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Glory to Jesus Christ, and of the Son, and of

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the Holy Spirit. My goodness, what a magnificent

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account, what a story. You can see Zacchaeus

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up in his tree in that fresco up there. If you

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take a look. And of course it's not there by

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accident in that particular spot. There's a particular

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reason it's right there because it's right before

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Palm Sunday. Jesus is passing through Jericho

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in order to go to Jerusalem and all the events

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that will follow they all are depicted right

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there all the way here and aren't you? anxious

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like I am, to be a Thomas Sunday too. In the

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Gospel, St. Luke tells us that the Lord was surrounded

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by an enormous crowd. And he stops. There's a

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man in a tree. This Zacchaeus, this rich man.

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You know all about the tax collectors and the

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Romans. Nobody's liked tax collector then. Nobody

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likes tax collection now. But this man practiced

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extortion, racketeering, and protection. So he

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was lining in his own pockets big time. And he

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was the chief of the tax collectors. He's up

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in the tree, this man. Can you picture this,

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this short little guy that everybody hates? And

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Jesus stops, and he points, and he says, Zacchaeus,

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he calls the man by name. He calls each of us

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by name, too, you know. He calls him by name.

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Zacchaeus, hurry up. Hurry up. Come down. Can

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you imagine Zacchaeus' surprise that this man's

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calling me by name? I don't know him. He never

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met me. Don't assume that Jesus turned to his

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disciples and said, hey, that guy from the tree,

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what's his name? I can't remember. No, Jesus

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is passing through Jericho. He knows each of

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us by name, brothers and sisters. He knows everything

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about us, our needs, our wants, and he cares.

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Imagine, though, not just the chaos of surprise,

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the disciples' surprise, but the surprise of

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the crowd. This man, and Jesus says, quickly

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come down. I must abide at your house. Abide,

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it's a lovely word. It means to stay, of course,

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that Jesus would stay. But abide has so much

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more elegance to it and depth to it. We think,

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come and abide in us and cleanse us in the prayer

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to the Holy Spirit. I must abide at your house.

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I must be with you in your midst. This is not

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a casual drop -in visit. And St. Luke records

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that some in the crowd that day watching what

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happened offered an analysis of the moral state

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of this man, which is, you know, what we do.

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We comment on everything. We judge everybody

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around us. They did the same. This is probably

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why Jesus, one of the few things he says, don't

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do or else, is... Don't judge because you'll

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be judged the way you judge others. This doesn't

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mean don't be discerning. But they condemned

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him. This man, Jesus, he's gone to be a guest

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with a man that is a sinner. When they saw it,

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they all murmured. They grumbled saying this

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man has gone to be a guest with a man that is

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a sinner. In one verse. Don't they tell us exactly

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what Jesus does for us? It's the good news that

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God loves us. For while we were still weak, says

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St. Paul, while we were sinners, at the right

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time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will

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scarcely die for a righteous person, but though

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perhaps for an unrighteous person, though perhaps

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for a good person, one would even dare to die.

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But God chose his love for us in that while we

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were still sinners, Christ died for us. Yes,

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the people were right. But they should have celebrated

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it, not murmured it. He has gone to be a guest

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with the man that is a sinner, which is exactly

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what he does for us. For you and for me. Our

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God is humble. And he has come to be a guest

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with each one of us. He's so humble that he even

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comes to send, to share his life with us in the

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bread and the wine, his body, true body, and

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truly his blood. How humble God is. So yes, number

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one, the people at right, he's gone to be a guest.

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He comes to us. Number two, he abides with us.

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He wishes to dwell with us. He says, hurry. You

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know those moments in the morning when you're

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hurrying to get out of the house? But he's saying

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also, hurry and pray a little before you leave.

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And thirdly, we know, we think of this story

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of Zacchaeus as the beginning of the pre -Lenten

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cycle, sort of a sign. On the way. That's why

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that's significant. Jesus is there. He's passing

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through Jericho. He sees Zacchaeus. He abides

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with him. Zacchaeus changes. He repents. I give

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half of my goods to the poor. And if I've offended

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anybody. Fourfold I give them. And he changed.

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You know Zacchaeus became a bishop eventually.

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And a martyr. So we see this gospel. We understand

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that it's leading us to great Lent. And next

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week it's the publican and the Pharisee. But

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technically speaking, this gospel is actually

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the last gospel reading for the year which began

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with Pascha and Pentecost. It marks the end.

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And so we're about to embark on something new.

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So before we start the new year, some of us like

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to look back and examine ourselves. And that's

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an opportunity that's given to us today, too.

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It's what we do at confession, but maybe we do

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it now as a parish for a moment. What's the effect,

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we might say, having heard all these Gospels

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from Pascha Pentecost till today, what's the

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effect, practically speaking, of the Gospel on

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my life? Does this account? Of repentance. Meeting

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of the Lord. Abiding with the Lord. Being forgiven

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because we're sinners. Does it intersect with

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my life in any way? Or is it just something we

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hear in the season and we're moving on next week

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to something else? How wonderful that the church

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gives us this opportunity to see if I'm doing

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what Zacchaeus did. Expanding a little effort

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to be with the Lord, to see him, to know him.

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Zacchaeus was so curious, his desire to know

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Christ, who he is. It's about expending some

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effort to do that. In prayer, yes. In works of

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mercy, yes. But then, Zacchaeus, what does he

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do? Jesus says, come down, come down, come down.

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It's an example now for us to examine ourselves.

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Have we been humble? Have we actually come down?

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Do we bow low before each other? Are we obedient

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to the commandments of the church? If we are,

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then the statement that Jesus said to his followers

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in another place, you are the light of the world.

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It means something in that case. But if we examine

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ourselves today, for myself, I can say, my light,

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Christ's light in me, it's no brighter than a

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cell phone flashlight. That is not the light

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of the world. How can it be that Jesus says you

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are the light of the world? But we can't seem

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to acquire that because we haven't expended the

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effort to rise up. We haven't gone down to lower

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ourselves before each other. And we haven't spent

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the time abiding in the presence of Christ. Making

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our confession. We talk about that all the time.

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Am I self -aware? Or am I like the people in

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that story? Aware of other people's sins? Rarely

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confessing my own, thereby forgetting. I'm responsible

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for the Lord, for my soul and its condition.

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That's what it means. when we hear the parable

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of the talents, which we heard recently. In other

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words, brothers and sisters, this gospel is profoundly

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important for each one of us if, if, only if,

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we take the time to see we're going to launch

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into something new and to examine ourselves from

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where we've been. This isn't simply a story of

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Jesus meeting a bad guy, and the bad guy gets

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good. This isn't just a story of Jesus deciding,

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I'm going to stay with this guy, and then he

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moves on to Jerusalem. This is an encounter with

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the living God. Let me end with this quote from

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the Elder Zachariah of Essex. I quoted him last

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week, too. It's a wonderful little book. about

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the pre -Lenten Gospels. He says it's our God,

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it's a God who comes to meet us in the course

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of our lives. He does not predetermine our future,

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ordaining who will be saved and who will perish,

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since his only desire is the salvation of all.

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We heard that in the epistle. He just perceives

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who will be filled with gratitude at his calling

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and follow him. To such a person, God grants

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the grace of salvation and destines him for the

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glory of heaven. St. Luke, the church, is telling

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us something today, something like, look at yourself,

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wake up, pay attention, wisdom, stand aright,

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let us hear the Holy Gospel, let us be transformed,

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let us bear our shame to climb that tree, let

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us be obedient to come down and to abide with

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the Lord, no matter what. the shame is for doing

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something like him. To our Lord, who is our life,

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be glory now and ever, to ages of ages. Amen.