SALVATION HAS COME TO THIS HOUSE

Transcription

1 SALVATION HAS COME TO THIS HOUSE A Sermon preached by the Rev. Aaron Billard St. John s United Church, Moncton, NB October 31, 2010 Last Sunday, Jim Kelly invited me to go with him to the Dream Festival here in Moncton on Thursday. At the Coliseum, each of the speakers talked about their very first job. I remember my first paying job. I was part of the maintenance staff at a hospital, where my job mainly consisted of two things. One was mowing the grass, which wasn t as easy as it sounds because the hills were on such an angle. One time, when I was mowing the grass on the ride on mower, it flipped over and rolled down the hill - with me on it! It was better than using the hand held lawn mower though, because we had to tie it around our waist with a rope and let it go down the hill, often with our feet slipping as we did. My second duty was to pick up cigarette butts. Lots of them. I couldn t even tell you how many I picked up off the ground. All I can say about that is it taught me I didn t want to do that for a living! What is a dream festival? I didn t have any idea either until I looked it up. According to the brochure, it is an event with speakers from around the world to talk about everything from fashion to athletics, and from overcoming adversity to becoming rich. Its headliners were Olympic Medalist Clara Hughes, venture capitalist Kevin O Leary (from CBC s Dragon s Den, whose company sold for 3.7 billion dollars) and Sir Richard Branson, who owns everything under the sun with his 300 companies within Virgin - from phones to airplanes, literally. As we waited for the program to begin, nearly 45 minutes late, we were introduced to Clara Hughes, whose speech was energetic and uplifting, certainly highlighting her gold-medal

2 winning experience in speed skating as well as her pride in Canada. We also had a glimpse into the twenty years of training that took her to that Gold-medal win. I was also interested in O Leary, who described in crushing detail what it takes to succeed, which includes no weekends, no family, and even firing your own mother from your company. Jesus actually said something similar, that if we wished to follow him, we must first hate our families before we can follow him meaning that nothing should stop us from following him. With a few other speakers thrown in, who lectured the crowd (in attendance was everyone from Premier David Alward and other politicians to university students in various programs from various provinces) it began to feel like a bit of a scold. If only you did this, you could be like me, said the speakers, because I m on the stage living my dream - implying that we were not. It was at times painful to listen as examples of success were lifted up: a published book, an Olympic medal, or more money in the bank than God. It was interesting how success was measured. As I sat there in my only proper dress shirt and tie, wearing my only pair of dress shoes, with no money in the bank to speak of, and even fewer credentials to my name, I started to understand a little bit how Zacchaeus must have felt that day so long ago when he climbed a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus because with each speaker I started to feel smaller and smaller and smaller... Zacchaeus was short in stature, and he was trying to see who Jesus was. But the problem with that comparison is that Zacchaeus was the success story of his day. He was rich. We re supposed to get the idea that Zacchaeus is the bad one in the crowd, he was the chief Chief tax collector the chief sinner. Others envied his money and his power. He became rich because he climbed over others. He did what good 2

3 motivational speakers tell other entrepreneurs to do: sometimes you have to be cruel to succeed in business, and that will make the difference. Zacchaeus colluded with Rome. And he took advantage of people. Back in Moncton, Sir Richard Branson took the stage. He actually sat on the stage in the trademark green TD Bank chairs and answered questions put to him by Frank MacKenna about his childhood and hobbies. After taking a few questions from the audience, showing a few commercials, he was gone again, flying out of Moncton on his private jet. He donated his $200,000 speaking fee to his charity. It was interesting, though, that before he left, someone asked Branson to name his mentors. He named Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu. He spoke of setting up charities across the world, he spoke of setting up a council of Elders, including Tutu and Mandela and President Jimmy Carter among a few, who would go into areas of conflict to bring resolution and a sober second thought before any military action takes place. He is working on the issue of teen homelessness. He has promised to donate 3 billion dollars over the next ten years to address global warming. I was quite impressed with him, as he seems like a dynamic human being who is now using his wealth and power not only top push the boundaries of technology, he is also using his resources to create a better world through peace and developing sustainable technologies. The comparison of Branson to Zacchaeus is complimented by an experience Branson had while engaging one of his passions, hot air ballooning. Once, while riding in a balloon, Sir Richard wrote about feeling defenceless. He said, I do not believe in God, but as I sat there in the damaged capsule, hopelessly vulnerable to the slightest shift in weather or mechanical fault, I could not believe my eyes." 3

4 Though Zacchaeus does believe in God, he felt the same way as he saw Jesus approaching. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to face his death. As he comes down the street, crowds of people begin to gather. So many people, in fact, that Zacchaeus can t see Jesus as he walks. So, he navigates through the crowd, and climbs a sycamore tree, and he can t believe his eyes: it s Jesus, and not only is he walking towards him, he s looking directly at him, and he opens his mouth and says, Zacchaeus, hurry down, because I m staying at your house today. If Zacchaeus couldn t believe his eyes, the people around him couldn t believe their ears. This is Zacchaeus s house Jesus is going to stay at? The chief tax collector? The one who works for Rome? Of course, Zacchaeus hears this too, and he proclaims that he will give half of what he has to the poor. If he has defrauded anyone, he will pay them back four times as much. Hated by the crowd, he is loved by Jesus. Salvation has come to this house. Luke likes to tell stories this way, with reversals. Zacchaeus s name in Hebrew actually means clean and innocent. This is ultimately a story about joy. It s about recognizing something, and doing something about it, and finding liberation in it. We can all stand in the place of Zacchaeus in this story because we all live in the world in which he lives, where sometimes we get to where we are or to be who we are as others around us suffer; we cannot be complicit in this world. This is as much a story about the proper way to use our wealth as it is about finding salvation. The fact is," Fred Craddock writes, that "one is not privately righteous while participating in a corrupt system that robs and crushes other persons. (Preaching through the Christian Year C). Salvation has come to this house. It came to Zacchaeus because he repented and changed his ways. Calvin, one of the 4

5 early church thinkers, said that Zacchaeus changed from a wolf not only into a sheep, but even into a shepherd. He moves from being an observer of Jesus into a disciple of Christ. After all, it wasn t his height that prevented him from seeing Jesus, it was his heart. Part of me couldn t help but wonder about the dreams of the poor at this festival. When do they get to live their best life? Who is it that coaches and mentors them into living into a more stable existence that doesn t need to depend on eating in a soup kitchen, or being evicted from an apartment in which most of us couldn t bear to live? According to Luke s Gospel, our Christ is one of reversals. It is also one of repentance. Zacchaeus recognizes how he has treated his neighbours and he repents of it. By the end of the day, he s no longer the wealthy man he was; however, he has been redeemed in the eyes of Jesus, who invites himself to his house. It s actually the poor who mentor all of us into living a better life, closer to the ground, where dreams are actually born. I suspect that this reading is as much to do with sharing what we have as it is about being wealthy. The sin isn t wealth, the sin was first, how he earned his wealth, and second, what he did with it. I have known many faithful Christians who are of incredible means, who earned it by building things up over many years, and who give of themselves generously. Zacchaeus was living the dream. But it wasn t enough. By reconnecting with the community around him, through Christ he found salvation. How does that speak to your heart? How has salvation come to you through whom? The kind of peace we speak of here doesn t include a free book or DVD if you order now. What it does include is a life lived with meaning and depth. It means giving more of ourselves to the people and situations around us that need our care, our kindness, and even more so our sense of justice specifically when injustice is happening. 5

6 What is it that you and I have that is in abundance? How is it we share that part of ourselves with the world around us? When we gather as the church, we have many, many gifts. The talents and treasures in this sanctuary right now are startling. What is within you to share with the world around you? It s something to think about. The mistake we make is when we think our gift is too small. If Luke has taught us anything, it s that those gifts tend to matter the most. 493 years ago today, in Wittenburg, Martin Luther nailed a document to the Castle Church door called his 95 theses. Because he did that, you are sitting in a church like this. Some scholars dispute it, yet other say it was a common way to share announcements because he did it on All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints Day (which is tomorrow) when many people would go to church and honour the saints who have gone on before us. They were his arguments as to what was wrong with the church, and specifically that people were paying money for what was rightfully theirs. It took one small act of one unknown person to trigger a reformation the likes of which the church hasn t seen since. And we are still reforming today challenging what we know and believe, all the while giving thanks to God for being on the journey with us. It is in this faithful soul searching, says Jesus, when we will recognize God, and we may say with certainty, that indeed, salvation has come to this house, and to each of us together. On this All Hallows Eve, as we remember the saints in our lives who have gone on before us, today we remember a happy saint of the church, Zacchaues. Laura Sugg writes, If you are finding yourself tired of staring at the backs of the crowd, look for your tree to climb. If graced with a memorable encounter with God, perhaps your response will be as joyous as Zacchaeus s and it will lead to your own kind of cheerful commitment to justice. 6

7 Near the end of the Dream Festival, as we were being told to live our best lives again because the speaker was once poor and had nothing and now they were a best-selling author, I leaned over and said to Jim, You know, we can head out if you like... and as we got up to leave, I noticed a steady stream of people behind us. I guess we were leaders after all. In a way, being a Christian does ask a lot of us. It asks for humility and confession before we become something new. Jesus asks us to sit with those who have been broken, and within them to see our own brokenness and to come before God in search of healing not only for ourselves but for the world. And the good news is, we are always a work in progress. The good news is that God isn t finished with any of us yet. Christianity isn t about the ten keys to success or the five ways to lead a holy life (though a lot of Christians fill their bank accounts with just that sort of drivel.) It s about being on a journey one that lasts a lifetime and it s about being ok with hard questions, and simply walking with others who are on the journey too. It s about kindness and compassion and humbling ourselves, yes, but it s also about challenging the powers of the world, and sometimes challenging ourselves in ways that can be life-altering and fear-filled. It means struggling up and climbing trees to see God, and dining with people the world considers cast out, and no good. It means authentically being ourselves, who we are, because if this story teaches us anything, it s that Jesus came to save the lost, not the certain. Salvation has come to this house. Now we must believe it, and live it. Amen. 7