Zach Attack!
Scripture: Luke 19:1-10

Very often when you meet a person beyond middle age who is in great physical shape they can tell you a story of something that happened that made them begin paying attention to their health more closely.

In fact, most people who get a bad report from the doctor begin trying to correct what is wrong and a heart attack can be a real wake-up call to start taking better care of their health.
They visit the doctor more regularly, they eat better, they exercise with more discipline, and they begin considering all they will be missing out on if they just give up and die. There is more life to live and they want it.

That wake-up call begins a physical transformation.

Today's Scripture is about transformation.
Zacchaeus was what we may call an over-achiever. To begin with he was shorter than most men of his day; in fact he is so short that Luke recorded it for all of us to read about.

We know a lot about Peter and John and several others, but when the Bible mentions someone's height it is indeed something to pay attention to. It gives us a clue as to the type of person described.

Zacchaeus most likely grew up the shortest kid in school. Sometimes those who are short are literally looked down as inferior. That may cause the short person to try to do something to make up for his height by being the best at something else. Zacchaeus was very good at his job. Luke tells us he was the chief tax collector, which meant he had risen to the top position of collecting taxes for Rome.

Jericho, at that time, was a beautiful city in the Jordan valley. It was on the direct route to Jerusalem and its river crossing gave access to the lands east of Jordan.
It had a magnificent palm forest and its world-famous balsam groves perfumed the air for miles around. Its flower gardens were known far and wide.
Jericho was referred to as the "City of Palms." Josephus, the historian, called it a "Divine Region" the fattest in Palestine. The Romans carried dates and balsam from Jericho to world-wide trade and fame. This rich city and surrounding country-side made it one of the greatest areas for tax revenue as well.

Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, heard that Jesus was coming. He had heard that this Jesus, who actually had a former tax collector as a disciple, was known to welcome the cast-offs of society.

A crowd was gathering. Zacchaeus knew he would never get the chance to see Jesus if he had to stand in a crowd. Always aware of his height, he prepared by running ahead and climbing up into a huge shade tree beside the road.

Luke tells us that Jesus sees him in a tree and calls him by name. Had Jesus met him before, or did Zacchaeus have such a reputation that Jesus had heard about him before he got to town? Had someone warned Jesus? "When you see a little guy with really great clothes; he always wears a gold tassel on his waist rope, they say it is made of spun gold, watch out! Stay away from him. He has authority and he will get money out of you one way or another!"

When Jesus was passing by, maybe it was that gold tassel hanging down or part of the shiny border on his robe that caught the attention of Jesus.

"Zacchaeus, you are just the person I have come to see. Come on down and show me the way to your house. This is the day you have been waiting for."

As Zach was climbing down, the religious began to grumble. "Finally when Jesus comes to our town, guess who gets his attention? He goes home with the most detestable tax collector of all, the supreme servant of the Roman Empire, none other than Zacchaeus! They were ready to beat him up as soon as they could get their hands on him.

Zacchaeus got to the ground and said, "Lord, on this day I will give half of my wealth to the poor. If I have cheated anyone, I will repay that person 4 times over."

Jesus replied, "Zacchaeus, I think you've it! You understand what I am about. Today salvation has come to your house." He turned to the crowd and said, "This man is a son of Abraham. I have come to restore him to his rightful place."

What a great story!
Everyone was about to join in the Zach attack when Jesus changed the whole situation.
This hated servant of the Roman Empire, this traitor to their religion was now going to give up what he had worked so hard to acquire?

Zach had grown up in Judaism. What made him decide to excel in working for Rome? Had his own religion told him that he was inferior? Had they missed seeing his gifts and the opportunity to help him bloom into being productive for the Kingdom of God instead of the Kingdom of Rome?

Had they kept him down all his life because he wasn't tall and handsome?

Something happened that said to Zacchaeus, "You are on the outside. We don't want you."
Had Zacchaeus replied by developing a life focused on using whatever means he had to be acceptable to someone?
Did Rome use his feelings of inferiority and his internal rage at the rejection he had experienced to collect their taxes?
That day, although Zach had been hated and the subject of several verbal attacks; Zach had a different kind of wake-up call, one that touched his soul.

He was literally up-a-tree; most likely trapped and would have to wait for the crowd to move away before he climbed down.
He was also up-a-tree in his relationship to God. He was not welcomed by those who worshipped God. He did not fit in. He was in a super-hated category alone; "chief tax collector."

When a person who comes up against a heart attack and medical intervention gives us a second chance, we decide we must change our approach to life.
Zacchaeus had come up against the horrible treatment of his fellow Jews, and the intervention of none other than the Son of God. He knew he had to change his approach to life.

Jesus saw that instant of opportunity and he invited Zach out of the trap. He opened the door to helping Zacchaeus understand that he was valued. A visit from a Rabbi was reserved for the religious. They had the education and the interest in arguing the fine points of the law. Only the religious would be worthy of the presence of a Teacher of Judaism.

Who ever heard of a Rabbi going to the home of a tax-collector? That was political suicide for both.
But then who had ever witnessed such a transformation of a tax-collector?

Zacchaeus didn't care what his fellow tax-collectors would say about him.
Jesus certainly didn't care about the opinion of the religious and that day transformation happened.

The Gospel writer, John described Jesus as the Word of God in the flesh. He says in his first chapter that the word was with God in the beginning and present when all things were created.

We read in the Genesis story of creation that God spoke and things happened. That authority, that creative force, became flesh and dwelled among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

That creative force that made the first human and breathed life into him was present in this scripture we read today, standing under that sycamore tree looking up into the face of a person who was pronounced worthless by those who claimed to know God.

The Apostle Paul says that one of the reasons the scripture is given to us is for inspiration.
Inspiration has at its root word meaning in the Greek language, "to breathe into". We have that same image in the Old Testament in Hebrew when we read the story of God breathing into the first human, Adam, giving him life.
That breath caused the clay-formed earth-creature to be transformed into a living being, designed to live in a relationship with God forever.

When we read scripture we are to remember we are being breathed into by God. We are to gain inspiration from reading it, finding purpose and direction for our lives.

So many Christians go around short-of breath and their pulse racing because they haven't taken in what God has waiting in the oxygen tank stored in their Bible.

Shortness of breath is one of the warning signs of a heart attack. But we try finding the oxygen tank in working longer hours, earning more money, planning elaborate expensive vacations, buying more clothes, eating more food, going out more often with our friends, working harder at school to get better grades and while those things may be good in themselves, they don't provide the oxygen the soul within us is crying out for.

The One, who was considered a Rabbi, invited himself to the house of a known sinner and transformation occurred. That day Zacchaeus breathed in the presence of God's Son, and his life was changed forever.

Today we read this story from the ministry of Jesus. What life-giving breath is God breathing into us today in this scripture? How is it speaking to our hearts and what transformation is it inviting?

All of us are short on something. Maybe not short in height, but short on patience, short on honesty, short on generosity, short on humility, short on seeing life as God would have us see it, we are all short on something.

Now you may think you are perfect in every way and everyone else is inferior because they do not measure up to your level of beauty, or brains, or the correct political opinion, but the truth is even you are short on something. None of us is complete.

In the Apostle Paul's day there was a Christian Church in Rome. He wanted to go to Rome and share in the joy of their faith, but he was in prison, so he decided to write a letter.

Now being a Christian in Rome wasn't easy. Rome was the seat of everything wonderful from the world's standpoint and everything deplorable from God's standpoint.

It was tough to be a Christian in Rome, and if you could remain faithful in that place you indeed had a strong faith.
We might compare the difficulty of being a Christian in Rome with trying to be Amish while living in Las Vegas. It was tough.

Sometimes the Christians there sort of got the big-head. They thought they were the best, and slipped into the very sin of considering themselves better than other Christians, as the Pharisees in Jesus' day considered themselves better than other Jews.

The Apostle wrote to the Roman Christians this news flash recorded for us in Romans 3 verse 23... "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Oh, no! Did he say "short"? Did he say, "All have sinned"?

God's Word says none of us measure up to the standard of living for the glory of God.

We are all Zacchaeus in some way. We are all trapped, up-a-tree, no way out!

Jesus stands on the solid ground beneath the tree we climbed ourselves, the trap we are in and says, "Hey, look whose there in the tree. Come on down. You are the very reason I have passed this way. Today, I am going home with you!"

Zacchaeus knew what was wrong with his life. When Jesus announced he was worthwhile enough for a personal visit, Zacchaeus made a personal reply. He was going to clean up what needed cleaning in his life. He was going to quit cheating people, and he was going to make restitution and he was going to become the benefactor of the poor, instead of the oppressor.

That's transformation! That Zach attack brought a change in his whole way of thinking. Jesus standing there, looking up into his face, inviting him to a better way of life was a wake-up call for him.

Today we get to look down into the face of Jesus inviting us to come out of the tree we have gone up, out of the sin-trap that has us secure.

Are you going to choose to stay in the tree? Do we refuse the warning signs, the shortness of breath, the shortness of inspiration and climb higher in the tree; claiming we will fix this ourselves or do we breathe in the oxygen of Christ's presence, eager to have him go home with us, and live in every corner of our lives?

We read those words at the beginning of the service from that obscure Old Testament Book Habakkuk. He is asking, "Why is this happening to me?"

"I will climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I'll wait to see what God says, how he'll answer my complaint." I hope you will read that entire second chapter of Habakkuk today and hear God's voice.

Zacchaeus was in his lookout tower, up the tree. The look-out tower became a trap.
But then Jesus came to get him out of the trap. Zacchaeus listened and Jesus transformed his life into what God had in mind.

In that 2nd chapter in Habakkuk, after telling the sinful human situation as God sees it, we do not read, "God struck the sinners dead." Instead we read, "But, oh! God is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone-a holy silence. Listen"

Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
(From the New International Version of the Bible.)

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