Meditation for November 28

From Peter Munson

Luke 19:1-10

 

Do We Begrudge God's Graciousness to Others?

 

"He entered Jericho and was passing through it.  A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich.  He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.  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.' So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him.  All who saw it began to grumble and said, 'He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.'  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 it back four times as much.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.'"

 

Zacchaeus was a tax collector, and the tax collectors of Jesus' day were known for illegally skimming an extra amount "off the top" for themselves.  When you add in the fact that they were collecting taxes for a foreign government - an oppressive Roman occupying force - is it any wonder that these tax collectors were viewed with contempt?  Maybe, then, we have some sympathy for the way the people began to grumble when Jesus invited himself over to Zacchaeus' house for some food and hospitality.  "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner!"

 

Of course, the people who followed Jesus around for any length of time soon discovered that this was a funny habit that Jesus had.  He seemed to seek out the people whom everyone else had written off, and purposefully hang out with them!  In fact, there are more stories of him doing this than of him hanging out with the religious or political leaders - what we might call "the right people" - of his day.  Jesus, whenever he was challenged about who he spent his time with, made no bones about the fact that he was sent to be with and save "the lost".

 

This story makes me reflect on a number of things.

 

Do I act like those who are grumbling in this story?  Do I begrudge God's graciousness to others, especially God's graciousness to those who I don't think are worthy of God's blessing?

 

Who I am to decide who is "worthy" of God's blessing?

 

With whom do I most often hang out?  With the "right" people, or with the kinds of folks that Jesus most often hung out with?  What are the things that I do to distance myself from others, rather than forging connection with them, rather than "seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving my neighbor as myself"? (The Baptismal Covenant, The Book of Common Prayer, p. 305)

 

To the extent that I consider myself "good" or "righteous", what does that suggest, if Jesus said he came to "seek out and save the lost"?  Am I sometimes blind to my own "lostness", my own sinfulness, my own self-centeredness, my own desperate need for God's grace, forgiveness, healing, and salvation?

 

Am I able to truly celebrate when another human being is blessed by God, and he or she shares how they have experienced God's grace and how their life has been dramatically changed as a result of an encounter with Christ (as Zacchaeus' was in this story)?  Am I able to truly celebrate and be grateful for those times when I am given more than I deserve by God - when I am found or healed or "saved" by God, for no apparent reason, other than the fact that God is gracious, and God loves all His creatures, including me?

 

Am I as eager as Zacchaeus was to see Jesus, as eager to spend time with him?

 

Yes, this little story gives me a lot to think about.