In our sermon this last week – Encounter Hospitality, we looked at the very familiar story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19:1-10. This passage has many deep wells from which we can draw, but the lesson this week is to look at the Radical Hospitality of Jesus who welcomes arguably the most hated man in Jericho.
Zacchaeus was a tax collector. And while no one likes paying taxes or getting a dreaded letter from the IRS, our dislike for paying taxes is nothing like the hatred of the first-century Jews for tax collectors. They were looked upon as sellouts to an oppressive and occupying government. And to make matters worse, the Romans gave the tax collectors only one rule – you will collect THIS much money for the emperor. There was no limit placed upon the actual amount that could be collected! So Jewish Tax collectors were known for lining their own pockets at the expense of their fellow Jews, all-the-while- pledging faithfulness to the pagan emperor! WOW!
So Zacchaes hears that Jesus is coming through town, and for some reason wants to see Jesus, even though he is convinced Jesus would NEVER care to see him. Zacchaeus runs ahead of the crowd and climbs a tree (both terribly undignified actions for a grown Jewish man!) in order to see Jesus. What he doesn’t realize is that Jesus is willing to be undignified himself in the sight of the entire town. He stops and sees Zacchaeus and says, “Zacchaeus, come down from there, I must stay at your house TODAY!”
Jesus causes quite the stir as people complain that he is actually spending time with such a known sinner! But Jesus love changes Zacchaeus in ways that hatred never could. We have received the same love from God, as undeserving sinners! We know the joy of having our Lord come to us, and getting up on the tree himself, with nails and spears.
So how do we respond in generosity to the people around us? It can be very simple. It starts with actually noticing people around us (Stay tuned for next week’s sermon on this very topic!). It involves actually GOING OUT to meet them. This is KEY. The days of building a church and opening the doors and saying “ya’ll come” have been over for a long time. If we notice and go out, we will have a chance to love and serve.
In the sermon, I challenged the people listening to go out and practice generosity in some way. It could be as easy as getting to know someone’s name, using technology to make real face-to-face plans, actually praying with someone rather than saying you’ll pray for someone. It could be that you use you relaxation time grilling, or having a beverage, or setting up a fire-pit in the front yard one night instead of the back yard (hat-tip on this idea to Greg Finke, Author of Joining Jesus on his Mission).
So if you have accepted the challenge, post a comment in the comment section of this post and let me know what your goals are, what you did, how you felt about it, or whatever else you’d like! Can’t wait to read YOUR thoughts!