"He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’"
In the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, we are told of a man who- by all outward appearances and human standards-- should never have been the one chosen by Jesus that day. Not only was he a tax-collector, he was also a rich man, part of that category of folks about whom Jesus said— only a chapter earlier in Luke's gospel-- it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for one of them to get into heaven.
So why did Jesus choose him?
Surely there were others in the crowd that were more pure of heart, more righteous and just in their dealings with others. Yet in the end, it is Zacchaeus who is the unlikely disciple. The one who surprises everyone with his gesture of hospitality and his commitment to justice. He never would have been chosen by us, but he was chosen by God.
When Jesus stops to regard Zacchaeus in the tree, he doesn’t see what the rest of the crowd sees. Where others see a corrupt and over-privileged man, Jesus sees a heart ready to break open to receive the good news. Where others see a man making a fool out of himself, Jesus sees the possibility for transformation and conversion.
He sees Zacchaeus in a way that no one else does, and he announces to a stunned crowd that this man, too, Is a son of Abraham. In this story we see the realization of Jesus’ statement that with God, all things truly are possible. No one is beyond redemption. Not one of us is in a place to dismiss anyone else. This story is radical because it offers a much needed commentary on the glaring difference between how we see things, and how God sees things. It reminds us of just how often we are out of sync with God. Particularly when it comes to how we view and judge other people.
It is this issue of seeing, and being seen by God, that captivates me as I read this passage. Like many similar stories throughout Luke’s gospel, this story reminds us that where we see the despised and shameful, God sees beauty and humility. Where we see unworthiness, God sees a heart ripe and ready for the gospel. And perhaps most importantly, in those places where we do not see at all, it is the people who are invisible to us who are in fact God’s unlikely disciples.
Who are the people we dismiss?
Whose are the voices we silence?
Who are those that we do not see because of some artificial label that has been placed upon them?
Who are those we have left out on a limb— alone?
I believe that it is in our communities, our relationships, and our covenants with one another, that God makes God’s self present in our world. I believe that the Holy Spirit works and moves among us. But if we can’t see one another, how can we possibly aspire to see God? So often, we let ourselves be divided by labels, leading to the kinds of hurtful assumptions which keep us from truly seeing one another.
From seeing each and every person as a potential messenger of hope and peace in a broken world.
The apostle Paul cautions us that we are not to conform to this world. But I can’t help feeling that every time we allow ourselves to be divided by categories that are mere constructions of our own limited vision—
Liberal,
Conservative,
Democrat,
Republican,
Evangelical,
Progressive--
we are in fact conforming to this world in a way that is not in line with God’s vision. When we let ourselves be divided in this way, we are not seeing as God sees.
While these kinds of labels may accurately describe some aspect of ourselves, the story of Zacchaeus reminds us they are not the sum total of what God sees in us.
If they were, Jesus never would have acknowledged Zacchaeus in that tree. And perhaps then there would have been no conversion, no reversal, no hospitality, and no justice in that moment.
But if we were to see as God sees— if we were to see one another in the same way Jesus saw Zacchaeus, imagine the possibility for conversion, hospitality, fellowship, and for justice. Imagine the opportunity for transformation.
To see as God sees— to be conformed not to our human vision, but to let our imaginations become a part of God’s vision for us and all creation.
