Seeing with Zacchaeus
This sermon can be listened to here
Gate Pa – All Saints/All Souls/ 31st Sunday in Ordinary
Time- Year C - 2019
Readings:
Psalm - Psalm:
149
First Reading - Hab 1:1-4,2:1-4
Second Reading- Ephesians 1:11-23
Gospel - Luke 19: 1-10
First Reading - Hab 1:1-4,2:1-4
Second Reading- Ephesians 1:11-23
Gospel - Luke 19: 1-10
What I want
to say:
To retell the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus putting it in context. What does Jesus see? How does Zacchaeus respond? What do we see? How do we respond?
To retell the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus putting it in context. What does Jesus see? How does Zacchaeus respond? What do we see? How do we respond?
Today we gather around Christ’s table with all the saints
who have gone before, and our departed loved ones, and we give thanks for God’s
faithfulness to them and us
What I want
to happen:
- reflect on what we have been invited to see in the person or people we are remembering?
- in all this how
has God been faithful - reflect on what we have been invited to see in the person or people we are remembering?
The Sermon
1. Introduction:
Jesus set his
face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51)
On the way he
healed people
-
Invisible
people made visible
He told stories
in answer to questions
Like a lawyer who
wondered what he had to do to inherit eternal life?
-
He
used an accursed Samaritan to teach him what loving God by loving your
neighbour looks like
Stories of lost
coins, sheep and sons
-
showed God’s immense love
He saw invisible
lepers and healed them
-
And
used the accursed Samaritan to teach how to love and give praise to God
He saw little children
He flummoxed a
rich ruler who also wanted to know what he had to do to inherit eternal life
-
Go
sell everything you have and give to the poor
-
And
in answer to “who then can be saved if not the rich?”
-
It
is easier for a camel to go though the eye of a needle that for someone who is
rich to enter the kingdom of heaven
As he came near the end of this journey
And entered Jericho
he healed a desperate blind man
2. Zacchaeus
There was another
there in Jericho
Wealthy chief tax
collector
-
To
be so rich he had to be corrupt
-
A
collaborator with imperial Rome
-
Stealing
taxes to pay for their army
-
Unclean
-
Loathed
- Belittled
- Belittled
He was keen to
see this Jesus
But he was short
And no-one was willing to make room for him
And no-one was willing to make room for him
They shunted him
away
This dirty little
thief
So he ran down the
road and
Throwing all his non-existent
dignity to one side
Climbed a tree
like a boy
They would not
stop him seeing this phenomenon
And he waited
patiently.
Sitting in a tree
Invisible to the
crowd below
Until Jesus arrives
“Zacchaeus my
friend
I see you in that
tree
Come down at once
Today you and I
will share food in your house!”
But as he scrambles
down he hears the muttering and grumbling
“How come this
wretched loathsome crook gets the honour
why is he blessed?
He is so
underserving!”
-
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 any one of anything, I restore it
fourfold.” (RSV)
-
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.” (NRSV)
And Jesus
responds, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of
Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”
3. What do we see? ppt
Jesus sees the
invisible
The despised
The lost
-
What
do we see in this story?
That day was salvation
day in that home ppt
-
What
is salvation in this story?
-
Given
that which translation speaks to you and why?
Discuss
“The story
of Jesus and Zacchaeus suggests that salvation is reciprocal. Yes, salvation
shows up in the very presence of Jesus. Salvation happens when Jesus sees the
unseeable. When Jesus finds those who may try to hide so as not to have their
sin exposed. When Jesus regards those who think salvation is most certainly not
for them. But, salvation also shows up when we do what Jesus himself does --
welcome the other, be with the other, be known by the other. Salvation as
solidarity. Salvation as hospitality. Salvation as ministry.” Karoline Lewis [i]
4. All Saints
Today is our All
Saints – All Souls
Where we remember
all who have gone before us
The great saints
The unknown saints
All whom
Like us
invited share table
fellowship with crucified and risen Christ
we remember their
faithfulness
more importantly
we remember God’s
faithfulness to them
-
that
at all times they were seen
like Zacchaeus
-
knew
salvation day in their lives
and we remember
that every time we gather around this table
-
Christ’s
table
We join all saints
All those like Zacchaeus
who Jesus saw
-
Invisible
-
Hated
è All whom were made visible again
Today we also
remember our departed loved ones
Who for better
and for worse have shaped us in some way
-
Recall
the pain of our loss
-
Invited
remember how God has been faithful throughout
5. Reflective questions ppt
-
What
are you invited to see in the person or people you are remembering?
-
How
has God been faithful?
Comments