 |
| Jesus and Zacchaeus - Church of the Good Shepherd, Jericho |
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4: Very little is known about most of the twelve "minor" prophets, especially Habakkuk. Even the identity of the enemy threatening the violent destruction of Israel is uncertain. Probably the background of the book were events related to the Babylonian invasion of 609-598 BC. The prophet's message typically warns of disaster to come as result of national apostasy. But he proclaims his hope as clearly in 2:4 "The righteous live by their faith."
Psalm 119:137-144 (UMH 840): Echoing the prophet's message, this selection of the longest of the psalms affirms the righteousness and justice of God and the reward of living by God's commandments.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12: Faithfulness in difficult times is the central message of this brief letter, one of Paul's earliest. The congregation to which Paul wrote had grown in faith and in love for each other under considerable persecution. So Paul could boast of their faithfulness and mutual love in other congregations. He prayed for them to continue in their witness to Christ as they had been doing so well.
Luke 19:1-10 (sermon text): Jesus continually challenged the traditional view of who is faithful. In Roman times, tax collecting was rented out to the highest bidder who then could extort whatever he could from the general populace. As a Roman lackey and a greedy profiteer, Zaccheus (in Greek, Ζακχαῖος = Zakchaios, from the Hebrew meaning pure) was a much despised man as well as too short to see over the crowds gathered to see Jesus enter Jericho. Yet Jesus sought him out and invited himself to his home to dine. When Zaccheus promised to be generous to the poor and repay what he had taken by fraud, Jesus praised him as a son of Abraham, the Jewish ideal of a faithful servant of God.
Whose values apply today? Do we always do whatever gains most for us or does faith help us stand out from the crowd?
No comments:
Post a Comment