Who's Saved, Anyway?

Easy there, Protestants...don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

This well-known story is dominated by a few details we assume we know. Zacchaeus was a short man who cheated people as a tax collector. Jesus called to him, said he was going to his house, Zacchaeus repented, and gave his money away.

But some of these details may be assumptions. Just read what the text actually says, then come back to these questions:

• Is Luke telling us that Zacchaeus short or that Jesus was? (Either way, it really doesn’t matter to the overall point of the story. Poor guy is best known for a tangential and truly unimportant detail.)

• How would we know that Zacchaeus was currently cheating people? …currently a man deep in sin? Who called him a sinner?

• Why does Zacchaeus talk about giving to the poor in the present verb tense?

Even if this was the moment Zacchaeus repented of cheating the poor, it is interesting that Jesus declares salvation not after a prayer or statement of inner working or heart cleansing, but after a stated change of action.

This is yet another instance in which salvation or judgment is made by Jesus as a result of something someone does. The examples are numerous at this point. Especially in Luke, it is over and over again the compassionate or sacrificial action of people who receive Jesus’ salvation or commendation (the centurion, the friends of the paralytic, the woman who poured everything, etc.). Or, conversely, it is the things that people do not do who do not receive commendation, salvation, etc. (the rich man who knew Lazarus, the rich young ruler, etc.).

Time and time again in the gospels, the “right thing” - salvation, restoration, redemption, etc. - results because of what someone does - action, works, etc. How such a large swath of Christianity today continues to invite people to simply pray a prayer or “get their heart right,” as though that’s all God wants is beyond me…and the gospels. This is all not to mention that in Luke, it’s most often tied directly to how one handles wealth and money.

It is absolutely true that the heart matters. Let’s get our hearts right. But this is hardly the gospel.

Because we’ve got a Church full today of people who can sing passionately and talk circles around scripture about changed hearts, but have no active life of compassion to show for it.

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through town. A man there named Zacchaeus, a ruler among tax collectors, was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but, being a short man, he couldn’t because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When Jesus came to that spot, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay in your home today.” So Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus.

Everyone who saw this grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.”

Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this household because he too is a son of Abraham. The Human One came to seek and save the lost.”

Psalm 51:1-3, 10, 19a

Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!
Wash me completely clean of my guilt; purify me from my sin!
Because I know my wrongdoings, my sin is always right in front of me.

Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!

Then you will again want sacrifices of righteousness…

Prayer

God,

Whew…reading back my reflection I’m rather testy today. There are a lot of factors. But honestly, the biggest at the moment is that I feel like reading these gospels daily for three years now has only reinforced the notion that I’ve been getting all sorts of things wrong for a long time. And I’m not alone. And it’s frustrating.

Even sending out this daily reflection could lend itself to the notion that if you just read the gospels and pray about it, all is well and right.

God…lead us to the compassion of Jesus that doesn’t talk about the cross, but takes it up and bears it in the world. That is, move me continually to compassionate action. Indeed, take my heart and cleanse it each and every day, but a pox on me if I leave it there, Lord.

So help me, God.

Holy father of all creation, I see your loving justice in Jesus of Nazareth. By your Spirit, make me more like him.

In Christ,
Amen.