Reflections on "Generous Discipleship" Luke 19: 1-10

This week's sermon preparation reminded me of the fun and challenge of preaching in a new congregation.  when I looked at the lectionary text, I discovered that I had preached specifically on this text twice in the church I served in OH.  Two fairly different sermons had almost too much information for me to us, plus I had notes from when I heard this sermon preached at a presbytery meeting several years ago.  I also did some sermon prep work and discovered new information related to the literal translation of the Greek that suggested Zacchaeus was not talking about what he would do, but what he was already doing.  Suddenly, I had too much material and too many ideas racing through my sermon preparation.  But, I also loved getting to play with the text and prepare the sermon, which was fun.  

If I preached the sermon again, I would leave out some of the middle of the sermon and become a little more focused.  Returning back to the VBS song about Zacchaues for the conclusion worked well from my perspective, and it also connected back to the Time with young Disciples when we sang the song.

Luke 19: 1-10  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.”

“Generous Discipleship” SAPC; October 30, 2016; Luke 19: 1-10

As Luke tells his gospel stories about Jesus, Luke is generally very hard on rich persons.

Zacchaeus is a rich person.

We may sing about the wee little man at VBS, but listen to how Frederick Buechner describes him:

Zacchaeus stood barely five feet tall with his shoes off and was the least popular man in Jericho. He was head tax-collector for Rome in the district and had made such a killing out of it that he was the richest man in town as well as the shortest. (Here is Buechner’s description of Zacchaeus, originally published in Peculiar Treasures and again later in Beyond Words as found in Weekly Sermon Illustration: Zacchaeus; http://frederickbuechner.com/content/weekly-sermon-illustration-zaccheus).

The rich kind of guy Luke normally would take to task.

But, surprise, Zacchaeus comes off pretty well in this story from Luke.

Move 1: In fact, the story is full of surprises.

a.    Surprisingly, Zacchaeus climbs a tree.

1.    We know why – Zacchaeus has this great desire to lay eyes on Jesus; to somehow connect with Jesus.

2.    As I envision the scene unfolding, I see Zacchaeus desperately trying to push his way through the crowd to find a vantage point where he can see Jesus.

3.    When he cannot push his way through, I see him even try the down low approach – he’s short, so maybe he can bend down and find a knee-level opening.

4.    I can also see those around him sort of tightening up their group to make it hard for Zacchaeus.   “it’s Zacchaeus that tax collector guy – don’t let him through!”

5.     So Zacchaeus runs down to climb a sycamore tree.

6.  That would have been surprising to those people watching him.  A man of his stature would never climb a tree (Julia Wharff-Piermont mentioned this in her sermon and attributed it to Kenneth Bailey; The Interpreter's Bible section on this passage also mentions this), much less run down the street.

7.  His actions show his desperation.  He has to see Jesus, to make that connection.

8.  Surprising Zacchaeus, but maybe not surprising we who know Jesus, Jesus recognizes Zacchaeus; Jesus recognizes his need; Jesus invites himself over to Zacchaeus’ house.

b.    Even before Zacchaeus spends time with Jesus at the house, Zacchaeus announces a surprising decision.

1.  He is going to give half of his possessions to the poor and pay back four times to anyone he has defrauded.

3.  Did Jesus ask him to do this?

4.     The text does not say so.  It seems as if Zacchaeus devises this plan himself.

5.     Can you imagine if you were asked by Zacchaeus to figure out a plan for how he could make concrete changes to his life?  What would you suggest?

4.    The easiest approach might be to just tell Zacchaeus to quit ripping people off beginning now.  Show your life has changed, show your generosity by being fair starting now.

5.    Or maybe Zacchaeus could be pushed to pay back everyone he has cheated.  Clean the slate. If cheated someone out of ten denarii, pay back the ten denarii.

6.    And if he really wanted to do something, pay everyone back and give a tithe to the poor.  A tithe is even biblical, right?

7.    Would any of us advise Zacchaeus to repay those he has defrauded four-fold and give half his possessions to the poor? 

8.    I don't think I would.  Not only does it seem over the top, but he might then ask me to do the same.

9.    But that’s the point – Zacchaeus discovers that being a disciple of Jesus so transforms him that he wants to live an extravagant, generous life that reveals who he has experienced the extravagant, generous grace God has shown him.

Move 2:  Discipleship is a life shaped by generosity.

a.     Not just a moment when we make a pledge as part of a church’s stewardship campaign

1.     Or that one time you agreed to serve when the committee chair called and ask.

2.     but a life marked by generosity.

3.    Paul Harvey: On October 3, 1995 during the noon-hour show, Paul Harvey told about a young man of 8 years-old named Ben. It seems that Ben had won a contest at his local McDonald’s. He had won a brand new bike. Everyone in the store was congratulating him on his good fortune. But Ben told his parents that he already had a bike and that he didn’t need two. Ben gave the new bike to a classmate who lived up the street who didn’t have a bike, and due to family medical bills, his parents would not be able to purchase one for him. When the manager of the McDonald’s store heard what Ben had done, she invited Ben and his family to dinner. The manager then presented Ben with a $100 gift certificate good at Wal-Mart. Ben immediately spent that gift on a crash helmet, for his classmate up the street.

4.    Ben’s life and his actions are shaped by his generosity.

b. Our generosity helps us differentiate between the way of the world and our call to discipleship.

1.     Dave Ramsay notes that "We buy things we don't even need with money we don't even have to impress people we don't even know."  As quoted by Robert Schnase in  Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (113)

2.    The world teaches accumulation of wealth and a life of consumption.

3. Generosity teaches us to give of ourselves and our money to others.

4.     We need an attitude of generosity to propel us out of the world of self-absorption.

c.     Generosity marks us as disicples of Christ.

1.     John Calvin described Zacchaeus as changing “from a wolf not only into a sheep, but even into a shepherd.” John Calvin, commentary on the Harmony of the Gospels (Rio, WI: Ages digital Library,, 1997), 2:325 as found in Feasting on the Word: Year C, Vol. 4, 264)

2.    As Zacchaeus seeks to follow the Good Shepherd, he feels the call to act like a shepherd.

4.     Zacchaeus uses generosity as the good habit of discipleship to replace his bad habits of a tax collector as he grows in his discipleship.

Move 3: Notice the urgency to our call to be generous disciples.

a. Zacchaeus full of action

1.     he runs ahead; climbs a tree; hurries down;

2.     He’s on the move.

b. Jesus does not look up in the tree and say, “Zacchaeus, I am going to be in Jericho for the next week or so.  Would you have time for an appointment, say next Friday?”

3.      No, “today” Jesus says he wants to come to Zacchaeus' house today

.

5.  Jesus basically tells Zacchaeus, “if you want to see me; if you want to follow me.  Here I am.  Now”

6. notice Zacchaeus does not commit to next month changing his tax collection plan. No, in the moment he makes a commitment for how he will live his life.

1.  They both realize that to make a change means acting in the moment – change that gets put off until later becomes wishful thinking.

b. Here is an interesting biblical note.

Literal translation in the Greek does not have future context.  When Zacchaeus says he will give back to the poor and will repay, he actually uses the present tense: “I give back to the poor, and I repay the one who have been cheated.” (see “A Repentant Sinner or a Hidden Saint? The Story of Zacchaeus,” from Daniel Clendenin’s blog, Journey with Jesus,

http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20131028JJ.shtml

1.    In fact, Eugene Peterson in his translation The Message translates the story like this:  “Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”

2.    Zacchaeus may already have been doing these things.

3.    Why?  We do not know.  But given his desperate desire to see Jesus, I bet it is because of what has already heard about Jesus. 

4.    Perhaps Zacchaeus is already working hard at being a generous disciples and now wants to see Jesus.

5.    Sort of like many of us who arrive at church already believing, but seeking to meet Christ here to be reminded, to be inspired, to be challenged to grow in our discipleship.

6.     So there is Jesus, showing the Pharisees Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who is committing to a life of generous discipleship.

7.    Jesus asking the Pharisees, why are you living lives of generous discipleship?

Conclusion:  I heard the story of Zacchaeus preached by a colleague at a presbytery meeting a few years ago.

She was good friend of mine, so I was on my best behavior.

Attentive, sitting at the back where she could see me if she looked up; I took some notes, figured out a few things I wanted to steal to use again, but soon found myself writing some free-flowing thoughts with the song about wee little Zacchaeus in the background.

I looked down, and I had written another verse, not a very good one, but it went something like this:


(sung rather poorly!)  Whatever happened to little 'ole Zacchaeus. Was he really changed for good.

Did he go and give his money away, for a year or even two?

That, of course, is the question I want to ask Zacchaeus:  “did your life of generous discipleship so change you, did your life of generous discipleship so fulfill you that you never looked back?”

That, of course, is the question Jesus asks us.