31st Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2019:
Today’s gospel story is just such a great and inspirational story. It’s so vivid too. It’s easy to imagine little Zacchaeus climbing up the tree to see Jesus. Imagine Jesus looking up there at him. He probably looks a little bit ridiculous. And Jesus simply invites him: come down, I’m staying with you today. Zacchaeus is so moved by Jesus’ invitation that he pledges to give away half his property. Half! Talk about an amazing response to Jesus’ simple invitation.
So, this is a beautiful story and an inspirational one. But, notice that at the end of the gospel Jesus has a brief statement that shows that the story of Zacchaeus has far-reaching implications. Jesus says: the son of man has come to seek and save what was lost. In other words, Zacchaeus embraces the call of Christ and becomes his disciple. But, he is also an image for all of us. Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost. This includes the whole human race. Each one of us should see ourselves in the Zacchaeus story. Jesus is still inviting us. How do we respond?
When I was praying over this passage, the words of Jesus really stuck out to me: Zacchaeus come down quickly. It reminded me of back when I was a kid. I remember summer vacations. During the day, I’d turn on the tv. And there was never anything on (except for maybe soap operas). I remember it being so boring. But, one show I would always like to watch was “The Price is Right.” This was back in the days of Bob Barker right. You all know the show right. The contestants are chosen from the crowd. And what happens when they are chosen? The announcer says: Jim Smith… come on down, you’re the next contestant on the price is right. So, what would Jim do? He’d jump up out of his chair. He’d start yelling and screaming. He would sprint to the stage area. And he’d be the next contestant. I’m remember dreaming about hearing my name be called: Jake Runyon, come on down…
Isn’t this what happens to Zacchaeus? Jesus says to him: come on down. The gospel says: he came down quickly and received him with joy. He was excited. He received him with joy. And in his enthusiasm, he decided to change his whole life: his giving to the poor and paying back people he ripped off. Now, that’s excitement.
How about you and me? How do we respond to the invitation of Jesus? Do we jump up and down with joy and excitement? Does the invitation of Jesus cause us to be so moved that we change our whole lives?
Maybe so. Maybe not. I’ve certainly met people along the way who have had these kinds of dramatic conversion experiences. They have felt that surge of excitement when Jesus said to them: come on down. But, I think that for the rest of us it’s not so dramatic or exciting. But, that does not mean that Jesus is not still calling us. That doesn’t mean that we should not respond with joy.
I thought St. Paul’s words were helpful for us today: we always pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling. In other words, we are not done yet. Yes, Jesus is calling us. Yes, we should respond with joy. But, this is a process that takes place over the course of our whole lives. One great way to enter into this story is to use these words of St. Paul. Lord, I know you are calling me like you called Zacchaeus, make me worthy of this great call. Help me to respond to your invitation with great joy. Maybe we don’t jump around like the contestants on the price is right. But, we can ask God to help us to respond to his invitation with the same joy that filled Zacchaeus. Jesus says to each of us: come on down. How will we respond?
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