Traditional Catholicism had a very negative streak running through it, or a whole pattern of negative streaks. It was peculiarly pessimistic, pessimistic about the chances of salvation, about the possibilities of finding God in the material world, in his own creation. Older members of this congregation will recall the anxiety provoked at this time of year concerning the fate of the faithful departed: did they make it across the final bridge or did they not? A whole indulgences industry was constructed in the face of these anxieties. The three great enemies of salvation, according to the traditionalists, were: the world, the flesh and the devil, in that order.
The world had to do with material possessions; these could distract you from the primrose path; I remember a local priest down home in the 1950 getting very exercised about the dangers of worldly possessions. In fact he was probably the only man in that chapel who still had a backside in his trousers. The second great enemy was 'the flesh'. And 'the flesh' meant only one thing and that was sex. Apparently, there was an awful lot of that around. The third great enemy was of course the Devil, and he meant, well, more sex. So the road to heaven was strewn with almost insurmountable obstacles. The traditional Catholic looked out on the world through very jaundiced eyes indeed.Had our traditional priests and teachers paid more attention to the bible and less attention to Canon Law the story might well have been different.
Our first reading is a hymn of praise to the creator God. The writer, addressing God, says: "You love all that exists, you hold nothing of all you have made in abhorrence, for had you hatred anything, you would not have created it in the first place?" This is a reiteration of the short summarising statement at the end of the account of creation in the Book of Genesis: "God saw all that he had made and he found it very good." The material things of this world are not obstacles to God; on the contrary, they are bridges to God. Far from being an enemy of salvation, the flesh has become the very agent of our salvation. The incarnation ensured that. The supreme example of this is of course Bread and Wine, two representative elements of the material world; they become for us the body and blood of Christ. Even the material elements of our world have not escaped the love of our God expressed through the incarnation.
The gospel extract we have this evening contains three obvious points. The first point is connected with the personal dilemma of Zacchaeus. His Jewish contemporaries looked down on him, literally, for two reasons: firstly, he was a small man; secondly, he collected taxes for a foreign power. But the point Luke makes is that, despite his personal disadvantages, he goes to great lengths to get a glimpse of Jesus. Perhaps we too must alter our perspective if we are to recognise Jesus at the many points where he is to be found. Perhaps we are reluctant to inconvenience ourselves, to put ourselves out to catch a glimpse of Jesus. After all, he told us he would be present to us is the poor, the handicapped and the disadvantaged. Our reasons for running up a tree today would be to hide from these people, these bearers of Jesus, not to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
The second point of that Gospel is that Jesus calls Zacchaeus a son of Abraham. This is a dig at the Scribes and Pharisees in the group. These fellows regarded themselves as the exclusive heirs to the promise of Abraham, the exclusive heirs to salvation in other words. But throughout his public life, Jesus consistently strives to broaden their minds and horizons to include all men and women. His treatment of little Zacchaeus is just one more example of his generosity of spirit. No one race or church has a monopoly on God.
The third point is the most uplifting of all: Jesus tells us, the Son of Man has come to seek out and to save what was lost. No matter how much we feel alienated and isolated from God, he never, ever abandons us. We are constantly at the centre of his concern and his love. Jesus lived out his life on these principles: dining with sinners and assuring them of their forgiveness. It remains merely for us to believe his uplifting message. This is truly Good News.
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