What Is it about Jesus that Loosens One's Purse-Strings?

Don Friesen
October 31, 2004
Ottawa Mennonite Church

www.ottawamennonite.ca

Earlier in the service Aimee read two passages of Scripture, one from 2 Thessalonians, and the other from Isaiah. I found quite a contrast between the two readings. There is a jarring contrast in tone. The Apostle Paul's letter to the Thessalonian congregation is masterful in its positive appeal to the congregation. Paul begins with the usual courtesies of ancient correspondence, wishing those to whom he is writing grace and peace. (2 Thessalonians 1:2). Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonian church and remarks how their faith is growing abundantly and their love fore each other is increasing! (1:3) "We ourselves boast" about you to other churches, writes Paul. (1:4) He lifts up their "steadfastness and faith" (1:4), assures them that he is praying (1:11) for them, phrasing his prayer with remarkably positive prose, praying that "God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you...." (1:11-12)

I can imagine that people's hold on their purse-strings loosened considerably the day this letter was read in the church service in Thessalonica. Who could resist Paul's articulate persuasion, his phrases so elegant, his Greek impeccable!

What a contrast then, to hear Isaiah's rant: "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!" (Isaiah 1:10) Great opening, Isaiah! Compare your listeners to people whose names are synonymous with depravity, though not necessarily the depravity that springs to the modern mind. Isaiah's colleague, Ezekiel, is quite specific about their depravity, saying, "This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." (Ezekiel 16:49) Jeremiah adds adultery, lying, and unwillingness to repent (Jeremiah 23:14) to the list, while Isaiah's concerns have to do with Israel's integrity. If you're not going to change your barbaric administration of justice, why bother coming to church? "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats." (1:11) And then, in a rant reminiscent of the prophet, Amos, Isaiah compares Israel to cattle! "When you come ...before me," says the Lord, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more.... I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. ...your hands are full of blood." (1:12-13, 15)

I won't bother to re-read the whole passage, for it's just more of the same and only near the end does Isaiah provide some prescriptive help, saying, "...learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." (1:17) The Isaiah reading is loaded with accusations and pleadings. "Cease to do evil," says Isaiah, "...your sins are like scarlet, ...red like crimson...." (1:16, 18)

If the Apostle Paul's prose loosened purse-strings, I imagine that Isaiah's rant caused people to grasp their purses ever more tightly. It reminds me of Mark Twain's story about a sermon that initially inspired him to donate fifty dollars, but as the preacher droned on Twain decreased what he planned to give to twenty dollars, then five dollars, and when the collection plate finally came around Twain took out twenty dollars!

What a Nice Story!

What a contrast between our first two Scripture readings, but I found a similar contrast within the story of Zacchaeus. For some reason many people treat this as a children's story, perhaps because Zacchaeus is purported to have been short! Children are short, and so, ipso facto, Zacchaeus becomes their patron saint! There is actually some controversy about whether Luke intended to describe Zacchaeus or Jesus as "short in stature". (Luke 19:3)

The story of Zacchaeus is an endearing story, for Zacchaeus was intrigued with Jesus, sufficiently so that he ran ahead and climbed a tree in order to get a better view. Jesus noticed him, sitting there on his perch, and invited himself to Zacchaeus' house for dinner.

It's a nice story, a touching story, but like last Sunday's story from Luke — the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who went to the Temple to pray — there are some undercurrents in the story. Again Luke features a tax collector as the hero of the story, but he was not so in the eyes of the crowd. People of that day hated tax collectors. Why? One: They collected taxes and no one likes to pay taxes! Two: They were poor and couldn't afford the taxes. Three: They collected taxes for a foreign government, one occupying their country. Four: Tax collectors were notorious for padding tax accounts with a little extra for themselves. No doubt tax collectors like Zacchaeus were the butt of many jokes, snide remarks, and crude comments.

Now, Zacchaeus was not just a tax collector, he was a "chief tax collector" (Luke 19:2), which meant that he had a rather large tax franchise. That meant he was rich (19:2) and so he could afford to isolate himself from those who hated him. He built himself a large, luxurious house in a nicer area of Jericho, surrounded it with a security fence, sent out his office staff to collect the taxes and his domestic staff to do the shopping. There was no need for Zacchaeus to mix with the rabble, and he wouldn't have gone out that particular day except that he wanted to see this man that was causing such a stir in the country. We don't know what motivated Zacchaeus to seek out Jesus. Maybe he was worried that Jesus was fomenting rebellion against the Romans, which would be bad for business. Maybe he was tired of sitting in his large and lonesome luxury home and wanted to witness this new phenomenon for himself. Or maybe he had heard rumours about Jesus' effect upon other tax collectors. Perhaps he had heard the news about Levi, a tax collector whose life was deeply affected by Jesus and who was launching a book about this amazing Nazarene.

Whatever Zacchaeus' motivation, there appears to have been some eagerness on Zacchaeus' part to see this rabbi for himself! And if he had to climb a tree to get a good look, well, then, so be it! It's no surprise to us that when Jesus spotted Zacchaeus he asked if he could come to the tax collector's home for dinner. In quick succession, however, Luke notifies us of three responses to this request. One: Zacchaeus was happy! Luke tells us that Zacchaeus "hurried down and was happy to welcome (Jesus)." (Luke 19:6)

The second response came from the crowd: "All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.'" (19:7)

The third response came from Zacchaeus, who said, "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." (19:8)

Half of my Possessions?!?

If there's a radical shift in tone from our first Scripture reading to the second, I find a similar shift in our Gospel reading. The story of Zacchaeus begins as a nice little story about climbing trees and wanting to see Jesus, but no sooner does this take place than there's a massive redistribution of wealth taking place! What is it about Zacchaeus' encounter with Jesus that brought about this radical commitment? What is it about Jesus that loosens one's purse-strings? Jesus didn't ask Zacchaeus to give his money away. Zacchaeus, the experienced businessman, volunteered to do so!

Zacchaeus' response to Jesus bothers a lot of people. Actually, it bothers me! I would like to retire some time before I take leave of all of my senses, but by all accounts I have only half of what it takes to retire, and that only if I sell my house and move back to Manitou Beach, Saskatchewan! I'm very relieved that Jesus has only ever asked for a tenth of my income. I don't mind giving a tithe, but after that I tie the draw-strings of my purse rather tight!

The shift in tone in the story of Zacchaeus makes people defensive, particularly rich people. Some are quick to say that it's okay to be rich because Zacchaeus only had to give half of his wealth away. Actually, it was more than a half if you factor in the fraudulent account reparations, but the point is: Zacchaeus didn't have to give any of his wealth away. There is absolutely nothing in our story that indicates that Jesus required Zacchaeus to redistribute his wealth. Zacchaeus volunteered! Jesus, however, approved of Zacchaeus' response, for he said, "Today salvation has come to this house... (Zacchaeus) too is a son of Abraham (Luke 19:9), implying that no longer is Zacchaeus the cheat and outcast that the crowd sees but rather a child of Abraham, a rightful heir of the biblical promises, a full member of the community, a member in as good standing as any one else. Though classed as a sinner by his community, it is he who follows the Jewish laws on almsgiving and restitution.

The story of Zacchaeus cannot help but remind us of other characters in Luke's Gospel. In the previous chapter Jesus met another rich man and the contrast couldn't be more vivid. Unlike Zacchaeus, the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-27) was not only a member in good standing in the Temple, he had preferred status — the kind of status one receives at banking institutions when one's investments reach a certain amount. The rich young ruler was a model of faith and good behaviour. He followed the commandments to the letter and came to Jesus to see if there was anything more he could do assure his salvation. In this case Jesus was the one who mentioned wealth, but the rich young ruler was not at all open to the idea of giving it away. Luke tells us that after the conversation "he was overcome with sadness, for he was very rich." (18:23) Interesting that this man, schooled as he was in the prescriptions of his faith, never argued theology with Jesus. He took Jesus' presecription seriously. He knew that it was in line with the spirit of his religious tradition, but he was not prepared to let go of his purse.

The story of Zacchaeus also brings to mind the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), three chapters back in Luke's Gospel. This rich man also kept his purse-strings knotted tightly and when Lazarus came around, hoping to catch a few stray crumbs from the rich man's table, he got nothing! Both men died. The rich man found himself in Hades, and there was no tree in Hades tall enough climb up to heaven, but the rich man could see Lazarus sitting up in heaven, with Abraham at his side — another of Luke's wonderful ironies. The stingy rich man forfeits his fellowship with Abraham whereas the poor man, Lazarus, gets to sit beside Abraham, and soon to join him — three chapters later — is Zacchaeus, also a rich man, but one who used his riches to restore a right relationship with others.

Jesus Embodies the Prophetic Tradition

What is it about Jesus that loosened Zacchaeus' purse-strings? One answer, I think, is that Jesus embodied the Hebrew prophetic tradition. Isaiah may have ranted and raved, as did Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Amos, but there was great respect for the prophetic tradition in Israel. Yes, the prophets could make you uncomfortable; they made you squirm when they started attacking your means of livelihood. Amos was probably the worst of them. In words very similar to Isaiah's, Amos wrote, "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ... Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps." (Amos 5:21-23) Amos probably hit a new low in persuasion when he gave this speech, not to mention his comparison of the women of Israel to the plump cows of Bashan! (4:1)

It's small wonder that the prophets were treated harshly on occasion — Jeremiah, for example, thrown into a well — but their prophetic office was firmly entrenched in the Hebraic tradition. Well over a dozen prophetic books were canonized! The prophets' role was a significant one. The prophets were belligerent on occasion but they also held forth a compelling vision of a more just and peaceful life. People longed for this new order of things, and that's why John the Baptist caused so much excitement when he appeared at the River Jordan. There hadn't been a prophet in Israel for five centuries! The advent of John and Jesus awakened long-dormant hopes and dreams.

The prophetic tradition has bequeathed us a whole host of compelling ideas and images:

• Amos' appeal to let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream." (Amos 5:24)
• Isaiah's image of the wolf and the lamb co-existing in peace.
• The plea of Habakkuk to stop the "violence against the people of the world and its cities." (Habakkuk 2:17, TEV)
• The plea of Isaiah to "beat ...swords into plowshares, and ...spears into pruning hooks" (Isaiah 2:4), a plea echoed by the prophets Joel (3:10) and Micah (4:3).