Down from the Sycamore Tree

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.’ Luke 19:1-10

We had a huge Sycamore tree in my parent's yard. It towered over the sunporch and sent shade across the yard. The bark was rough and hard to climb as there were very few low branches. As a child, I often wondered how Zaccheus climbed that tree, since I was of short stature then and couldn't scale the tree. We sang his song often in Sunday School and I had much time to wonder. Now I realize the point of the story is not the climb but the coming down to invite the incarnate God into Zaccheus' home. He moved from curiosity to action when Jesus called him by name. May we be ready to climb down and open our hearts and homes to the living God today.

Gracious Creator, Lord of abundance

we often hide in the trees of life

you call us each by name and invite us

to come down from hiding and live.

We like our comforts and safety

and hide ourselves from the world

yet despite our reluctance and fears

you call us to open our hearts and homes.

Precious Savior, call us to action here

give us the faith to serve our world

give us and extra measure of love

so we might share it with our neighbors. Amen.