A reading from the Gospel according to
St. Luke, chapter 19.
Jesus
entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see
who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small
in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him,
for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked
up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your
house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when
they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is
a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of
my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I
restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this
house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and
to save the lost.” This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Please turn to page 322 in the Lutheran
Service Book as we recite together the 9th and 10th Commandments.
The 9th
Commandment. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. …
What does this mean? We should fear
and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor's inheritance or
house, or to get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of
service to him in keeping it.
The 10th Commandment. You
shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox
or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not
entice or force away our neighbor's wife, workers, or animals, or turn them
against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty.
God’s grace, peace and mercy be with
you. … It finally happened. One person broke all Ten Commandments
simultaneously. “How could this happen?” you ask.
Last Friday, Oklahoma State Police
arrested Michael Reed Jr., a 29-year-old Oklahoma man who suffers from bipolar
disorder, after he threatened to kill President Obama and spat on a picture of
the president in the Oklahoma City Federal Building. He later told agents that
Satan instructed him destroy the Ten Commandments monument in front of the
Oklahoma Capitol. He drove his car into the granite monument, breaking The Ten
Commandments into several pieces. Michael’s mother said her son is a devout
Christian who wanted to be a pastor but has been wrestling with mental illness
for the last two years.
Meanwhile, the rest of us wrestle with
how not to break one commandment at a time. Today, the commandment deals with
covetousness.
One dictionary defines covet as wishing
for longingly or feeling an immoderate desire for that which is another's. Its
root is the same Latin word as St. Valentine’s Day characters, cupids, from cupere, meaning to desire.[1]
We may not have had covetousness in our
hearts when we sent Valentine’s Day cards to 3rd grade sweethearts
and buddies. However, the commandments forbidding coveting apply to those who could
alienate anything from neighbor, even if we could do so with honor in the eyes
of the world. This way, no one could accuse or blame us though we obtained it
wrongfully. So says Martin Luther in his Large Catechism.[2]
Whereas common folk who steal outright
break the 7th Commandment, the 9th and 10th are
for pious folk, who wish to be praised and called honest, upright people.[3]
So it would seem in Luke’s Gospel. Those
who saw Jesus go into Zacchaeus’ house to dine with him grumbled. True, Zacchaeus
was a tax collector and a rich man. He became rich through corruption. Nevertheless,
as mercy and table fellowship are dual themes of Luke, it appears Zacchaeus
received God’s mercy when he responded to Jesus’ invitation to dine with Him.
Doing so, salvation came to Zaccaeus’ house, proving once again that the Son of
man came to seek and save the lost.
The Son of Man came to seek and save not
only people like Zacchaeus, but also people like the Pharisees. Covetousness,
however, filled the hardened hearts of the Pharisees for what Zacchaeus now
possessed was the gift – the gift of faith.
How did Zacchaeus go from being a dirty,
rotten scoundrel to a true son of Abraham? He accepted Jesus’ offer of table
fellowship, repented for the injustices he committed, gave to the poor and
welcomed Christ into his home and into his heart.
Like the blind man in the story that
immediately precedes this one, Zacchaeus overcame the difficulties presented by
the crowd that surrounded Jesus. Jesus reached out to him in spite of the
crowd’s objections. So will it be among those who enter into the kingdom and
are saved on the day of the Son of Man. God reaches out to save us. All we have
to do is receive his grace.
Having received God’s grace through Word
and Sacrament, may we not become like those who objected to Jesus dining with
Zacchaeus. May my heart not be filled with covetousness because one is richer
than I. Whatever people have that I desire, I must ask for the grace to be kept
from sin, from breaking the 9th and 10th Commandments.
But because the devil never stops
tempting us, take a few moments tonight before going to bed and reflect on how
easily we break the last two commandments, if not outright, at least within our
hearts. Then, ask our merciful God for forgiveness and the grace to right our
wrongs and be a true son of Abraham. When
you do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Please stand as we recite together the
Nicene Creed found on the inside back cover of the hymnal.
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