Rochester, MN UCC - Zacchaeus - Luke 19:1-10

Zacchaeus was a wee little man,
A wee little man was he.
He climbed into a sycamore tree
for the Lord he wanted to see......

Many of us know the story of Zacchaeus climbing a tree to see Jesus from the song we still teach our children in Sunday School today. With many of these stories we might have known for a long time, it can be tempting to assume we have learned all we can from it yet when we do we miss out on the continued revelation of the Holy. God is still speaking through these scriptures into the world we live in and we can learn more about God and ourselves when we re-engage with these ancient stories with open minds and hearts.

  As we follow Jesus into Jericho this Sunday, I invite us to imagine ourselves as both Zacchaeus and those who grumbled that Jesus was spending time with the tax collector. What parts of yourself need an encounter with Jesus? Are there parts of you, like Zacchaeus, that need to be given up to the holy? Like him, does your relationship with your community need to be repaired? Or are you more likely to grumble when something seems unfair? Do you judge others based on their profession or wealth? Have you forgotten that you need Jesus just as much as the next guy? Perhaps we are all a little bit of both.

 Let us consider those parts of ourselves that we aren't so proud of. Let us look to our ancestors in faith for examples of how we can search out the presence of Christ and be transformed.

Peace, Pastor Shannon