The One Who Seeks the Lost – 30 October 2022

Luke 19:1–10

The story of Zacchaeus is one that should not be relegated only to children’s Sunday School classes. . . Zacchaeus embodies qualities that, at first glance, seem antithetical to everything Jesus said the kingdom of God was about. He is a chief tax collector (overseeing perhaps dozens of others who engaged in this admittedly shady profession) and he is rich! His success has been built on the intimidation and misery of others.

He is “short” in more ways than one; his physical stature prevents him from glimpsing Jesus as he walks along the road, but his ethical/moral status in the community certainly comes up short of what would be expected in a disciple of Christ. No wonder the other followers of Jesus are indignant when Jesus invites himself to sit down and dine with this man!

We are not cognizant of all of the ensuing conversation between Zacchaeus and the Master, but we do get Zacchaeus’ commitment: “I’ll give half of everything I have to the poor, and pay back four times what I took dishonestly.” . . . As we might say in a more contemporary vein, Zacchaeus put his money where his mouth was.

Here we have another illustration of Luke’s theme, the great reversal. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. In the case of Zacchaeus, we have a man who had lost his heart for humanity in the midst of the pursuit of wealth. Jesus helped him find his heart, and, in the process, the way to salvation. –– John Fairless

2 Thessalonians 1:1–4, 11–12

The apostle seeks to encourage the church by noting that their faith is still growing and their love for one another is still increasing. These are active signs of God’s continuing presence with God’s people. The church is also encouraged to persevere in the midst of continued suffering and persecution. When trials come, it is an ever-present temptation for faithful people to question God’s presence and love. “Why is this happening to me? What have I done?” Even the Savior, from the cross, asked, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). Paul assures the believers at Thessalonica that God has not forgotten them. . . –– John Fairless

Isaiah 1:10–18

If we have any doubts about the effectiveness of the sheer number of our petitions and offerings to God, this passage puts them into perspective. God couldn’t care less about our offerings for the offerings’ sake. Prayer, simply to be praying—filling up the airwaves of heaven, so to speak—actually matters very little to God. God is much more interested in the actions that spring from a repentant heart and a renewed life. Refraining from evil, learning to do good, seeking justice, and siding with the oppressed (like widows and orphans) are the kinds of things that interest God, according to Isaiah. As a pastor from my youth days was fond of saying, “It’s time the church got up off its ‘Blessed Assurance’ and got out into the world with the love of Jesus!” –– John Fairless

John P. Fairless is senior minister of the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Florida.

Homily Service 43, no. 4 (2010): 94–105.