November 2 2025 Pentecost 21
Habakkuk 1.1-4; 2.1-4 Psalm 119.137-144 2 Thessalonians 1.1-4, 11-12 Luke 19.1-10
As we remember All Saints Day and All Souls Day, our gospel today messes with our assumptions about saints and sinners. C.S. Lewis, in his collection of essays, The Weight of Glory, challenges his readers to see themselves and their neighbours as Jesus sees them. To recognise the extraordinary and the immortal in all people. And Jesus models this vision in our Gospel this morning.
In it we are invited to see the small and insignificant as something wonderful and worthy. It invites us to have the courage to look ‘outside the box’ and see possibilities for new beginnings. Zaccheus was small but he desperately wanted to see the man called Jesus, so he runs ahead of the crowd and does something totally undignified for a man, he climbs a tree. Jesus walks by and ‘sees’ Zaccheus, he sees something that tells him this man is worthy, so he rewards his courage and calls him out of the tree and then invites himself to dine at the home of Zaccheus.
The crowd are incensed. This man is not ‘one of us’, he is a tax collector, he may be rich but we think his wealth is the result of ‘ill-gotten gain’. But Jesus invites the crowd to see something different in this man. Now, depending on the translation you have, there are two ways of reading Zaccheus’ statement about giving and paying back because the verb used is a ‘present-tense’ verb which may name the future, or it may name the present. One way, the way we usually read it says ‘I will give/pay back’ (in the future) thus he becomes a repentant sinner; the other says I give/pay back (in the present) thus he is shown to be righteous. So Jesus invites the crowd to see Zaccheus as God sees him, ‘son of Abraham’. Regardless of whether he is the repentant sinner, or the righteous man who also happens to collect taxes, God sees him as ‘worthy’, and that is our challenge daily. Can we - avoid our ‘default’ name-calling, avoid our default assumptions of who or what people are; and pause long enough to see them as God sees them, to see them as Jesus sees them. It will take courage to recognise that God sees people differently to how I see them.
Zacchaeus strives for a bigger vision. In climbing the tree, and being ‘seen’, he is being called from individualism to community care, from self-interest to compassion, from oppression to reconciliation. Vision is both spiritual and visual for Zacchaeus. He needs to expand his world view and have empathy toward his neighbours.
What bigger vision do you strive for. What are you yearning to see more clearly. What mission is calling to you today. Jesus invited himself into Zacchaeus’ home, he looked beyond appearances to discern God’s depths in Zacchaeus and he expanded the circle of God’s love. And Zacchaeus experiences a larger vision of himself and his calling. Personal wealth is no longer his priority, he makes a commitment to spiritual transformation – revealed in financial honesty, including reparation if needed, and generosity.
Present limitations can constrict our visions. We can be imprisoned by our desire for security, safety; we can be restricted in our visions by our own perception of inability or ‘too busy’. God invites us to have large visions and large spirits to match the challenges before us. Let us like Jesus grow in wisdom and stature and favour with God and humankind. We can discover that within limitations, there are still unexpected possibilities. What large vision is God calling you to as we approach Ministry Sunday in a couple of weeks. How can you cast the vision in clear ways, how can you respond to that call. How can you be an agent of change and transformation for this parish, for this community, for the world.