and I hear these words, we may not think much of them. They simply give a guy’s name and occupation and wealth status, but in Luke’s day hearing this information would have produced a visceral reaction from the hearers. I can imagine this being told in a house like most of the stories of Jesus were and those who were gathered around to listen would react immediately when the story began.
When the storyteller told those gathered he was a tax collector they probably booed. And when the storyteller said Zacchaeus was rich they probably shook their heads.
Actually, let’s do that this morning, whether you are at home or in the sanctuary, let’s put ourselves in the first hearer’s shoes for a minute. I’ll read it again and when I say he’s a tax collector, let’s boo and when I tell you he’s rich, let’s shake our heads in disgust: “A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich.” (Everybody feeling it?)
Halley’s Bible Handbook explains that the tax collectors “had to prepay each year’s taxes and then were allowed to recover the amount, with interest, from the people. Although the interest charges were in theory limited to a fair amount, the reality was that often the tax collectors charged more than they should…[and] the Law of Moses strictly prohibited charging any interest at all. Thus the tax collectors ordinarily were viewed as people who did not care about the Law of Moses and were generally despised” (see Introduction to Matthew). In other words, the tax collectors themselves decided how much interest to collect from the people. So the ones who were rich had gotten rich by demanding that people pay more taxes than they actually needed to pay and then kept it for themselves.
And Zacchaeus, he wasn’t just a tax collector. He was a chief tax collector. BOO. And he wasn’t just a chief tax collector, he was a rich chief tax collector (shake head). He was a person well know in the community for harming others by making himself wealthy. He has prioritized his own financial status over all else. Zacchaeus has gone out on a limb to become very rich. And he has risked his relationships to do so.
For what would you go out on a limb?
One day Zacchaeus gets word that Jesus is coming into town.
And the other members of his community have heard that Jesus is coming, too, of course. We can imagine the celebrations they are having. They are lining the streets for a great parade. They are barbequing on their porches and sharing candy. They are decorating the outside of their houses and putting flags on the light poles. This is a day of celebration! A day of sharing with one another! A day to lift high freedom and rejoice.
But Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, he cannot be a part of any of that. Zacchaeus cannot join the parade with the others. He’s not invited to join in the celebration. Zacchaeus is already out on a limb because of the many bad choices he’s made throughout his life. He is no longer welcome at the barbeque.
So, he decided to make a change. And Luke doesn’t give us any insight into why Zacchaeus decides to climb the sycamore tree. We don’t know if he had a dream or a vision. We don’t know if Zacchaeus had gotten word that Jesus had another tax collector who was a disciple—Matthew–and thought that maybe there would be a chance for a new community. We don’t know if maybe he was just curious.
Maybe he Zacchaeus looked at his own life & realized he was already out on a limb—far from everyone else—completely separated so climbing a tree wasn’t a big deal, he couldn’t possibly embarrass himself more.
Would you have climbed out on a limb to get a glimpse of Jesus?
What would have made you climb?
We don’t know what made Zacchaeus climb. Luke simply tells us what happens. “Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed” (v 4).
The fact that he ran makes me think that this was not a well-thought out plan. I don’t think that Zacchaeus had been plotting this for weeks. Something in his spirit that moment just would not let him stay the same. And he ran out and climbed up.
The funny thing is, though, that’s not the biggest climb he made that day.
The biggest risk was yet to come.
Zacchaeus sits with Jesus and eats with him and in meeting Jesus he steps out on to a far greater limb—one that is much more dangerous, much more risky, much more precarious. The kind that isn’t just for a fleeting moment but the kind that changes a life forever.
“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” (v 8).
Out on a limb.
Jesus says it this way in other places, “For whomever wants to save his life will loose it for my sake” (Matthew 16:25). Going out on a limb. Giving up all else. Taking what once seemed most important to us—what once consumed us—what once made us who we are for the sake of something far greater.
For what would you go out on a limb?
I’m not sure where you find yourself in this story today.
Perhaps you see yourself as Zacchaeus in the beginning. You look around at your life and you realize you are out on a limb and you have no idea how you got there. The choices in your life—little choices, choices that seemed so small and inconsequential at the time have now lead you to be somewhere you don’t want to be. To be someone you don’t want to be.
Maybe you hardly recognize the things you say anymore. Maybe you are looking for a way out. A way home. Maybe you are ready to climb because you know life needs to change because you are on a limb that’s about to break. You are somewhere you never meant to be and you need to cry out to Jesus to get you down from that tree.
Or maybe it’s a different part of the story you are relating to today. The question “For what would you climb out on a limb?” keeps bumping around in your mind.
Perhaps you have been feeling like you spend too much time with your feet on the ground, unwilling to take a risk, to climb up to gain a new perspective, to see a new way, to try something new.
Perhaps today you can’t quite explain it but you feel like Zacchaeus may have felt, an unexpected movement in his spirit to get up and run. To run straight to Jesus and seek out what God might have for you. What more can you give? What more can you become?
Either way, whether we are led to climb because we know we need to change or because we long for a change, know that Jesus’ words to Zacchaeus are for us today, too. “Salvation has come to this house,” Jesus says.
Salvation—total healing. Not just for our souls, but in every way we see healing come into Zacchaeus’ life as his relationships are restored, his priorities are restored, his life is transformed. One who would have been “boo”ed by everyone he met was loved by God. His name was known by God. He was chosen by God.
And the same is true for us. No matter how big the mistakes of the past or present. No matter how far you feel you are out on that limb or how far you feel you have to go to be the person you are called to be, know that you are loved. Know that you are forgiven. Know that you are known by the God of the universe.
A new life is waiting. For what will you go out on a limb?