When I said I wish I were smaller in size, I probably did not mean like Zaccheus. Zaccheus was midgety. He was also a tax collector. And tax collectors were hated in Jewish society back then. Zaccheus was wealthy, and corrupt. His wealth was not attained through honest means. He was ostracized and shunned by the majority of his country people. He probably was seen as a traitor, because of his fiscal link with the Romans, who were lording it over the Jews at the time. Zaccheus probably could not go to the public places and sit down with his peers. He must have been very lonely. Sometimes in our lives, we have money and position, but not the relationships to enjoy the money with. Like Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. We go to work very early in the morning, slave away all day, and return home late at night. We probably take a shower, put on pajamas and sit in front of the television till we fall asleep. No friends, no family. Loneliness is becoming more and more an issue in our society. Yesterday, we heard of the case of a man who lived by himself, somewhere in Florida. He had no family, and he didn't have friends who came to visit from time to time. After awhile, his neighbors noticed that his daily papers were piling up higher and higher at the doorstep; his car stayed parked in the driveway; nobody entered or left the house - the door was never seen open - for say, two and a half weeks. And so the police were called and, when they arrived and forced the door open after knocking repeatedly, they found the man's corpse. He had been dead for about sixteen days! And no one knew. This in any case is not a strange story. There are many similar examples of individual isolation.
Zaccheus heard about Jesus. Maybe when people came by his office to pay their taxes, or when he went to their houses if they refused to come by; or probably while he made his rounds at the marketplace - he must have heard people speak famously of this prophet that could heal and teach and console. And so, "Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus" (Luke 19:3a). I can just imagine the anxiety that plagued Zaccheus, the desperate longing that possessed him to meet this special man, this famous Jesus. Many of us live like we're waiting for something. We're waiting for that special person, that special thing, that special event that will console us, fill the hole in our hearts. It's like we keep an eye perennially open, even while asleep, longing, hoping, waiting, expecting. We all, like Zaccheus, want to see Jesus. Luke 19:3b says however, concerning Zaccheus: "but he was short, and could not see because of the crowd." For us as well, our shortcomings: insecurity, fear, hesitation, self-reproach, laziness, indiscipline - everything we feel is wrong with us - prevent us from reaching out and grasping salvation. We are hamstrung, and cannot get ahead. Everyone else seems to be moving on, as it were leaving us behind.
We get stuck in the routine. We refuse to make the first move. We forget that "Heaven helps those that help themselves." We sit still in front of the television, with that guilty pleasure: a bag of chips; a bowl of popcorn; caramel apples; fried chicken wings and drumsticks - our gym room stays deserted; phone calls are left unreturned; voicemails are promptly deleted: we're angry with our folks; with our friends; with this or that person - who gave them the right to treat us that way, by the way! We'll never forgive them. We sniff, wipe away a tear forming in our eyes. No way José. We must be strong. It's us against the world. We stay in our isolation. We stay in our loneliness. And we perpetuate the case. Get up, I tell you! Do what Zaccheus did when he was too short and could not see because of the crowd. Zaccheus ran ahead of everybody else and climbed a sycamore tree, so as to see Jesus, who was passing that way. We need to get up from before the television. We need to pick up the phone and return that call. We need to say, "Hey mom, I got your call. Sorry I couldn't call back earlier. I've been kinda upset with you for so, so, so and so. But I'm not upset anymore. I'll be by for Thanksgiving." And when Thanksgiving does come around, we need to actually go.
We need to go sometime to volunteer at a soup kitchen. We need to volunteer at a shelter. We need to visit with colleagues and friends. Allow them to invite you over for dinner sometime, and you invite them as well. Stop sometime to say hi to a passing stranger. That fellow begging for a buck at the street corner - just give him a dollar already. Don't begin to question why he or she doesn't go to the institutions of charity. Don't be an Ebenezer Scrooge. Give; share; help. Open the door of your heart to others. And love. Find your soul mate. Be romantic. Marry. Have sex - lots of it, and with vigorous foreplay as well. Enjoy life. You deserve it. Luke 19:5-6a tells us that, when Jesus reached to the spot where Zaccheus was up a tree, he asked him to come down, and insisted on being invited to dine with Zaccheus at the tax collector's house. Wow! I can just imagine how happy Zaccheus must have been. Luke 19:6b said, "He came down at once and welcomed Jesus gladly." His efforts to see Jesus had paid off. In our own lives as well, we will find that the acts of reaching out pay off. When we return those missed calls; when we volunteer to help the less fortunate; when we invite and get invited back; when we fall in love and act romantic; when we fellowship with others, we reap a harvest of joy. Just Like Zaccheus did when Jesus told him he was going to dine with him in his house.
"But when the crowds saw this, they began to mutter, 'He has gone to dine in the home of a sinner'" (Luke 19:7). There will always be obstacles. Sometimes, people may refuse to attend the events we invite them to. They may come up with several excuses why they cannot hang out with us. We may also not get invited. We may find it near impossible to find a soul mate, someone to share our life with. The people murmured against Zaccheus. "But Zaccheus 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'" (Luke 19:8). Impressive. Zaccheus stood up for himself. He was not going to allow the naysayers have a field day. He was willing to go overboard with love for Jesus. And Jesus appreciated the gesture. "Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost'" (Luke 19:9-10). So it is with us. When we face obstacles in our effort at forming positive interpersonal relationships with others, we should put in more effort. We should go over and above, like Zaccheus did, in our love for others, and in working on our interpersonal relationships. And we will be rewarded. We cannot afford to buckle under the pressure of obstacles. We must be strong, and we must persist.
Zaccheus was a lonely little man. He needed comfort in his life. He heard of Jesus, a special man that loved and comforted everyone. He desired greatly to meet this Jesus. But because he was short and could not see Jesus because of the crowd, he ran ahead of everyone else and climbed a sycamore tree. When Jesus passed by, he called Zaccheus down from the tree and dined with him at table. And when the people murmured, Zaccheus went over and above in his generosity, and love for Jesus. In our own lives too, we should reach out and form positive relationships with others, including the less fortunate. We should not be snug in our own material bubble, but connect in friendship to as many people as life throws our way. We shall then be happy and full of divine blessings and rewards.
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