Pentecost XXXIII – C

Meadowvale Lutheran Church, Mississauga

November 4th (All Saints Sunday)

Pastor Peter Lisinski

MORE THAN SINNERS

(St. Luke  19:1-10)

Today's Gospel offers us a unique perspective on our observance of All Saints' Day.  As I mentioned last Sunday, tax collectors in Jesus' day were considered the worst kind of sinner and, as such, were the most stigmatized of all social outcasts -- hated by their neighbours, mistrusted by their Roman employers, shunned by their community.  Zacchaeus is a case in point.  When Jesus called him down from that sycamore tree in Jericho and invited himself to dinner, the crowd was outraged!  'Jesus has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner,’ they grumbled.

The crowd had publicly labeled Zacchaeus a sinner, but Jesus saw more than a sinner. “Today salvation has come to this house, be-cause he too is a child of Abraham and Sarah!"  Jesus publicly declared Zacchaeus a legitimate heir of God's promises, _equal in God's eyes to any other member of God's chosen people.  In other words, Zacchaeus was a saint!

Zacchaeus' status as a saint, and his value as a beloved child of God, did not depend on Zacchaeus' good works -- on his competent performance of family obligations, or successful fulfillment of social responsibilities, or even pious observance of religious ritual.  It was a gift of divine grace which Zacchaeus received through faith.

Faith had inspired Zacchaeus to climb that sycamore tree in order to get a better look at Jesus; and because of his faith -- his willingness to go out on a limb, as it were, and risk yet another humiliation -- Zacchaeus' loneliness, frustration, and isolation gave way to a new life of friendship, belonging and community that changed him forever!  His self-serving life of greed and corruption became a Christ-centred life of self-giving generosity and justice.  "Lord," he promised, “half of my possessions I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much."

The same promise and potential for new life is ours as well through faith in Jesus Christ.  For, in the sacrament of Holy Baptism Jesus has come into our mortal life and changed it forever into eternal life.  Today, in the sacrament of Holy Com­munion, the crucified and risen Jesus transforms us into more than sinners -- into his church, God's holy communion of saints, an alternative community where forgiveness of sin -- God's for­giveness of us and our forgiveness of one another -- is the foundation for the fully human life of health, wholeness and fulfillment -- the very salvation -- God intended for all his children from the beginning of creation.

That doesn’t mean that community life can't, or doesn't happen without, or apart from the church.  Of course it can, and it does.  But faith and forgiveness are not the foundation on which the communities gathered in the name of politics, or business and industry, or law, or military service, or professional sports build their relationships.  Neither are faith and forgiveness the basis for membership in fitness clubs, service clubs, or country clubs; nor for residence in a particular neighborhood.  In com­munities outside the church, a person's failures and mistakes --not to mention the prejudices and misconceptions of others -- can have an isolating, and often devastating effect on our well being.

The church exists -- and the world needs the church to exist --for a different purpose.  Our mission as a church, as a cong­regation, as Christians is to invite others to discover what you and I have discovered and continue to discover, in our life together in the light of God's graces that in companionship with the community of faith -- this community of faith -- people can outlive their failures and mistakes, and even grow through them, toward the salvation God promises and offers the world in the divine humanity of Jesus Christ.

Today Jesus comes to dine with this holy communion of saints! Today salvation comes to this household of faith!  Today we be­come more than sinners!  For today, salvation has come into your life and mine.