Unexpected Guests
November 20, 2008
Luke 19:1-10
1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " 8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." 9Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
The story of a wee little man named Zacchaeus who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus has been a favorite Sunday school song that has withstood the test of time. Most of us probably remember the hand motions and closing line by Jesus, "I’m coming to your house today."
Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house which surprised all that witnessed the self-invitation, even Zacchaeus himself. Why would this holy big shot Jesus bother spending time with a despised and corrupt tax collector? What could they possibly talk about? To everyone’s surprise, Jesus stays at Zacchaeus’ house. With Jesus as his guest, Zacchaeus offers to give his money to the poor and offers to make things right if he has wronged anyone. Jesus speaks a blessing upon him saying, "Salvation has come to this house."
Have you ever had an unexpected guest in your home? Did you have anytime to prepare for their arrival or did they just show up and welcome themselves in? If a guest came by your house today, what would they see behind your closed doors? Dishes in the sink? Trash waiting to be taken out? Dirty laundry lying around? Most of us don’t keep our homes super clean all the time. That’s because we live in our homes everyday. We are more relaxed about our tidiness when guests aren’t around. When we know a guest is coming over, we clean the house and stow our mess where our guests won’t see it.
What if Jesus came to our house unexpectedly? What would he see upon his arrival? What would we be scurrying around trying to hide? Like Zacchaeus, what would we be offering to change? This story helps remind us that Jesus wants to come into our daily lives. He doesn’t want us to remain mere spectators watching the righteous march by; rather, Jesus desires a more personal relationship with us. Jesus knows that our homes are in disarray and that we don’t have it all together all the time. We don’t have to everything in place before we welcome Jesus inside. All Jesus requires from us is an open door and an eager and repentant heart.
Prayer: Jesus, lover of sinners, I invite you into my life. I know it’s a mess, but I want to change. Come in and help me clean it up so that I might fully live in you! Amen.
For more information
Rev. Leigh Martin
College Chaplain
Hasty Student Life Center, Room 308
lsm@reinhardt.edu
O: 770.720.5634
F: 770.720.9105
