Generous Zacchaeus?
Proverbs 11:23-25; 2 Corinthians 8:9-15; Luke 19:1-10 - Stewardship Commitment & Thanks-for-Giving Sunday, November 21, 2021
Pastor Ritva H Williams
Today is officially Christ the King Sunday — a day to lift up Christ as the ruler of our hearts and souls, our minds and bodies. Today is also Stewardship Commitment and Thanks-for-Giving Sunday. Is there a connection between acknowledging Christ as the ruler of our lives, stewardship, and giving thanks?
In this morning’s reading from 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul names generosity as the connection. At the beginning of chapter 8, he praises the church in Macedonia because “their extreme poverty has overflowed in a wealth of generosity … voluntarily giving according to their means and even beyond their means” to his mission and ministry on behalf of the saints in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:1-6). In our reading we hear that their generosity was a response to the “generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ [who] though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” The church in Macedonia modeled its generosity on the generosity of Jesus. Paul encourages the believers in Corinth to do the same, and encourages us also to do the same.
When we turn to our gospel lesson, we meet Jesus walking through Jericho, the hometown of Zacchaeus, chief tax collector and rich. He was a rich man in culture that ascribed honor, status, and privilege to wealthy men. But, Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. He had paid for a government contract to collect taxes in Jericho and the surrounding villages. The way these contracts worked, the chief tax collector paid the entire tax allotment for the region in full and in advance. They hired tax collectors like Levi and Matthew to collect the taxes owed plus the tax collectors’ fees. Tax collectors were almost universally held in contempt as greedy racketeers and crooks. Whatever honor and privilege Zacchaeus might have enjoyed as a freeborn wealthy man was nullified by his chosen profession.
Zacchaeus’ situation is a wonderful example of intersectionality, an analytical framework by Black feminist scholar Kimberle Williams Crenshaw in 1989 to explore who how different aspects of personal identity contribute to both privilege and discrimination. While Zacchaeus’ maleness and wealth should confer privilege, they are overshadowed by cultural contempt for his role as a chief tax collector. Add to that the fact that Zacchaeus is a little man, short in stature. He fails to measure up physically to cultural ideal of masculinity. So although he should enjoy honor and privilege, no one in the crowd will make a place in the front row for him. Zacchaeus knows better than to even try, but he is desperate to see Jesus, and so he climbs a tree. That is where Jesus sees Zacchaeus, perched like a child in the sycamore tree. Jesus calls him to come down, saying he must stay at his house. Curiosity about Jesus turns to hostility as the crowd grumbles about Jesus’ preference to dine with a sinner.
Then Zacchaeus responds. Our English translation reads, “Look, half 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.” In the original Greek, however, the verbs are all in the present tense: “I give half of my possessions to the poor. I repay fourfold anyone I discover has been cheated.” Zacchaeus is already doing these things and will continue to do them. The crowd believes Zacchaeus is a sinner, but Jesus knows better. Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham, a beloved child of God who was lost but now is found.
As one commentary puts it, “this is a healing story: the restoration of abnormal or broken community relationships (caused by the stereotyping of Zacchaeus on the part of the community) has been effected by the power of Jesus. The story is therefore not about Zacchaeus’ repentance, but about the curing of … abnormal or disrupted social relations.” (1)
In this gospel lesson, Jesus shows us what generosity of spirit looks like. Jesus sees the person on on the outside trying to get in. Jesus sees beyond the stereotype. Jesus sees the authentic, vulnerable person trying to do the best they can within a corrupt system. Jesus reaches out, inviting them into relationship and community. Jesus shows us what it means to love one another as Christ loves us.
Surprise! Surprise! Zacchaeus turns out to be an exemplar of spiritual and financial generosity. He is a wealthy man in a world where the crowd should have made way for him, but he doesn’t yell and scream, kick and shove to get a front row seat. He humbles himself and climbs a tree.. As a member of the Jewish faith community, he knows that scripture requires him to give a tithe, 10%, of his produce and earnings to those who have no means to sustain themselves: widows, orphans, the destitute, persons with disabilities, foreign asylum seekers, and yes, the religious institutions that serve his community. But Zacchaeus gives half, 50% of all his possessions. He pays attention to how his tax collection business is run and compensates anyone who has been overcharged 400%. Zacchaeus strikes me as someone who epitomizes this morning’s reading from Proverbs: Some give freely, yet grow all the richer… A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water” (Proverbs 11:23-24).
So … am I asking you to be like Zacchaeus? That’s for you and your conscience to decide.
I do want to lift up what generosity looks like here at St. Stephen’s. 20% of our annual budget falls under the category of “Sharing Christ.” This includes everything we say and do to share the good news of Jesus Christ beyond our walls: website, social media, live streaming, neighborhood ministry, the staff to support those endeavors, as well as financial donations to the Southeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, World Hunger, Lutheran Social Services of Iowa, Camp EWALU, and Family Promise of Linn County. But that does not even begin to capture all the ways we share Christ beyond these walls. Members and friends have given over $10,000 above and beyond our budget in the first 10 months of this year to Our Love One Another Fellowship Fund to provide emergency food, housing, travel and other assistance to members and neighbors. Then there are the food donations to our Little Free Pantry. How do we put a value on the volunteer hours spent chauffeuring supplemental food to Grant Wood and Erskine Elementary Schools, or cleaning and renovating the church house for a homeless family, or re-organizing and preparing rooms on the lower level to accommodate the needs of Family Promise’s homeless guests, or planting and harvesting vegetables for Feed Iowa First, and so much more? This what generosity of time, energy and resources looks like here at St. Stephen’s. On behalf of all who have benefited, thank you!
But most of all thank you for the generosity of spirit demonstrated in our commitment to welcome all persons without regard for age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, financial or family status, physical or mental ability. These are not empty words we print in our bulletin (see Welcome Statement) but a vision and strategy for mission and ministry. A vision that is being realized in the full participation of our LGBTQ siblings. A vision that is being advanced as we learn how to become anti-racist. A vision that will be extended even further when our building renovations remove the obstacles that prevent persons with disabilities from fully participating in this community.
So on this Christ the King Sunday, accept my deepest gratitude and appreciation for all you do to ensure that this community of faith knows, lives and shares Christ. Thanks be to God. Oh, and let’s keep up the good work.
1. Bruce J. Malina & Richard L. Rohrbaugh, The Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, Augsburg Fortress: 2003, p. 304.
