Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:9-10  

Zacchaeus was a rich and important man in the city of Jericho. He was working for the invading Romans, and he was also cheating the people. Yet for all of his wealth, his large house where he could entertain many people, he was not a happy man. There was something missing in his life. We can make our lives like Zacchaeus. We can spend all of our life and all of our time and energy in becoming wealthy, getting a high paying job, having many possessions, being important and influential and popular. Even if we are young, we can think like this, and imagine that we are someone special because of the things we have, or how important other people think we are. 

What a mistake this would be. Zacchaeus had betrayed his faith. When we set out to become rich and powerful then we will find ourselves slowly drifting away from the life and love of God, because our Lord Jesus says… you cannot serve two Masters, God and riches. 

Of course, this does not mean that we should not study hard and work hard at whatever job we find ourselves doing. But when we do these things to become wealthy and important, then we are following the path of Zacchaeus, and we cannot grow close to God. We become a servant of those things we desire. If we desire to be close to God, then we will find ourselves doing everything to grow closer to God. If we desire to be rich and powerful, then we will find ourselves doing whatever we think necessary to gain these, but we cannot have both the desire for God and the desire for wealth and importance.

What does Jesus Christ say? It is that the one who wants to be important must make himself the servant of all. It is that when we seek to serve God and be close to God above all things then he will provide all that we need for our life. It is not that having wealth and importance prevent us serving God. Many wealthy people have even become saints. But it is seeking after these things that prevent us growing close to God. 

Zacchaeus knew that this was not enough. He knew that there was something important missing in his life. When Jesus came to Jericho something stirred in his heart. There was suddenly within him a great need to see Jesus. How can we say this? It is because he ran, and he climbed.

When we run somewhere, we must commit all our attention to what we are doing. We can walk along slowly and send someone a text, or look at a message, or update our Facebook account. But when we are running somewhere, we can’t do this. We must look where we are going. When we read that Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd, we know that he was completely committed to seeing Jesus for himself. He stopped whatever he was doing and ran to where he hoped he might see Jesus. He wanted to see Jesus more than anything at that moment. 

And he climbed a tree. This is not ordinary behaviour for a rich and important person. But Zacchaeus didn’t care what others thought of him, and he climbed up into the Sycamore tree whether people were looking at him and laughing or not. He wanted to see Jesus so much that he humbled himself. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus for himself so much that he ran and climbed into a tree.

We know that Jesus stopped right under that tree, though we can imagine that there were many trees, and other trees had children and young people in their branches. But he stopped at this tree, and looking up, he spoke directly to Zacchaeus, and called him by name, because Jesus Christ is God himself made man, and with his divine love he knew all about Zacchaeus and how he had spent his life.

Jesus didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t ask Zacchaeus to explain himself, and how he had become a tax-collector and a sinner. He just called up to him – Hurry up and come down, I want to stay at your house today. Everyone thought it was strange that Jesus should go and stay at the house of someone who was a tax collector, a traitor, a sinner. But Jesus Christ had already seen that his heart had changed. He was no longer the same man. When he went out to run and climb, he was seeking God with his whole heart, and in his repentance and humility he found him.

If we have wandered away from God, whatever our age, and if we have set our hearts on the things of the world around us, as if they mattered most, then we can learn from the account of Zacchaeus that we can also repent, we can also change our heart, and seek God before all other things. It will require us to put Jesus first. It does not matter what age we are, whether we are old or young, every day we have a new opportunity to seek God before all else and to put God first. We can also run to find Jesus and climb up above all the distractions of the world to see him for ourselves.

Zacchaeus had all the things that so many people think are important, but without Jesus, without life with God, life in union with God, he had nothing at all. What should we do if we want to spend our life close to God, in God’s presence and surrounded by his life and love? We must pray every day, beginning today if we have wandered away from God, and say…

Heavenly Father, I want to be filled with your life and love, and to be obedient to you in all things, so that I become truly your child, a son or daughter of God. I offer you my life, and every day, young or old as I am, ask that you will guide me into your path for my life and provide all that I need.

We can pray this prayer at whatever age we are. Whether we are 5 or 50, 8 or 80. This is what changed everything for Zacchaeus. When he put God first, his life became fulfilled. When he was thinking only of himself, he discovered that something important and necessary was missing.  When he had turned back to God, when he had sat at Jesus feet, when he had welcomed Jesus into his home and his heart, he heard the words of Jesus saying…

Today salvation has come to Zacchaeus’ house. The Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.

Perhaps Zacchaeus thought that he was going to seek Jesus, but Jesus was already seeking him. And you also, and each one of us. If we have wandered from God and filled our lives with things that cannot satisfy, he is already seeking you. He has already come to find you and to save you. If we leave behind those things that have separated us from God, and run to where Jesus is, doing whatever is necessary to find him and see him, then he is ready to stand before us, and calling us by our own name, to say – I must come and dwell in your heart today. 

May we make him welcome, each one of us, and seek him above all else, for our salvation, and for his glory. Amen.