(Audio)
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
How often are we the crowd, pressing in on Jesus ourselves, but ignoring those who want to see him but cannot? Jesus is calling us to not overlook even those who would be easy to miss. He is calling us to notice those whom the world does not value and holds in low esteem. Jesus himself gives the example of the hearts we ought to have.
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."
Jesus is always moved with compassion for the crowds are like sheep without a shepherd. The further they are from the shepherd the more compassion he has. He trains disciples not simply to fill the space around him but also to go out with his peace and his presence into the world.
First we receive Jesus.
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
Then we are transformed.
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."
Once salvation comes to our house we ourselves become lights for the world. We do not and cannot simply rest on our laurels. We join the Son of Man who "has come to seek and to save what was lost."
There are none whom God does not love.
For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;
for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;
or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?
We can rejoice in these words when we ourselves don't feel worthy of love. The degree to which we let this attitude become our own, the degree to which the grace of Jesus move through us to love those who seem altogether unlovable, is the degree to which we become able to love even ourselves at our worst and most broken.
We always pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of his calling
and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose
and every effort of faith,
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in him,
in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.
Who are the people we struggle to welcome? Let us pray for ourselves and for them that we might both together receive the LORD with joy.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
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