Returning a bit to the subject of clarity and how we see things, I am reminded a bit of name calling game my daughter used to indulge in while she was a young teenager. Invariably while driving we would see some young buck driving a car in a typical fashion. There were no hands really on the steering wheel but rather the left wrist is draped onto the top of the wheel while the driver is positioned almost facing the passenger. Usually it was a male driver of a Mustang, Camaro or Firebird which seemed to be in abundance where we were living. We had a fictitious, though derogatory name we came up with for this type of person. We would have been surprised had we met one of these guys and they uttered something beyond an unintelligible groan. Overall, probably not a good lesson to be teaching my daughter. Really, a bad example in fact. I believe I have come a long way since then and I know she has blossomed into the magnificent person she was born to be. We learn, we grow.
This story is somewhat ironic because my daughter is a highly intelligent natural blond. Acutely aware of some people's penchant for 'blond jokes', I let my daughter know that she would have to overcome the stigma some people attach to being blond, especially because she was gifted intellectually more than many other people. She is a star.
So what is this all about? A long winded confession of self judgment and perhaps bad parenting? Actually this all came to me from today's passage. Poor Zacchaeus was short of stature which has it's own arbitrary stigmas as well as being a tax collector. There certainly were some assumptions about that during the time of Jesus. Tax collectors were synonymous with cheats, liars and scoundrels.
Zacchaeus is a lesson for all of us. It is not just that we should not be making judgments about people or accepting the judgments that some in society heap on people. Clearly Jesus does not follow this paradigm. But as if the judgment of society isn't bad enough, this passage about Zacchaeus shows us that he truly was an honest and faithful person. Perhaps he sough Jesus because he had a bit more to prove because he was so judged.
People who feel that they have something extra to prove as a result of societal judgments is a sad testimonial to how we treat each other. Jesus once again takes on the sop of society and turns it on it's head.
Today I am reminded of how bad I can be, have been and how I have grown. I am reminded from this reading about Zacchaeus that I must continue to evaluate my own life, actions and beliefs to become more in line with the teachings and actions of the God/man that I proclaim as savior. How about you?
Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’
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