Sermon for April 2

The Reading 

Luke 18:31--19:10

Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.  For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again."  But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.  When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening.  They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."  Then he shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him,  "What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me see again."  Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has saved you."  Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

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."

The message for April 2

For the past few weeks Jesus has been on a direct course for Jerusalem, the center of Jewish religious power, life and practice. For Jesus though, it will the place where he will be betrayed, abandoned, falsely accused, put on trial, sentenced to death, crucified, die there on the cross and rise again.  Next week we observe Palm Sunday, Jesus entry and welcome into Jerusalem. He will be celebrated as a hero, greeted with shouts, hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,  the road will be lined with coats and palm branches (the traditional welcome for a king or great figure). 

This week, Jesus is close, mentally and emotionally preparing for this great moment and the awful ones that will come after it.   As much as Jesus work focused on helping, healing and teaching, at this time, we get the impression that his focus is on these things.  Jesus once again talks to his disciples about his suffering, torture, death and resurrection.  Once again, they do not get it, understand it or think it possible.  As Jesus approaches Jericho, he plans to pass through and he is not really looking to stop.  A blind man on the side of the road learns it is Jesus of Nazareth passing through and he calls out for help.  The people around him, likely the ones who told him it was Jesus in the first place, tell him to be quiet, they know Jesus has more important things to do than deal with this guy.  Some of the common suspicions at the time were that things like blindness were punishments from God for sins, blind people were somehow defective or considered unclean and other. Jesus had no reason to bother with this person. The blind man, seeing things differently, understands that Jesus will stop, Jesus will help, Jesus will heal him.  In God’s kingdom, a blind man is not a simple annoyance or easily dismissed as a sinner, he too is a son of Abraham (meaning someone included in God’s promises), Most people can celebrate this healing, after all, it sounds like the blind man stayed out of the way and was a nice enough person and its joyful to see life restored.     

After this Jesus goes through Jericho and once again is stopped.  This time there is not much for the crowd to celebrate. Jesus stops to connect with and enter a relationship with Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and a rich one at that.  Zacchaeus basically sold out his own people, he works for the Roman Empire, collecting oppressive taxes on their behalf (and a little or a lot extra for himself, a gratuity or generous thank you for the work).  They would kill him but he was protected by the Roman Empire and an attack on him would have very bad consequences. Jesus notices Zacchaeus struggling to get a glimpse of him, goes over and invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house (to enter someone’s home meant to honor and enter a relationship with them).   It gets worse from there, Jesus tells everyone “today, Salvation has come to this house because he too is a son of Abraham” (again included in God’s promises)/   

Here, moments before entering Jerusalem, with all the tension, anxiety and stress, Jesus is still healing and welcoming outsiders into the kingdom of God, reaching out to individuals with love, forgiveness and welcome, setting these actions as an example for all people and all generations.   You would think Jesus had what we might call “bigger fish to fry”, that he could not be bothered with stuff like this, but then again, Luke has Jesus welcoming a criminal crucified next to him into the kingdom of God with his last breaths.

As we have spent the past few months going through the Gospel of Luke, one idea comes up again and again, that the Kingdom of God is open to everyone, that Jesus death and resurrection brings salvation to all. As Lutherans, we talk so much about this free gift, about God’s part, we often forget about our part. Today is our chance to talk about why Lutherans believe we should do good things, why if we are saved by God’s grace should we bother with the trouble, sacrifice and work it is keeping God’s law.  Last week, we had the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man.  To review quickly, the rich man is living a life of obscene wealth and comfort while poor Lazarus is suffering and near death outside his gate.  When both men die, Lazarus is in comfort with Abraham in heaven while the rich man is suffering in the godless fire of Hades. The rich man cries out for help but none can or will be given. With that story, I talked gates and barriers that separate us and God’s call for us to see everyone and anyone as children of God.  I did not say, we do good things to avoid or stay out of hell. I did not say it because it is not true, doing good things does not save us, Jesus saves us.  

This morning, we see why we must do good and keep God’s law.  It is a response to God’s grace, the only acceptable response that shows we get it. Both people in today’s story respond to this unexpected and undeserved grace with great works.  The blind man, once healed immediately uses his new life to proclaim the Gospel.  he goes around glorifying God, proclaiming God is great to all the people. There are lots of other things he could have done with his new freedom and restored life, he choose to praise God, to publically tell people his story “I was blind but now I see”.  Jesus does not tell him to do this, the blind man simply does what he wants, what his mind and body tell him to do in response to what happened.  We are invited to do the same, to go and tell people that God is great, to offer help because you know your neighbor is a child of God, offer words and acts of comfort, knowing God offers them to us.  We need to learn our own stories, practice telling them and then tell them.    

Zachearus, the extra greedy tax collector also responds to God’s grace. For him, its change. Jesus invitation to relationship was also an invitation to new life for Zaccherus.  He accepts this invitation too. He promises to give half of his possessions to the poor and pay back four times as much to the people he defrauded (which were many, after all overcharging on taxes was his business).  Once these things are done, he will no longer be a rich man, he won’t have much left. Jesus does not tell him to do any of that, he does it as a response to the gift God has given him.  

As we approach Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter, we are reminded that Grace matters, that hearing God’s word works, it changes us, it drives us to love God and love neighbor.  If following God’s way is not what you want to do, you might need to hear it again, your sins are forgiven because and only because of Jesus death and resurrection, you are a child of God.