Luke 19:1-10

1He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5When 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." 6So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner."8Zacchaeus 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." 9Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."  THIS IS HOLY WISDOM, HOLY WORD.  THANKS BE TO GOD.

 Commitment Issues

          We have the joy of receiving new members into the church today.  I always appreciate getting to meet with them, for among other things we share about the people who have impacted our lives of faith.  I wonder who you would name if you took a moment to consider who has shaped that part of your life.  I wonder if you’ve though about the ways in which you are that for someone else.   Our new member orientation also gives us a chance to talk about what’s important, which may not be what you might think.  In fact, I think a good byline for the church would be, “Religion:  It’s not what you think.”  The phrase carries a double meaning.  First, religion doesn’t have to be all the negative connotations it has accumulated over the years – overly rigid, judgmental, closed-minded, joyless and so forth.  Secondly, and in some ways more interestingly, religion may not be, the spiritual life may not be, primarily about what you think.  It’s mainly about who you are, what you care about and what you seek to be and make your life about.

          I told the new members that joining this church is not about achieving some narrow conformity, checking off a prescribed series of doctrinal boxes.  Rather it’s saying you want to be intentional about taking this journey, as individuals, sometimes as a family, with this larger group of people.  You have decided that these are good traveling partners to have.  With respect to doctrine, it’s about searching for the deeper convictions at their heart.  Take the virgin birth of Jesus.  Is it about believing this as a biological phenomenon, or is it more about the theological conviction that we recognize  the divine presence in the one we call Christ and therefore what we believe is his life and teachings are worth heeding.

          New Testament scholar Marcus Borg, who helped many reclaim their Christianity, this way, helps reframe the role of belief in the Christian life.  He says, “the language of ‘believing’ has been part of Christianity from the first century onward.  But it didn’t refer primary to believing the right theological beliefs.  It meant something like the English word ‘beloving.’  To believe in God and Jesus was to belove God and Jesus.  Namely, it meant to commit one’s self to a relationship of attentiveness and faithfulness.”  Borg goes on to say, “Even the two most frequently heard Christian creeds, the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, reflect this understanding.  They both begin with the Latin word credo, most commonly translated into English as ‘I believe.’ But the Latin roots of credo mean ‘I give my heart to.’  Of course, both creeds include a list of central Christian convictions. But saying the creed does not mean, ‘I believe the following affirmations to be literally true.  Rather, it means ‘I give my heart to God’… ‘I give my heart to Jesus.”[1]  Isn’t that beautiful?

          To what or to whom do you give your heart?  That is the question.  Religion: it’s not what you think.  Today’s gospel story from Luke features Zacchaeus, a man short in stature, who climbs a tree in order to catch a glimpse of Jesus.  Zacchaeus is a tax collector, and thus hated for the corruption associated with his trade.  Jesus sees his efforts and wants to go and stay at his house.  Because Zacchaeus says he will give half his possessions to the poor and repay fourfold any fraud he may have committed, we tend to tell this episode as a redemption story, but it may not be what you think.

          In translation in your pew Bibles Zacchaeus says, “half my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor,” but another, perhaps more accurate translation of the Greek, one chosen by some other translations is, “Lord, half of my good I am giving to the poor” (Lk. 19:8).  In other words, Zacchaeus may not be a bad guy turned good the moment he scales the sycamore tree and sets eyes on the savior.  He may have already shaped his life charitably, maybe even by the stories of Jesus he’s encountered before meeting the man.  Maybe it’s that enthusiasm which drives him up the tree. 

          About that tree-climbing incident, we’ve made it the subject of a cute children’s song, Zacchaeus the wee little man was he.  But, it’s not what you think.  Though it may be hard for us to relate to, the notion that a grown man seen running and then climbing a tree would have been the epitome of undignified.  In fact, that’s too gentle a term.  It would have been inappropriate, a violation of serious social norms.  Zacchaeus, in other words, is making a fool out of himself, but he doesn’t care because he is so committed. 

          Commitment is everything here.  Commentators remind us to compare this story to the one just a bit earlier, in chapter 18.  There Jesus tells a rich ruler to sell everything he has and give it to the poor.  The rich one has already given all the right answers to Jesus’ questions, but Jesus must sense something lacking in his heart so he challenges him to show how committed he is to this way.  He goes away saddened because though his theology is correct, he has commitment issues.  His heart isn’t in it. 

          The mind is a critical tool, pun intended, but perhaps a better place to start in the life of faith, or a better place to end up, is with the heart.  To what do we give our hearts?  How many of you know what Martin Luther King thought of the virgin birth?  What was his understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity, his theology of the atonement?  But, you know what he did to try and turn the world around.  You know the healing he was trying to bring to the deep wounds of our society.  There’s not a child in this country who hasn’t heard of his dream.  You know the depth of his love. 

A couple Fridays ago, some of us joined Congregation Rodef Shalom in San Rafael to celebrate Sukkot, a Jewish harvest festival.  Bethany and I were asked to participate in leading the Shabbat service along with the rabbi and Imam Fasih from the Islamic Center of North Marin.  I often find these interfaith services so moving.  Why is it that, particularly when there are obvious differences between us?  Perhaps it’s because we strive to be on our best behavior with others – kinder to coworkers than family members, more forgiving of others than your own.  In matters so sensitive as religion, we strive to be good and respectful guests when invited, gracious and accommodating hosts when welcoming.  I think it’s more than that, however.  Part of what happens when we know we have theological differences is we shift the focus from shared beliefs to shared commitments.  We may have different understanding about God, about different key religious figures – Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha etc., but we can pretty easily identity shared values – peace, protecting the vulnerable, sharing, reverence.  The result is a deep feeling of harmony despite the differences.  That is a shift that I think we would do well to make more often. 

          I’ve noticed that whenever I leave an interfaith service at Rodef Shalom, in addition to a warm heart, I always leave a good song.  I’ve brought one to you today that we sang Friday, and Bethany and I would like you to sing it with us.  It embodies just what we’ve spoke about, that to which Jesus calls us, commitments that we lodge in the particularity of our Christian faith but can be shared across lines. 

 Turning Of The World

Words and music by Ruth Pelham
© 1982 Ruth Pelham Music

 Let us sing this song for the TURNING of the world
That we may TURN as one
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
And our lives will feel the echo of our TURNING
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
And our lives will feel the echo of our TURNING

Let us sing this song for the HEALING of the world
That we may HEAL as one
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
And our lives will feel the echo of our HEALING
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
And our lives will feel the echo of our HEALING

Let us sing this song for the DREAMING of the world
That we may DREAM as one
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
And our lives will feel the echo of our DREAMING
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
And our lives will feel the echo of our DREAMING

Let us sing this song for the LOVING of the world
That we may LOVE as one
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
And our lives will feel the echo of our LOVING
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
With every voice, with every song
We will move this world along
And our lives will feel the echo of our LOVING
And our lives will feel the echo of our DREAMING
And our lives will feel the echo of our HEALING
And our lives will feel the echo of our TURNING

Amen, and amen.

 [1] https://www.patheos.com/blogs/marcusborg/2013/11/what-is-a-christian/