Spiritual Disciplines-Giving

This sermon was delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday November 4, 2007, the 31st Sunday of Ordinary time.

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4
Psalm 119:137-144
2Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Public services are a necessary part of our lives and they have to be paid for and we pay for them by taxes. And maybe, just maybe, the only thing worse than paying taxes is collecting them. I believe the county assessor’s office would confirm this.

In August of this year, Eureka Springs’ tax collections were just shy of $110,000. This was 22% under projections and 10.5% under the approximate $124,000 collected in August of last year. According to the council, there was good news though; figures indicated that September’s projection of $144,000 appeared to have been met. And there was great rejoicing on the west side of the King’s River.

To quote the newspaper, “Eureka Springs City Commissioner Hahn noted that a number of shops are closed, which likely affects collections.” I guess that whole you can’t get blood from a turnip thing applies here.

Later in the meeting, Commissioner Alvin Byrd asked for a copy of letters sent to delinquent businesses, saying that he had received complaints about their harshness. City Advertising and Promotions Commission Executive Director Jim Williams said the 30-day notice simply asks if the person had forgotten to pay their taxes, and the 60-day notice is more “matter of fact,” than harsh.[1]

It just can’t be a joy to collect taxes. Even so, the very words “Tax Collector” cause even the most honest and diligent to shudder. But at least we don’t pay our taxes to some middle manager who runs a private state sanctioned tax collection service. This is how taxes were collected in the hinterlands of first century Rome.

As a first century assessor and clerk, Zacchaeus was in charge of collecting taxes for Rome. As the head tax collector he was responsible for paying the estimated taxes to Rome in advance, and then collecting the taxes.[2] This becomes a losing proposition for a collector when people don’t pay their taxes. But you can’t tell that to Rome. Rome says pay up and the head tax collector pays up, in advance.

Imagine how this would work in our case from Eureka Springs…imagine the city Alderpersons being told to pony up the difference between the estimated and collected taxes for August. This would have come to more than $30,000 split between the six of them. That’s over $5,000 apiece. So if it’s your job to collect the taxes, you had better collect the taxes because if they don’t get paid by the merchants, it’s coming out of your pocket. The good news for the commissioners though was in months where collections exceeded the estimate, the surplus is profit. That profit would be the commissioners’ salary.

This is why first century tax collectors would gouge the people who paid their taxes. They knew there would be some fat times and some lean times, so they made sure there was more than enough fat to cover the lean.[3]

It almost gives you a grain of pity for the hard work faced by the first century tax collector. Almost.

Zacchaeus was a man. He was a head tax collector and he was short and he was rich and he was reviled by his people. And like every other tax collector, he overcharged on the taxes he collected because he knew what would happen if he didn’t. But as a head tax collector, he had junior collectors who did the dirty work with the people while he did the work with the big boys in Rome. And through this, he became rich. And as a son of Abraham, he was truly reviled by his people, the Jews, who made him rich doing Rome’s dirty work.

He was a collaborator. He was not a patriot.

Just being seen with Zacchaeus would make you guilty by association.

But this doesn’t stop Jesus.

Jesus calls to Zacchaeus, “Hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

Zacchaeus was so happy that Jesus, the Lord, would come to his house that he says, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord. I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything I will pay back four times as much.”

Here’s a man who has changed, a man who has repented, just because he broke bread with Jesus.

What do the people say? What do they grumble? “Jesus has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”

In changing, in repenting, in turning, Zacchaeus takes his earthly wealth and first dedicates it to the Lord by helping the poor and then by making restitution to those whom he has wronged.

There was never a better result on “The People’s Court.”

Zacchaeus responds to the call of the Lord by giving. He gives to the poor and rights the wrongs he has committed. Jesus affirms his repentance saying, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

Jesus found the lost and the lost found Jesus.

That’s the way it was meant to be.

It’s still the way it was meant to be.

And in response to the meal we eat with the Lord, the meal he invited us to share, the meal he gave to us, we are called to give.

Zacchaeus sacrificed much of his fortune when he gave his wealth in response to the presence of the Lord. He gave half, and probably more than half of what he had in the name of Jesus.

In Genesis, we receive the concept of tithing when Abram gives one-tenth of his wealth to Melchizedek, the King of Jerusalem, after they share a meal of bread and wine.[4] Zacchaeus’ response to Jesus’ meal leaves that one in the dust.

But giving is not a competition, it’s a spiritual discipline.

Last week I talked about praying as a spiritual discipline. Prayer is not only how we communicate with God, but it is how God communicates with us. As the old saying goes, communication is a two way street, we have to listen as well as talk to communicate.

This week, I want us to consider stewardship, specifically giving, as a spiritual discipline. I have talked about Zacchaeus’ sacrificial gift of his personal treasure. But there is more to sacrificial giving than this.

Zacchaeus gave much, but Jesus gave more. Jesus sacrificed the social structure of the community by eating with a fellow Jew who was also a Roman collaborator.

Jesus sacrificed his personal status as a man of authority by being seen with this lost soul.

Jesus sacrificed his rabbinical authority by acknowledging the short man as a child of Abraham.

Jesus sacrificed his standing with the masses by seeking the lost.

Jesus sacrificed his power by saving the lost.

It makes writing a check seem somehow lacking by comparison.

Jesus as we know would give so much more. He identified with us joining the community of faith when he was baptized by John. He instituted this meal we share today, a meal which was foreshadowed when Abram was fed by Melchizedek and when Abram fed the three men by the Oaks of Mamre.[5] A meal the Lord shared with Zacchaeus on an ordinary day, a day not unlike this one.

And Jesus gave even more.

As you know, recently Marie has been suffering not only with the effects and side effects of Crohn’s Disease; she has also been suffering from challenges faced with treating the disease. In particular, she needs intravenous medications and her veins are as straight as a road map of Arkansas. There are some strait roads on the main routes, but for the most part it’s a twisty-turny mess in there. As you also know, she got a port that allows a single regular site to receive the IV medications, but it acted up too. She was very upset and the only person more frustrated about her veins than her was the nurse at the hospital who couldn’t get a vein on her to save his life.

Just a note before going on, all is well with the port. On Friday it worked like a dream. Praise God!

Anyway, I started quoting a line out of a song when she would go in for blood tests and medication, “Give blood/But you may find that blood is enough.”[6] Anemia is a side effect of the Crohn’s but I got to tell you, Marie has been giving so much blood over the past few months that there’s no wonder her anemia has reached epic status.

“Give blood/And there are some who'll say it's not enough.”

Jesus gave blood, and sweat, and toil, and tears, that we may approach the throne of glory. Jesus gave himself, he emptied himself of his Godly life that he may come and share life with us. He emptied himself of his intimate relationship as a part of the triune God that he may experience life in intimate relationship with us.

Giving is a spiritual discipline. And sure enough, you’ve heard and you will continue to hear you’ll hear televangelists, General Assembly moderators, Presbyterian fundraisers, pastors, and church treasurers say give. This message is heard so often that we begin to think to ourselves “give blood and there are some who’ll say it’s not enough.”

Just being seen with Zacchaeus would make you guilty by association. Being with us Jesus became guilt for us. He gave all that he was. He gave himself for us. He gave himself to seek out and save us.

Without despair let us remember, that as much as we give, it can never surpass what has been given to us. Jesus gave blood, and it was exactly what needed to be given. Can we give anything in return that would begin to match what we have been given? No, we can’t. Still, Jesus is our model of giving as a spiritual discipline. And we are called to respond to him through our giving.

[1] Long, E. Allen, “CAPC recommends ‘Ree’ Slane for vacancy; tax collections hit target in September,” Carroll County News, October 5, 2007, http://carrollconews.com/articles/2007/10/05/news/we2.txt, accessed November 3, 2007
[2] Bamberger, B. J., “Tax Collector,” in “The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible.” George Arthur Buttrick, Dictionary Editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962, 21st Printing 1992, electronic version 2004.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Genesis 14:17-24
[5] Genesis 18:1-8
[6] Townshend, Pete, “Give Blood,” from “White City: A Novel” Atco Records, 1985.