Zacchaeus had a lot going for a short person in a tall world. Being “Chief Tax Collector” of Jericho almost made up for a life of “short” jokes and abuse at the hands of Jericho jocks. The original “Napoleon complex” had wrought in old Zack power and wealth, but without happiness… a bankrupted life devoid of the stature of true friendship with others. That sycamore tree was a stroke of luck, surviving years of hoofs and teeth just to be at the right place at the right time at the right size to add a little elevated stature just when Zacchaeus needed it. A little “Angel Luck” you think! And what a metaphor: How many of us tall ones, short in spiritual stature, have used a book, DVD, worship song or friend’s faith to help us “see God” when the going got tough. When anyone steps, or climbs, into the presence of God, everything changes. A lifetime of rendering unto Caesar is nothing in comparison to a moment standing in the presence of God with the ledger of our heart opened wide. Zack’s lifetime accumulation of greed is quickly liquidated, 50% to the poor, fourfold to recompense the cheated… Jesus spoke of the difficulty of the rich entering heaven: If we look closely here we can witness the Camel passing through the needle’s eye. Anything is possible with God, who can surgically remove the callused wall around a rich man’s heart with the same ease as pulling down the perimeter wall around a great city. Zacchaeus’ name means “Pure”; he was named for what he would become… God knew. And isn’t it awesome the God we half-heartedly pursue when life gets us down continually and passionately pursues us, much more then we pursue Him, placing divine encounters of the God kind in our pathway… and when we need it, a sycamore tree. God seeks us in our sycamore tree… we need to know that!
GOD SEEKS US WHERE WE ARE
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