It may come as a surprise to you that we're already
at Zacchaeus Sunday. Zacchaeus Sunday is the
signal, not official. There's no hymnography
about it. We have a fresco up there. You see
Christ is entering Jericho, and there's Zacchaeus
who runs. Can you imagine a man at that time
running? He wasn't going to be caught in the
crowd when he can't protect his back. He wasn't
popular. And he climbs up into a tree. Well,
Zacchaeus Sunday is sort of the signal that next
week we're going to begin hymns from the book
called the Lenten Triodion, the hymn book of
Lent. And we have next week the publican and
the Pharisee, followed by the prodigal son. Reading,
followed by the Sunday of the Last Judgment,
followed by Forgiveness Sunday. We are approaching
Great Lent, and the Church is giving us an encouragement
as we come toward that date. And what consoling
words we heard today. What consoling words. The
Son of Man has come to seek and to save. that
which was lost. I was lost. I keep trying to
get lost for some reason. But the Son of Man
also says that he is the Savior, the way, the
truth, the life. And St. Paul, also comforting
and consoling words, says he desires, Jesus desires
all men, all people to be saved and come to the
knowledge of the truth. We never, we can't say
ever, ever that God has abandoned us. St. Timothy's,
the epistle to St. Timothy, he hears from St.
Paul that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men,
all people, especially of those who believe.
I'll explain that in a moment. Consoling words
on this day. of Zacchaeus, a man that Christ
came to save, just as he came to save that woman
we heard about last week and that blind man we
heard about the week before. Salvation is God's
business. The salvation of Christ is said to
be two things. It's extensive and it's intensive.
That is, it's universally offered to everyone.
He is the Savior of all, especially those who
believe. And it is even offered to the worst
of sinners, extensive and intensive. St. Paul
says that Jesus is the Savior, especially of
those who believe. What he means is that we who
are the servants of God, who have given our lives
to Christ, who claim that he is our Lord and
Master, That we spit upon the devil, we turned
our back on the devil. We fall maybe away in
sins, but we come back in repentance. Our baptism,
our chrismation, we have put on Christ. We've
been given the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit
who cleanses us and unites us to the Father and
the Spirit. Our soul is cleansed with confession.
We are joined to God in communion, without which
these holy mysteries, we cannot be saved, brothers
and sisters. We have given our life to Christ,
and there's something expected of us. To whom
much is given, much will be expected. And when
there are obstacles, we confess, we commune all
the time to be cleansed. We receive. God's love
all the time. Especially those who believe. Everyone
is a recipient of the incarnation and Christ's
victory over sin and death. That's given to every
single person. We have decided that we will cooperate
with that. We are the ones who believe. Christ
comes to this man, Zacchaeus. You know the story.
I'm not going to review it for you. I just want
to make a couple of points. There's a contrast
with a character in the previous chapter of St.
Luke. The rich young ruler. Perhaps you remember
that reading we had not terribly long ago. What
a lesson in true repentance means. We hear today
in the contrast with Zacchaeus. Remember, the
rich young man told Jesus, and I imagine with
some humility, I've kept all the commandments
from my youth. I'm good. Jesus says, well, you
lack one thing. Give everything to the poor.
Come and follow me and have riches in heaven.
The man went away very sad because he had invested
himself in the material wealth which comes and
goes and usually goes and did not make an investment
in the riches of the kingdom of heaven. You have
this good man, rich. And remember, Jesus says,
woe to you that are rich. How hard it is for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And then you have Zacchaeus, rich. And having
probably not kept any commandments. Who knows
how he fell into a sinful way of life? Who knows?
And what happens? Jesus says, after he sees Zacchaeus
in the tree, hurry down. Now, a man running to
climb up a tree in a crowd has to put his pride
aside. And a man told to hurry down from the
tree has to do it again. It's not easy. I must
abide at your house. Imagine if I called you
up on a Sunday. Jeff, I must abide at your house.
I'm coming over. I know I would be. But it's
Jesus. I must abide at your house. And he came
down and it says he received him joyfully. What
a contrast with that man who walked away sad.
Zacchaeus was able to then say, receiving him
joyfully, standing up, it says in the gospel.
Lord, he calls him. Notice, Lord. Not just good
master, but his Lord. Gave it all away. He was
left with nothing, probably. Oh, Jesus went to
have dinner with a sinner. What hypocrites. Who
knows how Zacchaeus fell into that sinful way
of life. Imagine. What a mental effort. A physical
effort that Zacchaeus took. He had to make to
be with Jesus Christ. First off, even to have
the idea, the inspiration to see who Jesus was.
And to say, who is he? The desire, we know brothers
and sisters, that come to us. They can go all
sorts of ways. We have to be very careful. The
church fathers, the spiritual writers, the monastics
tell us, they tell us, not just themselves, but
us. After Jesus' words, be watchful, for you
don't know the day nor the hour when the Son
of Man comes, or when we... might depart individually
each one this life. Be watchful. We have to be
careful because not everything we think or desire
is true. I've mentioned this to you many times.
I was driving along, car in front of me had a
bumper sticker. It said, don't believe everything
you think. We need to be watchful because our
thoughts enter our heart and that heart becomes
the battleground. And if we're not discerning
and careful, we fall into sin because we believe
what we think is true. The logismos, the logismi.
Zacchaeus, blessed Zacchaeus. St. Clement of
Rome tells us that Zacchaeus, as a result of
knowing Christ, repenting of Christ, didn't just
say, goodbye, Lord, I'll see you some other time.
and go back to his way of life. No, he became
a companion of the holy apostle Peter, who was
no doubt there at that dinner. And together with
that holy first among the apostles, Peter, he
preached in Rome, where during Nero's reign,
he accepted a martyr's death. He became discerning.
He put his pride aside. He climbed that tree.
He did everything he could, no matter what the
obstacle to know Christ. This is the basic lesson
if we're going to approach Lent. There are many
obstacles for each one of us. You know them.
Maybe I know some of them in you as well, which
is why I pray for you and which is why you pray
for me. You know my obstacles better than I know
them myself. As Lent approaches, As we experience
the love of God, the Savior of all, the one who
seeks and saves, one who's always giving us love,
in the encounter with the loving God in prayer,
we begin to see ourself, we begin to see which
thoughts we have and desires are ungodly. We
know those pretty well. It's the subtle ones
that we don't seem to get. If it's avarice and
love of money like Zacchaeus, we start to give
some away according to the law of the scripture.
If it's some other sin, you start to make an
effort on it with repentance. Whatever it is,
whatever obstacle is between you and God so that
you can't experience what St. Paul says here.
That Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men, especially
those who believe, the one who is seeking us
all the time. We have work to do, brothers and
sisters. This gospel today and this epistle simply
highlight for us in a very simple way with a
simple man who conceived of a desire to be with
Christ and remained. The whole time. To the end.
I encourage you, read this gospel again. When
you get home this evening, ponder it all week
long. Get as much benefit as you can. These gospels
aren't just chosen randomly. No, they're there
at the time we need, in the time of our life
we need, in the time of the situation that we
find ourselves in this country, in this time.
Your consolation is there. Your hope is there.
Your guidance is there. Give glory to God, who
is the Savior of all and loves us unconditionally.
Amen.