Zacchaeus Sunday - Fr. Michael Margitich

Glory be to Jesus Christ. I recently read a story

about a hundred -year -old man who suddenly stopped

going to church. And the priest was concerned

about his welfare. And so he paid him a visit.

And when he saw the aged parishioner was relatively

in good health, He said to him, Mr. Jabura, why

did you stop attending the liturgy on Sundays?

Well, he said, Father, I'll tell you why. You

know, I always like to come to church. But when

I got older and started to prepare for my death,

I really... began seriously thinking about church.

And when I reached mid -80s, I thought God would

come to take me. But that didn't happen. And

when I reached mid -90s, I was prepared to go

at any minute. But again, God didn't come for

me. So when I reached 100, I came to the conclusion

that God had forgotten about me. And so the reason

I stopped coming is because I don't want to remind

God about me. Well, there is some truth in that

probably fictitious story. Because we know only

too well, don't we, that when we don't attend

a liturgy on Sunday morning, God notices our

absence. He really does. Now, in contrast to

this story, I want to remind you of last Sunday's

gospel, which revealed God's miracle. By healing

the blind man. Here was a man who did everything

possible to get Christ's attention. And when

he heard Christ was passing by, he asked the

people, what is the commotion all about? And

he was told that Jesus was coming. And that's

all he had to hear. So he began crying out intently,

passionately, Jesus, Jesus, have mercy on me,

a sinner. And the people said, hey, man, stifle

yourself. We can't hear what the master is saying.

But the more they told him, be quiet, and as

Father John said two weeks ago, shut up. He cried

out the louder. Jesus have mercy on me a sinner

and Christ had him brought and said to him what

can I do for you as if Christ didn't know his

problem already and the blind man said I want

to receive my sight and Jesus said receive your

sight notice your faith has made you well. Now

in today's gospel, taken from the 19th chapter

of Luke, we learn about a man named Zacchaeus

who did the most strange thing that a person

could do. More about him later. I want to call

your attention to the last verse in today's gospel.

The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that

which was lost. You know, in an earlier chapter,

Jesus said, More or less the same thing. I have

come not to call the righteous, but the sinners.

And I would like for you to keep that in mind.

Because this passage is one of the most significant

and important sayings. we have of Jesus in the

Gospels. He has come to seek and to save. From

the first book of the Bible, Genesis, in the

third chapter, we read that it was God who sought

and find The fallen Adam and Eve. After they

sinned. And they went. To hide themselves. In

the garden of Eden. One of the first questions.

That we read in the entire Bible. Is this. Adam.

Where are you? Will seek. The lost and the found.

And through the prophet Ezekiel. God declared.

This message. I will seek the lost. I will bring

back the scattered. I will bind up the broken.

And I will strengthen the sick. There's so many

other references to support the mission which

Christ came. And that mission remains to this

very day, to this very moment. Search and rescue.

Search and rescue the mission. For sinners. I

happen to know a little bit about the rescue.

The search and rescue mission. Because we had

to go through it. When I was in the military.

But in today's reading. Luke relates the story.

Of an encounter. With this man named Zacchaeus.

The encounter took place. In the ancient city

of Jericho. Christ. Went through Jericho. In

order to get. To Jerusalem. Which would be his

last visit. On his way. there was this humongous

crowd gathering. And Zacchaeus, who was the chief

publican or tax collector, and at that time they

were comparable to the mafia of today. The chief

collector of that ancient city was Zacchaeus.

He reached the top of his profession, but was

also the most detested and hated man in the region.

And Luke points out another characteristic about

Zacchaeus. We are told he sought to see Jesus,

who he was, but could not. Because of the crowd

and because he was of small stature. Visualize

that, please. He was trying to see Jesus, but

the crowds, he couldn't see above the crowds

because he was a small person. Small physically,

that is. So he asked the question, why was he

trying to see Jesus? Was it out of curiosity?

Doubtful. Conscience? Surely. Guilt? Without

question. And from the text we know that he was

a social outcast, a cruel, cold, insensitive,

heartless man who filled his pockets with money.

By deceitfully stealing it from the poor. Since

he was of small stature, it was impossible for

him to see Christ. And so I'm visualizing here

a little moment. And he said, well, it's useless.

I can't see him. So he started to leave. And

then he spotted a sycamore tree. So this little

fellow ran to the sycamore tree and was able

to jump on the first limb. And there he perched

himself, hoping to see Jesus. He didn't dare

go among the crowd. Because if he did, he knew

very well he'd be elbowed. He'd probably suffer

from a broken jaw or even a knife in his back

because he was that detested. So rather than

leaving, he did this childish thing. Disregarding

his age and his position, he jumped up on a tree

and there perched himself, hoping to see Jesus.

Now, I think it's important to point out here

that this was not a coincidental visit of Jesus

to Jericho. Just like it was not a coincidental

visit to Samaria to see the Samaritan woman.

It's not only the encounter and Jesus' attitude

toward Christ, but more important, it was Christ's

love and attitude toward Zacchaeus, the sinner.

And we are told that as he saw Jesus coming closer

and closer. The Lord looked at him. And I could

imagine what Zacchaeus was thinking. Man, he

sees me. He's going to tell me I'm going to hell

because of what I did, etc., etc. And what did

Jesus say to him? And I quote here in the scriptures.

Jesus said, make haste. Come down. I need, need

to visit with you today. Visit with you at your

house. Now we don't know, the scriptures do not

tell us what transpired. But we do know that

during this visit, and as a result of it, there

was a dramatic change. profound, life -changing

visit. In these words, we know that there was

something very significant that happened to the

heart of Zacchaeus. Jesus said this, after Zacchaeus

showed his repentance by saying to the Lord,

Lord, I want to give half of my possessions to

the poor. And I'm ready to repay fourfold anyone

I have cheated. And the words of St. James comes

to mind. Faith without words, without actions,

is dead. The old cliche is true. God hates the

sin, but never withdraws his love from the sinner.

And so he said to Zacchaeus, salvation has come

to your house, Zacchaeus. Salvation has come

to your house. Christ did not die for saints.

He died for sinners to make them saints. In receiving

Christ, Zacchaeus experienced the forgiving love

of God. He received it in his love and in his

heart. And ultimately and always, faith and repentance

must be generated from the heart. The word of

God teaches That Jesus did not come to invite

people who are self -satisfied with their goodness.

And who think that there is no need for them

to come to the Lord. He came to invite those

who are conscious of their sins. And who are

in need of a savior. And I close by saying that.

Like Zacchaeus will never see Jesus. Never. If

we remain. On the level we are. Because there

are too many things my people. Too many crowds.

Too many situations. Too many problems. Too many

priorities. Too many ifs and buts. Blocking our

view. The true view of seeing Christ. I'm not

suggesting that we need to climb a sycamore tree.

Because there are other ways of seeing and experiencing

the love of Christ. And what are these ways?

They're the trees of prayer, of worship, of sacraments,

scriptures, repentance, service, and love. Glory

be to him who has come. to seek and to save those

who are lost.