Zacchaeus’ story reminds me of a song made popular by Randy Newman called short people:
Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason
To live
They got little hands
And little eyes
And they walk around
Tellin’ great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little feet
Well, I don’t want no short people
Don’t want no short people
Don’t want no short people
Round here
Short people are just the same
As you and I
(A fool such as I)
All men are brothers
Until the day they die
(It’s a wonderful world)
Short people got nobody
Short people got nobody
Short people got nobody
To love
They got little baby legs
And they stand so low
You got to pick ’em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That got beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin’ peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They’re gonna get you every time
Well, I don’t want no short people
Don’t want no short people
Don’t want no short people
’Round here
Those lyrics are horrendous aren’t they. And from experience I can tell you if it weren’t for us short people the rest of you wouldn’t feel tall.
But sometimes we view people and judge people based on their looks or appearance. We don’t look beyond the outer to see the inner person. We look at that person and think we may be above them or that they will never change. That is the story of Zacchaeus.
The story of Zacchaeus is not that he was the wee little man who climbed the sycamore tree or a clever Sunday School song that we heard as children. The story of Zaccheaus is that he was able to change, wanted to changed and strived to make the change.
Zachhaeus was a tax collector, a publican. Now he wasn’t just any tax collector but the the chief tax collecter. He had admistrative oversight over other tax collectors in the region. The tax collectors were known to keep a portion of the taxes they had collected. So we could assume that he had accumlated a portion of those taxes for himself. To put it simply Zacchaeus was a very rich man.
Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus, maybe from when he ate at Levis’s house. He was so interested that he wanted to see this man, this Jesus. He was willing to risk his reputation by climbing a tree so he could view this man that people were speaking of. In essence we can say that Zacchaeus was a bit start struck. Wanting to see this person who all the buzz was about. He wanted a clear unblocked view.
That is how we are at times; we want a clear view of Jesus. We want to see Him in all His glory. We want him to come and fix us. But to let Jesus do that we have to take down the barriers in our lives; we have to not erect walls—walls of hatred, walls of addictions, wall of habits and attitudes, walls of judgement and guilt, walls of hopelessness and despair. See Jesus sees beyond those walls—he sees deep inside of us and He knows us and He knows us so very well but it’s those walls that keep us from him…that make us feel separated from him.
A good-looking society woman was invited to an expensive fund-raising dinner in New York City. She was seated next to a wealthy lawyer. During the meal, they had a chance to get to know each other and were having a good time. When the meal was finished, the lawyer leaned over and asked the woman if she would go to bed with him for $10,000. The woman blushed but said that she would. The man then asked her if she would go to bed with him for $10. The woman was shocked and said, “What kind of a woman do you think I am?” The man responded, “My dear, we have already established that. Now we are merely deciding on the price.”
What’s your price? What would it take to cause you to sell out? We already know who we are. We are sinners who have been saved by faith in Christ. None of us is immune to sinful behavior. Even Paul the apostle stumbled and fell. Peter, when faced with possible persecution at the time of the Crucifixion, denied Christ three times. He had his price.
Both Peter and Paul grew in their faith, though, becoming strong and courageous. Both of them died as martyrs because no amount of money, no amount of pain could cause them to turn their backs on their Lord.
Some of us are fair-weather Christians. We stick with Christ until something better comes up, or until the going gets rough. Our goal as Christians is to allow Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to make us into the kind of people who are strong, firm and steadfast in faith.
We forget the promise given to us in I Peter 5:10;
“After you have suffered a little while, our God, who is full of kindness through Christ, will give you eternal glory. He personally will come and pick you up, and set you firmly in place, and make you stronger than ever.”
Zacchaeus didn’t know this. He didn’t know what meeting Jesus would do for him all he knew is that he wanted to see Jesus. Did Zacchaeus know his life would be changed that day when he climbed into a sycamore tree? Did he know that would be the day that he would be changed? Did he know that he would come to know the Lord and give to the poor and return what was taken from others fourfold?
Zacchaeus climbed the tree to see. But he came away that day forever changed, forever different. He didn’t hold back from God he gave all.
Sometimes we hold back, don’t we? We only give God what we want to give Him. We will give him a bit of this problem and some of this problem but we hold onto what we like. We hold onto habits, we hold onto vices, we hold onto our finances, we hold onto problems and worries and we hold onto that which keeps us separate from the Father. It’s easier to keep doing what we like to or things that we are use to worrying upon or chewing on than to go through the difficulties of changing our lives.
I hate it when people tell me they can’t change…they can but the honest truth is they don’t want. Change is hard, change is yucky and change is well change. When we change or alter ourselves we don’t have control.
Understand this…I have been there and done that. Change…Transformation—it’s not my favorite thing but those change, those transformations, those alterations have built me and made me into who and what I am. I am God’s child, I am his servant.
Zacchaeus was changed, he was transformed. He was evangelized to and he became a convert. Did you get those 2 words: Evangelize and convert. Two words that are not used enough in our church. Christ evangelized to people one on one as he did with Zacchaeus, he evangelized to crowds as he did with the Sermon on the Mount …we are to evangelize to share the good news and then we are to hope that people will convert.
We want them to change or alter their lives so they can walk the path that was chosen for them. A path that has been laid out for them but they or you have to choose to make those steps. Just as Zacchaeus had to choose to climb down that tree we have to choose the walk.
I have been in ministry here starting my 3rd year. I was in paid ministry at Kennewick for 4 years. And before that I worked with numerous youth. But what I have seen in my limited experience is this…God changes lives. He makes the difference. I want you to look around the room for a moment. And I mean turn your heads and truly look around. What do you see? You see people…you see people who have been going to church long before I was a gleam in my mama’s eye. You see people…who went to other churches but feel at home here. You see people…who have taken their first steps in their faith journey.
I see as I stand here before you all…I see people who a year ago or more that others would have thought of hopeless or that they never would be touched by God’s grace. I see people who were the walking wounded…afraid to let God touch them. I see people who have found their hope. I see people who are searching…and they are on the verge of discovery. I see people filled with God’s glory waiting to be used. I see prayer warriors, I see people of service, I see people of faith, and I see people with mercy and compassion. And I see the future in this place; I see the future in all of you.
Jesus saw something in Zacchaeus, a spirit of love, a spirit of giving, a spirit of hope and desire. Jesus looked beyond the stature and the job to the heart of the man and what he saw was good and just.
Zacchaeus at that moment chose to serve God. Chose to listen and obey. Who at times do we choose to serve?
An ancient story is told about a father and his son who were walking along a road one day with their donkey. Soon they met a man who told them how foolish they were to walk when they had a donkey that could be ridden. So the father and son hopped on.
They hadn’t gone very far when another man criticized them for both riding on the donkey. They were too heavy for it, he contended, and were being inhumane. So the boy got off.
It wasn’t long before a third traveler accused the father of being inconsiderate because he made his son walk while he rode. So the two switched places.
Soon they met another person who charged that the son was not being thoughtful of his father, who was so much older than he.
When last seen, the two were trudging down the road carrying the donkey.
There is an old rock song that says, “You can’t please everyone, so you gotta please yourself.” Whom do you try to please? If you listen to the crowd and try to dance to their tune, you will always be frustrated. If you are overly sensitive to the opinions and criticisms of others, you will end up carrying a needless burden of guilt and inadequacy. And if you just try to please yourself, you will become egocentric and selfish.
That’s why as Christians, we seek to please God, not other people. Paul wrote, “For me, to live is Christ!” Ultimately, our accountability is to God. “We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts” (I Thessalonians 2:4).
Zacchaeus heart was tested and he passed the test. Our hearts are being tested. Are we going to pass or fail? Are we going to listen to Jesus and climb out of our trees and look to him for help? Or are you going to trudge along doing lip service, saying the things that we think that we want others to hear? Are you going to be true to Jesus and true to yourself?
Or are we going to view things from the safety of the tree and not take the risk of knowing Christ and letting him transform our lives from the inside out.
He won’t make up physically taller, he won’t change our physical attributes but when we let him change us spiritually than we are tall and beautiful and we do anything through him.
Remember verse 10.the son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
We do not need to be lost anymore. It is clear that Jesus found what he sought in Zacchaeus and in us—that which was lost.
Let Jesus find you; let him take you from lost to found. He will not discard you but he will value you—you are each precious to him.
He looks beyond our physical attributes; it doesn’t matter if we are short or tall, fat or skinny. It doesn’t matter if we have scars or physical shortcomings…what matters is what is inside us, that we allow ourselves to be transformed and changed by God. Do you get this? The story about Zacchaeus isn’t that he was short, it isn’t that he was a tax collector, it’s not about the fact that he climbed the sycamore tree…the story is that he let his life be touched by God, he allowed the transformation to take place, he opened his heart to Jesus and he was touched and he made a difference.
The change is there if we want it to happen. Jesus is just waiting to change our lives but…we have to allow it to happen. We have to open up and allow the change. I will never be taller than I am…but I can guarantee you that this short person has got a reason and that reason being Christ in my life…let that be your reason.
