“A TALE OF SYCAMORES, SYMPATHY AND SALVATION”

LUKE 19:1-10

19:1 He entered Jericho and was passing through.

2 And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.

3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature.

4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.

5 And 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 and came down and received him joyfully.

7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Everyone needs a little sympathy from time to time; especially when life gets to be a little difficult. For example, a little sympathy can help when someone you love passes away.  A little sympathy can help when you get sick and have to go to the hospital.  It can help when your company downsizes and you loose your job.  Yes, a little sympathy can go a long way.  On the other sometimes sympathy can be a little tricky.  That was certainly true for a husband and wife when they went to the husband’s high school reunion. While they were sitting there the wife noticed that another woman was staring at her husband.  It was also obvious that the woman had had to much to drink.  So, the wife turned to her husband and asked, “Do you know her?” “Yes,” the husband sighed.  “She’s my old girlfriend.  After we split up she started drinking and she hasn’t been sober since.”  The wife shook her head. “Oh my,” she said. “Who would think that a person could go on celebrating that long?”

Everyone needs a little sympathy from time to time. Of course, sometimes the worst thing you can do is give a person a little sympathy.  For example, if your daughter goes bankrupt because she ran up her credit cards the last thing she needs is a little sympathy.  If a friend gets sick because he didn’t follow his doctor’s advice the last thing he needs is a little sympathy.  If your son flunks out of college because he partied too much the last thing he needs is a little sympathy. The last thing Paris Hilton needs is sympathy.  The last thing Lindsey Lohan needs is sympathy.  The same thing was true for Zacchaeus although I will admit that it is easy to feel a little sympathy for him.

Poor Zacchaeus.  All he wanted to do was see Jesus.  Zacchaeus had a problem though.  He was vertically challenged. Do you remember the song they taught us in Sunday School?

Zacchaeus had to climb that sycamore tree because the people in the crowd wouldn’t let him through to see Jesus.  They were very sympathetic when it came to his predicament.  That shouldn’t come as a big surprise.  After all Zacchaeus was a scoundrel and a stinker.  Zacchaeus was a very wealthy tax collector because he knew how to cheat and lie and take advantage of people.

As far as the people in the crowd were concerned Zacchaeus was like the wealthy man who received a visit one day from his minister.  The minister explained that the church desperately needed fifty thousand dollars to repair a leaky roof.  The wealthy man listened to the minister’s sales pitch.  “Reverend,” he said somewhat indignantly.  “I may have a lot of money but I bet you didn’t know that my mother is in a private nursing home that is very expensive.  Not only that but my brother died last year and left a wife and three little children who need all the help they can get.  Then there’s my who went bankrupt earlier this year.”   The minister apologized. “I’m sorry,” he said.  “I didn’t know that.”  “Well,” the wealthy man said.  “If I’m not going to give them any money what makes you think I’m going to give any to you?”

In a way Zacchaeus was like that man.  He had a reputation for being greedy and gluttonous, deceitful and dishonest,.  That’s why the people in the crowd didn’t let him through to see Jesus.  That’s why the people in the crowd didn’t show him any sympathy and I’m going to tell you right now that their lack of sympathy is what saved Zacchaeus.  Their lack of sympathy saved Zacchaeus because it meant that the only way he was going to see Jesus was by climbing up that sycamore tree. 

So, that’s what Zacchaeus did.  He climbed up into that sycamore tree and when Jesus saw him up there he realized that this was a man who desperately needed to see him.   So, Jesus shocked the people in the crowd and Zacchaeus by announcing that he was going to spend the afternoon with him.  “Zacchaeus,” Jesus said, “hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

At that point Zacchaeus must have thought he had it made.  Jesus was going to stay at his house.  That would show the people in the crowd that he really wasn’t a total stinker.  Jesus was going to give him a get out of jail card and all it was going to cost him was a free dinner.  The people in the crowd though weren’t about to let him off the hook that easily.  If you go back and take another look at the story you’ll see that once again they again didn’t show Zacchaeus any sympathy at all.  Instead of letting him go off to break bread with Jesus they ratted him out.  They called him a sinner and told Jesus about all the dubious past!

Their lack of sympathy put Zacchaeus in a difficult spot. Zacchaeus didn’t want to loose his chance to spend the day with Jesus.  Zacchaeus didn’t want to loose his chance at redemption. So, what did he do?  He stood there in the middle of the crowd and bared his soul.  “Lord,” he said, “half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”  So, what do you think?  Did Zacchaeus really mean it?  The answer to that question is a definite yes. We know that he meant it because the Jesus who can see into our hearts knew that Zacchaeus meant it when he said it.  That’s why Jesus announced to the crowd, “Today salvation has come to this house...”

Zacchaeus was saved that day and it happened because the people in the crowd didn’t show him any sympathy.  Their lack of sympathy forced him to take responsibility for his sinful past.  Sometimes that’s what you need.  Instead of sympathy what you really need to hear are a few challenging words.  You need someone to say, “That’s not right.”  Or, “I don’t approve of what you did.” “Or I’m not going to help you until you decide to help yourself.”

The story of Zacchaeus makes it clear.  Less sympathy means you have to take more responsibility for the decisions that you make and the deeds that you do and that in turn brings salvation to your house.   Unfortunately, we live in a society that is more interested in sympathy than it is in salvation. So, we live in a society where you don’t have to take responsibility for your decisions and your deeds.  Just look at the Great Recession that’s been haunting us the last few years.  A lot of incumbents are going to loose their jobs Tuesday because…it’s the politicians’ fault.  Others will tell you that it’s Wall Street’s fault.  There’s a poem that I’d like to share with you though.  It suggests that there are others who need to take some responsibility for this mess that we’re in. The poem goes like this:

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray my Cuisinart to keep,

I pray my stocks are one the rise, and that my analyst is wise,

That all the wine I sip is white, and that my hot tub’s watertight.

That raquetball won’t get too tough, and all my sushi’s fresh enough.

I pray my cellphone always works, and my job won’t loose it’s perks.

My microwave won’t radiate.  My condo won’t depreciate.

I pray my health club doesn’t close, and that my money market grows.

If I should die before I wake, I pray my Volvo they won’t take.

Now there’s nothing wrong with having nice things but nice things lead to more bills that have to be paid.  More bills that have to be paid lead to more work.  More work can lead to less time with your family and more family problems.  So nice things can lead to homes, bounced checks, bankruptcy and broken homes.   So, when you look at this Great Recession, whose fault is it?

When life starts to get the best of you have to decide which is more important to you?  Do you want a little more sympathy or a little more responsibility and a

Jesus who says, “Today salvation has come to this house?”  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

October 31, 2010