Glory be to Jesus Christ. I recently read a story
about a hundred -year -old man who suddenly stopped
going to church. And the priest was concerned
about his welfare. And so he paid him a visit.
And when he saw the aged parishioner was relatively
in good health, He said to him, Mr. Jabura, why
did you stop attending the liturgy on Sundays?
Well, he said, Father, I'll tell you why. You
know, I always like to come to church. But when
I got older and started to prepare for my death,
I really... began seriously thinking about church.
And when I reached mid -80s, I thought God would
come to take me. But that didn't happen. And
when I reached mid -90s, I was prepared to go
at any minute. But again, God didn't come for
me. So when I reached 100, I came to the conclusion
that God had forgotten about me. And so the reason
I stopped coming is because I don't want to remind
God about me. Well, there is some truth in that
probably fictitious story. Because we know only
too well, don't we, that when we don't attend
a liturgy on Sunday morning, God notices our
absence. He really does. Now, in contrast to
this story, I want to remind you of last Sunday's
gospel, which revealed God's miracle. By healing
the blind man. Here was a man who did everything
possible to get Christ's attention. And when
he heard Christ was passing by, he asked the
people, what is the commotion all about? And
he was told that Jesus was coming. And that's
all he had to hear. So he began crying out intently,
passionately, Jesus, Jesus, have mercy on me,
a sinner. And the people said, hey, man, stifle
yourself. We can't hear what the master is saying.
But the more they told him, be quiet, and as
Father John said two weeks ago, shut up. He cried
out the louder. Jesus have mercy on me a sinner
and Christ had him brought and said to him what
can I do for you as if Christ didn't know his
problem already and the blind man said I want
to receive my sight and Jesus said receive your
sight notice your faith has made you well. Now
in today's gospel, taken from the 19th chapter
of Luke, we learn about a man named Zacchaeus
who did the most strange thing that a person
could do. More about him later. I want to call
your attention to the last verse in today's gospel.
The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost. You know, in an earlier chapter,
Jesus said, More or less the same thing. I have
come not to call the righteous, but the sinners.
And I would like for you to keep that in mind.
Because this passage is one of the most significant
and important sayings. we have of Jesus in the
Gospels. He has come to seek and to save. From
the first book of the Bible, Genesis, in the
third chapter, we read that it was God who sought
and find The fallen Adam and Eve. After they
sinned. And they went. To hide themselves. In
the garden of Eden. One of the first questions.
That we read in the entire Bible. Is this. Adam.
Where are you? Will seek. The lost and the found.
And through the prophet Ezekiel. God declared.
This message. I will seek the lost. I will bring
back the scattered. I will bind up the broken.
And I will strengthen the sick. There's so many
other references to support the mission which
Christ came. And that mission remains to this
very day, to this very moment. Search and rescue.
Search and rescue the mission. For sinners. I
happen to know a little bit about the rescue.
The search and rescue mission. Because we had
to go through it. When I was in the military.
But in today's reading. Luke relates the story.
Of an encounter. With this man named Zacchaeus.
The encounter took place. In the ancient city
of Jericho. Christ. Went through Jericho. In
order to get. To Jerusalem. Which would be his
last visit. On his way. there was this humongous
crowd gathering. And Zacchaeus, who was the chief
publican or tax collector, and at that time they
were comparable to the mafia of today. The chief
collector of that ancient city was Zacchaeus.
He reached the top of his profession, but was
also the most detested and hated man in the region.
And Luke points out another characteristic about
Zacchaeus. We are told he sought to see Jesus,
who he was, but could not. Because of the crowd
and because he was of small stature. Visualize
that, please. He was trying to see Jesus, but
the crowds, he couldn't see above the crowds
because he was a small person. Small physically,
that is. So he asked the question, why was he
trying to see Jesus? Was it out of curiosity?
Doubtful. Conscience? Surely. Guilt? Without
question. And from the text we know that he was
a social outcast, a cruel, cold, insensitive,
heartless man who filled his pockets with money.
By deceitfully stealing it from the poor. Since
he was of small stature, it was impossible for
him to see Christ. And so I'm visualizing here
a little moment. And he said, well, it's useless.
I can't see him. So he started to leave. And
then he spotted a sycamore tree. So this little
fellow ran to the sycamore tree and was able
to jump on the first limb. And there he perched
himself, hoping to see Jesus. He didn't dare
go among the crowd. Because if he did, he knew
very well he'd be elbowed. He'd probably suffer
from a broken jaw or even a knife in his back
because he was that detested. So rather than
leaving, he did this childish thing. Disregarding
his age and his position, he jumped up on a tree
and there perched himself, hoping to see Jesus.
Now, I think it's important to point out here
that this was not a coincidental visit of Jesus
to Jericho. Just like it was not a coincidental
visit to Samaria to see the Samaritan woman.
It's not only the encounter and Jesus' attitude
toward Christ, but more important, it was Christ's
love and attitude toward Zacchaeus, the sinner.
And we are told that as he saw Jesus coming closer
and closer. The Lord looked at him. And I could
imagine what Zacchaeus was thinking. Man, he
sees me. He's going to tell me I'm going to hell
because of what I did, etc., etc. And what did
Jesus say to him? And I quote here in the scriptures.
Jesus said, make haste. Come down. I need, need
to visit with you today. Visit with you at your
house. Now we don't know, the scriptures do not
tell us what transpired. But we do know that
during this visit, and as a result of it, there
was a dramatic change. profound, life -changing
visit. In these words, we know that there was
something very significant that happened to the
heart of Zacchaeus. Jesus said this, after Zacchaeus
showed his repentance by saying to the Lord,
Lord, I want to give half of my possessions to
the poor. And I'm ready to repay fourfold anyone
I have cheated. And the words of St. James comes
to mind. Faith without words, without actions,
is dead. The old cliche is true. God hates the
sin, but never withdraws his love from the sinner.
And so he said to Zacchaeus, salvation has come
to your house, Zacchaeus. Salvation has come
to your house. Christ did not die for saints.
He died for sinners to make them saints. In receiving
Christ, Zacchaeus experienced the forgiving love
of God. He received it in his love and in his
heart. And ultimately and always, faith and repentance
must be generated from the heart. The word of
God teaches That Jesus did not come to invite
people who are self -satisfied with their goodness.
And who think that there is no need for them
to come to the Lord. He came to invite those
who are conscious of their sins. And who are
in need of a savior. And I close by saying that.
Like Zacchaeus will never see Jesus. Never. If
we remain. On the level we are. Because there
are too many things my people. Too many crowds.
Too many situations. Too many problems. Too many
priorities. Too many ifs and buts. Blocking our
view. The true view of seeing Christ. I'm not
suggesting that we need to climb a sycamore tree.
Because there are other ways of seeing and experiencing
the love of Christ. And what are these ways?
They're the trees of prayer, of worship, of sacraments,
scriptures, repentance, service, and love. Glory
be to him who has come. to seek and to save those
who are lost.