Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)
Place Your Life Before God
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
Instead, fix your attention on God.
You’ll be changed from the inside out.
Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.
Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Luke 19:1-6 (Good News Translation)
Jesus and Zacchaeus
Jesus went on into Jericho and was passing through.
2 There was a chief tax collector there named Zacchaeus, who was rich.
3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was a little man and could not see Jesus because of the crowd.
4 So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, who was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to Zacchaeus, “Hurry down, Zacchaeus, because I must stay in your house today.”
6 Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed him with great joy.
Place Your Life Before God
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
Instead, fix your attention on God.
You’ll be changed from the inside out.
Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.
Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Luke 19:1-6 (Good News Translation)
Jesus and Zacchaeus
Jesus went on into Jericho and was passing through.
2 There was a chief tax collector there named Zacchaeus, who was rich.
3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was a little man and could not see Jesus because of the crowd.
4 So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, who was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to Zacchaeus, “Hurry down, Zacchaeus, because I must stay in your house today.”
6 Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed him with great joy.
Reflection
You know why I like the stories about Jesus – it’s because it is so easy to imagine yourself in them.
So here Jesus is passing through town, just on his way through but there’s kind of an excitement about it; this is quite a bit into the ministry of Jesus. He’s healed and preached and has a whole bunch of people who follow him singing his praises. So when Jesus comes to town you know about it. It’s exciting, there’s a buzz, it’s Sandcastle weekend and Roots and Blues and Farmers Market all rolled into one.
And you think, well I just might go and walk around and see what all this is about? Just to see!
That’s Zacchaeus, just wanting to see what all this excitement is about. But the crowd is bigger than he expects and no one is about to let him through and he’s kind of short so he climbs up in the branches of a tree- I mean he’s already here, he might as well see what he came to see. Who is this man, Jesus everyone is talking about?
Well, Zacchaeus sees Jesus, no surprise! but what is surprising is that Jesus sees Zacchaeus.
Jesus calls to Zacchaeus and invites himself to the man’s house.
So what would you do? " Hey, Zacchaeus! We’re coming over to your place tonight; get ready!"
The crowd’s response is to turn on Jesus – why does Jesus want to have anything at all to do with Zacchaeus?
Oh yeah, turns out Zacchaeus is well known, the chief tax collector of the area; rich, having gotten rich collecting taxes. And I’m guessing as chief tax collectors had a whole bunch of other tax collectors go out and collect the taxes (taking their cut along the way) and in his accounting taking a fairly good slice before passing the final sum on to the Romans.
Of all the people Jesus could pass the time with, he picks one of the most vilified families in the city! you’ve got to be kidding, right?
But when you think about it, why not Zacchaeus? After all this is Jesus. He doesn’t spend his time teaching in the temple in Jerusalem like other rabbis, choosing students who meet his rigorous standards.
No, Jesus is the one who wanders around the whole countryside, Jesus is the one who calls fishermen to be his disciples, and Zealots, people who are committed to the overthrow of the Romans and the return of Israel for Israelites, and Pharisees, those godly people trying to be righteous in an unrighteous world.
Jesus, who not only teaches and preaches but heals in the name of Yahweh; cleanses, tosses out demons, raises the dead, befriends women and has a rag tag following who herald in the coming of the Kingdom of God.
So, why not call out to Zacchaeus that you are visiting his household that very day! Are we surprised?
Would we be surprised if Jesus (or somesuch figure) announced they were coming to visit us, yes this very day, no time to clean up, no time to go over to Powell River, no time to even think about it (do you even want visitors?). Just put the coffee on, I’m on my way over!
But Zacchaeus doesn’t miss a beat. In fact, Jesus’ recognition of Zacchaeus in the tree acts as a catalyst to Zacchaeus reorienting his life to Yahweh, to neighbour, to care and compassion and love. Jesus is the Good news for Zacchaeus. In that one act- before Zacchaeus has done anything Jesus is the Good News for Zacchaeus.
So you understand how this works; Jesus says: “I’m coming over; get ready!” and that’s it.
It is the same invitation Jesus gives the disciples: “Come, follow me.”
The same invitation God gives Abraham: ”I will be your God and you will be my people.”
Invitations- opportunities!
Abraham, Moses and Aaron, the prophets, Jesus, the disciples, Paul, on and on, invitations offering, opportunities given, lives changed – that is how God works in the world.
And all we have to do is respond. Oh yeah, we have to recognize the opportunity, we have to hear the invitation - over the noise of the crowd with their waving and shouting and cheering at the sight of Jesus on the road. We have to hear Jesus say: “Hey Cecilia, Donna, John, I’m coming over, get ready!”
And you might not be the only one surprised at the invite. The crowd that day was absolutely in shock at Jesus aligning himself with Zacchaeus- the tax collector! Jesus going to eat with Zacchaeus – the tax collector!
Luke 19:7-10 reads:
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone
to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord!
Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if
I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times
the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because
this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek
and to save the lost.”
Now Jesus hasn’t asked anything of Zacchaeus except to visit him at home. And yet, Zacchaeus’ whole life is changed. It is as if Jesus opens up the opportunity for Zacchaeus to see his life in a whole new way and he leaps into the opportunity with both feet.
So it makes me wonder: what is Jesus inviting us to? What is Jesus calling us to?
What does it mean for us to be followers of Jesus?
Paul, who never met Jesus when he was alive, who sought out and persecuted the followers of the Jesus Way was moved by a vision to being a faithful follower himself. And devoted his life to helping others to hear the Good News Jesus had for all our lives.
In the Romans’ passage we heard this morning Paul tells us what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We don’t have to be Jesus, we don’t have to be Zacchaeus, we don’t have to be Paul but we are called in our everyday ordinary lives to be faithful to God, we are called to be our most authentic selves in relation to Yahweh, to Abba, to the creator who made us for a purpose which gives meaning to our lives. As followers of Jesus we are called to be faithful in community with one another and with our neighbours.
Do you think you are old, do you think that all you had to do is in the past, Paul doesn’t think so. Our job, our most important job as Christians, is to be Christians. To be witnesses to the beauty of God’s creation, to give reverence to all of life, to listen and be aware that God’s goodness and love and grace cannot exist in the world without us to give it voices and hands.
And we can only do that when and if we align ourselves with God, listening for and to God in our most ordinary of lives. Paul says: “Fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.” That’s what happened to Zacchaeus, all it took was one invitation from Jesus and he was changed from the inside out.
May it be so with each one of us. Amen
You know why I like the stories about Jesus – it’s because it is so easy to imagine yourself in them.
So here Jesus is passing through town, just on his way through but there’s kind of an excitement about it; this is quite a bit into the ministry of Jesus. He’s healed and preached and has a whole bunch of people who follow him singing his praises. So when Jesus comes to town you know about it. It’s exciting, there’s a buzz, it’s Sandcastle weekend and Roots and Blues and Farmers Market all rolled into one.
And you think, well I just might go and walk around and see what all this is about? Just to see!
That’s Zacchaeus, just wanting to see what all this excitement is about. But the crowd is bigger than he expects and no one is about to let him through and he’s kind of short so he climbs up in the branches of a tree- I mean he’s already here, he might as well see what he came to see. Who is this man, Jesus everyone is talking about?
Well, Zacchaeus sees Jesus, no surprise! but what is surprising is that Jesus sees Zacchaeus.
Jesus calls to Zacchaeus and invites himself to the man’s house.
So what would you do? " Hey, Zacchaeus! We’re coming over to your place tonight; get ready!"
The crowd’s response is to turn on Jesus – why does Jesus want to have anything at all to do with Zacchaeus?
Oh yeah, turns out Zacchaeus is well known, the chief tax collector of the area; rich, having gotten rich collecting taxes. And I’m guessing as chief tax collectors had a whole bunch of other tax collectors go out and collect the taxes (taking their cut along the way) and in his accounting taking a fairly good slice before passing the final sum on to the Romans.
Of all the people Jesus could pass the time with, he picks one of the most vilified families in the city! you’ve got to be kidding, right?
But when you think about it, why not Zacchaeus? After all this is Jesus. He doesn’t spend his time teaching in the temple in Jerusalem like other rabbis, choosing students who meet his rigorous standards.
No, Jesus is the one who wanders around the whole countryside, Jesus is the one who calls fishermen to be his disciples, and Zealots, people who are committed to the overthrow of the Romans and the return of Israel for Israelites, and Pharisees, those godly people trying to be righteous in an unrighteous world.
Jesus, who not only teaches and preaches but heals in the name of Yahweh; cleanses, tosses out demons, raises the dead, befriends women and has a rag tag following who herald in the coming of the Kingdom of God.
So, why not call out to Zacchaeus that you are visiting his household that very day! Are we surprised?
Would we be surprised if Jesus (or somesuch figure) announced they were coming to visit us, yes this very day, no time to clean up, no time to go over to Powell River, no time to even think about it (do you even want visitors?). Just put the coffee on, I’m on my way over!
But Zacchaeus doesn’t miss a beat. In fact, Jesus’ recognition of Zacchaeus in the tree acts as a catalyst to Zacchaeus reorienting his life to Yahweh, to neighbour, to care and compassion and love. Jesus is the Good news for Zacchaeus. In that one act- before Zacchaeus has done anything Jesus is the Good News for Zacchaeus.
So you understand how this works; Jesus says: “I’m coming over; get ready!” and that’s it.
It is the same invitation Jesus gives the disciples: “Come, follow me.”
The same invitation God gives Abraham: ”I will be your God and you will be my people.”
Invitations- opportunities!
Abraham, Moses and Aaron, the prophets, Jesus, the disciples, Paul, on and on, invitations offering, opportunities given, lives changed – that is how God works in the world.
And all we have to do is respond. Oh yeah, we have to recognize the opportunity, we have to hear the invitation - over the noise of the crowd with their waving and shouting and cheering at the sight of Jesus on the road. We have to hear Jesus say: “Hey Cecilia, Donna, John, I’m coming over, get ready!”
And you might not be the only one surprised at the invite. The crowd that day was absolutely in shock at Jesus aligning himself with Zacchaeus- the tax collector! Jesus going to eat with Zacchaeus – the tax collector!
Luke 19:7-10 reads:
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone
to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord!
Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if
I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times
the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because
this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek
and to save the lost.”
Now Jesus hasn’t asked anything of Zacchaeus except to visit him at home. And yet, Zacchaeus’ whole life is changed. It is as if Jesus opens up the opportunity for Zacchaeus to see his life in a whole new way and he leaps into the opportunity with both feet.
So it makes me wonder: what is Jesus inviting us to? What is Jesus calling us to?
What does it mean for us to be followers of Jesus?
Paul, who never met Jesus when he was alive, who sought out and persecuted the followers of the Jesus Way was moved by a vision to being a faithful follower himself. And devoted his life to helping others to hear the Good News Jesus had for all our lives.
In the Romans’ passage we heard this morning Paul tells us what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We don’t have to be Jesus, we don’t have to be Zacchaeus, we don’t have to be Paul but we are called in our everyday ordinary lives to be faithful to God, we are called to be our most authentic selves in relation to Yahweh, to Abba, to the creator who made us for a purpose which gives meaning to our lives. As followers of Jesus we are called to be faithful in community with one another and with our neighbours.
Do you think you are old, do you think that all you had to do is in the past, Paul doesn’t think so. Our job, our most important job as Christians, is to be Christians. To be witnesses to the beauty of God’s creation, to give reverence to all of life, to listen and be aware that God’s goodness and love and grace cannot exist in the world without us to give it voices and hands.
And we can only do that when and if we align ourselves with God, listening for and to God in our most ordinary of lives. Paul says: “Fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.” That’s what happened to Zacchaeus, all it took was one invitation from Jesus and he was changed from the inside out.
May it be so with each one of us. Amen
