by Rev. Art Wiese
March 10, 2004 -- (Midweek Lenten Series)
Sermon Text -- Luke 18:9-14 and 19:1-10
We began our exploration of "the Marks of the Church" last week with the word of God and its visible symbol, the Bible. All of us, who gather around God's word, are included in God's story. It is our story because it is Jesus ' story. He is our brother. We are his sisters and brothers. It is our story because it is the story of others. It includes all God's people. We are not alone in our relationship with God. It is our story because it is a story of life and death. It is a real story about real life with all its suffering and sadness, its hardships and difficulties, its promise of death and resurrection. And it is our story because it is the story of all God's creation. It's not just a people story, but a story about rocks and hills, plants and animals, skies and seas, the heavens and the earth. It is the story of the entire cosmos. Of course, it is more than just a story. It is a living and active word, a word proclaimed and heard, a word examined and interpreted. It is a word that makes things happen, a word that calls for a response, a word that moves people to do God's will.
In the story which we have just heard, Zacchaeus hears God's word. It is addressed to him by Jesus, who is passing through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. As he is going along his way, he stops beneath the sycamore tree in which Zacchaeus has found a perch. He says to him, "Hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." On the face of it, that is not a very profound word. It is a simple request, amplified by the desire for speed, and completed by a statement of fact. There is little more in it than a very easy, straight-forward exchange of information between members of a family, something like, "I just thought I'do let you know,.I'm coming over to see you." But to Zacchaeus, this word has power. This word has strength. This word has the ability to make things happen. This word is amazing because Zacchaeus is a tax collector, and we know about tax collectors. In the world of tax collectors, saviors do not invite themselves over for a bite to eat. In the world of tax collectors, saviors do not share fellowship with them at table or anywhere else. In the world of tax collectors, saviors do not spend the night or impose on their generosity. In the world of tax collectors, the righteous have nothing to do with tax collectors. The righteous look down on tax collectors. The righteous feel superior to tax collectors. The righteous wouldn't be caught dead in a tax collector's house. And yet, that is exactly where Jesus wants to go. To Zacchaeus, Jesus' words must have seemed like a very radical proclamation. "Hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." "Be quick, Zacchaeus, I need to meet with you." "Get a move on, Zacchaeus, I need to sit at your table." "Scramble on down, Zacchaeus, I need to share your hospitality." In a sense, Jesus is saying, "Zacchaeus, your sins are forgiven. No longer will your past determine your future. No longer will your actions exclude you from my family. No longer will you be considered unclean and to be avoided. You are my brother. You are my friend." The result is that Zacchaeus is transformed. On the spot, he pledges to give half of all his possessions to the poor and to repay anyone he has cheated four times over. Because he has heard God's word, Zacchaeus is a new man. He has a new vision. He has a new life.
It seems to me that if we are all children of God, then forgiveness is God's way of keeping the family together. From the beginning, sin has been that thing which separates us away from God. Because they sinned, Adam and Eve were driven out of God's garden. Because he sinned, Cain was banished from God's territory. Because they sinned, the people in the days of Noah were given over to destruction. Because they sinned the people were made to wander for forty years in the wilderness. Yet, God is gracious. God does not abandon God's people. God waits for them. God longs for them. God cares for them. God clothes Adam and Eve. God protects Cain from harm. God preserves Noah and his family. God leads the Israelites to the promised land. In short, God forgives. God does not hold their sin against them. God seeks to be reconciled with them and have them reconciled with one another. That's why I have chosen family as the symbol for "the Mark of Forgiveness." I don' t what sort of mementos of his family my great-grandfather Wiese brought with him from Germany. If he brought pictures, I've never seen them. But, I' ve come to under- stand how important pictures are to most of us. One of the last things that my mother did for her children was to make copies of our grandparent's wedding pictures, so that we could keep them with us as a remembrance. They are a reminder of who we are, of how we fit in, and of where we have come from. My wife's family has done the same thing -- only verbally. They have extensive written documentation of their family history going all the way back to her great-grandfather Kroells, who also once sailed across the same ocean to the new world from Germany. Judging by the great popularity of genealogy among many people today, be they of Norwegian, Swedish or other national descent, I dare to say that family and keeping it together, at least historically, is of great importance.
The thing about forgiveness is that it begins with truth and honesty. Forgiving does not mean that we ignore sin or that we make excuses for it. Instead, to forgive means to decree that sinfulness -- something that is real, something that does damage, something that separates us one from another -- "does not and will not have the power to dictate the future of [the] relationships it has harmed."1 In the story of God's people, Joseph is a prime example of someone who knows how to forgive. Beaten and sold into slavery by his brothers, we would not be surprised if he tried to get back at them. But even after he has suffered in a foreign country, been falsely a ccused, and spent time in prison, when he has the opportunity to seek his revenge, he does not. He forgives the ones who have been so mean to him in the past. In the words of the "Revised Standard Version," he says, "You meant it against me for evil, but God meant it for good." By offering forgiveness, Joseph receives back his family, his brothers and his father as well. It is not surprising that we see in him a distant reflection of Jesus, the messiah, who prays through the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing." Though Jesus' tormenters are doing the unthinkable, forgiveness keeps them together. They are still brothers. They remain a part of the family.
Of course, there are times when even forgiveness is not enough. In the old, red "Service Book and Hymnal," the prayer of confession was followed by words of assurance addressed to "those who truly repent and believe [in Christ]," that their sins are forgiven. And then the pastor continued, "On the other hand,.I declare unto the impenitent and unbelieving, that so long as they continue in their impenitence, God hath not forgiven their sins, and will assuredly visit their iniquities upon them, if they turn not from their evil ways."2 Though God is a forgiving God, truth and honesty force us to acknowledge that sometimes forgiveness must be withheld -- for the sake of the family. Examples of such sinfulness are few and far between and I hesitate to even mention what they might be. But, when a sin is so heinous, or the persistence of the sin is so difficult to overcome, then forgiveness becomes powerless to effect a reconciliation. Not everyone will respond like Zacchaeus to the hearing of God's word. That's why Jesus gave his followers the power to both forgive sin and to bind people to their sinfulness. If Martin Luther is right, we are all bound in our sinfulness apart from the word of God. But where we see forgiveness in action, then there we can be sure that we see a mark of Christ's church.
Amen.
1 Mary E. Hinkle, Signs of Belonging, Minneapolis, Augsburg Fortress, 2003, pg. 54.
2 Service Book and Hymnal, Minneapolis, Augsburg, 1958, pg. 252.