The Heart of the Matter
The Rev. Dr. John Judson
October 31, 2010
So who can tell me who is on the cover of this morning’s bulletin? That’s right it is the Grinch and Zacchaeus. Now many of you adults out there you are probably wondering why I would have anyone other than Zacchaeus on the cover…since the passage this morning is his story. Well I could simply say that I have the Grinch in here because he is my favorite Christmas character. I like everything about his Christmas cartoon. I like the animation. I like the music. But above all I like the story. I like the story because it is a tale of sin and redemption. That’s right, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas is a story of sin and redemption. Now when I talk about sin, I am viewing it as a constricted heart. If you look at how Dr. Seuss describes the Grinch, it is as someone whose heart is too small. And because his heart is too small he is not happy and ultimately desires to make the lives of the Whos down in Whoville unhappy as well. He therefore takes his trusty sidekick, dresses like Santa and steals everything from the Whos homes, including from Cindy Lou Who who was no more than two. However something amazing happens to the Grinch. When he discovers that Christmas was about more than things, in other words he discovers the love of God in the Whos down in Whoville, his heart expands and he is given the strength of ten grinches plus two. The result is that he returns all that he has taken and is welcomed into the Who community with love and forgiveness.
Let me ask you then…does that story sound familiar? If not, let’s review the story of Zacchaeus, which is another story of sin and redemption. We begin with Zacchaeus, a man whose heart is constricted. We know this because he does things that bring harm to people. First he collects taxes for an oppressor nation. Second he collects more taxes than he should. We know this because Luke makes a point of telling us that Zacchaeus is not only a tax collector but that he is rich. And tax collectors did not become rich by making savvy business investments. They became rich by cheating people. Next he hears that Jesus is coming to town. Now we are not at all sure what Zacchaeus’ interest in Jesus was. Nonetheless he climbs a tree to make sure that he can see Jesus when Jesus walks by. When Jesus does walk by Jesus calls for Zacchaeus to come down from the tree because Jesus wants to eat at his home…in other words Jesus wants to have a relationship with this tax collector. It is in that moment then that something amazing happens. Zacchaeus’s heart expands and he is given the conscience of ten tax collectors plus two. We see this when he says, “Behold half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” The result is that Zacchaeus is welcomed into the community of Christ followers when Jesus declares he is once again a child of Abraham.
Where this leaves us this morning then is with a question. How is your heart? How large, or small, is your heart? I ask this because the center of our Zacchaeus story is not about the physical size of Zacchaeus but about the size of his heart. We know this because we discover that his heart can grow. As Luke tells his Jesus tale one of the critical questions asked to all of those who encounter Jesus is, how will they respond? Will they respond with hearts open to growth or will they respond with hearts that are so tightly shut that there is no room for the grace and love of God as offered in Jesus? This matters for Luke because people with closed hearts cannot be Kingdom people. It is only those whose hearts are open to the love of Jesus Christ who are released, renewed and restored and get to play in the Kingdom. We become those people who act like God’s people. This is where I need the children’s help to demonstrate…and the choir can help me as well.
I want the children to begin by taking their hands and clutching them together like a ball and placing them over your hearts. Now, imagine your hands are your heart. When your heart is this tight, your hands cannot do much of anything. They are holding on to your heart. But what happens if our heart grows. (slowly expand hands out and up). If we allow Christ to grow our hearts then we can praise God. We can be open to what God wants us to do. Now bring your hands back in again. (slowly expand hands out and open like a hug). When our hearts grow we are able to welcome others with open arms. We can welcome all people just like Jesus did. Now bring your hands back in one more time. (slowly open arms and have palms up). When our heart grows we can give away what we have. We are no longer holding tight to what we possess and are willing to give it away. These are the things that happen when we are willing to open our hearts to the love of God in Jesus Christ.
In both the story of Zacchaeus and the story of the Grinch we can witness these movements. Their hearts grow. They become open to a new way of being…to the way of being in the love of God. They become able to embrace others, the Whos and God’s own people whom Zacchaeus had rejected as a tax collector. Finally they were able to open their hands and give away so much of what they had. Open hearts yielded open lives and an open love.
So today, here is my challenge and I invite not only the children this time, but all who are here this morning to follow along. Am I willing to open my heart to the love of God in Jesus Christ that I might (move hands out and up) praise and be open to God, be open to welcoming others and be open to offering what I have in the service of God and God’s people in this world.
