31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wis 11:22 – 12:2; 2 Thes 1:11 – 2:2; Lk 19: 1-10
By Deacon Larry Brockman
Isn’t it wonderful how much God loves us! Listen again to these words from Wisdom: “For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made”. How could it be otherwise? How could God loathe anything that He had made; else He wouldn’t have made it. And that is such good news for all of us, because no matter how far astray we go or have gone, God still loves us; for he still loves all things He made.
And yet, we can get lost, can’t we? We can get very far off the right path like the prodigal son in the story a couple of weeks ago, so lost that we separate ourselves from the love of God. And so, whether God still loves us or not, we can experience the pain of separation from God.
It might not seem like it at first, but Zacchaeus was one of those folks who had gotten lost. We know that Zacchaeus was a Jew from the context of the Gospel. But Zacchaeus had elected to become a tax collector for the hated Roman establishment. That meant he hounded his fellow citizens to collect taxes. Not only was Zacchaeus a tax collector, but he was the chief tax collector. That means he had to have been cunning and ruthless at some point in his career. It had earned him the promotion and it had made him a wealthy man. And so, Zacchaeus had become lost in the secular world and had abandoned his Jewish roots.
But Zacchaeus was one of the lucky folks who got lost. Because he came back; yes, Zacchaeus had a conversion in heart, maybe because of what he had heard about Jesus. The Gospel today is full of all kinds of symbolism about Zacchaeus and his conversion. Zacchaeus runs ahead- something considered below the dignity of a cultured citizen. Because of his small stature, he climbs a tree, also below considered one’s dignity. Now one Bible Commentator says that Palestinian Sycamores have long smooth trunks that are hard to climb, and would be much more difficult to climb if you were short. So, Zacchaeus motivation for climbing the tree was not just idle curiosity. He had abandoned proper behavior for a person of his social status; and had to work hard to get up that tree. Zacchaeus was definitely a man who had a change of heart and was seeking to change his life. And as the dialogue with Jesus shows, he was prepared to put his conversion of heart into practice by following the Mosaic law of 4-fold restitution for anyone he had cheated, and by promising to tithe and give half of his wealth to the poor.
And so, what does Jesus say to Zacchaeus? Jesus says: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and save what was lost”. Symbolically, Zacchaeus can be seen as the lost members of the faithful who have committed themselves to repent, and who are joyfully awaiting the coming of the Lord. And when the Lord comes to him, He calls Zacchaeus to come down from the tree to serve him.
Now in the letter to the Thessalonians, Paul prays that God will make the Thessalonians worthy of his calling to them. He also prays that they would “powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith”. This applies to us today as well. Today, we are being called, and we are expected to bring to fulfillment every good purpose and effort of faith. We are being called to come down out of our trees, and in a spirit of conversion, serve the Lord and his purpose as we live our lives going forward.
But Paul also says something else to the Thessalonians. He says “not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way.”
This is a day and age in which there are many false prophets; there are many persons trying to deceive us. Let me give one example. There are popular Preacher’s out there who predict the end of the World. Some of them interpret the Book of Revelation by drawing parallels between current events and Revelation. But nobody, according to Jesus, knows the time or the hour. Yes, we have prophets and sages and government people heralding the end times in their own way. But don’t listen to them.
Our challenge is to be prepared for the day of the Lord at all times; but not to be anticipating it or hurrying it. God loves us just the way we are, young or old; feeble or agile; intelligent or dumb; pretty or plain; as long as we love Him, believe in Him, and are doing his will because the Son of Man has come to save all of us. All of us, that is, except those who choose to stay lost and abandon Him.