Zacchaeus’ PR Problem

Posted by Scott McAndless on Sunday, November 3rd, 2019 in News

Hespeler, 3 November, 2019 © Scott McAndless
Isaiah 1:10-18, Psalm 32, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11,12, Luke 19:1-10

The PR people came in with their graphs and charts and PowerPoints and laid out the situation for him.

“Mr Zacchaeus,” they said, “you definitely have an image problem but we think we can help you. You are, without a doubt, the richest man in the city of Jericho so you ought to be the most popular. But there’s a bit of a problem. We thought at first that it might be because people are jealous that you have done so well, but we don’t think that’s it. Nor is it because you are too short. I know you don’t like being short of stature, but actually most people seem to think you’re a little bit cuddly and cute.

No, it seems, the problem is how you managed to amass your enormous wealth. It seems that the people aren’t as foolish as we all assumed. They know that, when you bought the contract to collect taxes here in Jericho, the Romans let you keep whatever extra money in taxes you were able to get out of the people. They understand that, if you’ve gotten rich, it’s because you have been cheating and squeezing people for everything that they are worth. Strangely, people seem to resent that in a tax collector. So, they just don’t like you.

“But don’t worry, we’ve got a plan to rehabilitate your image in the city. We think that if you can show yourself to be a really religious person, you know, somebody who celebrates all the festivals, the new moons and Sabbaths, who commissions sacrifices at the temple and participates in holy processions, it’s going to make a big difference. People love things like that, they eat it up. You do a little bit of that stuff in the city, lots of public praying and lavish donations to the temple, and people will start to think that you must really be a good person.

“And, by the way, don’t worry, you can still keep ripping people off all you want. That’s the beauty of it. If you show yourself to be all pious and religious like that, they’ll just assume that you really must be a good person despite the terrible things you do. If you project the right image, you can get away with anything.”

That is what the PR people said to Zacchaeus, or at least it’s what they would have said if the profession existed back in the first century because that was how it was done. In many ways, it is how it still works. Everybody understood that open and outward religious displays were the best way to win over all of the people who thought you were a terrible person because they thought that all of that religious stuff was pleasing to God. There are still a lot of people who think that way today. It’s one good reason, for example, why it’s very hard to get anywhere as a politician these days if you do not profess to belong to some religion or at least have some religious leaders backing you.

I’m sure that Zacchaeus listened to that kind of advice and maybe even tried to follow it. That’s exactly what people in his position always did. And maybe, at least in some outward form, it actually worked. He probably did get some powerful people to applaud his outwardly religious displays. Project the right image and people will respond. But I suspect that, at some level, Zacchaeus knew that it was all just a show. He might be fooling some of the people, but he was not fooling himself and there was no way he was fooling God.

And so, when he heard of a new teacher and wonderworker passing through town, a Galilean from up north, he paid attention. Everyone was saying that this man was different, he saw you for who you really were and didn’t really care about image and all the other things that everyone else seemed so obsessed with. Zacchaeus figured that this man would be able to see through all of that religious stuff he had learned to hide behind. What’s more, everyone said that this Jesus was completely authentic. He didn’t hide behind anything. So, Zacchaeus became obsessed. He had to know who this Jesus was. He felt certain that if only he could discover that, he would finally know who he himself truly was.

That is, by the way, something very odd about the way that the story of Zacchaeus is told in the Gospel of Luke. When Zacchaeus goes out to try to see Jesus, we’re told that he has a very particular goal in mind and it is not what you might expect. Normally, if I were to go out to see some minor celebrity who was passing through Hespeler, I might say that I was going to see what he was doing here or what she might say or do and I might even say that I was going to see what all the fuss was about and why everyone else was going. Those are all good reasons why Zacchaeus might have gone out to see Jesus, but that is not why we’re told he went. He went – and this is what it literally says in the original Greek text – he went to see “who is Jesus.” In other words, he was not drawn by the man’s words or actions or his fame so much as he was drawn simply by his identity.

And I think there is an important message in that all by itself. The story of Zacchaeus is the story of transformation – real transformation. It is the story about how a rich man decided to change the very basis of his life and to stop living by exploiting others – especially the poorest of the poor in his community. That is the kind of transformation we all need to learn about and understand because, I’ll tell you, there is a tremendous need for all kinds of individuals in our modern world to make exactly that kind of transformation. Relentless exploitation lies at the heart of so many of the problems that plague our modern world including poverty, the opioid crisis, the environment and climate change. The more people make that kind of transformation, honestly, the more hope I see for the world.

And it is Zacchaeus’ encounter with the authenticity of Jesus, Luke seems to be telling us, that lies at the heart of his transformation which maybe explains why we don’t see more of that kind of transformation in the modern world. We live, after all, in a world where everything is more about image than it is about who somebody really is.

Take a look, for example, at the recent federal election in Canada. I have not found very many people who saw that campaign as particularly inspiring. This was not, as far as I can see, because Canadian politicians are not, many of them at least, very fine and excellent people who, in some cases at least, have good policies. It is because the campaign was not fought in such terms – it was fought in terms of image. It was all about candidates trying to put forward the best constructed image that they could and everyone else trying to destroy that image. In Zacchaeus’ world (and in the world of our Old Testament reading from the Book of Isaiah) that kind of image was usually constructed through various forms of religious observance. Today the experts have come up with much more elaborate forms of image construction, but the problem, at its heart, is still the same. It’s still all about the image you project. I think that people are getting tired of that kind of thing and are craving for something much more authentic.

So, I find it very significant that Zacchaeus’ craving for authenticity in Jesus is the first step of his transformation. Is a reminder to me that, if the church today wants to play a part in the transformation of people in ways that will bring renewal to this world, we’re not going to do that by presenting a flashy image or an entertaining presentation. We are going to do that by being authentic, by not being afraid to be who we truly are and who God made us.

So, Jesus’ authenticity is the first step in Zacchaeus’ transformation. The second step comes in the moment when Jesus first spies Zacchaeus as he looks down from his sycamore tree. “Zacchaeus,” Jesus says, “hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” That is the last thing, indeed the only reported thing, that Jesus says to Zacchaeus before he decides to totally change everything in his life. Why is it so transformative?

I realize, of course, that what Jesus says might sound a little bit rude to us. In our culture it is considered a bit presumptuous to just inform somebody that you’re staying at their house. But in ancient Palestinian culture, inviting yourself to dinner was actually a very common way of honouring people and treating them as important. What Jesus is doing, by saying this, is letting Zacchaeus know that he is seen and known for who he is and that Jesus can see past all of the terrible things that he has done to people.

This is the flip side of the authenticity that Jesus presented and that first attracted Zacchaeus’ attention. Because Jesus is not concerned about presenting a correct and acceptable image to the world, because he has found the freedom to just be who he is, he can just blast past the images that everyone else gets hung up over. He can see that, whatever else he is, that Zacchaeus too is a son of Abraham. Jesus sees him with the eyes of grace.

At the end of the story, Jesus proclaims that salvation has occurred, that it has entered into the household of Zacchaeus. It should be noted that the salvation he speaks of is specifically for that household. There are still many others who suffer and are in need of salvation because, whatever Zacchaeus himself does, the unjust tax system that is rife with abuse and exploitation will still continue to suck the people dry. But Zacchaeus is set free from the hold that it had over him. And he is set free from continually trying to pretend to be somebody he’s not, putting on some image that never quite works in order to seek the approval of the people around him. It doesn’t change everything for everyone, but it is the beginning of the kind of change that truly can remake this world.

As I have already noted, we do live in a world today where relentless image making seems to be the only thing that matters. Those who present the best public image, be they politicians, business people or influencers are perceived to be the winners. And I feel that the church often feels the pressure to play that image game. We are made to feel as if we’ve got to present a slick, polished product in order to be what the world calls “successful.” And there is no question that there are some churches out there that are able to accomplish some amazing things by projecting that kind of image, though there have sadly been some cases of late where such churches have been exposed, underneath that slick image, to be something quite different and that has certainly damaged the cause of Christ.

But I don’t really want to spend my time criticizing churches that put all that energy into image building. Let them enjoy the success that the world gives them. I just want to ask the question whether that is the kind of success that we should be pursuing.

What if the true goal of the church is the transformation of people like Zacchaeus? What if it is to encourage those people to rip away the image that they’ve so carefully constructed to present to the world and allow God to bring the change that is necessary into their lives? Is that not what success in the kingdom of God really amounts to? If that is what we are called to do, I don’t think it matters how slick of an image the church presents to the world, that’s not what is going to get us there. But when we all learn to drop the pretenses, to let go of that image work that we cling to to make ourselves seem acceptable and decide to just be who God created us to be and to see people as God sees them, then, maybe, true transformation that matters can begin.

Warning: Your sons and your daughters will prophesy

Posted by Scott McAndless on Monday, October 28th, 2019 in Minister

Hespeler, 27 October, 2019 © Scott McAndless – Baptism
Joel 2:23-32, Psalm 65, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18, Luke 18:9-14

Did you know that locusts and grasshoppers are actually the same animal? Most grasshoppers live their whole lives without bothering anyone. But something very strange happens in their tiny little brains under some very particular conditions.

When there has been a bad drought, a serious lack of rain, and everything that has been planted begins to wither and die and then there is a break and the rains, long hoped for, finally begin to fall and there is a sudden and abundant new growth of greenery, in that very scenario, its like a switch is flipped inside some species of grasshopper and they become locusts. Nothing physically changes in the insect, but it is completely transformed in its behaviour. It breeds like crazy and begins to swarm and migrate in huge numbers. Locust swarms can grow so big and thick that they completely block out the sun bringing darkness in the middle of the day. That alone is terrifying, but its nothing like destruction that is wrought as these swarms devour absolutely everything that is green in their paths.

Is it any wonder, therefore, that from ancient times, people have had a tendency to blame the formation of locust swarms on the gods? Their arrival just seemed to be so mean and vindictive. You had just lived through a terrible drought, had watched everything that you had planted dry and wither away and then, when things looked the very worst, the rains had come and your heart swelled with joy as you watched everything turn green again and begin to sprout. And then, just when you began to dare to hope again, you see the sky turn black with locusts and watch as every living thing that grows is picked clean. Who wouldn’t, at that point, come to the conclusion that the entire universe (or at least some vindictive god) was out to get you?

Warning: Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy

So I understand why ancient people blamed God for locust swarms (even if I don’t agree that God operates like that). I understand because I understand how it feels to go through a very dry time, find a new reason to hope that things might get better and then have that little wisp of hope crushed. I’ve been through times like that and I wouldn’t be surprised if you had too. If you haven’t, I’ll bet you have a friend or loved one who has. And what do you say to someone who is feeling like that – who is convinced that God must be out to get them? Because I’ll tell you that the usual platitudes – “You’ll see, everything will work out,” “It’s always darkest before the dawn,” “Just look on the bright side,” – platitudes like that are just not going to cut it.

Well, guess who got the very difficult job of comforting and giving hope to the people of Israel who were feeling exactly like that in the aftermath of a locust swarm: a prophet named Joel. We read a part of his message this morning. How does he try to help the people? First of all, he teaches them that they should find comfort not in promises or optimism but in the very nature of God: “I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten,” God says, “the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you.”

This is a pledge, a promise, grounded in Godself. “I will repay you,” God is saying, “everything that you have lost is on my account.” It is like the richest person in the world undertook to pay off all of your business losses or your debts. And I think that that is a message you do need to hear at that moment. When, rightly or wrongly, you have become convinced, because of the things that have been happening to you, that God is out to get you, the first thing you need is a corrected view of God. You need to understand that the creator of the universe actually seeks your good and not your harm.

I honestly feel as if this is one of the greatest battles that we face. Many people’s problems, their low self-esteem, their struggles with feelings of guilt or shame, their sense that they are never good enough, are rooted in the false image of God that people have given to them. If the image of God that was given to you by your parents or that was perhaps modelled by them was an image of a mean, judgmental and vindictive God, concluding that there must be something wrong with you simply make good sense.

And the only way that that attitude is going to shift is if you begin to see God in a different way. Joel begins to nudge the people towards that new way of seeing God with this pledge and promise, “You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame.”

So that is Joel’s first response to everything that the people are dealing with – he begins to instruct them on who God actually is. But he is not done. Obviously, the people are going to need something more in order to recover from the emotional and physical blow that the locusts have dealt them. And so Joel gives them another remarkable but somewhat unexpected promise. “Then afterwards,” God promises – after you have recovered from this terrible devastation – “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.”

And that seems like a great promise. Just like God has poured out the rain that has brought the new growth, he is going to pour out his Spirit on all of his people. He is going to guide them directly and show them how to live with the ups and downs of life. But if you know anything about the history of prophecy and the movements of the Spirit, you will know that there might be something there to be a little bit concerned about. When God speaks; when the Spirit of God moves powerfully in individuals, it does tend to upset things.

From very early on, the church became very nervous about the movement of the Holy Spirit among the members of the church. It tended to be very disruptive. The Spirit often said things that the leadership didn’t really want to hear. And so, some Christian churches decided to shut that kind of thing down. Reformed churches like our own, for example, taught that the Holy Spirit basically stopped speaking to people once the scriptures had all been written. Other churches, like for example the Roman Catholic, were okay with the idea that the Spirit still spoke, but declared that the Spirit only spoke to those who were already established as leaders of the church.

So in difficult times, like in the aftermath of a locust swarm, the tendency is to clamp down, get everything back to normal as quickly as possible. What you don’t want is some new message from God that is going to shake things up and so if anyone is going to receive a message from the Spirit, you would rather that it be someone who isn’t going to shake up the status quo. You want the Spirit to speak only to established people, the elders, the old people who will be slow to embrace change when they receive a message from God’s Spirit.

Isn’t it rather interesting, therefore, that Joel promises the very opposite in his prophecy? The Spirit, he says, will be poured out all willy-nilly. It will be poured on the old but also on the young. It will be poured out on the sons but also on the daughters. Most shocking of all, Joel proclaims that God’s Spirit will be given even to the slaves, even to those who are least interested in keeping things the way they have always been.

There seems no doubt in what Joel is saying. After the locust swarm has passed, we will be not just going back to the way things used to be. We are meant to be inspired by God to seek out new directions, new messages and new beginnings and we are especially called to listen to what God might be saying through the youth and through those who have traditionally been cut off from power and influence.

I believe that in the church today, we are in a kind of post locust swarm situation. The church has been shocked in recent years to find itself in a world where the old assumptions and the old ways of doing things just don’t work the way that they once did. It used to be that we could just plant a few seeds, open the doors and expect near instant growth to occur. The last few decades, therefore, have felt a bit like the aftermath of a locust swarm for many churches. That’s why I think that Joel’s message is very relevant to us today.

We need to be reminded, first of all, that the image we have received of God in many cases – the image of a mean, vindictive God who is out to get us if we just step just a little bit out of line – is false and dangerous. But it also means that we need to be open to the second response that Joel offers: the promise of a new pouring out of God’s Spirit on God’s people.

A couple of weeks ago I used this passage from Joel to begin our session meeting. It was an unusual start to our regular meeting because we had invited our new youth group to join us during that time. So I pointed out to the youth group that the session is made up of a group of people called elders. And what is the meaning of the word elder? The word literally means old person. Now, that doesn’t mean that all of our elders here at St. Andrews are senior citizens. But it does mean, to a certain extent, that the members of session have been chosen and elected to be careful and small c conservative leaders of the congregation – people who won’t mess with the status quo too much. And Joel speaks of the Holy Spirit being poured out on the elders as they are called to lead God’s people. But, I pointed out, as much as we need the leadership of the elders, they cannot do it alone. God’s Spirit is also poured out upon the youth, Joel says, because they also are anointed to lead us especially at difficult moments when it feels like we’re in the aftermath of a locust swarm and God is urging us to find new ways to be relevant in a world where many things have changed.

That is why I’m so excited today to be celebrating the sacrament of baptism for Lily. Today we welcomed her into the life of this congregation. We heard the promises, made by her parents, that they will tell her about Jesus and give her the opportunity to experience the life of Christ’s Church as she grows up. That is something that is wonderful and that we can all look forward to. But I look forward to even more. We called down the presence of God’s Holy Spirit among us today, symbolically represented in this water. Just as the water was poured out on her head, I know that if only we leave open the possibility, God will pour out his Spirit upon her. That’s why she has been anointed as our leader today. She will lead us out into the world at the end of the service today.

Lily will grow up in a world that we can only imagine at this point. Who knows what changes are coming our way? Who knows how the environment, society and even Canada’s political system will change in years to come? Who knows how the church will need to change? We need new voices to guide us into that future, and God has chosen one such voice today. I know that you will cherish her and her presence in this congregation in years to come. That’s great. The bigger challenge that God lays before you today is will you listen to her and others like her in years to come when the Holy Spirit speaks to them and tells us what incredible new thing God wants to do among us and through us.