1|Page
Luke 19: 1-10
Faith in Action #2 – Compromises & Deal breakers
Sunday January 16, 2012
Rev. Susan Cartmell
The Congregational Church of Needham
In our Bible Village Sunday school last week Rev. Jamie introduced the story of Zacchaeus.
Found in Luke’s gospel, the story of Zacchaeus is the story of a man who was curious about Jesus. He
had heard that Jesus would be coming to town, and he wanted to see this man with his own eyes. But
Zachaeus was also conflicted. He was nervous about getting too close to Jesus because he did not come
with a clean conscience. He knew he did no have a clean record. He was troubled by some of the things
he had done in his life. He entered the crowd at the center of Jericho- curious but cautious. For,
Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Now tax collectors conflicted souls – most of them. They were taking
advantage of the Roman occupation. They were increasing the tax burden on their own people, and
getting rich on the Roman occupation. So their fellow Jews regarded tax collectors like Zacchaeus as
scum not just because they enforced the steep tax levies other Jews but by colluded with the Roman
authorities they made the oppression that much more bitter. Israelites in an occupied land, they
cooperated with their occupiers. They took advantage of Roman occupation to line their own pockets.
Tax collectors were like gun runners in the Civil War or mafia who offer you protection for a price, or all
those who take advantage of illegal immigrants today.
Zacchaeus had volunteered when the Romans came to Israel. He collected the taxes, but he set
the rates even higher than the Roman exchequer, and skimmed off the top. Now Rome knew about this
practice but turned a blind eye. It helped seal Roman’s administrative control if the people they
occupied were mad at their own people when taxes were collected. Zacchaeus made a lot of money
even though he was trapped in it as much as anyone. Rich but friendless, Zacchaeus came to hear Jesus
that day because he was curious.
2|Page
Zacchaeus was also a short man, and uncertain about his safety in a crowd, so when Jesus
arrived in Jerisho, Zacchaeus climbed a tree to listen. He assumed that no one would see him. Most did
overlook him, but Jesus noticed this man- an unlikely seeker. Then a strange thing happened that
changed his life. Jesus called him down from the tree, and invited Zacchaeus to dine with him. Honored
and confused Zacchaeus took Christ in. As the suitable hosts grumbled at the injustice, Zacchaeus made
a connection with Jesus, and offered to give half of his possessions to the poor. He realized he wanted to
make amends and offered to restore all he had defrauded – fourfold.
This month our worship theme is Faith in Action. This is a topic which is near and dear to most of
our hearts. As people of faith in this church we understand that what matters most is what you do about
your faith, not just what you say. What matters is your integrity not just your intentions. We believe that
God sees how you walk the walk – not just talk the talk. Our Church Covenant talks about making a
difference in the world. It is an edgy statement – written that way on purpose. It stretches us each week
to consider what we could do better. It challenges us to think about how to do more than come to
church on Sunday, but it pushes us to follow Christ all week long.
That is not easy. Here on Martin Luther King weekend, most of us are very aware of how much
we want to live free of racism, but also aware of how hard that is. We believe Jesus expects us to treat
all people fairly, but we also know that is easier said than done. I have a story for you about my own
experience this fall. It is a story about racism, and compromise. It is a story about some regret,
sometimes our most humbling stories are edifying.
Until this fall I had never served on a jury. Oh, I have been summoned several times, but I never
saw the inside of a courtroom. Typically, I would spent time in the room and then get dismissed. I have
seen these jury pool rooms in Woburn, Cambridge and Lowell, so I came to assume that ministers must
be immune. I did not think much about it when I was called for duty in Roxbury, the district near where
3|Page
I now live. I brought reading material and made plans for the next day. But last September they chose
me to sit on a jury in a criminal case Roxbury Court. It was a case about a college student who was part
of a crowd near Northeastern, one night. It was complicated, and lots of youth were on the street,
some making fun of the police, but one in our courtroom – was cited was cited on three counts –
disturbing the peace, in sighting a riot and assaulting an officer.
I listened to the whole case carefully. The instructions ringing in my ears were that people are
innocent unless or until proven guilty. I looked at the young Black man with dread locks, the accused
who testified on his behalf. His story rang true for me. I did not believe he did what they accused him of
doing. The police officer also testified. He seemed angry, smug, judging from his bulging muscles
someone who might make you fear for your own safety if he was sitting on your back for a period of
time, as it was agreed he had. As I listened for the damning evidence that would convict this your Black
man I never heard it. I did hear a good deal of racism, subtly laced into the assumptions of the police. I
heard a good defense attorney, and assumed that it was a slam dunk; it was clear this man was
innocent.
I also knew unconsciously that this would be a good time to put my faith into action. This
moment called for white folks to be less racist and really give this young Black man a fair trial. The judge
gave us our instructions, and then to my surprise appointed me as the foreman of the jury, before she
dismissed us. As we headed into the little room, I assumed he was innocent on all counts. So you can
imagine my surprise when I sat down with a group of people who stated he must have done something
wrong or he would not be arrested. We talked and talked. I persisted reminding them that one of the
foundations of our legal system is that you are innocent until proven guilty. Where was the proof? Our
democracy is a quilt of many fabrics. One woman next to me was chugging small bottles of some kind of
energy drink. Another was trying to bully the rest of us into making a conviction because she had police
4|Page
in her family. Most people wanted to get out of the room, and seemed impatient with the process. In
the end this jury absolved this man of the most serious counts, and cited him for disturbing the peace.
As the foreman, I had to dubious honor or saying out loud what we decided. I know I take things way
too seriously, but that night I had trouble sleeping. That young man’s face haunts me a bit still. You see I
am not quite sure if justice was really served that day.
Last week I was talking to Jackie Allen about the whole experience and I said, “I hope I never get
on another jury again.” She told me as a lawyer who appreciates our legal system, that she hoped I did.
None of us has a clear conscience. That is an illusion. We hope that we are not as bad as Zacchaeus but
living in the US we start with some marks of iniquity.
You have probably all read the statistics. The United States constitutes 5% of the world’s
population. Yet we consume 24% of the world’s energy. On average one American consumes as much
energy as 6 people in Mexico, 31 people in India, 370 people in Ethiopia. You might argue that we live in
a society populated by people who we take more than we should from our global neighbors. We did not
ask for this privilege, but along with the privilege of living in this country comes a big responsibility. How
do we use our resources.
I went into the court house in Roxbury aware that I had so much more education, affluence, and
maturity than so many of the people there, and I had a responsibility to use my resources in a way that
would do credit to my faith. I will have to live with my sense that there may have been more I could do
that day. I will have to live with my uncertainty, because I am still not sure.
But I am grateful for this story in Luke, because it tells me there is always time to try again. There is
always time to do better.
Scripture Drama:
5|Page
J:
So when Jesus went around teaching…
Z:
when Jesus went around teaching, he taught crowds…
J:
He taught such huge crowds…
Z:
Really big crowds, it’s true…
J:
People wanted to see him…
Z:
To see him up close, to hear him, what was that like to hear him up close…To hear and see him
face to face…
J:
Do you ever wonder about it?
Z:
Do you ever wonder what it would be like?
J:
What it would be like…
Z:
To get that close to Jesus…
J:
To see him up close
Z:
To hear him right there
J:
Must have been amazing, wish I could have been there
Z:
I would have liked to have been there to see it
J:
Like that one time
Z:
Like that one time when Jesus walked through Jericho
J:
As he walked along the road through Jericho, and… hey, up there!!
Z:
Up in the tree, way up there, there was Zaccheus…
J:
Zaccheus was so short. He couldn’t see over the crowd
Z:
And he was a tax collector
J:
Nobody liked them.
Z:
No one liked them because they stole money from their own people pretty much
J:
That’s why he was in a tree, hoping to see Jesus from a safe distance
Z:
Jesus went walking down the street
J:
Jesus like a rockstar surrounded by fans
6|Page
Z:
So many people around him, it was like a rock concert
J:
That’s how much people wanted him
Z:
They wanted to hear Jesus
J:
They wanted to hear him up close, right there
Z:
To see him face to face, to hear his voice
J:
They wanted to see him move, to have their ears filled with his words
Z:
Zaccheus wanted to hear Jesus
J:
Zaccheus wanted to hear
Z:
Zaccheus climbed a tree and waited
J:
And he waited
Z:
And then Jesus showed up on the road
J:
Finally Jesus showed up, Right there,
Z:
he stopped right under the tree
J:
He stopped right there, right under Zaccheus
Z:
It’s a good thing Zaccheus didn’t lose a shoe up there
J:
Zaccheus, right above him
Z:
If he dropped his shoe it would have hit Jesus square on the head
J:
He couldn’t believe it
Z:
There was Jesus right up close
J:
As close as you could get to Jesus in a tree
Z:
And then
J:
Then all of sudden
Z:
All of a sudden, Jesus looked up
J:
Suddenly, Jesus looked up, right up,
Z:
Hey Zaccheus!
7|Page
J:
Jesus said. Hey!
Z:
‘Hey hey’ Zaccheus answered jumping up.
J:
“Hey Zac, come down here!”
Z:
Jesus called him. “Come on down here, hurry up.”
J:
I’m having dinner at your house
Z:
Dinner at your place, hurry we gotta go
J:
Let’s hang out at your place tonight, I’ll come over
Z:
Jesus… Jesus is coming over to my house?
J:
Zaccheus never had people over…
Z:
To my house? …Where people never come because they hate me?
J:
No one much liked Zaccheus. He was a tax collector and he was rich.
Z:
I have a rich house but no one wants to hang out with me there.
J:
“Come out of the tree Zac!
Z:
Jesus called him down.
J:
Zaccheus came down
Z:
I came down (Z- jump down off chair)
J:
He came down and welcomed Jesus
Z:
You’re much taller than I’d imagined.
J:
You’re much shorter than I planned..
Z:
What a sight to see up close- face to chest.
J:
Right there, he welcomed Jesus and they went to his house
Z:
To see Teacher and tax collector meet and walk…
J:
They walked down that road
Z:
Jesus still surrounded like a star
J:
God as guy came to meet stubby tax collector dude
8|Page
Z:
They stopped
J:
Stopped in the middle of the crowd, And Zaccheus said
Z:
I wanna be so different
J:
I wanna live differently, said Zac
Z:
I wanna give back what I stole
J:
I wanna turn around
Z:
Come out of the tree
J:
I wanna give away, give it back and then some
Z:
I want out of the tree
J:
I wanna be found
Z:
Please find me
J:
See me up here
Z:
Find me in this huge rock star crowd
J:
I wanna see Jesus
Z:
I want Jesus to see me
J:
I wanna hear his voice
Z:
Up here see me
J:
Carried up on gravity
Z:
I want my ears full of his words
J:
To see him myself
Z:
I wonder what it would be like to get that close to Jesus
J:
To see him and hear him right in this room
Z:
To come down out of my tree
J:
I wanna see
Z:
I wanna turn around and see Jesus
9|Page
J:
I wanna hear
Z:
I wanna be here
J:
I want down
Z:
I want to get close
J:
I wanna hear Jesus call me down
Z:
Invite him over for dinner
J:
I wanna hear what Jesus says
Z:
See what Jesus does
J:
I want down
Z:
I want to be down with Jesus
J:
I wanna get found
Z:
I wanna hear from Jesus
J:
I wanna see him face to face
Z:
But first, he has to find me
J:
Find me
Z:
Find me
We are all compromised. No one has a good record. Each one of us is a peculiar mix of good intentions
and bad regrets.
Jesus sees us – as we are. Christ sees it all. He also sees our potential. He recognizes our curiosity as
easily as he sees it in Zacchaeus. Jesus had read our covenant. He knows it is full of lofty language, and
high hopes. He knows we cannot always make the mark, but the fact that we set some high standards
gives us the chance to do better. Christ calls us from the tree of those high hopes back down onto the
10 | P a g e
ground where we have to be honest. He says “ try again to put your faith into action”. The only real
mistake is to give up.
Risk falling short, but do something. We who have been given so much will never be content to look on
at Christ from some lofty perch. We should not be allowed to see him from afar – when what he wants
most is to invite us to get into the game – to put our regrets behind us, and try again. Jesus calls us to
give up the safety of the anonymity of the crowd. He calls us to come down from the tree and to put our
money where our mouth is. He calls us to put our faith into action.