Daily lesson for November 26, 2014

Today's daily lesson is from Luke 19 verse 5:

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

One of my great-aunts used to say that Jesus came not only for the down-and-out but also for the up-and-out too.

In the tree, Zacchaeus was literally up-and-out. But he was also up-and-out in the community. A wealthy man, Zacchaeus earned his living from a morally dubious enterprise. For that people despised him and labeled him a "sinner".  When Jesus came to Zacchaaeus's hometown, it was said that Zacchaeus was so short that he had to climb a tree in order to see Jesus over the crowd. But I wonder if the reason why Zacchaeus himself could not be apart of the crowd was because he was profoundly rejected by the people. Though he was rich, he had no friends and no fellowship and no one who might take the time to know him. He was up the tree and out of community.

And as the children's Sunday school song says it,

 "As the savior passed that way
He looked up in the tree.
And said - 'Zacchaeus, you come down!
For I'm going to your house today!
For I'm going to your house today!'"

I don't know why it is we sing the last line of the song twice, except maybe this -- perhaps it has to be said twice just to be believed. As the crowd says in disbelief, Jesus "has gone to be the guest of the sinner."  He has gone to be the guest of Zacchaeus.

Whether we are down-and-out in the gutter or up-and-out in a penthouse separating and protecting us from the world, there is no one beyond the love and reach of Christ. As the Magnificat says, "He lifts up the lowly and bring down the rich." He lifts some up and brings others down and does so because his desire is to be with all and for all to be with each other.

And what He creates is called the kingdom of God.

Prayer: LORD, help me to see others as Jesus sees them. Help me not to be haughty toward the poor nor hostile toward the rich. May I, like Jesus, seek to create fellowship and community with and for all. Amen.