A Thought For The Week Of September 8

"When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.'" (Luke 19:5) The story of Zacchaeus is a bit obscure. Just a few verses, and Zacchaeus never gets mentioned again. Which seems unusual. But it's an important story. It's an example of Jesus choosing to associate with someone whom society would have looked down upon. Zacchaeus was a tax collector - he worked for the Romans; he was a collaborator, and probably despised as a result. Most people would likely have had nothing to do with him. But Jesus reached out to him in an interesting way. It's not an invitation to Zacchaeus to come to him - he invites himself into Zacchaeus' home! "I must stay at your house today." That's rather bold of Jesus. But it worked. Zacchaeus was thrilled. First, that Jesus saw him; second, that Jesus welcomed him; third, that Jesus would enter his home in spite of the controversy that he must have known it would cause. I see here some interesting parallels to my own journey of faith. I'm not sure I was ever looking for Jesus to make himself at home with me. But he did. I know where that has led me, but one of the mysteries of the story is that we don't know what happened to Zacchaeus. Did the thrill last forever? Did it change his life? Was he simply satisfied with the feeling of acceptance he got from this man Jesus? We know nothing about Zacchaeus' future - and maybe that's the point. The appearance of Jesus in our causes causes each of us to respond in different ways - from wholehearted acceptance to passionate rejection. But either way it's a response to Jesus. And Jesus keeps appearing and keeps asking himself into our lives when we start to wander off. How are we going to respond to him? I hope with faith and with trust. Have a great week!