Posted on 11/15/2004 8:20:10 AM PST by Salvation
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” (Luke 19:5-7)
What a scene.
As Jesus continues to walk through Jericho, he stops at a sycamore tree, looks up, and starts talking to Zacchaeus who’s up in the tree!
The people are glad Zacchaeus is there and would be happy to see him stay up there for the rest of the year.
But Jesus calls him down…saying that he’s going to stay at Zacchaeus’ house that night.
The people are astounded. “Of all the people to pick! How can this man be a prophet if he cozies up to a rich toll collector like this? Next thing you know he’ll be nice to prostitutes."
Probably.
Well, the truth is, in Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus does get to Jerusalem and is teaching in the Temple area, he’ll remind the elders that “toll collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.”
But Jesus is using Zacchaeus as an example. He is presented as an exemplary rich person who has understood something of Jesus’ ministry and message and concern for the poor.
Those to whom much is given…much is expected.
I wonder what is expected of me?
The Legend of St. Lawrence
St. Lawrence lived during the persecution of Emperor Valerian in 258. According to the legend, he worked as one of seven deacons, under Pope Sixtus II. His responsibilities included managing the church’s material goods, as well as the giving of alms to the poor.
In this capacity, Lawrence sold some of the Church’s possessions and distributed the money to the poor.
When Valerian heard this, he decided that the pope and the Christians must be extremely wealthy. So he demanded Lawrence bring him the church’s treasures instead.
Knowing that his days as a free man were probably limited, the deacon replied that the Church indeed was wealthy and asked for time to inventory and present the church’s great wealth. Valerian agreed.
For the next three days, Lawrence gathered together the poor, the widows and orphans and the sick of Rome. He then presented them to Valerian, declaring, “These are the riches of the church.”
The angry emperor ordered Lawrence to be killed.
The feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, is celebrated August 10th.
In the Scripture in the next post is an example of how a translator can influence the meaning of a text. The original Greek simply says, “I repay it four times over.” By inserting the word “shall”, the translator puts a particular “spin” on the text.
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:8-10)
Now here’s the question. Is Zacchaeus saying that this is something he’s been doing – giving half his possessions to the poor and, if he inadvertently overcharges, he pays back four times over?
Or is he saying that having met Jesus he has undergone a conversion and from now on he’s going to do these things?
Many scholars today say it’s the first – he’s been doing this all along. In other words, he’s been exercising a form of stewardship with his money………..
Appearances can deceive. Zacchaeus may be a toll collector and one of those people not generally liked by others, but he is a child of Abraham, and someone who gives off the top to the poor.
For Jesus, that is what is important.
Giving off the top. Stewardship isn’t complicated.
Holiday Spending
Halloween is the second highest-grossing money maker for business in the United States. Christmas is the first. When it comes to seasonal candy sales, Halloween ranks number one with $2 billion.
In 2004, the average American spent $835 on Christmas, up from $722.
A 2003 survey found that Americans spend an average of $102.76 to celebrate Easter.
A 2004 survey found that the average consumer spent $99.24 on Valentine’s Day, up from $80.44 in 2003
The parable in the next post is similar to a parable in Matthew, although there are major differences. (Luke’s version is never read on a Sunday.)
While they were listening to him speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, “Engage in trade with these until I return.” (Luke 19:11-13)
You know the rest of the story.
Luke is primarily dealing with the delay in the second coming of Christ who is represented here as a nobleman who goes to a distant country. He entrusts his servants with some of his goods and asks them to use them well on his behalf.
Actually, it’s a story about stewardship. Everything we have has been given to us by God and we are to use all of it in this time between Jesus’ first and second coming to help in the great work of preparing for the Reign of God.
When we go to the Lord, we will be called to account as to how well we used these gifts for this purpose. One servant simply wraps the coins in a cloth and keeps it to himself. He is criticized, and the gold coin is taken from him and given to another. He didn’t steal, cheat, gamble it away. He simply didn’t use it for the purpose intended.
Imagine, at death, coming before the Lord. He welcomes me and then says, “How well did you use the abilities, time, and material goods that I gave you to make the world a better place?
How do I respond? That calls for some thinking and a heart-to heart talk with the Lord.
How We Use Our Time
Studies have examined how people in the United States use the 14,880 minutes that make up a week. Here are some results:
• Sleeping:3,115 minutes
• Working:1,288 minutes
• Watching TV/Videos:1,078 minutes
• Household chores:462 minutes
• Eating at home:371 minutes
• In transit/Commuting:357 minutes
• Grooming:343 minutes
• Reading:301 minutes
• Preparing meals:238 minutes
• Child and pet care:175 minutes
• Hobbies:126 minutes
• Grocery shopping:112 minutes
• Exercising:110 minutes
• Worship:105 minutes
Jesus proceeded on his journey to Jerusalem. As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. He said, “Go into the village opposite you and as you enter it you will find a tethered colt on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.”…So they went off and found everything as he had told them. (Luke 19:28-32)
All four Gospels describe Jesus entering Jerusalem in a kind of procession that has some characteristics of the entry of the Messiah. The details vary. (Only John has palm branches.)
Luke’s long description of the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem (it began 10 cahpters ago) is finally over. He has come as a pilgrim, along with many other pilgrims to the Holy City for the feast.
He is looking down on the city from the Mount of Olives. It will be the city of his death.
Although the Gospel authors, writing after the fact, added specific details to Jesus’ predictions of his death, he certainly knew that death at the hands of the authorities was very likely. Still, when he enters the city, he will go straight to the Temple.
What was he thinking as he approached the site of his death? He is as healthy as could be, yet in a matter of days he will be dead. Everything probably seems different to him now. When he prays, he is talking to the God he is about to meet face-to-face. That can make one big difference.
Try putting yourself in that situation.
St. Paul on Stewardship
The first-generation Church in Jerusalem was made up of Jews who still practiced Judaism but also believed in Jesus as Messiah and Lord. When Gentiles were drawn to Christianity, the question was whether they had to become Jewish in order to be come Christian.
Paul decided that they did not. This created considerable tension between the Christians in Jerusalem (strongly Jewish) and the Gentiles elsewhere whom Paul was converting to Christianity. (Peter and Paul even had a public confrontation about this.)
In the late 40s A. D., A famine swept across the Jerusalem area. The Jewish Christians there suffered the most because they were a minority and were discriminated against because of their belief in Christ.
Paul saw an opportunity here. He called upon his Gentile converts in far-away Greece to give money which he would personally deliver to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. He asked them to give according to their means.
Paul saw this as far more than simply a matter of money. It expressed their love for these people, their unity with them despite their differences.
But it went even beyond that, Paul says that they were not only supplying the needs of these Jerusalem Christians. They were performing an act “of thanksgiving to God.”
Gratitude to God. It’s at the heart of stewardship.
St. Paul on Stewardship
The first-generation Church in Jerusalem was made up of Jews who still practiced Judaism but also believed in Jesus as Messiah and Lord. When Gentiles were drawn to Christianity, the question was whether they had to become Jewish in order to be come Christian.
Paul decided that they did not. This created considerable tension between the Christians in Jerusalem (strongly Jewish) and the Gentiles elsewhere whom Paul was converting to Christianity. (Peter and Paul even had a public confrontation about this.)
In the late 40s A. D., A famine swept across the Jerusalem area. The Jewish Christians there suffered the most because they were a minority and were discriminated against because of their belief in Christ.
Paul saw an opportunity here. He called upon his Gentile converts in far-away Greece to give money which he would personally deliver to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. He asked them to give according to their means.
Paul saw this as far more than simply a matter of money. It expressed their love for these people, their unity with them despite their differences.
But it went even beyond that, Paul says that they were not only supplying the needs of these Jerusalem Christians. They were performing an act “of thanksgiving to God.”
Gratitude to God. It’s at the heart of stewardship.
Almsgiving and Stewardship
The Gospels were written in Greek. When Jesus speaks of giving “alms", the Greek word is “eleamosyna” – the root meaning of which is “pity”. (The English word “alms” is taken from the first few letters of that long Greek word.”
The origin of the word “alms” provides an insight into the difference between almsgiving and stewardship.
Almsgiving results from feelings of pity and compassion for someone in need. It is a good step in the right direction, and it is one of the seven corporal works of mercy.
Stewardship goes one step further. It is an action caused not simply by feelings of tenderness toward a needy person. It is an expression of gratitude to God for everything we have (including life itself), and of the belief that the earth and all that is in it belongs to God.
Almsgiving flows from compassion. Stewardship flows from the recognition that all human beings belong to one family (and DNA now proves this to be true). This moves us to take part of what we have (off the top) and simply share it with the family.
To see things that way, and to act that way, is stewardship.
Oops, sorry about the double post here.
Giving Time, Giving Money
A random survey of 1,000 Americans found that more than 50 per cent of them felt volunteering was more important than giving money.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans commissioned the study which also found that young and older Americans viewed the question differently. Fifth-eight per cent of 18-34 year olds felt giving time was more important; 61 percent of those 65 and older disagreed.
Other survey findings:
• Forty-four per cent of young people said they had volunteered over the past 12 months. 39 per cent of seniors had volunteered.
• Fourteen per cent of Americans say they do not give money to charity.
• Volunteerism tends to increase with income and education levels.
• Of all the nonprofit organizations, faith groups received the most financial support, followed by schools, colleges and universities and medical research
As Jesus drew near the city he wept over it, saying “If this day you only knew what makes for peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will…encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another.” (Luke 19:41-44)
The pilgrims from Galilee are in sight of Jerusalem and are happy. Jesus is weeping.
It’s not his own fate that he’s weeping about. It’s the fate of Jerusalem, the Holy City.
Jesus will meet his fate in just a few days.
Jerusalem will meet its fate in about 40 years when, after a failed Jewish rebellion, the Roman army will lay siege to the city and destroy it, including the great Temple (which to this day has never been rebuilt.)
Earlier in Luke’s account of the long journey to Jerusalem, Jesus spoke a lament upon the Holy City: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling.” (Luke 13:34)
One might say that Jesus, instead of worrying about the fate of Jerusalem, should worry about his own fate. But he is the “man for others.” Always.
He took care of what the Father had given him.
Again…stewardship.
The Jewish Temple
There are many synagogues throughout the world, but there was only one Jewish Temple – and it is no more.
Synagogues (from the Greek “assembly”) are gathering places for instruction and prayer. The Temple, however, located in Jerusalem, was the religious center for the Jewish people. It was only there that sacrifices could be offered.
The Temple was first built by Solomon 900 years before Christ. Destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B. C., it was rebuilt some 60 years later. In 167 B. C. the Temple was desecrated by the King of Syria, but two years later it was restored and rededicated – an event celebrated by the feast of Hanukkah. In 20 B. C., Herod the Great began a magnificent renovation and enlargement of this Temple. It wasn’t fully completed until 62 A. D.
The Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 A. D., and it has never been rebuilt. Jewish sacrifice ceased. A Moslem mosque built in the seventh century now stands on the Temple site. Only one of the supporting walls of the Temple platform remains – popularly referred to as the “Wailing Wall” because religious Jews pray there to lament the destruction of the Temple and pray for its restoration.
Then Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, “My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” (Luke 19:45-46)
We’re all familiar with the cleansing of the Temple. Let’s try an experiment. Without looking again at the above text, picture how Luke described it. Now, re-read Luke’s text above.
You probably pictured Jesus making a whip, driving out oxen and sheep, knocking over the money-changers’ tables. Those are details in the other Gospels, but not in Luke.
Praying the Scriptures means reading very slowly to see if God speaks to us through some words, phrases, and details.
Remember in Chapter 2 of Luke when 12-year –old Jesus was lost and Mary and Joseph found him in the Temple? Jesus made clear that this is his Father’s house. Which means Jesus can say, “My house shall be a house of prayer.”
When we are in Church at Mass, we are indeed making Jesus’ house a house of prayer. During the Eucharistic Prayer, we and the entire assembly join with the Lord in his act of giving himself completely to the Father. One of the Eucharistic Prayers expresses this very clearly: “Father in heaven, accept us together with your beloved Son.”
When we practice stewardship, we join with the Lord in his giving of himself to God.
Stewardship expresses the very heart of the Eucharist, and what we do at Eucharist – in this house of prayer – is at the heart of stewardship.
”Jesus said, ‘Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions’” (Luke 12:15)
Greed
The Greek word for “greed is “pleonexia” which means “to want more.”
Interestingly, this same word is used as a modern medical term describing a pathological condition of the blood. The blood is supposed to receive oxygen from the lungs in order to distribute oxygen to the tissue of the body. “Pleonexia” is a disorder in which the blood wants to keep most of the oxygen for itself rather than distributing it to the body tissues. The blood “forgets” that it is meant to be a steward of the oxygen and distribute it to the rest of the body.
The First Fruits
At harvest time, the Jewish people brought the finest of the first-fruits of the field to the priest to be presented to God. This expressed the fact that no matter how hard the farmer had worked, the whole harvest was really God’s gift, and belonged to God
As Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and scribes, together with the elders approached Jesus and said to him, “Tell us by what authority are you doing these things?...He replied, “I shall ask you a question: Tell me, was John’s baptism of heavenly or human origin?” They said among themselves, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?” But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ then all the people will stone us.” So they said they did not know. Then Jesus said, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (Luke 20:1-8)
When you stop and think about it, Jesus’ response goes far deeper than I might think. It wasn’t just a clever dodge. After all, who did appoint/authorize/send John the Baptist to preach and to baptize? The opening verses of John’s Gospel make it clear: “A man named John was sent from God.”
But it doesn’t stop there. All four Gospels tell us that John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Luke describes it this way: After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized…a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
By whose authority does Jesus teach and preach and do these things? By God’s authority. That’s right. God’s authority.
Everything I’ve read Jesus say these past weeks – all good things come from God; he came to seek out and save the lost. These aren’t bromides. Suggestions. Vague.
Now the question is: Do I believe this, and if so, do I take them with the kind of seriousness such words deserve.
Vietnam Memorial
The Academy Award-winning movie The Deer Hunter is credited with inspiring a former Army rifleman to float the idea of a special memorial dedicated to the men and women who served in Vietnam.
But the idea, which began with $144.50 in contributions, began to snowball. A design competition was held, with H. Ross Perot contributing $160,000 to underwrite the competition. The deadline for entries was March 31, 1981.
The winner was Maya Lin, a 20 year old architectural design student at Yale University. But when her design was made public, reaction was furious. Critics, such as The New York Times, called it a “black gash.” Others called it insulting because it had no heroic images, no flags, no embellishments. It was built into the earth, rather than towering over it.
Despite the criticism, Lin’s Vietnam Memorial was dedicated on Nove 13, 1982.
Denarius
A denarius was a small silver coin. In Matthew 20, it was listed as a typical daily wage for a laborer. It was also a day’s pay for a Roman soldier and the coin required for the Roman tax.
Today one denarius would be worth about $20.00
They said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that…you show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar or not?” Recognizing their craftiness he said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose image and name does it bear?” They replied “Caesar’s.” So he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” (Luke 20:21-25
This exchange between Jesus and those trying to trip him up goes deeper than meets the eye.
They try to entrap Jesus in a compromising political and religious statement. But Jesus has them show him the coin by which one pays the tribute. If these “upright Jews” carry and use the silver danarius with Caesar’s name and picture, then they acknowledge their dependence on what Caesar does for them. They should pay Caesar his due.
And even more so, because they depend on all that God does for them (e.g. giving them life), they should pay God his due.
The coin bears the image of Caesar and belongs to Caesar.
I am made in the image and likeness of God, and I belong to God. Everything belongs to God and I am God’s steward.
There’s no mystery to this one.
‘A Cheerful Face…’
The Book of Sirach is one of the Wisdom Books of the Bible. It was written by a teacher who lived 200 years before Christ. He ran a school for young people in Jerusalem. In one place he writes:
”With every gift show a cheerful face, and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy.” (Sir 35:8)
Paul wrote his Second Letter to the Corinthians in about 57 A. D. In one part of the letter, Paul asks his Gentile converts in the Greek city of Corinth to give financial help to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem who were experiencing hardships because of persecution. He says:
”The Point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as each has chosen in the heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
People were invited to the annual Christmas breakfast fo civic leaders. Participants were asked to contribute to a special fund for the needy. As he prepared to pass the basket, the speaker said: “Remember, ‘God loves a cheerful giver.’ I want you to be hilarious.”
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