Sing with me if you know the song:
Zacchaeus was a wee little man,
A wee little man was he
He climbed up in a sycamore tree
For the Lord he wanted to see
And when the Savior passed that way
He looked up in the tree
And He said, “Zacchaeus, you come down!
For I'm going to your house today!
For I'm going to your house today!”
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, so he climbed a sycamore tree so that he could see Jesus.
Jesus called Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus climbed down that tree and received Jesus in his home.
Jesus changed Zacchaeus’ life that day. Jesus is in the life-changing business.
Please open your Bible or a Pew Bible to Luke 19. We’ll begin with the first verse.
v. 1 [Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through.
Jesus entered Jericho on His way to Jerusalem. The Jerusalem part if introduced in v. 28 of this chapter.
v. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
Zacchaeus presumably became wealthy through collecting taxes. Now, he oversaw other tax collectors.
v. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.
Zacchaeus wasn’t a tall man and because of the crowd surrounding Jesus, he could not see him.
v. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
So, Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd and climbed up a sycamore tree along the route that Jesus was traveling.
v. 5 And when Jesus came to the place he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the tree and invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house. There is some sense of urgency in Jesus’ statement to Zaccheaeus. He tells Zacchaeus to hurry down from the tree and He says, “I must stay at your house today.”
It is necessary that Jesus stay with Zacchaeus. The why is introduced a few verses later in this story and we’ll get to it shortly.
v. 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
Zacchaeus did hurry down and he received Jesus joyfully.
v. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
The religious people weren’t happy. There goes Jesus again, consorting with a sinner. A known sinner. A notorious sinner.
v. 8 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 anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”
Zacchaeus, the sinner, the despised chief tax collector responded to Jesus with gratefulness, and he made Jesus a promise. He pledges that he will give half of his goods to the poor.
This is a significant amount, but only half of what Jesus asked the rich young ruler to give. In Luke 18, Jesus says to the rich young ruler, “Sell all you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” [18:22]
Jesus doesn’t ask Zacchaeus to sell all he has and give the proceeds to the poor. But Zacchaeus volunteers to give half his goods to the poor. This is a radical response to Jesus’ entrance into his life. The response of Zacchaeus to Jesus, and the response of the rich young ruler give us glimpses into their hearts.
Zacchaeus also pledges to restore four times as much to those he defrauded. Tax collectors got rich by defrauding others. Giving back four times as much sounds like the way to the poor house.
Tax collectors once came to John the Baptist and asked him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
John the Baptist said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” [Luke 3:12-13]
Why would he say that? Because tax collectors took extra money for themselves when they collected taxes. Chief tax collectors profited from those below them in the tax collecting enterprise. Zacchaeus was renouncing the wrongs that he had committed.
v. 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.”
Jesus recognizes that Zacchaeus, “a lost sheep of Israel” (Matthew 10:6), is returning to God. Zacchaeus was once lost, but now he is found. This is why Jesus came to Israel. This is what he came to do.
In 1983, Mary was serving with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship when she met the Episcopal Church Chaplain to the University of Florida. She mentioned to him that I was a cradle Episcopalian and he invited himself to dinner at our house. Does that sound familiar?
That night, he told us that he believed that I was called to return to the Episcopal Church. We were members of a Presbyterian church at the time. What did I know? I was in my 20s and a priest was telling me that I was called to return to the Episcopal Church. So I did.
Mary and I were at the Chapel of the Incarnation at the University of Florida for his first worship service there. We became members and the next year I became the Lay Chaplain under Fr. Stephen Smith. A year after that, Mary and I were in Pittsburgh. I started seminary and Mary started graduate school.
We’ve served churches in El Paso, Texas, suburban Chicago, Roanoke, Virginia, and now here. The places have changed, but the mission has always remained the same, it doesn’t change. The mission is always evangelism and discipleship. This is what Jesus did, and it’s what He trained His followers to do. For clergy and laity alike, the calling is evangelism and discipleship.
Our church in suburban Chicago was St. Mark’s in Glen Ellyn. Lyle Dorsett, a professor from Wheaton College, was teaching an adult education class one Sunday morning. During one session, he looked at me and said, “How are you discipling your men?”
I was focused on children and youth at the time, but his question stuck with me.
Discipleship is about each of us becoming effective witnesses for Jesus Christ and disciplers of those whom Jesus calls to Himself through us. That’s what the Great Commission is about - going and making disciples. Before men and women can be discipled, they need to be evangelized. That’s what Jesus was doing in Zacchaeus’ life.
v. 10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jesus has already said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)
Zacchaeus qualifies. We all qualify. Everyone qualifies.
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
Jesus approaches Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus embraces Jesus. Zacchaeus responds to Jesus with gratitude and he promises to change his life. But, it’s really Jesus who changes lives.
Zacchaeus’ radical response to Jesus shows how his heart was changed and Jesus acknowledges this.
v. 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.”
Every authentic encounter with Jesus Christ is life-changing. Following Jesus Christ is life-changing. God’s work by the power of the Holy Spirit within us is life-changing.
Zacchaeus showed his changed heart by how he responded to Jesus. His generosity came from a heart opened to change by Jesus.
Do you realize that Jesus said more about money than anything else? It’s true. Jesus said more about money than He did about heaven. Jesus said more about money than He did about hell.
Richard Halverson was once the Chaplain to the United States Senate. He said, “Money is an exact index to a man’s true character.” [quoted in Money, Possessions, and Eternity, by Randy Alcorn, p. 3]
It is also an exact index to every woman’s true character.
Randy Alcorn, the founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries, says, “If the Bible were written today and judged by what it says about money and possessions, it would never be published.” [ibid.]
Alcorn suggests, “We come to the Bible for comfort, not for financial instruction.”
Our tendency is to assign the Bible to religious matters and to think of money as secular. But that’s not how Jesus thought or taught. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says,
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)
Then Jesus delivers the clincher: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When I was in college, my father became active in St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, in East Orange, NJ. He was influenced by the rector of that church, Fr. Harry Smith. Fr. Smith was a leader in the diocese in stewardship and under his leadership, my father became I tither.
My dad took that last verse from Matthew that I read literally. As he gave his treasure for God’s work on earth, his heart was drawn closer to God.
That’s what Zacchaeus was pledging to do with his wealth. He was pledging to give his wealth to the poor and those he defrauded.
In this life, treasure decays. But, when we use it for God’s purposes it shines for eternity!
My sister is selling our family home. She recently told Mary that our mother told her that at times she felt married to the house. It was built in the 1890s and required regular maintenance. Our dad worked in New York City, so my mother handled the day to day needs of our home.
In this life, treasure decays. Treasure in heaven never grows old. Treasure in heaven never fails.
Jesus tied Zacchaeus’ declaration about giving to his salvation. Zacchaeus was eager to give to the poor and those he defrauded. The principle is clear. Our giving shows our spiritual condition. If we put Jesus first, deny ourselves, and take up our cross, and follow Jesus as Jesus instructs us to do, it will affect every area of our lives.
It will affect our giving of time, talent, and treasure. It will affect how we spend our time. It will affect how we use our talents. It will affect how we give financially.
Is it possible that you are missing out on the abundant life that Christ promises His followers because of your giving?
Do you remember the words of Jesus when the Samaritan woman at the well asked Him how he gets living water? Jesus said,
“whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)
Can you picture a spring of water flowing and then overflowing into a basin surrounding it? Perhaps you’re thinking of a fountain in a park. Maybe you’d like to throw a penny into the fountain and make a wish.
How about this? It’s a warm summer day and it’s getting warmer as the sun shines brightly from a cloudless sky. You take off your shoes and you wade into the water of the fountain. You put your head under the flow of the water coming from the fountainhead to cool down on what has become a hot day.
You’re reminded of your baptism. You renew your commitment to follow Jesus as the Lord over your life. You leave the fountain refreshed, energized, and ready to bless the world with the overflow from the blessings that you receive from God.
How does that feel?
What if you life was like a fountain?
For Zacchaeus, his fountain life began with Jesus calling him out of a tree. The tree was a place that enabled Zacchaeus to see Jesus.
Is there someone or something that enabled you to see Jesus for the first time, or maybe in a new way. Without the tree, maybe Zacchaeus would never have seen Jesus, but I doubt that. Jesus was on a mission and Zacchaeus was a recipient of that mission. Zacchaeus was one of the lost ones whom Jesus came to same.
Like us. Like you.
How do you respond to God’s call on your life?
Gratefully? With generosity?
Does the salvation you’ve received from God through Jesus Christ cause you to be generous to others as God has been generous to you?
That’s something to think about.
Let us pray.
