Zacchaeus Sunday 2022

It may come as a surprise to you that we're already

at Zacchaeus Sunday. Zacchaeus Sunday is the

signal, not official. There's no hymnography

about it. We have a fresco up there. You see

Christ is entering Jericho, and there's Zacchaeus

who runs. Can you imagine a man at that time

running? He wasn't going to be caught in the

crowd when he can't protect his back. He wasn't

popular. And he climbs up into a tree. Well,

Zacchaeus Sunday is sort of the signal that next

week we're going to begin hymns from the book

called the Lenten Triodion, the hymn book of

Lent. And we have next week the publican and

the Pharisee, followed by the prodigal son. Reading,

followed by the Sunday of the Last Judgment,

followed by Forgiveness Sunday. We are approaching

Great Lent, and the Church is giving us an encouragement

as we come toward that date. And what consoling

words we heard today. What consoling words. The

Son of Man has come to seek and to save. that

which was lost. I was lost. I keep trying to

get lost for some reason. But the Son of Man

also says that he is the Savior, the way, the

truth, the life. And St. Paul, also comforting

and consoling words, says he desires, Jesus desires

all men, all people to be saved and come to the

knowledge of the truth. We never, we can't say

ever, ever that God has abandoned us. St. Timothy's,

the epistle to St. Timothy, he hears from St.

Paul that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men,

all people, especially of those who believe.

I'll explain that in a moment. Consoling words

on this day. of Zacchaeus, a man that Christ

came to save, just as he came to save that woman

we heard about last week and that blind man we

heard about the week before. Salvation is God's

business. The salvation of Christ is said to

be two things. It's extensive and it's intensive.

That is, it's universally offered to everyone.

He is the Savior of all, especially those who

believe. And it is even offered to the worst

of sinners, extensive and intensive. St. Paul

says that Jesus is the Savior, especially of

those who believe. What he means is that we who

are the servants of God, who have given our lives

to Christ, who claim that he is our Lord and

Master, That we spit upon the devil, we turned

our back on the devil. We fall maybe away in

sins, but we come back in repentance. Our baptism,

our chrismation, we have put on Christ. We've

been given the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit

who cleanses us and unites us to the Father and

the Spirit. Our soul is cleansed with confession.

We are joined to God in communion, without which

these holy mysteries, we cannot be saved, brothers

and sisters. We have given our life to Christ,

and there's something expected of us. To whom

much is given, much will be expected. And when

there are obstacles, we confess, we commune all

the time to be cleansed. We receive. God's love

all the time. Especially those who believe. Everyone

is a recipient of the incarnation and Christ's

victory over sin and death. That's given to every

single person. We have decided that we will cooperate

with that. We are the ones who believe. Christ

comes to this man, Zacchaeus. You know the story.

I'm not going to review it for you. I just want

to make a couple of points. There's a contrast

with a character in the previous chapter of St.

Luke. The rich young ruler. Perhaps you remember

that reading we had not terribly long ago. What

a lesson in true repentance means. We hear today

in the contrast with Zacchaeus. Remember, the

rich young man told Jesus, and I imagine with

some humility, I've kept all the commandments

from my youth. I'm good. Jesus says, well, you

lack one thing. Give everything to the poor.

Come and follow me and have riches in heaven.

The man went away very sad because he had invested

himself in the material wealth which comes and

goes and usually goes and did not make an investment

in the riches of the kingdom of heaven. You have

this good man, rich. And remember, Jesus says,

woe to you that are rich. How hard it is for

a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

And then you have Zacchaeus, rich. And having

probably not kept any commandments. Who knows

how he fell into a sinful way of life? Who knows?

And what happens? Jesus says, after he sees Zacchaeus

in the tree, hurry down. Now, a man running to

climb up a tree in a crowd has to put his pride

aside. And a man told to hurry down from the

tree has to do it again. It's not easy. I must

abide at your house. Imagine if I called you

up on a Sunday. Jeff, I must abide at your house.

I'm coming over. I know I would be. But it's

Jesus. I must abide at your house. And he came

down and it says he received him joyfully. What

a contrast with that man who walked away sad.

Zacchaeus was able to then say, receiving him

joyfully, standing up, it says in the gospel.

Lord, he calls him. Notice, Lord. Not just good

master, but his Lord. Gave it all away. He was

left with nothing, probably. Oh, Jesus went to

have dinner with a sinner. What hypocrites. Who

knows how Zacchaeus fell into that sinful way

of life. Imagine. What a mental effort. A physical

effort that Zacchaeus took. He had to make to

be with Jesus Christ. First off, even to have

the idea, the inspiration to see who Jesus was.

And to say, who is he? The desire, we know brothers

and sisters, that come to us. They can go all

sorts of ways. We have to be very careful. The

church fathers, the spiritual writers, the monastics

tell us, they tell us, not just themselves, but

us. After Jesus' words, be watchful, for you

don't know the day nor the hour when the Son

of Man comes, or when we... might depart individually

each one this life. Be watchful. We have to be

careful because not everything we think or desire

is true. I've mentioned this to you many times.

I was driving along, car in front of me had a

bumper sticker. It said, don't believe everything

you think. We need to be watchful because our

thoughts enter our heart and that heart becomes

the battleground. And if we're not discerning

and careful, we fall into sin because we believe

what we think is true. The logismos, the logismi.

Zacchaeus, blessed Zacchaeus. St. Clement of

Rome tells us that Zacchaeus, as a result of

knowing Christ, repenting of Christ, didn't just

say, goodbye, Lord, I'll see you some other time.

and go back to his way of life. No, he became

a companion of the holy apostle Peter, who was

no doubt there at that dinner. And together with

that holy first among the apostles, Peter, he

preached in Rome, where during Nero's reign,

he accepted a martyr's death. He became discerning.

He put his pride aside. He climbed that tree.

He did everything he could, no matter what the

obstacle to know Christ. This is the basic lesson

if we're going to approach Lent. There are many

obstacles for each one of us. You know them.

Maybe I know some of them in you as well, which

is why I pray for you and which is why you pray

for me. You know my obstacles better than I know

them myself. As Lent approaches, As we experience

the love of God, the Savior of all, the one who

seeks and saves, one who's always giving us love,

in the encounter with the loving God in prayer,

we begin to see ourself, we begin to see which

thoughts we have and desires are ungodly. We

know those pretty well. It's the subtle ones

that we don't seem to get. If it's avarice and

love of money like Zacchaeus, we start to give

some away according to the law of the scripture.

If it's some other sin, you start to make an

effort on it with repentance. Whatever it is,

whatever obstacle is between you and God so that

you can't experience what St. Paul says here.

That Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men, especially

those who believe, the one who is seeking us

all the time. We have work to do, brothers and

sisters. This gospel today and this epistle simply

highlight for us in a very simple way with a

simple man who conceived of a desire to be with

Christ and remained. The whole time. To the end.

I encourage you, read this gospel again. When

you get home this evening, ponder it all week

long. Get as much benefit as you can. These gospels

aren't just chosen randomly. No, they're there

at the time we need, in the time of our life

we need, in the time of the situation that we

find ourselves in this country, in this time.

Your consolation is there. Your hope is there.

Your guidance is there. Give glory to God, who

is the Savior of all and loves us unconditionally.

Amen.