Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
November 4 - All Saints Sunday
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
2nd Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10

Salvation Has Come

Matthew is a Jew, a Pharisee, and he tells stories about how things happened in Jesus’ life to fulfill prophecies from the Old Testament.  Mark was a simple guy, and his Gospel is the shortest and most simple in it’s stories.  Luke was a physician, and his stories are about miracles of healing … and about the poor, the working class.  It is about the perils of being rich.  He tends to talk about what the rich are supposed to do with their money – give it to the poor.

So, that would make a good platform for me to stand on – this “Pledge Sunday.”  But, I figure you’ve already decided what your pledge is going to be … call me a cynic … or one of “little faith,” but I doubt that anything I say in the next ten minutes is going to change the number you put on your pledge card … so I’m going off in a different direction.        

Some things we know about Zacchaeus:  He was relatively short.  He was a chief tax collector.  He was rich!  What we can also imply is that he knew something was missing from his life … and he desperately wanted to see if Jesus could fill the void. 

We know he was desperate, because he was willing to climb a tree … look stupid in the eyes of everybody else.  But he didn’t care … he wanted to see Jesus.

We also know that he had a guilty conscience.  He knew that his wealth was not an honest wealth.  He had collected much more from folks than they should have had to pay.  He suspected this was somehow connected to this emptiness, this loneliness. 

When Jesus came to his house, he promised:  Half of my possessions I will give to the poor.  And, if I have defrauded anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.”  The law in Jesus’ time was very straightforward:  if someone stole money from anyone, they were to pay it back plus 20%.  That was the penalty … not just to reimburse what was taken.  Here we have Zacchaeus saying that he will give back what was taken plus 80%!  Zacchaeus knew that more important than the money that he had accumulated was the state of his relationships with the folks around him … and he desperately wanted to make things right!

See what good material this could be for Pledge Sunday!

But what I want to talk about is the reaction of the crowd to Jesus’ willingness to relate to Zacchaeus.

Jesus originally hadn’t even planned on stopping in Jericho.  He was “passing through” according to Luke – but he saw Zacchaeus and went to his house, had supper and spent the night.

The folks who saw this grumbled.  “He eats with sinners!” 

It speaks to the notion of “inclusiveness” that our church preaches.  We want to include everyone!  But do we?  Do we really want to include “sinners?”  Do we want to associate with people whose lives are a little – or a lot – shady?  What about the single mom who works at one of the clubs on Allens Ave. to put groceries on the table for her two kids – each with a different father?  How about the alcoholic housewife who hides her addiction?  What about the “adulterers and fornicators”?  The list could go on.

I had a flash:  if Jesus were here today, who would he choose to eat with when we go downstairs?  One of the longest members?  Me, since I AM the pastor?  Of course, I also thought we could all stand back and watch … and figure that whoever Jesus picked was the biggest sinner present! 

The message for today truly is about creating a congregation where EVERYONE truly is welcome – no matter where they’ve been … or where they might be going.  If they stop here, I want us to welcome them – in the name of Jesus!

Clarence Jordan (author of the “Cotton Patch” version of the Bible) tells a wonderful story about an amazingly integrated church in the deep South – before the days of integration.  Not only were there Black and White, but rich and poor … and they had a pastor who didn’t even have a high school diploma.

“How did you do this?”  Jordan asked.  Once the pastor figured out what Jordan was talking about, he told his story. 

He said that when the former pastor just “up and left,” I volunteered to be the new preacher.  The first Sunday I stood up and read “there is no longer any Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, males or females, because you are all one in Jesus.”  Then I closed the book and I said, “If you are one with Jesus, you are one with all kinds of folks, and if you ain’t, you ain’t!”

Jordan asked what the reaction was.  The preacher said that the Deacons’ called a quick meeting and told me that they didn’t want to hear that kind of preaching any more.”

“What happened then?”  asked Jordan.  “I fired all the Deacons!”

“Then what happened?”  Well, every Sunday I preached that sermon … and I preached that congregation down to four … then we started to grow, and grow, and grow!”

“What I learned is that revival don’t always mean bringing people in; sometimes it means getting’ people out who don’t love Jesus!”

And salvation came to this house.  May we be a people who are desperate to love Jesus … and may it come to ours – in Jesus name!

NOTE:   The last story in this sermon is credited to Pulpit Resource, Vol. 35, No. 4, Year C&A, October, November and December 2007, edited by William H. Willamon.

SERMON IN A SACK: