In the name of God, the Creator, the Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen!
Does the work of a person define their humanity? Can a person be moral without being religious? To what extent should we love those who do us wrong?
For every ‘bad’ person that exists, there is an element of goodness in them; even though it is difficult at times to access that goodness. Indeed, it is difficult to see the God in the other, when our hearts and minds are polluted with what they have done or the company that they keep. As Mark Anthony in William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar said: “The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.”[1] Sometimes people do bad things to us or associate with bad people, such that even when they do good we do not recognise it.
In the gospel passage this morning, we hear of Jesus’ encounter with a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector. Tax collectors in those days were numbered amongst ‘sinners’ and the unapproachable people. Ordinary people did not associate with them that much. The scorn directed at them almost makes sense, as some robbed the people or took more than what was owed. The chief collectors were known for cooperating, sometimes unlawfully, with the Romans. So, to use today’s terms, they were sell-outs or traitors and their lives were daily in danger. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and a rich man. So, one can imagine how people thought of him in that society.
The Bible says: when Zacchaeus learned that Jesus was in his neighbourhood, he climbed a tree to see the Messiah, because the crowd would not let him. Yes, he may have been short in stature, therefore it was difficult for him to see over people’s shoulders, but there was an element of scorn by the crowds. Some scholars believe that the reference to Zacchaeus’ stature may have more to do with his profession than his actual height. The crowd may have shunned or blocked him because of what he did for a living[2]. In any case, he is hindered from seeing Jesus. So, he climbs the tree.
Interestingly, Jesus sees him. He comes closer to his tree, makes eye contact with him, calls him down, and invites himself into the chief tax collector’s home and life. In our Bible discussion last weekend, Br Roger said, “Jesus always looks at the person and not at their label.” So, Jesus sees Zacchaeus the person, not just the tax collector. The last verse for the passage this morning says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” So, one could say Jesus deliberately used that route in searching for Zacchaeus.
Jesus brings out the goodness of this particular tax collector and restores his humanity back to society. We are told that, when Zacchaeus saw how Jesus viewed him, he stood there and said to the Lord, “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.”[3]
If I have defrauded anyone… That statement suggests one of two things for me. Either he did defraud people, or he was just associated with those who actually robbed people by virtue of his job. One school of thought says: Zacchaeus’ statement does not imply that he did commit extortion, but the sense is if I discover I have[4], then I will give full restitution.
Okay let me not get too romantic with semantics. I am not trying to advocate for Zacchaeus, but there is a part of me that wants to believe that maybe the crowds were wrong about him. Perhaps Jesus is trying to teach us that we must be careful not to block others from experiencing the grace of God. What if Jesus is trying to tell us that not all government officials are corrupt? How do you recognise the goodness and humanity of somebody in a group of the most notorious?
Jesus was able to see the humanity and goodness of Zacchaeus and praised him: Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham[5]. Thus, Jesus restores him back to community life. I am interested to know how the crowds reacted to Zacchaeus after this whole encounter. Did their relationship with him continue as distant, or did they change their minds about him and welcome him as one of their own?
Paul in his 2nd letter to Thessalonians writes: we ask that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.[6]
To what extent should we look for the good in those who do bad things? To what extent should we recognise the humanity of those who are associated with the bad? How do I see the God in the other when the other has done wrong or is associated with wrong doers? I’m not talking about the Madlanga commission.
How do I tell a grandmother who was raped and robbed off all her possessions to see the good in her perpetrators? It is very easy to say these nice things, when I am not a victim of violence. “Just love your enemy.”
I am reading a book by Fr. Michael Lapsley, Redeeming the past: journey from freedom fighter to healer. In it, Fr. Michael says he has not forgiven those who bombed him, simply because he does not know whom to forgive.[7] How do I tell him to love those whom he suspects to have conspired in his bombing?
What I know is that, at some point, Jesus was a victim of violence, and was still able to preach and model forgiveness. Fr. Michael, as we might know, is the pioneer of the Institute for Healing of Memories, an organisation that seeks to advocate for hope, transformation and peace by empowering individuals, communities and nations through healing of memories.[8] Victim as he may have been or is, he still advocates for hope and healing.
We are called to lead lives of counter-spirituality. Our spirituality needs to help us to live in a counter-cultural way. We cannot see things in a way that the world sees them. We must not block others from experiencing the grace of God. We need to model the grace of God to the world, so that God may be glorified in us. Amen!
[1] See https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56968/speech-friends-romans-countrymen-lend-me-your-ears
[2] Robert Leach: “Luke 19:1-10: Theological Perspective”, in Feasting on the Word: Pentecost and season after Pentecost 1 (Year C Volume 3), edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor.(Kentuky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 260.
[3] Luke 19:8
[4] Luke Timothy (1991) The Gospel of Luke. Sacra Pagina Series, Vol. 3. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 286.
[5] Luke 19:9
[6] 2 Thessalonians 1: 11-12
[7] Michael Lapsley, SSM & Stephen Karakashian. (2012). “Redeeming the Past: My Journey from Freedom Fighter to Healer”. New York: Orbis
[8] See https://healing-memories.org/