Isaiah 1:10-18  Psalm 32:1-8  2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12  Luke 19:1-10

Jesus is on his journey to Jerusalem, passing through Jericho when he encounters Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus, as all of us learned as children, was a wee little man.  Though small in stature, Zacchaeus loomed large in political power – a tax collector, chief tax collector no less – the first century IRS.

As we have walked along with Jesus through the accounts recorded in Luke’s Gospel, we have plodded along slowly with burdensome intention, like the ox that symbolizes Luke.  Through the miracles of healing and the lessons of the parables, we have witnessed and learned from Jesus’ teaching and examples.  Luke’s Gospel is recognized for his focus on the marginalized – foreigners; outcasts; the poor; women desperate for help that only Jesus can bring; widows and children destined to be cast underfoot until Jesus intervenes.

Fulfilling his short three-year ministry in Galilee, Jesus turned his face to Jerusalem, fully knowledgeable that he would die there.  Along the southward journey, passing through Jericho, Jesus’ attention was drawn to wee little Zacchaeus, perched in a sycamore tree.  Luke tells us that Zacchaeus hurried toward Jesus, happy to welcome him.  Of great irony is the fact that the joyful Zacchaeus sought out and embraced by Jesus was a tax collector – a man of material wealth in a profession associated with ultimate corruption.

Typically, tax collectors were of Jewish heritage; their vocation required that they purchase the privilege from the Roman ruling party to collect taxes from their neighbors – taxes for the purpose of supporting the Roman government.  And, typically, tax collectors were wealthy, likely corrupt; accumulating their personal wealth from the excess amounts they would collect above the amounts they turned over to the government.  As you would speculate, tax collectors were not among the most popular of the Jewish community; time and again, throughout the Gospels, tax collectors are referenced as the epitome of sinfulness; not only greedy, but deceitful traitors to their own people.

Yet, even Zacchaeus, the tax collector, is redeemable.  Jesus invited himself and was welcomed into the home of Zacchaeus presumably to share a meal – the sharing of a meal being recognized in Jewish tradition as an opportunity of shared hospitality and the sealing of a relationship.  This public exhibition of redemption and acceptance is a radical and reckless act for Jesus – a radical and reckless act that heightens the controversy that surrounds Jesus, accumulating evidence that will culminate in his crucifixion.

The extent of God’s redemption of us is radical and reckless and extreme.  Even I am included; even you are included.  God is reckless in his redemption of us.

God’s radical and reckless redemption of Zacchaeus is not a new thing.  The prophet Isaiah is speaking to the people of 8^th century BC Judah who have fallen into faithlessness and are desperately in need of redemption.  The prophet Isaiah, whose name translates “the Lord gives salvation,” brought God’s message to the people of Judah.  Isaiah is comparing them to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah whose faithlessness led to total destruction.  For the people of Judah, thankfully, a remnant would be preserved.

By this time in the history of God’s people, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been annexed into the Assyrian Empire further to the north.  Judah, the Southern Kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital, existed in a tenuous security and stability, under constant threat by surrounding enemy powers.  Time and again, Judah’s kings had sold themselves short, desperate to appease their pagan enemies rather than trust God, depending upon their earthly powers to remain sovereign in the face of looming disaster.  It was not to be; in the decades to come, Judah and its capital Jerusalem would be destroyed and her people taken into exile.

We learn from Isaiah that God’s people had rebelled, were continuing to rebel.  Isaiah laments, “Why do you continue to rebel?” – suffering “bruises, sores, and bleeding wounds” from the sole of the foot to the head.  The rebellion continued; the people of Judah were carried off into exile, the great Temple of Solomon destroyed; the people of Judah were scattered, forced to struggle to maintain their identity, struggling to remain God’s chosen people.

God’s judgment is real; God’s judgment is a cleansing fire.  God’s judgment became a cleansing fire for the people of Judah.  The words of the Lord through the voice of Isaiah assure the people of Judah that their sins, which are like scarlet, shall be like snow.  Scarlet is the color symbolic of wickedness; snow represents the white of purity.  Isaiah words bring hope and comfort to a people who surely considered themselves non-redeemable.

Even the people of Judah with the bruises and sores and bleeding wounds of sinful rebellion were redeemed, restored to their homeland in the years to come just as Isaiah indicates.  God’s redemption of his people – of all creation is radical and reckless.  God’s redemption is radical and reckless because God’s love for us is radical and reckless.  God’s love is radical and reckless in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Is our love for one another radical and reckless?  Do we love without fear of our love being rebuked or misunderstood?  Do we share our blessings freely and generously without concern that those gifts will be squandered?  Do we “redeem” one another in our acceptance and respect for one another?  Jesus did and does show us how this is to be done.

Zacchaeus came down out of that sycamore tree with great joy to greet Jesus.  When have you been greeted with such joy?  When have you greeted others with such joy?  When we greet one another with great joy, when we love (even those difficult to love) without fear, we live out God’s radical reckless redemption of all creation.

Jesus, going knowingly to his death, embraced Zacchaeus, sharing the joy of Zacchaeus’ faithfulness, sharing the joy of Zacchaeus’ redemption.  Our embrace with Jesus is equally joyful, joyfully living into God’s radical and reckless redemption of all creation.  “Happy are those whose transgressions are forgiven, and who sins is put away!”  [Psalm 32:1]