Our Sunday, We Sinners: Finding and Climbing our Sycamore Tree
Wisdom 11:22-12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10
Tell me about it! Many a persons, including Christians, wage wars against Sacramental Confession, because they say that the priest is just a human being like themselves or because they can talk to God directly or because it is humiliating to expose one’s sins/wrongs to others! Yet, there is no day that passes that one doesn’t either read or watch someone confessing his/her sins, only that it is not called sins, it is called political correctness or reconnecting with one’s fans or political base or it is called counseling session/therapy. In fact, Australia has taken this hatred of Sacramental Confession a step further by legalizing the right to know what happens at the Confessional – long live gossip! If politicians and others could confess before the world, do you have the courage to confess your sins before God?
If the name “Zacchaeus” takes its root from the Hebrew verb “to be pure,” it follows that this Sunday’s readings point the way to purity for all those who are not pure, that is, sinners. The parable of today’s gospel brings together three elements – God, represented by Jesus Christ; human beings, to which the Pharisees/crowds stand for; and Zacchaeus, a notorious sinner, going by his job or occupation; these actors help us to see the ingredients necessary for a purity of life. Our parable suggests that purity is only negotiated when there is a Divine/God’s intervention in the life of a sinner, and when the sinner is determined and courageous enough to weather the storm of accusations and ridicule. It is God who grants purity of life and soul, in a world full of hypocrites who pass themselves off for saints and angels in human form.
The meeting of Jesus and Lazarus in the gospel is no accident. Jesus takes the road to Jerusalem for the salvation of all, including Lazarus’ and the Pharisees’. Jericho is one bus stop, among many, on the way to Jerusalem, because Jesus heals the physical blindness of a man before he entered Jericho (Luke 18:35-43), it is now time for him to heal a spiritual blindness (Luke 19:1-10). To be on the road to Jerusalem, the path to wrought human salvation, places every sinner on the path of Jesus, who offers salvation to all. Just as Jesus took the initiative to go to Jerusalem, he takes the initiative to invite himself to the house of Zacchaeus: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house” (Luke 19:5).
Jesus’s project of salvation will necessitate the giving up of his life in Jerusalem, after the agony, crucifixion and death on the cross – that is the meaning of “being on the road to Jerusalem” (Luke 18:31). Although we often forget it and deny it, yet it is very evident to every human being, that no one is sinless, we are all sinners, and that the mercy of God is all that keeps us alive: “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared” (Psalm 130:3-4). It is this admission of sinfulness that brings Jesus to meet us, and put us on the path to encounter Jesus. This is the desire of Zacchaeus, he wanted badly to meet Jesus because he discovered his need for God in his life, he desired healing from and forgiveness of his sins.
As a wealthy man, because the gospel says he was, Zacchaeus definitely knew that “money brings money” – using what one has to achieve what one desires! Unfortunately, money couldn’t help him to meet Jesus. His desire to meet Jesus, to encounter the person he must have heard much about, just as we all have heard about the lives of saints and the inner urge to experience peace from our hidden guilts. Zacchaeus realized that with determination, one could circumvent life’s obstacles, even natural ones, so he looked out for a sycamore tree to make up for his shortness, climbed it, and from the top of the sycamore tree, he gained a new perspective, new sight – he saw Jesus. By moving to higher grounds, by overcoming the obstacles to his pride of being a rich man, he reached out for salvation. How wonderful the news – today, salvation has come to this house, for this too is a son of Abraham (Luke 19:9)! As a matter of fact, like the sins of the world that Jesus nailed to the cross of Calvary, Zacchaeus left his sins upon the sycamore tree and descended and returned home a changed person – he became host to God, Jesus Christ.
The story of Zacchaeus teaches us the power of confession, if we have really encountered the Lord. It is not a question of having done what is wrong or sinful, but the power to see through the blindness of sin and its incapacitation. Wealth couldn’t bring Jesus to Zacchaeus, there was an emptiness that needed filling, and a cataract requiring removal. The objectification of human beings and Zacchaeus’ utilitarianism of his fellow human beings experienced a turn around; his encounter with Jesus, his experience of love from Jesus, took out the cataract that prevented him from seeing the humanity in other human beings. From being an exploiter of human beings, he became a humanitarian, ready to spend his money to make others feel good about themselves – “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over” (Luke 19:8).
Zacchaeus’ sacrificial offering of his wealth points to his determination to mortgage his earthly wealth and the pleasure that accrues to the human flesh from wealth, in order to save his soul. Repentance is the fundamental option to privilege the salvation of the soul over the cravings of the flesh. This option is only possible with the realization that our immortality is not on the level of the flesh, but the soul; our likeness to God is chiefly in our soul: “But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things” (Wisdom 12:1-2).
The image of the Pharisee and their accusation of Zacchaeus as a sinner is a reminder of the scare-tactics we experience everyday either through peer-pressure or the inner voice of intimidation that keeps telling us how wrong and vulnerable we are when we go for Confession because one way or the other we think that our sin will be leaked, people will know who we truly are and how vulnerable we will become pursuing our ambitious plans for our future, whatever those plans are. Isn’t all this the impediments that we face on our road to purity/holiness, our care and concerns about our image and what people thinking about, and sparing no thoughts for what God thinks about us? These our hinderances are like the presence of the crowds that were obstacles to Zacchaeus’ pathway to encounter with Jesus, the other people taller than himself, not to call it his natural height-impediment. You and I need a plan B, a sycamore tree that will obviate the obstacles to our salvation.
Like sin, old habits die hard. What are you ready to give up as the first stage in your renunciation of your sins? Zacchaeus parted with his looted wealth – I will repay four-fold anybody I ever exploited – there wouldn’t be much wealth left after that, I imagine; it was a risk Zacchaeus was taking, because he knew that with the presence of Jesus in his soul/home, all will be well. The scare of what the future held for him, financial insecurity, was sacrificed on the altar of trust in Jesus’ presence and company.
Surely, our sins are not the same, just as our looks are not the same – what matters is that we are sinners, and every sinner needs repentance. The theme of the mercy of God is what pervades our first reading as an encouragement to repentance and love of God. We experience the mercy of God in two ways, the forgiveness of our sins and the love of God for every
Our Sunday, We Sinners: Finding and Climbing our Sycamore Tree
Wisdom 11:22-12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10
Tell me about it! Many a persons, including Christians, wage wars against Sacramental Confession, because they say that the priest is just a human being like themselves or because they can talk to God directly or because it is humiliating to expose one’s sins/wrongs to others! Yet, there is no day that passes that one doesn’t either read or watch someone confessing his/her sins, only that it is not called sins, it is called political correctness or reconnecting with one’s fans or political base or it is called counseling session/therapy. In fact, Australia has taken this hatred of Sacramental Confession a step further by legalizing the right to know what happens at the Confessional – long live gossip! If politicians and others could confess before the world, do you have the courage to confess your sins before God?
If the name “Zacchaeus” takes its root from the Hebrew verb “to be pure,” it follows that this Sunday’s readings point the way to purity for all those who are not pure, that is, sinners. The parable of today’s gospel brings together three elements – God, represented by Jesus Christ; human beings, to which the Pharisees/crowds stand for; and Zacchaeus, a notorious sinner, going by his job or occupation; these actors help us to see the ingredients necessary for a purity of life. Our parable suggests that purity is only negotiated when there is a Divine/God’s intervention in the life of a sinner, and when the sinner is determined and courageous enough to weather the storm of accusations and ridicule. It is God who grants purity of life and soul, in a world full of hypocrites who pass themselves off for saints and angels in human form.
The meeting of Jesus and Lazarus in the gospel is no accident. Jesus takes the road to Jerusalem for the salvation of all, including Lazarus’ and the Pharisees’. Jericho is one bus stop, among many, on the way to Jerusalem, because Jesus heals the physical blindness of a man before he entered Jericho (Luke 18:35-43), it is now time for him to heal a spiritual blindness (Luke 19:1-10). To be on the road to Jerusalem, the path to wrought human salvation, places every sinner on the path of Jesus, who offers salvation to all. Just as Jesus took the initiative to go to Jerusalem, he takes the initiative to invite himself to the house of Zacchaeus: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house” (Luke 19:5).
Jesus’s project of salvation will necessitate the giving up of his life in Jerusalem, after the agony, crucifixion and death on the cross – that is the meaning of “being on the road to Jerusalem” (Luke 18:31). Although we often forget it and deny it, yet it is very evident to every human being, that no one is sinless, we are all sinners, and that the mercy of God is all that keeps us alive: “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared” (Psalm 130:3-4). It is this admission of sinfulness that brings Jesus to meet us, and put us on the path to encounter Jesus. This is the desire of Zacchaeus, he wanted badly to meet Jesus because he discovered his need for God in his life, he desired healing from and forgiveness of his sins.
As a wealthy man, because the gospel says he was, Zacchaeus definitely knew that “money brings money” – using what one has to achieve what one desires! Unfortunately, money couldn’t help him to meet Jesus. His desire to meet Jesus, to encounter the person he must have heard much about, just as we all have heard about the lives of saints and the inner urge to experience peace from our hidden guilts. Zacchaeus realized that with determination, one could circumvent life’s obstacles, even natural ones, so he looked out for a sycamore tree to make up for his shortness, climbed it, and from the top of the sycamore tree, he gained a new perspective, new sight – he saw Jesus. By moving to higher grounds, by overcoming the obstacles to his pride of being a rich man, he reached out for salvation. How wonderful the news – today, salvation has come to this house, for this too is a son of Abraham (Luke 19:9)! As a matter of fact, like the sins of the world that Jesus nailed to the cross of Calvary, Zacchaeus left his sins upon the sycamore tree and descended and returned home a changed person – he became host to God, Jesus Christ.
The story of Zacchaeus teaches us the power of confession, if we have really encountered the Lord. It is not a question of having done what is wrong or sinful, but the power to see through the blindness of sin and its incapacitation. Wealth couldn’t bring Jesus to Zacchaeus, there was an emptiness that needed filling, and a cataract requiring removal. The objectification of human beings and Zacchaeus’ utilitarianism of his fellow human beings experienced a turn around; his encounter with Jesus, his experience of love from Jesus, took out the cataract that prevented him from seeing the humanity in other human beings. From being an exploiter of human beings, he became a humanitarian, ready to spend his money to make others feel good about themselves – “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over” (Luke 19:8).
Zacchaeus’ sacrificial offering of his wealth points to his determination to mortgage his earthly wealth and the pleasure that accrues to the human flesh from wealth, in order to save his soul. Repentance is the fundamental option to privilege the salvation of the soul over the cravings of the flesh. This option is only possible with the realization that our immortality is not on the level of the flesh, but the soul; our likeness to God is chiefly in our soul: “But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things” (Wisdom 12:1-2).
The image of the Pharisee and their accusation of Zacchaeus as a sinner is a reminder of the scare-tactics we experience everyday either through peer-pressure or the inner voice of intimidation that keeps telling us how wrong and vulnerable we are when we go for Confession because one way or the other we think that our sin will be leaked, people will know who we truly are and how vulnerable we will become pursuing our ambitious plans for our future, whatever those plans are. Isn’t all this the impediments that we face on our road to purity/holiness, our care and concerns about our image and what people thinking about, and sparing no thoughts for what God thinks about us? These our hinderances are like the presence of the crowds that were obstacles to Zacchaeus’ pathway to encounter with Jesus, the other people taller than himself, not to call it his natural height-impediment. You and I need a plan B, a sycamore tree that will obviate the obstacles to our salvation.
Like sin, old habits die hard. What are you ready to give up as the first stage in your renunciation of your sins? Zacchaeus parted with his looted wealth – I will repay four-fold anybody I ever exploited – there wouldn’t be much wealth left after that, I imagine; it was a risk Zacchaeus was taking, because he knew that with the presence of Jesus in his soul/home, all will be well. The scare of what the future held for him, financial insecurity, was sacrificed on the altar of trust in Jesus’ presence and company.
Surely, our sins are not the same, just as our looks are not the same – what matters is that we are sinners, and every sinner needs repentance. The theme of the mercy of God is what pervades our first reading as an encouragement to repentance and love of God. We experience the mercy of God in two ways, the forgiveness of our sins and the love of God for every thing he created, like Zacchaeus did: “you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made” (Wisdom 11:23-24). Yes, every Christian needs to find his sycamore tree and climb it in order to see the Savior and the salvation that he brings. It may be the people in our lives that lead us to sin and prevent us from purity and holiness of life – climbing a sycamore tree takes care of it; it may be wealth and power that cogs our wheel towards holiness and confession of our sins – we need to find and climb our sycamore tree; it may be the pharisaic-like ridicule and criticism that hold us back in sin – we must climb our sycamore three to access our salvation. “Sycamore” tree is every available means that leads us back to God.
Assignment for the Week:
Go for Sacramental Confession this week.