Do you ever struggle with an embarrassment or shame that isolates you from God and others?
Do you ever think that you're too young, or too old, or too whatever to offer anything
to the Church?
Do you ever make excuses for the weakness in your spiritual life, rather than look for
ways to get stronger?
Hey everybody this is Steve and we need to put ourselves in a position to be seen by
God.
After a few Sundays dedicated to Christmas and Epiphany, we're back on track with the
readings for the 15th Sunday of Luke.
In this week's Gospel, we read the well-known story of the repentant tax collector, Zacchaios.
And, in this week's Epistle, Paul reminds Timothy to be an example of faith and to focus
on the Scripture.
Links, as always, are down in the doobley-doo.
And remember to check out the intro videos we made for both Luke's Gospel account and
Paul's epistle, to help you better understand the readings.
This week's reading are about two people that society might easily overlook: Zacchaios,
a tax collector who's very short; and Timothy, a bishop who's very young.
Zacchaios, despite his height, is trying to connect with Jesus in the midst of a great
crowd.
And Timothy, despite his age, is trying to lead his flock to the Lord.
And as we'll see both men, despite their challenges, put themselves in a position where they can
be seen by God.
Paul gives some great advice to Timothy: to hope in God alone, to teach others to do the
same, to be an example in word and deed for his people.
And it all seems clear enough; yet, the passage we read starts kind of abruptly: "Timothy,
my son, the saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance."
(1 Tim 4:9)
What saying is Paul talking about here?
Well, remember that this reading is just a few verses pulled from chapter 4 of the Epistle.
So it'll help us to back up a bit, and look at some of the verses that lead into this
week's reading.
Just a few verses earlier, Paul tells Timothy to avoid "profane myths and old wives' tales."
And he tells Timothy to not simply avoid the bad but to draw closer to the good, to "train
[himself] in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable
in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."
(1 Tim 4:7-8)
Paul uses this image of physical exercise to help Timothy understand what he needs to
do in order to progress in Faith and grow stronger in Christ.
If we want to get physically stronger, to have more flexibility or endurance or power,
then we need to exercise our bodies.
And, of course, while it's awesome to be able to bench press a lot, that won't really help
you very much in the life to come.
So Paul tells Timothy to not forget to exercise his character, his spirit, his heart; something
that will benefit him both in this life and the life to come.
Because, just like it's possible to develop physically with the right exercises and habits,
it's possible to develop spiritually with practices that shape our hearts for Christ.
This is something we explored a bit in episode 16: the progress of our spiritual lives as
we deepen our connection to the Lord.
Just as we saw that progress play out in the life of John the Baptist; this week, we see
it in the life of Zacchaios.
Zacchaios was a tax collector, someone that the people despised.
Because tax collectors promised the Roman government that they'd deliver a certain amount
of tax money; and if they collected any money on top of that, they got to keep it!
So not only was Zacchaios working with the Roman Empire, which invaded and occupied the
land of the Jewish people: he was becoming rich by stealing from his own people.
In this passage, Zacchaios starts out in a pretty low place.
But, when he hears that Jesus is walking by, something inside him pushes him forward.
And he does something kind of ridiculous:
He climbs a tree.
Like we said, Zacchaios was short.
He couldn't see Jesus in the crowd, so he went someplace he could get a better view.
Jesus sees Zacchaios, looking like a complete fool: a grown man up in a tree.
Yet He doesn't laugh or pretend not to see Zacchaios; in fact, He invites Himself over.
"Zacchaios, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today."
(Luke 19:5)
The people start murmuring, because Zacchaios is a notorious thief.
And Jesus, once again, is going to eat with a sinner rather than someone decent and respectable.
So Zacchaios climbs down from the tree and encounters Jesus, face to face.
And in that moment, something...happens.
Unexpectedly, surprisingly, Zacchaios says that he will give half of his goods to the
poor; and that he'll repay anyone he's defrauded four times over.
(Luke 19:8)
To the people, this must have *sounded* as ludicrous as Zacchaios looked up in the tree
a moment ago.
Most of the people in that crowd, maybe every person in that crowd, had been cheated by
Zacchaios.
Were they shocked?
Did they believe him?
Did they think this was another scam?
Yet the Lord accepts Zacchaios, and happily says "Today salvation has come to this house,
since he also is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost."
(Luke 19:9-10)
In just a few short verses, we see Zacchaios go from a notorious thief to someone who feels
so compelled to see Jesus that he's willing to climb a tree and make an absolute fool
of himself.
And then he becomes a penitent *former* thief, someone who will give generously and more
than make up for his wicked ways.
Because when Jesus sees him, Zacchaios finds himself.
He begins to discover his true self in Christ.
And it's interesting to see the ways that Zacchaios makes this progress by returning
to what he already knows.
Zacchaios' repentance doesn't involve preaching or teaching or a lifetime in the wilderness.
It involves money, and a new way of relating to it.
What used to be the instrument of his sin now becomes an instrument of his salvation.
This is something we explored back in episode 1, when we read Paul's 2nd Epistle to Timothy
and saw that Paul advised his spiritual son to return to what he already knows: to the
Scripture.
To use his existing talents and experiences and dedicate them to God.
In this Epistle, Paul again reminds Timothy to focus on the reading of Scripture, to develop
a practice that will keep him focused on what's right and continue drawing him closer to Christ.
"Attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching.
Do not neglect the gift you have..." (1 Tim 4:13-14)
Paul wants Timothy to train his character, to exercise his spirit, to engage in the regular
and repeated practices that will open his heart to the presence of God.
And he advises Timothy, who was raised in a Jewish household reading the Scripture,
to recommit himself to that practice in particular: opening, reading, wrestling with the Bible.
Here, about halfway through this season of Live the Word, it's helpful to remind ourselves
that this advice is just as true for us as it was for Timothy.
That we need to open and read and wrestle with the Scripture.
Because we, too, need to develop healthy practices, to develop hearts worthy of our calling as
Christians.
And we, too, need to put ourselves in a position to be seen by God.
It's probably obvious that reading Scripture helps us to see God: to see Him at work throughout
history, loving people, saving people, acting for the life of the world.
Yet we shouldn't overlook the fact that we don't simply read Scripture; in a sense, Scripture
reads us.
Remember, Zacchaios climbed the tree to see Jesus and ended up being seen *by* Jesus.
When we open the Scriptures to see Jesus, He also sees us.
In light of the great story of salvation, the story of our particular lives comes to
light.
We understand ourselves better, we come to truly know ourselves, in light of the Scripture.
Which is the reason we started this series, after all.
Before we close, I want to share with you a great quote from St John Chrysostom.
St John had a deep love for Scripture, and for the writings of St Paul in particular.
And, during his day, people questioned whether it was necessary for people to read Scripture.
Some even suggested that studying the Bible was something for monks off in their monasteries,
not regular people out in the world.
Yet Chrysostom strongly objected, and constantly encouraged people to read the Sunday Gospel
and Epistle readings ahead of time, so they could be better prepared to hear the readings
during the Liturgy.
18 episodes into Live the Word, I hope that sounds familiar.
He even said that people in the world, surrounded by constant temptations and struggles, actually
need Scripture more than monks:
"[The monks] rest far from the battle, and so they do not receive many wounds; but you
stand continuously in the front rank, and you receive continual blows.
So you need more remedies....
Therefore we have a continuous need for the full armor of the scriptures"
And he continued with an observation that's more blunt than we may be ready for:
"It is not possible, not possible for anyone, to be saved without continually taking advantage
of spiritual reading."
Halfway through this season of Live the Word, Chrysostom's words are a powerful reminder
of the importance of this project.
When Zacchaios climbed the tree to see Christ, he put himself in a position to be seen *by*
Christ.
And Christ immediately entered his home.
When we follow the advice of Paul and Chrysostom and wrestle with Scripture, we too put ourselves
in a position to both see and be seen by Jesus.
We've covered a lot of ground today.
And to help work through what this all means for each us, we'll end as we always do on
Live the Word: with 3 questions.
First, what are you doing to put yourself in a position to be seen by God?
Do you attend the divine services?
Do you offer prayers at home?
Do you try to live out Christ's call to show mercy and compassion on everyone you meet?
Even if it's something as simple as taking a moment to stand before an icon, what are
you doing to be seen by the Lord and open the door to an encounter?
Second, how do you respond when the Lord invites Himself into your home?
Remember, Zacchaios could have said no; he could have been too ashamed, too worried about
being judged, to let Jesus enter his home.
Are you struggling with a secret shame, something that causes you to keep the door to your heart
closed rather than open to God?
Third, is the Scripture a part of your spiritual practice?
You may not be ready to explore the daily readings each and every day, but you can start
with just the Sunday Gospel and Epistle readings.
Obviously, I hope this video series is bearing fruit in your spiritual life.
But remember: it should be something to complement and enhance, not replace, your reading of
the Scriptures as part of your spiritual practice.
We'll be back with a new episode on Monday.
And my buddy Christian will have a short response video up on Thursday as he wrestles with these
questions.
I hope you'll read the Gospels and Epistle passages we covered today.
And, whether it's with family or friends or a Bible Study group, I hope you'll talk about
what we've covered and wrestle with what God has for you, in your life.
Most importantly, I hope you'll celebrate with us this Sunday and every Sunday, to hear
the beautiful Scripture readings proclaimed during the Divine Liturgy and to learn how
you can Live the Word.
Thanks for watching.
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