"Hurry and Come Down!"

For Sunday, October 31st, 2010

(Graphic from http://www.churchpowerpoint.com/, used with permission)

Lectionary Scripture -Luke 19:1-10 NRSV

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 sycamore 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."

Hurry and Come Down!

Over the centuries, the primary theme emerging from this scriptural story has been that Jesus came to save the lost. According to that theme Zacchaeus is among the lost, mostly because he’s a tax collector. Distain for him was even greater distain since his life brimmed with wealth, power, and influence. For most Jews, he personified evil. As things go with this particular theme, the good in Zacchaeus won out over the evil. Jesus helps Zacchaeus see the error of his ways and subsequently he invites himself to Zacchaeus’ home. Zacchaeus’ sinful ways turn to ash. He no longer forestalls the transformation taking place within him. Scrambling down from the tree to stand before Jesus, he publicly renounces his former evils. He then offers restitution for any and all he has offended or harmed by his actions in this past. Following this, Jesus declares Zacchaeus and his household saved.

There is however a lesser known alternative theme. It revolves around a certain verb tense that gets lost in translation. If that verb tense receives the full and just attention it should, as some Bible scholars and theologians think it should, it changes the entire lesson or teaching the scripture has to offer. For instance, when Zacchaeus talks about fraud and the poor in front of Jesus and the crowd, he describes what he’s already doing rather than how he will change his ways. In this way, the scripture would read a bit differently and have a much different tone. The tone becomes in essence Zacchaeus protesting to Jesus the crowd’s perspective of him, e.g. “Look Lord, half my possessions I give to the poor. And when it’s clear that I have erred in my tax collection and have taken more than I should have, I restore the error to that person four times over.” In the course of things, Jesus discerns Zacchaeus to be an honest man doing the best he can at a very difficult and unpopular job. The proclamation from Jesus to the crowd is largely a slap to their faces. How so? Well after Jesus learns from Zacchaeus how he lives his life and how he always endeavors to do right by others, Jesus proclaims Zacchaeus part of the family of God and most decidedly a child of Abraham. To seal his point, Jesus goes to Zacchaeus’ home and shares a meal with him and his household, all of which delights Zacchaeus.

The teachings and lesson one can glean from this alternate theme/approach are several. First, it speaks to the prejudice a society and culture can have toward one of their own simply because of a job that must be done which few others are willing to do. Second, it points out the injustice of shunning behaviors from those who live judgmentally toward others. Third, it reflects the vulnerability we all have toward the herd mentality. Lastly, the scripture speaks powerfully to the importance of authority figures pre-emptively standing over and against prejudice, ignorance, and bigotry.

Regarding the above, I am reminded of African American, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was a person highly despised by numerous segments of Americans for taking on the job of ending racism in America and ensuring civil rights for all, particularly the voting rights of African Americans in the state of Alabama in 1965. At the time, society and culture of the 1960s employed various means of ignoring and shunning persons like Reverend King, even turning to violence against him and his fellow advocates in Selma, Alabama in March 1965 through beating men, women, children, ministers, and civil rights protesters -- all of which had been sanctioned by varying levels of Alabama law enforcement. In response to the violence, Reverend King issued the following call to action:

“In a vicious maltreatment of defenseless citizens of Selma, where old women and young children were gassed and clubbed at random, we have witnessed an eruption of the disease of racism which seeks to destroy all of America. The people of Selma will struggle for the soul of the Nation, but it is fitting that all Americans help to bear the burden. I call therefore, on clergy of all faiths, representative of every part of the country to join me in Selma for a ministers’ march on Montgomery Tuesday morning.”

Progressive faith leaders from across the country were enraged at the violence that had taken place. By the busloads and planeloads they left their pulpits and congregations in the spring of 1965 to go and walk alongside King in the “Ministers March”. Fearing that the worst might happen, people from all walks of life pressed then President, Lyndon Johnson, to intervene with Alabama authorities before all that was left of the Minsters March was human carnage. In response, President Johnson took to the bully pulpit that was his as president. He spoke out against the ignorance and bigotry and violence that had taken place in Alabama. The following is a portion of his words to the American people, delivered before Congress, at that critical time in our history:

“I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy. At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama. There is no cause for pride in what has happened in Selma. There is no cause for self-satisfaction in the long denial of equal rights of millions of Americans. But there is cause for hope and for faith in what is happening here tonight.

For the cries of pain, the hymns and protest of oppressed people, have summoned into convocation all the majesty of this great government. In our time we have come to live with moments of great crisis. But rarely in any time does an issue lay bare the secret heart of America itself, a challenge, not to our growth or abundance, our welfare or our security, but to the values and the purposes and meaning of our nation.

The issue of equal rights for American Negroes is such an issue, and should we defeat every enemy, double our wealth, conquer the stars, and still be unequal to this issue, then we will have failed as a people and a nation. For with a country as with a person, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Last time a president sent a civil rights bill to Congress it contained a provision to protect voting rights. That bill passed after eight long months of debate. And when that bill came to my desk for signature, the heart of the voting provision had been eliminated. This time, on this issue, there must be no delay, no hesitation, no compromise.

Even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. Their cause must be our cause too. It is not just Negroes, but all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.

I say to all of you here and to all the nation tonight, that those who ask you to hold on to the past do so at the cost of denying you your future.

The real hero of this struggle is the American Negro. His actions and protests – his courage to risk safety and even life – have awakened the conscience of the Nation. His demonstrations have been designed to call attention to injustice, to provoke change and stir reform. He has called upon us to make good the promise of America. And who among us can say we would have made the same progress were it not for his persistent bravery and his faith in American democracy. For at the heart of battle for equality is a belief in the democratic process.

President Johnson’s speech had the desired and intended effect. Congress subsequently sent him the Voting Rights Act which he signed into law on August 6th, 1965. The State of Alabama had to once and for all cease its bigoted, violent, and discriminatory practices. Within one week of the Voting Rights Act becoming law, federal registrars set up shop in Alabama and six months later nine thousand African Americans in Selma, Alabama were registered to vote.

For me, the events and dynamics surrounding Selma and those involving Zacchaeus have important things in common. The first is that none of us have any business denying rights to happiness and affiliation and association to anyone. Jesus forced that realization upon the crowd regarding Zacchaeus. King forced that realization upon a nation as did President Johnson in terms providing civil rights to Africa-Americans. In my book, there are many persons today striving for the same in terms of ensuring the happiness and well-being of our gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendering brothers and sisters. For them, there is a continuing “struggle for the soul of the Nation” and a “crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice” in this country and those who rise up against them seeking to obstruct their right to happiness want little more than “to hold on to the past at the cost of denying” us our future.

Progressive persons of faith and progressive faith leaders everywhere, there are far too many people forcing far too many other people “to hold on to the past” over so many different things; all of it happening at the “cost of denying” us our future. We’re long overdue for doing the right thing. The task before you is simple. It involves little more than saying, “ Zacchaeus, hurry and come down….”