Habakkuk 1:1-4,2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4,11-12; Luke 19:1-10
The Rev. Drew Brislin
It is a busy season in the life of the church right now. As the season of Advent and preparation approaches in a few short weeks, the church is currently in a season of reflection. Today many of our Lutheran brothers and sisters are celebrating Reformation Day as they remember Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the Castle Door in Wittenburg, Germany in the year 1517. This week we will celebrate All Saints’ Day with our annual evensong service on Tuesday and many in the Latino community especially will begin the celebration of Dios de los Muertos or Day of the Dead that transcends All Hallow’s Eve (or Halloween), All Saints’ Day and conclude on November 2nd with All Soul’s Day. One of our required courses in seminary was titled Encuentro which is Spanish for encounter. It was an immersion course into Latino culture in which we studied the history and culture of this growing part of our community. It was led by faculty members who were a part of this community and enhanced by the fact that several of my classmates were a part of this community as well and offered wonderful insight into the culture of the Latino community. In the midst of this course and the work we were doing the Disney animated movie Coco was released. Several of us including one of our Latina classmates all went one afternoon to see this movie that highlighted the celebration of Dios de los Muertos and per our friend did a remarkable job of explaining this celebration that is important to central and latin American culture. The focus of Dios de los Muertos is to remember and welcome back the souls of the deceased. Families will set up in their homes or in various places ofrendas which are home altars and can be quite elaborate at times where family members can place items for the dead to welcome them back. One of the themes in the movie is that those who occupy this realm of the dead only exist because they are remembered. They are called out by those who love them.
This morning in our Gospel reading we hear the story of Zacchaeus and Jesus as he makes his way through Jericho. We all remember (at least the first line) from the song from Sunday School. Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in the sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. As we have grown up hearing this song or this story, we have been preconditioned to understand Zacchaeus as a man small in stature and considered to be rather an unsavory character being a tax collector and someone we think of as taking advantage of his own people. Like with many things and persons, maybe our first impression is not always correct or maybe there is a different way to look at this story. We first of all need to begin by simply asking what does the text actually tell us? It says that Zacchaeus was a ruler among the tax collectors, that he was rich, that he humbles himself by being willing to climb up in a tree and that Jesus goes to stay with him in his house. While we at first want to vilify Zacchaeus, it is interesting to note that his name comes from the Hebrew for “righteous” or “upright.” What if his desire to give to the poor is a desire to offer from his abundance rather than an act of repentance. After all he does say “if he has defrauded anyone” not ‘all those I have defrauded.’ Again, Zacchaeus does not repent but seems to be making the case that he has been incorrectly judged as sinful. In offering half of what he owns and four times what he took if he defrauded anyone, he would make amends per what is found to be required in Exodus which states the thief shall pay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
Jesus again goes against the social norms and invites himself into Zacchaeus’ home. I have read that God’s judgement of us is his relentless pursuit of us in love. How does this pursuit of you and me look today? This morning we will baptize young Josephine. We will welcome her into our Lord’s church, into his community of believers and we will all promise to lift her up and support her on her spiritual journey. But like Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury says, her creation does not stop at her birth. It continues with her baptism this morning and with all those who she will come in contact with throughout her life. That we all are continuously being created by the people we meet and interact with throughout our lives.
In the movie Coco, the main character who at first transcends the world of the living to enter the realm of the deceased so that he can serve his own desires in the end learns that through helping others he can restore his relationship with his family. Maybe this is the desire of Zacchaeus. Maybe the “weeness” of Zacchaeus that we sing of in that Sunday School song is not so much about his stature but rather about his humility. He simply wanted to see Jesus, yet it was Jesus who called out to him. It was Jesus who radically invited himself into the life of Zacchaeus. Today is filled with joy because God is at work bringing his kingdom to us. Today he brings us a glimmer of the Kingdom in the form of a little girl named Josephine. Who will he bring to us tomorrow? How will Jesus radically invite himself into our lives tomorrow? How will we humble ourselves so that we can continue to be created in our loving Lord’s image?