Luke 19:1-10    Zach Takes a Leap

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      So, Zach, how did you get the courage to expose your need, your curiosity, your weakness.  Being so short, you were disadvantaged.  You must have looked silly climbing that tree.  Wasn’t it mostly youth who would climb trees to see a spectacle, some kind of parade?  But you didn’t hesitate to be a kid again.  What silly courage drove you to this big surprise?

 

      Jesus saw you and surprised you with his attention.  Did he really invite himself to your house?  As soon as he did, you surprised everyone and yourself, too, probably, by welcoming this itinerant rabbi in so gladly.  Jesus’ very presence seems to have changed you.  Was it the surprise of being accepted by the holy man, the prophet, that changed you?  Were you just yearning for some way to make your life make sense?  To somehow get that yearning transformed into joy?  So you demonstrated that you wanted to adopt Jesus’ way of life, his righteousness, his generosity, by paying back and giving away so much of what you had gained!  For the Kingdom had come for you.

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                                                  O God, help me to be very much eager to be silly, 
                                                   Eager to be exposed in my weakness, 
                                                   Eager to be ready to express my faith in generous ways 
                                                   For those who need a sign of your presence.