Recorded
VersionUp and Down the Tree

David Orendorff · Luke 19:1-10 · November 4^th, 2007

At the end of the story Zacchaeus is a likable man of honesty and generosity who tells Jesus that he will give half of his possessions to the poor and that if he defrauded anyone of anything, he will pay back four times as much.”  And to this Jesus responds, “Today salvation has come to this house, because Zacchaeus too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

But at the beginning of the scripture Zacchaeus is not a likeable person. He collects the taxes that pay the wages of the occupying Roman army.  And evidently he also defrauds those from whom he collects the taxes.  Jesus names him as one of the lost.

What began for Zacchaeus as a simple glimpse of an interesting person became the end of his greed and loneliness and the restoration of his life. In his encounter with Jesus Zacchaeus discovered that he was made to be a generous giver and not a grasping taker.  Jesus tells us that we are made to be generous caring people and we are the children of Abraham and children God, not by our religious, cultural or biological heritage, but by our acts of compassion.

What Zacchaeus learned from that trip up the tree and then to dinner with Jesus (or was it communion) transformed him from a despised tax collector (a taker) into a faithful disciple (a giver).  And Jesus’ influence on Zacchaeus is the good news that we are made in the image of God; that God is extravagant in generosity; and when we truly know ourselves to be the children of God, we are also generous.

This message is counter to Zacchaeus’ culture and counter to the culture in which we live.  Zacchaeus and we are continually encouraged to be ever greater takers, to be gross consumers, to treat our wants for bigger, newer, better as if they were basic needs.  Such consumption becomes a disease of continual dissatisfaction eating at our soul and robbing us of the joy of generosity. When we take beyond our honest and truest needs before we give to the needs of others, particularly the poor, our giving becomes leftovers, the crumbs of our tables. 

Jesus teaches that the things of this world are meant to serve God and to serve neighbor.  Jesus teaches it is better to give than to take.  Jesus teaches that it is not only our duty to feed and care for the least, but it is the place of the Kingdom of Heaven; it is the joy and the peace of our souls.  Jesus teaches that being generous is who we are truly made to be.

I am sure I am going to embarrass my mother and father and that they will deny the how generous they are.  But don’t believe them.  Even though my child’s memory may be faulty on some of the details I mostly get it right.

Most every Sunday we were in worship.  My memory says that most Sundays they would give me a nickel for the offering.  Today a 1955 nickel would be about a $1.  That meant they were giving me the equivalent of $4 or $5 a month to put in the offering.  Multiplied by four kids that meant our children’s offering was $15-20 a month.

That was a lot of money in 1955.  It was especially a lot of money for us because we were living on an Oklahoma High School teacher's salary.  I remember my father's second hand suits being so thin in the bottom that you could see the bright boxer shorts grandma made him for Christmas.  I remember the garden in the back yard from which came most of our vegetables and how I would whine through the gardening not appreciating its necessity.  Nickels were very precious.  Yet each Sunday my parents gave the four of us our Sunday offering.  And beyond that, every Sunday they gave their own offering as well.

Zacchaeus gave half of his possessions to the poor.  My parents chose to tithe.  Tithing is an old word having biblical roots in which one tenth of a field's harvest is reserved for the poor, or later for the temple or synagogue.  To tithe has come to mean the designating of one tenth, 10%, of a believers income to the work of the church and other acts of compassion.

My parents have been not only financially generous but also generous with their lives.  They have worked on various committees of the church (including being the adult leaders of the youth group) and in a variety of service organizations. 

My mother was a kindergarten teacher.  She tells stories of children who didn't know sounds or colors, whose families were poor and doing all they could to keep their children in school.  The children needed love.  She served them all.  For several years every time one of her students graduated from high school she sent them their kindergarten picture and congratulated them on their success.  They must have all graduated by now.

My father was first a teacher in a High School and later a college dean and then president.  He encouraged the brilliant and the mediocre.  He was a supporter and friend to the Ponca City High School's first Black teacher (now a retired chancellor at the University of Maryland).  As college president he often worked late into the night to balance a budget or plan a building that would serve with quality every child who wanted knowledge. In retirement they both continue to be generous with their time and their wealth.

Now I tell you about Vickie’s and my giving so you will know that I am trying to practice what Jesus preaches and what I believe. In my late youth I climbed a tree (metaphorically) to see Jesus pass by and at Jesus’ invitation took him home with me.  He has been living with me ever since.  When I accepted that I was a beloved child of God and understood God’s generosity to me and the world, I wanted to be generous as well, I wanted to at least tithe like my parents and maybe someday be like Zacchaeus and give half of my possessions to the poor.

To be honest, sometimes tithing has been financially hard for us.  I remember well the last days of some months when we lived on cheerios and orange juice; macaroni and cheese; peanut butter and jelly until a pay check would come.  And I remember a month in which no paycheck came because the church was broke.  Yet even in those days we were able to tithe and we did not suffer but rejoiced in our good blessings.  Mostly tithing has not been difficult but is a great blessing.  Like Zacchaeus, when I am the me God made me to be I find myself giving away “more than I thought I could afford” and the joy of heaven comes to me and peace is a gift to me.

If you have not tried tithing, I encourage you to try it.  If you can’t do a full tithe of 10%, then try 5%.  I promise you your heart will be warmer and your joy greater than if you had bought an HD widescreen TV.

There is an old Celtic story of a beautiful princess that was gentle and generous in all she did.  She was not possessed of things and was able to give much away.  After sheltering and feeding a wandering saint he asked her, “Tell me the secret of your exceeding gentleness.”  At this the lady mused for long, her eyes downcast; then answered softly as one waking from a lovely dream, 'There is no secret - only - only I am always at the feet of my God and my God is always in my Heart.'1 quoted by David Adam, ibid., 20.

This names well the transformation of Zacchaeus; to be always at the feet of God with God in his heart.  To be like Zacchaeus, my parents, the gentle princess and Jesus is my desire for myself and it is my desire for you; that we would know ourselves to be the beloved children of a generous God; that we would know the grace of extravagant generosity for our healing and our joy; that by a warming and gentling of our hearts we might be our truest God made selves; that we might in all ways generously cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the compassionate care of the poor, in the restoration of creation, and in the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Amen and Shalom