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The Importance of Restitution Zacchaeus Sunday Sermon by Fr Andrew George January 27, 2008 You have all heard how, when examples are given of various circumstances or personalities, that wordage like A, B C, or we hear something like "Mr. X," "Mr. Y" or "Mr. Z" are often used. Well, today we have in our Gospel lesson a real person named "Mr. Z," more correctly Zacchaeus is the name. As we heard in the Gospel earlier, Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector of the city of Jericho. He was an unpopular man, and it was well known that he was dishonest and stole from the people at large, as well as from the Roman government for whom he worked. One day, Jesus came to Jericho and "Mr. Z" sought to see Him. The crowd of people was very large and Zacchaeus was a rather short man, thus he could not see Jesus. So he ran ahead and climbed a tree. What occurred next was a shock to both Zacchaeus and to the citizens of Jericho! As Jesus walked by, He stopped at the tree, looked up, and the eyes of the two men met. Zacchaeus must have expected Jesus to say words of scolding or condemnation towards him, for his many sins. Instead, he heard Jesus call him by name and say, "Make haste and come down, for I must stay at your house today." Jesus then has dinner with Mr. Z; not with the chief rabbi nor the mayor, nor with some honorable citizen in general, but rather with this well-known sinner. The people in the crowd were shocked! They vocally complain and criticize Jesus. Let me stop here and stress the teaching that is central to this event in the Lord's ministry... The criticism of Jesus by the crowd should be, for us, some of the most comforting words for Christians today, for we all sin in various ways at various times. For in Jesus, we have a real friend, we have a loving Lord who forgives sin and uplifts the sinner, to strengthen them in not sinning again. This face-to-face meeting with Zacchaeus reminds us of Jesus' words expressed elsewhere, that He did not come to invite the righteous but sinners to repentance. In other words, Jesus is saying that He did not come to earth to invite people who are the so-called "good" people, who so often become self-righteous and consider themselves better than other people, and at times actually criticize and look down on other people, even alienating them. Jesus' communication and fellowship with Zacchaeus clearly shows us that He wants to be with the people who are conscious of their sin and desire to correct their actions, people who desire repentance; that is, they acknowledge their errors and want to change. It is this aspect of today's Gospel that we must also stress this morning ... Once Zacchaeus got over his shock that Jesus wanted to go to his house, Zacchaeus says to Jesus that he will give half of his possessions to the poor, and that he will pay back the people he cheated by four times what he took from them in over-charging them for their taxes! Hearing this, Jesus tells Zacchaeus, "Today salvation has come to this house." We see here that "Mr. Z" made restitution for his sins; he was so truly sorrowful for them that he wanted to correct the wrong that he had done. He could not in good conscience keep the money he had stolen. This, my beloved, becomes the much-needed lesson for us as well. In fact, it is the "proper formula" to follow when we seek God's forgiveness. Wherever possible, true repentance has to include restitution. This means putting things right with the people whom we have injured. When our sins have damaged other people we can often help to repair the damage…property can be returned, rumors can be contradicted, apologies can be made or broken relationships can be mended, to give a few examples. If we truly repent of our sins and errors, we should want to do everything in our power to undo the evil we have done. Honest restitution is the hallmark of genuine repentance, and Zacchaeus shows us how to do it. Beloved in the Lord... Please do not leave this Gospel event to be for you a nice story from long ago; every aspect of it applies to us today. Yes--We can climb up the tree to see Jesus--the tree of prayer and the tree of the Sacrament of Confession. Yes--Jesus, through the priest, will call us by name and through God's grace extend Christ's forgiveness for past sins. Yes--it is then expected of us to make the proper restitution to correct and repair where and when possible our errors and wrongful actions. The end result will be the same as what Zacchaeus heard----yes, the Lord will tell us as well, "Today salvation has come to this house." Sermon Archive Advent - Plan Ahead Rightly - Fr. Andrew A Culture Obsessed With Food - Douglas Cramer Advent - St. Joseph - Fr. Andrew Advent - A Mixed Bad - Fr. Andrew Building Bridges - Fr. Andrew The Importance of Restitution - Fr. Andrew Declare How Much - Fr. Andrew Being Truely Thankful - Fr. Andrew Wheat or Hay - Which are you offering the King? - Jim Petrou |
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