Musical Prelude and Service.

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 & Luke 19:1-10
When I read the words of Habakkuk, I can’t help but think these words that were written almost
2,500 years ago, could speak to our experiences right here today:
“Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.”
These four verses in chapter one of the prophet’s writing brings one hit after another naming clearly
the injustice and the toxic environment of his society. Habakkuk is believed to have lived a few
decades prior to Babylon invading Judah and Jerusalem. At that time, Judah lived with the tension of
existing next to the empire of Babylon on one side and the empire of Egypt on the other. Their rulers
were constantly playing one great king off against the other; paying tribute to whomever was in
ascendance and wondering when the Egyptian king or Babylonian king would decide to install a new
more compliant ruler on the Judean throne.
Meanwhile, the elite of Judah lost sight of their responsibility to ensure justice for the people in their
care. They exploited the law for their own advantage and cheated the poor out of their land and
twisted laws intended to protect everyone to build their own wealth.
So Habakkuk looks around and wonders when God will choose to intervene. He is angry, he is sad,
and he puts his views in writing. This form of poetry is often referred to as a lament. It’s a challenge
to God – pointing out the ways the prophet and the people he is speaking for; who are suffering and
demanding an answer of God. You claim to love us; but where are you? And as usual in these vivid
and hopeful poems, God does respond. Keep watch. Share with the community what I am revealing
to you. Yes, you are being mistreated. Yes, the Babylonians are violent and enjoy their wine far too
much, but those things can be said of everyone around you. Their violence and injustice, the value
they place on power and greed will be their eventual downfall. Continue to name your laments,
continue to keep a watch on the world and you will find hope in my continued presence.
God does not abandon us. God’s love is ongoing, but we are called to stand on the walls and bear
witness to the pain and suffering so many are forced to endure. We are called to name the ills of our
society and hold out hope for the world that is yet to come.
This idea of hope is found throughout our scripture. It is not a passive thing. It is far more than an
intellectual exercise. Hope is how we choose to live in the face of a world that so often seems to turn
against us or abandoned those who are forced to exist with so few resources. We are called to keep
awake or to maintain a lookout for God’s promise, even when the signs seem invisible.
And I find myself reading the story of Zacchaeus with that thought in mind. Just prior to this
encounter in Jericho, Jesus has told a rich man to sell everthing and donate the proceeds to the poor.
The young man walks away in despair and the followers of Jesus ask, who then can be saved?
Well; apparently a rich tax collector can.
Zacchaeus is eager to get a glimpse of Jesus, but is not going out of his way to disturb this rabbi as
he makes his way into Jericho. As we are probably familiar with the story, Zacchaeus climbs a tree.
A chief tax collector is not going to be a popular or well-treated person in this time and place.
They earn their money by taking from their fellow subjects of the empire. The tax collectors are
essentially subcontractors collecting from the populace to meet the empire’s demands. Anything
above and beyond what they are required to collect, they can keep for their own profit.
They are generally seen as collaborators, cheats and profiteers. And yet, Jesus says he will stay with
Zacchaeus. He will eat with him; share his table. And the community starts its murmuring.
So there are a number of ways to read this story. Some scholars wonder who is actually the short
one. Zacchaeus or Jesus? The text is quite vague on this matter. In the end it is not important,
although the question does challenge us to reconsider common assumptions we often make about
scripture. And we can also ask why it is important that Jesus not be short.
But on the matter of reconsidering assumptions we make about the stories in scripture, we are also
confronted by the question; just how much of a sinner is Zacchaeus? Is he a dishonest sinful person?
It’s entirely possible. We are told he is rich. He enjoys a comfortable life. Luke has made clear his
thoughts on wealth, but depending upon your translation of the Greek text we get our gospel from,
Zacchaeus either says, if I defrauded anyone, I will pay back four times as much; or I pay back four
times as much. The wording is either in the present tense or the future.
Is Zacchaeus already committed to a life of giving back, a life of justice prior to his encounter with
Jesus? This continues to be a point of debate. In either case, Zacchaeus is committed to going far
beyond the traditional laws of what is required to make amends.
So eather Zacchaeus is already giving back and treating the people he deals with justly, or is now
inspired to do so. Either way, Jesus sees a person loved by God and open to salvation. He is a child
of Abraham. Never mind the murmuring the grumbling, the judgment of the community around
them, this man is seen and loved by a God of grace and mercy. Who can be saved by God? This guy.
Someone despised by his community.
Jesus constantly challenges us to reconsider our perspective on the world. The people we assume are
beyond redemption. The people we see as not worthy of our time? God elects them to step in and
change our lives. Just when we think we have everything figured out, we are taught a lesson in
generosity and grace from the most unlikely of sources.
We can easily look around our world and be convinced no path to justice and peace can be found.
That the suffering is only going to get worse for the foreseeable future. We can be tempted to give
up and just look out for ourselves and our own. But God urges us to stay alert and keep watch.
Look in the unexplored or unexpected places for a sign of God’s presence and God’s generosity and
love. Salvation is already here and always happening.
It is instructive that this encounter happens in Jericho. In Joshua, we read that two Israeli spies enter
Jericho to scout the city before their army attacks. In their frantic escape, they hide in a woman’s
apartment in the wall. We are told she was a prostitute, forced to the fringes of polite society.
In their gratitude, the spies offer Rahab and her family the means of avoiding the plunder and
violence of the invading army. She eventually marries one of those soldiers, and in Matthew’s gospel
is named as one of the ancestors of Jesus.
Today salvation has come to this house. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.
I find it difficult to presume these two stories are not connected in the minds of first century
audiences familiar with scripture. God is constantly surprising us. God sees our world in ways we
either cannot or will not. Where we see disaster and despair, God sees new life and new opportunity.
Where we see sin and people who are unworthy, God sees people trying to do better and people
caring in the ways they can.
May we see the world through new eyes. May we speak with the hope God offers us, and be inspired
to name our fears and our anger, but also stay open to possibilities for God’s world.
The prophets spoke in poetry about the brokenness of our world, but also described a new world of
justice and peace. Their poetry has stayed with us through the millennia. Vivid descriptions of a world
of pain and betrayal, but also descriptions of something new, offering us hope.
Who are prophets today? Where do we find descriptions of hope along side our cries of lament?
God is still speaking to us, responding to our cries and calling us to stay open to the possibilities that
are growing all around us. May we continue to watch and sing songs of Hallelujah and Amen.
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789