A Tree with a View

[Jesus] looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” – Luke 19:5 (NRSV) 

My daughter’s school is doing Shrek the Musical. I try not to get too invested in auditions, but I’ll be honest: I’d love for her to be cast as Lord Farquaad. He and Donkey are my favorites because they’re hilarious. As is she.  

Our text today is about another man people laughed at: Zacchaeus, who was chief collections agent in Jericho. (Read: rich and deeply unpopular.) Luke paints the scene almost comically. You can picture Zacchaeus popping his head up over shoulders, peering between bodies in the crowd, finally climbing a sycamore tree for a booster seat.  

I can relate. At the ballet recently with my daughter, we were stuck behind a woman with a hairdo so tall it needed its own ticket. We even looked for booster seats at intermission. If the Met had a sycamore, I would have climbed it too.  

But Zacchaeus wasn’t just climbing for perspective.  

He was hiding.  

Out of breath, tucked behind branches, hoping no one would notice. Elevated, but alone. That’s where Jesus stops. He looks up and calls him by name. Jesus calls Zacchaeus into relationship.  

We all find ways to climb. Into work. Into distraction. Into hiding. Elevation feels safer, but it separates us. It feeds isolation and cynicism. Jesus shows us another way. He meets us in the street. With the poor. With the vulnerable. With us.  

Zacchaeus discovered that day what I am still learning: God’s call is not to climb higher, but to come down. To be seen. To be known. To begin again.  

Prayer
Ground me, God. When I hide, call me in. When I climb, bring me down. Meet me here. Amen.

About the Author
Kaji Douša is the Senior Pastor of The Park Avenue Christian Church, a congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, in New York City.