“Between Righteousness and Mercy”

Luke 19:1-10

If you recall from last week’s sermon on the parables of the lost sheep and coin, we hear the term, “Sinners and tax collectors,” which suggested that tax collectors earned their own category of sinner, due to their hated occupation. Today’s passage is about one of those hated individuals, named Zacchaeus. His name comes from the Hebrew word זַכַּי (Zakkai), meaning "pure" or "innocent." He is neither. As a tax collector, Zacchaeus has extorted money and acted in collusion with the Roman empire, using his position to oppress his own people. In addition, he wasn’t just one of the tax collectors —he was a chief one. Theologian Lis Valle-Ruiz says, “Zacchaeus has gone up in importance in the political system, with the results of economic gain and religious loss. Zacchaeus is a chief tax collector and wealthy, but his job renders him lost to his own religious community.” Due to his profession, Zacchaeus is on the outside of Jewish society. He is no longer a son of Abraham.

He hears that Jesus of Nazareth is coming through his home city of Jericho and wants to see him. However, he is short in stature, and if crowds have lined up on either side of the street, Zacchaeus is at a disadvantage. Theologian Amy Jill Levine states, “To be short was, in Roman times a marker of being a lesser person.”   

As the crowds looked on in anticipation of the Messiah, they saw little Zacchaeus running around, searching for a better vantage point. Zacchaeus, he who sucked the blood out of hard-working laborers of Hebrew society and transferred it into the coffers of the occupying Roman oppressors, while skimming large profits off the top and living a life of luxury.

Eventually, this short tax collector sees a Sycamore tree, and does what no respected adult would do. He climbs up the tree. When was the last time any of you above the age of forty climbed a tree?

Regarding the Sycamore tree-- it has to do with current events and tariffs, believe it or not! Artist Lauren Wright Pittman, who made today’s artwork, states, “I had a lot of fun discovering new layers to this familiar story. I learned that Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore fig tree, which was a food source for poor people because the fruit was bitter and generally undesirable. The root word for sycamore tree is σῦκον, meaning “fig,” and as I did a study of other key words in the text, I noticed this same root word in συκοφαντεω, or “defrauded,” which was used to describe what Zacchaeus did to his community. It was curious to me that the root word for “defrauded” was “fig,” so I dug deeper to find that the Greek word was from the phrase “fig-informer,” or a person who would notify authorities if one was exporting figs from Greece without paying a tax. It seemed that these “fig-informers” would use the threat of exposure to extort money from fig farmers.” As far as I know, we have no specific tariff or tax related to the import or export of figs…yet.

Jesus came through the city gate, and the crowds welcomed him enthusiastically. As he got to the place where Zacchaeus was, Jesus stopped and looked up right at him! Jesus singled him out and told him to come down, that he was going to eat with him at his own home!  Zacchaeus scrambled down the tree, stepped out into the middle of the road, and welcomed Jesus. Can you imagine the response of the crowds when they saw this happen? Of all people in the crowd, many of whom were righteous temple attenders, Jesus picked out Zacchaeus!  Jesus was going to an unclean, hated individual’s home to dine with him! The crowd’s enthusiasm quickly waned. I imagine they fell silent as the scene unfolded before them. Then the hated publican spoke to Jesus and the crowds. 

Zacchaeus told Jesus, “I will give half of my possessions to the poor, and pay back what I have stolen times four!”  This offer was more than generous. Consider this societal law from the book of Leviticus. When a neighbor has been defrauded or robbed, you are required to repay the amount taken, plus one-fifth of the total. (Leviticus 6:5) Zacchaeus offered much more, and promised to do this in front of the crowd. 

He made that proclamation, and Jesus responded. “Today, salvation has come to this house, Zacchaeus’ house!, And he is a son of Abraham.” In that moment, as Zacchaeus changed his ways, he was “saved” - he was saved from a self-absorbed lifestyle, saved from the love of money, and saved from a life of stealing. He was reclaimed as one of God’s people, as a son of Abraham. He could now say he was living rightly in God’s eyes, sharing his ill-gotten gain with those in need in the community.  He was restored through Jesus’ extension of mercy.

How did things go after that? Was he welcomed back as a restored Son of Abraham by the people he wronged for so long? I hope so, but I wonder. Did the crowds in Jericho follow Jesus’ example and extend mercy? Or did they find his road to restoration all too quick, holding onto a sense of righteousness? After all, Zacchaeus wasn’t just a sinner, but he was a tax collector sinner, the worst of the worst! My guess is he wasn’t welcomed back with open arms just like that. People probably held onto some righteous indignation for a while. Hopefully, Zacchaeus continued to live in this new way, and in time, people came to see him as a full son of Abraham. But, did they? We don’t know.

Perhaps they held on to their feeling of being righteous temple worshipers and still saw Zacchaeus as the worst of sinners. They could not forgive him so easily for his past sins! Jesus extended mercy, but that was a tall order for those in Jericho who had felt oppressed and burdened from Zacchaeus’s actions.

 At times in my life, like the crowds, I enjoy mentally distinguishing who is righteous and who is not, who is on the right side of things and who falls short, who deserves mercy and who does not, or how long someone should be punished before being restored. I identify with the crowd’s indignation in this story, favoring righteousness over mercy. Perhaps my definition of “Righteousness “is lacking? Let’s examine the meanings of righteousness and mercy in scripture to delve a little deeper.

The Word for mercy: ἔλεος, eleos, is a noun meaning “Mercy, compassion, pity,” derived from the Greek verb ἐλεέω (eleeō), meaning "to show mercy" or "to have compassion." In this morning’s gospel story, Jesus demonstrated Elios.  He had compassion  and mercy on Zacchaeus, a child of God who had lost his way,

The Word for Righteousness: δικαιοσύνη, oikosune is a noun meaning “Righteousness, of which God is the source. To live righteously is to live rightly in God’s eyes. That means extending mercy to others, just as Jesus demonstrated.

When we are convinced of our own rightness and someone else’s wrongness, we aren’t living in righteousness. We are instead living in self-righteousness and judging others as wrong or unrighteous.  To be self-righteous, according to the Free Dictionary online, describes “someone who is confident of their righteousness, especially when smugly moralistic and intolerant of the opinions and behavior of others. It is a disapproving term that refers to someone who has or shows a strong belief that their actions, opinions, etc., are right and other people's are wrong.”  The crowd began by judging Zacchaeus in self-righteousness, and perhaps rightly so. Theologian Rachel Held Evans says, “God has a really bad habit of using people we don’t approve of.” Zacchaeus isn’t exactly likable, but God uses his story as an illustration of what mercy can do. Jesus offers mercy, which changes someone’s life, and through his righteous actions begets more mercy. Hence, if we want to see more mercy in the world, we need to share it with others.

Consider the following story. Wars, especially a war as destructive as World War II, are hardly the places for bold acts of mercy. Yet, one German soldier proved this idea to be wrong. In 1943, German fighters had severely damaged a B-17 Flying Fortress (named “Ye Olde Pub,) under the control of Lieutenant Charlie Brown. The worst part was the damaged compass that was leading the plane to the territory of the enemy. Franz Stigler, the German fighter pilot in his Messerschmitt ME 262, was ordered to shoot down B-17s and destroy the enemy.

But as he got closer to the flying fortress, he saw that the plane was in a truly terrible state. He also saw how Brown was desperately trying to save himself from the dangerous situation that could end his life. Franz Stigler could have destroyed Brown as he was ordered to, but instead, he decided to guide and escort the B-17 outside to a safe zone not occupied by the Germans. He even saluted Brown before heading back and telling everyone he had shot down the B-17 and the lieutenant he, in fact, protected.

Almost 50 years later, Brown searched for his savior. When the two met again, they became friends and remained friends until Stigler passed away in March 2008, followed by Brown’s death only a few months later. Franz Stigler later said that he couldn’t shoot Brown and his plane because they had flown beside each other for a long time and Brown was desperate to return home. He saw the situation as shooting a man in a parachute. Stigler’s act of mercy was genuinely courageous. He could have easily destroyed the enemy and taken credit for it. Instead, he decided to protect a brave man who had fought his battle and now only wanted to get back to a safe place. He risked being found out and getting burdened with the blame of disobeying orders and saving someone who was considered the enemy. But he decided to show mercy and prove that even the soldiers handling the most arduous tasks could have a big heart and show humanity.

It isn’t easy to choose mercy over self-righteousness, especially to someone who doesn’t deserve it, like a chief tax collector keeping his people oppressed, or an enemy on the battlefield. Yet Jesus’ example of giving mercy is our challenge for today. May God be with us, as we encounter the Zacchaeuses of today. May God nudge us, always, towards mercy. Amen.