Sermon October 31, 2010

Sermon A Three Part Series on Stewardship

Stewardship: Trick or Treat

Scripture Psalm 119: 137-144 and Luke 19:1-10

Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ October 31, 2010

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
Psalm 119 is an alphabetic acrostic consisting of twenty two stanzas, each with eighth lines, each of which begins with the letter of the Hebrew alphabet for that stanza. The stanzas work sequentially through the alphabet. It is a reflection on torah, the law. Our reading for today is a stanza for the letter tsade which is the first letter of the Hebrew word tsedek or ‘righteousness’ and that is the theme that runs through this stanza of the psalm. To follow God’s law is to live a righteous life.

Psalm 119: 137-144
137You are righteous, O LORD, and your judgments are right.
138You have appointed your decrees in righteousness and in all faithfulness.
139My zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words.
140Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.
141I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts.
142Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is the truth.
143Trouble and anguish have come upon me, but your commandments are my delight.
144Your decrees are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.

Luke 19:1-10
Halloween is the evening of All Saints Day or “Hallowed Eve.” Through the centuries it has claimed a more pagan and prankish nature of “Trick or Treat.” Lost is the remembering of those saints who have gone before us. Instead we are warned that if we do not give out good treats a trick will follow. Taxing bodies and authorities often have the same perception of them. If you pay your taxes, the government will provided the services you expect but if you don’t pay them you can loose everything. In the time of Jesus, tax collectors were agents of Rome and they had the authority of the Roman garrison to take what they wanted. They passed on to Rome what was expected and anything above that was their fee. Often they were wealthy men. Zacchaeus is chief among tax collectors. So how does Jesus receive this tax collector?

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5When 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.” 6So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

Sermon
Most of us know today is Halloween, but it is also Reformation Sunday: a time to remember Calvin’s “reformed, always reforming.” The day we remember that we truly are Protestants, or protestors. It is the anniversary of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses nailed to the church door at Wittenberg. It is not very often that Stewardship Pledge Sunday falls on Halloween and therefore encounters all these other significant events in the life of the church. But I’d like us to use the Halloween focus today to consider stewardship and in particular pledging. Let’s be honest pledging can feel like Trick or Treat. The trick is all the worry that is associated with any significant financial choice. The treat is the wonderful feeling we gain when we share.

Zacchaeus certainly knew about financial planning. For centuries we have translated that his encounter with Jesus changes his behavior, but David Lose really blue me out of the water in his commentary on this passage. He writes that in the Greek, Zacchaeus is not speaking about a future plan but what he already does. In other words: “Look, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I pay back four times" – as in right now, already, as a matter of practice.” Wow!

Yet understanding the effects of salvation in one’s life is a repeated theme of Luke’s gospel. Change, conversion, needs to incorporate a changed attitude and behavior in relation to all of life including wealth. Did Luke have fellow Christians in mind who saw salvation as a ticket to heaven or as a recipe for inner tranquility with little or no thought for social justice, or distribution of resources especially for the poor? Did he want to disabuse them of such an attitude by making the tax collector the more righteous “son of Abraham,” which is the title Jesus gives to him?

Why do we really hand out treats on Halloween? Because we love children, and we enjoy seeing them happy, right? Why does Jesus call Zacchaeus out of the tree and invite himself to his home? Jesus loves him and wants him to be happy. Nothing Zacchaeus could do would have made him righteous in the eyes of his own community. His job made him a sinner, even if he worked hard at being fair. Jesus claims him as he claims us. He transforms our lives with his love. Pledges, stewardship is about our relationship with Jesus not about buying our way into heaven. We do it because it is a joy to serve our Lord. Amen.

Resources:
WorkingPreacher.org; David Lose,Marbury E. Anderson Biblical Preaching Chair, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN

Pentecost 23, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.