HANGING OUT WITH GOD

Luke 19:1-10   

Rev. Paul Wrightman                                                10/15/24           

I REALIZE THAT THE TITLE OF TODAY’S SERMON,

“HANGING OUT WITH GOD,”

IS A BIT ODD.

THE PHRASE TO “HANG OUT” IS FAIRLY RECENT —

ELIZABETH AND I FIRST HEARD IT

WHEN OUR KIDS WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL.

IT MEANS TO WANT TO SPEND

A GOOD CHUNK OF TIME WITH SOMEONE

IN A RELAXED BUT DEEPLY CONNECTED WAY.

IT ALWAYS INCLUDES CONVERSATION,

AND OFTEN INCLUDES SHARING A BEVERAGE,

IF NOT AN ENTIRE MEAL, TOGETHER.

TO “HANG OUT” WITH, THEN,

IS AN EXPRESSION OF CONNECTING

WITH SOMEONE IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF

RELAXED INTIMACY.

MANY PEOPLE THINK OF GOD

AS DISTANT AND FORMAL

AN RATHER UNAPPROACHABLE.

TO THEM, THE THOUGHT OF “HANGING OUT”

WITH GOD IS AN ALARMING NON SEQUITUR.

BESIDES, IN TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING,

ZACCHAEUS IS HANGING OUT WITH JESUS, NOT GOD.

THERE ARE MULTIPLE DIFFERENT TAKES ON JESUS

IN OUR CONGREGATION, WHICH IS A GOOD THING.

AND WE KNOW FROM JESUS HIMSELF,

THAT HE DID NOT REQUIRE ANYONE

TO BELIEVE THE “RIGHT STUFF” ABOUT HIM.

UNLIKE SO MANY OF THE CHURCHES

THAT TAKE HIS NAME AND DEMAND

THAT ONE BELIEVE MULTIPLE DOCTRINES

IN ORDER TO BE “SAVED,”

THE ONLY THING THAT JESUS HIMSELF REQUIRED

WAS LOVE OF GOD AND NEIGHBOR.

THIS MORNING, HOWEVER,

I WANT TO ASK YOU TO SUSPEND YOUR DISBELIEF

FOR THE DURATION OF THIS SERMON,

AND ALLOW YOURSELF TO SEE THIS STORY

THROUGH THE EYES OF THOSE

WHO WROTE THE GOSPELS.

FOR THEM, THE PERSON JESUS

WAS LIKE NO OTHER PERSON

THEY HAD EVER KNOWN.

TO USE A PHRASE FROM MODERN PHYSICS,

JESUS WAS A SINGULARITY,

A UNIQUE, ONE–OF–A–KIND BEING.

JESUS WAS SO UNIQUE THAT

MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, AND JOHN

ACTUALLY HAD TO INVENT

A NEW KIND OF LITERATURE

TO DESCRIBE HIM —

THE LITERATURE WHICH WE KNOW AS “GOSPEL,”

AND WHICH IS AN ODD COMBINATION

OF HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, AND THEOLOGY —

ALL FOCUSED ON SHARING THE “GOOD NEWS”

ABOUT THIS EXTRAORDINARY PERSON, JESUS,

IN THE HOPE THAT THE READER

COMES TO TRUST IN JESUS

WITH THE SAME PASSION AND COMMITMENT

AS THE WRITER.

SOMETHING THAT ALL FOUR GOSPEL WRITERS

HAVE IN COMMON IS THAT THEY ALL FEEL

THAT IF THE GOD OF ISRAEL

WERE TO BECOME A PERSON,

THEN THIS PERSON, JESUS, EMBODIES

THE WAY THAT GOD WOULD TEACH AND ACT.

THIS COMMON ASSUMPTION

EVENTUALLY BECAME THE CHRISTIAN DOCTINE

OF THE INCARNATION:

THE CHRISTIAN BELIEF THAT SOMEHOW

THIS PERSON JESUS IS AT THE SAME TIME

FULLY HUMAN AND FULLY DIVINE.

MATTHEW CALLS HIM, “EMMANUEL,”

WHICH MEANS “GOD-WITH– US.”

JOHN TELLS US THAT GOD CAME 

IN THE PERSON OF JESUS

AND “PITCHED HIS TENT AMONG US,”

MAKING IT SOUND AS IF WE AND GOD

ARE ON THE SAME BACKPACKING TRIP TOGETHER.

THE THEOLOGY OF INCARNATION

HAS THE EFFECT OF BRINGING GOD

MUCH CLOSER TO HOME, AS IT WERE.

IN FACT, IN JESUS, GOD BECOMES AS CLOSE TO US

AS A WISE, CARING, AND PLAYFUL OLDER BROTHER.

ALL FOUR GOSPELS AGREE

THAT JESUS WAS ACCUSED OF

ENJOYING GOOD WINE AND GOOD FOOD IN EXCESS,

AND THAT HE MADE A POINT OF HANGING OUT

WITH ALL THE WRONG PEOPLE.

(PAUSE)

JERICHO WAS A LARGE, WEALTHY,

AND BEAUTIFUL TOWN IN THE TIME OF JESUS.

IT WAS ON A MAJOR TRADE ROAD

AND EXPORTED ITS DATES

AND BALSAM WOOD WORLDWIDE.

JOSEPHUS, THE ROMAN-JEWISH HISTORIAN,

CALLS IT “THE FATTEST PLACE IN PALESTINE.”

OUR SCRIPTURE TEXT TELLS US THAT

ZACCHAEUS WAS A CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR

AND THAT HE WAS RICH.

TO BE A CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR IN THAT DAY

MEANT THAT ONE WOULD HAVE A BEVY

OF SUBORDINATE TAX COLLECTORS UNDER ONE,

ALL GOUGING THE PEOPLE

AS MUCH AS THEY COULD,

AND ALL REQUIRED TO GIVE

A HEFTY PERCENTAGE OF THEIR PROFITS

TO CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR ZACCHAEUS.

ALL TAXATION NOT RELATED TO THE TEMPLE

WAS MANAGED BY THE ROMANS,

WHICH MEANT THAT THE ROMANS HAD

WORKING FOR THEM

A SMALL ARMY OF JEWISH COLLABORATORS.

THESE COLLABORATORS WERE

THE MOST HATED PERSONS IN ISRAEL AT THE TIME.

WRITTEN BETWEEN THE LINES

OF OUR TEXT TELLING US THAT

ZACCHAEUS WAS A CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR

AND RICH,

IS THE INFORMATION THAT ZACCHAEUS

WAS ALSO THE MOST DESPISED PERSON IN TOWN.

KENNETH BAILEY, A TRUSTED BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

WHO HAS LIVED MOST OF HIS SCHOLARLY LIFE

IN THE MIDDLE EAST,

REMARKS THAT ZACCHAEUS

WOULD NEVER HAVE DREAMED OF ACTUALLY

JOINING THE CROWD SEEKING JESUS,

BECAUSE HE, LIKE MANY OTHER HATED

TAX COLLECTORS OF THAT DAY,

WOULD LIKELY HAVE BEEN ASSASSINATED.

BAILEY WRITES:

“WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO HIM

IF HE DARED PUSH HIS WAY INTO THE CROWD?

THE QUICK FLASH OF A KNIFE, A STIFLED CRY,

AND IT WOULD ALL BE OVER.

ONLY AFTER THE CROWD MOVED ON

WOULD THE BODY BE FOUND AND BY THEN

THE PERPETRATORS WOULD HAVE DISAPPEARED.”

UNABLE TO RISK MINGLING WITH THE CROWD

PUSHING FORWARD TO SEE JESUS,

ZACCHAEUS DOES TWO THINGS

WHICH NO DIGNIFIED MAN

OF THAT TIME AND PLACE WOULD DO:

HE RAN, AND HE CLIMBED A TREE.

BAILEY COMMENTS:

“MIDDLE EASTERN ADULTS DO NOT RUN IN PUBLIC

IF THEY WISH TO AVOID PUBLIC SHAME.”  

THE TEXT TELLS US THAT ZACCHAEUS

“RAN AHEAD.” 

HE IS RUNNING AHEAD OF THE CROWD

NO ONLY TO AVOID THE RISK OF BEING KILLED,

BUT ALSO TO AVOID THE RISK OF BEING SEEN,

BEING SEEN AND MOCKED MERCILESSLY.

MANY OF THE CUSTOMS PRACTICED

IN JESUS’ DAY

ARE STILL OPERATIVE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

IN OUR DAY.

BAILEY IS OUR MOST ASTUTE OBSERVER

OF THESE CUSTOMS AT WORK.

REGARDING THE UNTHINKABILITY

OF A POWERFUL, WEALTHY MAN

CLIMBING A TREE,

BAILEY SHARES THE FOLLOWING INCIDENT:

“JOHN BADEAU,

THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR IN CAIRO, EGYPT,

UNDER JOHN KENNEDY, RECORDS IN HIS MEMOIRS

THAT HE ONCE CLIMBED A TREE

IN THE BACK GARDEN

OF THE AMBASSADOR’S WALLED RESIDENCE

IN ORDER TO FIX SOME LIGHTS

FOR AN EMBASSY GARDEN PARTY.

THIS PRIVATE ACT BECAME KNOWN

AND CAUSED SUCH A STIR

THAT BADEAU WAS SOON ASKED

BY A VERY PUZZLED PRESIDENT NASSER

IF THE STORY WERE TRUE.

NASSER HAD HEARD THE UNBELIEVABLE TALE

AND WAS SO AMAZED HE FELT THE NEED

TO CHECK ITS VERACITY

WITH THE AMBASSADOR HIMSELF.”

BAILEY CONNECTS THIS INCIDENT

TO TODAY’S SCRIPTURE TEXT BY CONCLUDING:

“IN THE MIDDLE EAST,

POWERFUL, PROMINENT MEN DO NOT CLIMB TREES,

EVEN IN THE PRIVACY OF THEIR OWN 

WALLED GARDENS.

ZACCHAEUS BREAKS WITH HIS CULTURE

BOTH BY RUNNING

AND BY CLIMBING A TREE.

HE HOPES DESPERATELY THAT NEITHER ACT

WILL BE OBSERVED

AND CAREFULLY CHOOSES A TREE

WITH THICK FOLIAGE,

SOME DISTANCE FROM TOWN.” 

SINCE OUR TEXT IS SILENT ON THE MATTER,

WE CAN ONLY SPECULATE

AS TO WHAT PUSHED ZACCHAEUS

TO RISK PUBLIC RIDICULE

AND ENGAGE IN SUCH OUTRAGEOUS BEHAVIOR.

OBVIOUSLY THE MEANING AND CONTENTMENT

IN HIS LIFE HAD BROKEN DOWN TO SUCH A DEGREE

THAT HE WAS DESPERATE.

HE WAS DESPERATE TO MAKE A NEW BEGINNING.

AND HE HAD HEARD SOME THINGS

ABOUT AN ITINERANT PROPHET NAMED JESUS

WHICH MADE HIM THINK

THAT PERHAPS IN HIS PRESENCE

A NEW BEGINNING FOR HIM WOULD BE POSSIBLE.

SO, LIKE MANY OF US,

WHEN WE FINALLY ADMIT THAT OUR LIFE

HAS BECOME IMPOSSIBLE AND UNMANAGEABLE,

AND FINALLY ACCEPT OUR NEED

OF A “HIGHER POWER,”

ZACCHAEUS CHOSE TO TAKE THE RISK

OF REACHING OUT TO A PERSON

AND A WAY OF LIFE

WHICH HE SUSPECTED

COULD RESTORE HIM TO WHOLENESS.

AND THEN THE VERY WORST THING

THAT HE THOUGHT COULD HAPPEN HAPPENS.

HE IS SPOTTED UP IN THE TREE BY THE CROWD.

THE SCENE IS NOT THAT OF THE HAPPY ENCOUNTER

SO OFTEN PORTRAYED

ON SUNDAY SCHOOL ILLUSTRATIONS,

BUT ONE OF REAL DANGER FOR ZACCHAEUS.

AGAIN, BAILEY DOES A MASTERFUL JOB

OF CAPTURING WHAT IS TAKING PLACE

BETWEEN THE LINES OF OUR TEXT.

HE ASKS THE QUESTION:

“BUT HOW DID JESUS

LEARN ZACCHAEUS’S NAME?”

AND PROCEEDS TO ANSWER HIS OWN QUESTION:

“THE NATURAL EXPLANATION

FOR JESUS’ AWARENESS OF ZACCHAEUS’S NAME

AND HISTORY

IS THAT ALL THIS INFORMATION

IS GATHERED BY JESUS FROM THE CROWD

THAT IS INSULTING

THE HUMILIATED COLLABORATOR

CAUGHT UP A TREE.

THE “POLECAT” IS AT LAST TREED!

THIS ENCOURAGES THE CROWD TO FLING AT HIM

ALL THE CHOICE INSULTS

THEY HAVE WANTED TO USE

FOR YEARS IN HIS OFFICE, BUT COULD NOT.

IN ZACCHAEUS’S OFFICE

THEY HAD NAMES AND FACES,

AND HE WAS THE ONE WITH POWER.

OUTSIDE, UNDER THE TREE,

THEY ARE ANONYMOUS

AND ANYONE CAN SHOUT FROM THE CROWD

USING ANY FOUR-LETTER WORD

THAT COMES TO MIND.

ONE INSULT STIMULATES OTHERS,

QUICKLY DARKENING THE ATMOSPHERE

AND LIKELY PRODUCING A WHIFF

OF ANTICIPATED VIOLENCE.” 

IT IS PRECISELY AT THIS POINT —

AT THE POINT OF A NEAR-LYNCING —

THAT JESUS INTERVENES.

GIVEN JESUS’ PASSION FOR JUSTICE

AND HATRED OF OPPRESSION,

ONE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT

THAT JESUS WOULD SAY SOMETHING

TO ZACCHAEUS LIKE THE FOLLOWING:

“ZACCHAEUS, YOU ARE A COLLABORATOR!

YOU ARE AN OPPRESSOR OF THESE GOOD PEOPLE.

YOU HAVE DRAINED THE ECONOMIC LIFEBLOOD

OF YOUR PEOPLE

AND GIVEN IT TO THE IMPERALISTS.

YOU HAVE BETRAYED YOUR COUNTRY

AND YOUR GOD.

THE COMMUNITY’S HATRED OF YOU

IS FULLY JUSTIFIED.

YOU MUST QUIT YOUR JOB, REPENT,

JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM FOR

CEREMONIAL PURIFICATION,

RETURN TO JERICHO

AND APPLY YOURSELF TO KEEPING THE LAW.

IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO THESE THINGS,

ON MY NEXT TRIP TO JERICHO

I WILL ENTER YOUR NEWLY PURIFIED HOUSE

AND OFFER MY CONGRATULATIONS.”

SURPRISINGLY, THIS IS NOT AT ALL

WHAT JESUS SAYS TO ZACCHAEUS.

LIKE THE FATHER OF THE PRODIGAL SON

IN THE PARABLE THAT JESUS TAUGHT

NOT LONG BEFORE THIS INCIDENT,

JESUS DOES NO CORRECTING

AND MAKES NO DEMANDS.

LIKE THE FATHER OF THE PRODIGAL SON,

JESUS INVITES ZACCHAEUS TO A PARTY,

TRUSTING THAT THE ACCEPTANCE AND THE GRACE

IMPLIED IN THE INVITATION

WILL WORK THEIR MAGIC

AND GIVE ZACCHAEUS THE NEW BEGINNING

THAT HE LONGS FOR.

AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS.

IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS

ZACCHAEUS BECOMES A NEW PERSON.

THE CROWD, OF COURSE, GRUMBLES,

ANGRY AT THE SEEMING EASE WITH WHICH

ZACCHAEUS HAS BEEN FORGIVEN

AND RESTORED TO THE HOUSE OF ABRAHAM.

ON THE SURFACE,

THEY CANNOT FATHOM HOW JESUS

WOULD TAKE UPON HIMSELF

THE MULTIPLE UNCLEANNESSES

OF EATING AND SLEEPING IN THE HOME

OF THE BIGGEST SINNER IN TOWN.

ON A DEEPER LEVEL, HOWEVER,

I SUSPECT THAT THE CROWD

IS EVEN MORE DISTURBED

BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT

IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS

WHAT WAS CONSIDERED UNCLEAN

IS UNCLEAN NO LONGER.

UNCLEANNESS SIMPLY WILL NOT STICK TO JESUS,

OR TO ANYONE CONNECTED TO HIM.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS STORY?

WE LEARN THAT THE DESIRE

TO HANG OUT WITH JESUS

IS A RISKY DESIRE.

IT IS RISKY BECAUSE IT MAY INSPIRE US TO DO

THINGS WHICH ARE CONSIDERED TO BE

UNDIGNIFIED OR OUTRAGEOUS BY OUR CULTURE.

AND HANGING OUT WITH JESUS

IS EVEN MORE RISKY BECAUSE

IT MAY INSPIRE US TO CHANGE,

AND TO CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.

BY HANGING OUT WITH JESUS WE RUN THE RISK

OF BEING CALLED TO BECOME

BETTER PEOPLE THAN WE ARE,

AND GIVEN THE POWER

NECESSARY TO MAKE THE CHANGE.

BY HANGING OUT WITH JESUS

WE RUN THE RISK

OF BEING EMPOWERED TO BECOME

THE UNIQUE IMAGE OF GOD

THAT EACH OF US IS CALLED TO BE.

ZACCHAEUS IS A WONDERFUL STORY

FOR ALL OF US WHO ARE SEEKING GOD.

JUST AS JESUS TELLS US

IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

THAT IF WE SEEK WE WILL FIND,

THE STORY OF ZACCHAEUS

ILLUSTRATES HOW THIS PRINCIPLE

WORKED ITSELF OUT IN THE LIFE

OF ONE PARTICULAR SEEKER,

AND CHALLENGES ALL OF US

TO TAKE THE RISK OF HANGING OUT WITH GOD

AND ALLOWING OURSELVES

TO BE CHANGED FOR THE BETTER

AND ACTUALLY BECOMING THE PERSON

WHO WE ARE CALLED TO BE.

AMEN.