LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com
Date: August 20, 2023
Scripture Lesson: Luke 19:1-10
Sermon: Reconciliation and Forgiveness
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
“Today salvation has come to this house.” These are the words proclaimed by Jesus in the story of Zacchaeus that we heard this morning. This is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the Good News. Salvation has come to this house. To us. To humanity. To the world. The word in the New Testament for salvation implies healing, restoration of well-being, wholeness. When we are told of Jesus declaring that salvation has come to Zaccheaus’ house, Jesus is declaring that the Gospel, the Good News, has come and has been received. Zaccheaus is restored to right relationship – with himself, with the community, with God, and with Creation. Yes, all is right with the world!
And this is the intent of the Good News. To bring healing, wholeness, and restoration to what has gotten out of balance, to what has been distorted, to what has been violated. The love and grace of God seeks to work in our lives and in our world in ways that foster reconciliation and restoration of relationships.
We see this focus in many of the teachings of the gospels related to forgiveness. Forgiveness is part of the path to the restoration of relationships. In the teachings associated with Jesus, the disciples want to know how many times they must forgive and Jesus tells them 70 time 7. That still sounds overwhelming. Yet it shows the importance of forgiveness. It is necessary for right human relationships. There is a gospel story about a group of men ready to stone a woman caught in adultery. There is no mention of the man who was also part of the infraction. And in the story, Jesus tells the gathered would-be slayers, let the one without sin cast the first stone. They slowly depart. And Jesus tells the woman that he does not condemn her either. A compelling portrayal of forgiveness and restoration. The woman’s life is quite literally saved. In another story, Jesus tells his followers, if you come to the altar with a gift and have an unresolved issue with someone in the community, put down your gift and go seek out the person and pursue reconciliation. Then come back to the altar and make your gift. Forgiveness and reconciliation are core teachings of Jesus. And of course, there is the story of Jesus, declaring from the cross, “Forgiven them Abba, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Perhaps something that could be said by every victim of the death penalty?
The Gospel is about restoration and reconciliation; the pursuit of right relationships. This has implications for our relationship with ourselves, with others, with society, with the Earth, and with God. The Good News is about aligning ourselves to be in harmony with all of Creation. And given our free will, our selfishness and greed, our fear, there is a lot of need for us to put the Gospel message to work healing and repairing relationships on many fronts.
I read something recently about how when people play video games with others and their faces are blurred so others don’t see them for who they are, when their identities are masked, they are more selfish. [The Christian Century, August 2023, p. 10.] There is less sense of being in relationship.
A similar dynamic comes into play on social media. People say harmful things because they can do so relatively anonymously. They don’t have to worry about having to see the person the next day at school or at work. In the flesh. So, the hurtful venom is spewed. But there are few repercussions to real life relationships. Today, we can do so much with our identities blurred. And it can lead to damage in relationships.
Related to this, in December someone from the community, known to the church, broke into the church office and stole some checks from the check book. The person has tried to cash some of those checks but the credit union has prevented it. The person has been arrested and is out on bail. There was a pretrial hearing in the case this past week. Three of us from church went: Mark Gibson, our church treasurer who has borne the brunt of the consequences in hours of time spent working with our financial institution and with the police and court system, Barbara Donohue, an advisor, and I. I thought it was important for the person involved to see that we are people, that what he did had an impact on people who know him and are in relationship with him. This isn’t just about a wooden door and some pieces of paper. It isn’t even just about money and time. It is about his relationship with people in the community. We are not anonymous entities on line. We are flesh and blood people. And he has violated our trust and damaged our relationship with him. We are staying involved to help to repair and restore that relationship.
At the recent UCC General Synod in Indianapolis last month, the Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne preached at the large Sunday afternoon service. She is the moderator of the United Church of Canada. She is the first indigenous woman to lead a denomination in Canada. Her sermon was magnificent. There is one thing she told us that I have not stopped thinking about. She is descended from indigenous people who lived for 15,000 years on the land in her region of Canada. She told us that 25-30,000 people lived in community on that land for all those years and in their language, in their culture, they don’t have the word ‘forgiveness.’ They don’t have a word like that. There is no saying ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I forgive you’. The implication is that when there was a problem, it was made right. There was some kind of action taken to restore community and justice and right relationship. They didn’t need to say something about forgiveness because they did something about forgiveness.
Think about how easy it is to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ Or to text: ‘My bad.’ And that’s it. Took care of it. Did my part. Problem over. If it lingers, that’s on the other person.
Friends, that’s just too easy. True reconciliation and restoration especially after something significant, it takes more. Look at Zacchaeus. Jesus says – I’m coming over. Zacchaeus is filled with delight. He feels redeemed. Welcomed back into the community. Touched by Divine grace. That is restoration between Zacchaeus and God. But what about the community? The people Zacchaeus has betrayed and extorted? His victims? They grumble. So in his new state of reconciliation and restoration with God, Zacchaeus addresses himself to seeking right relationship with his community, his neighbors, his victims. Zacchaeus commits to giving away half of all he has to poor people. Ok. Now you’re talking. He is doing something. Taking action. Not just spewing a little air on a few words. Then he mentions paying back anyone who has been cheated four fold. This man has been truly touched by Divine Love. He wants to make things right. He wants to be restored to the community. To himself. He wants reconciliation. And in joy he exudes generosity not just of words or of spirit but of restitution. That is true conversion of heart.
This story of Zacchaeus has always been one of my favorites in the Bible. Since I was a small child. I have often thought about that. Why this story? Is it because of the Singing Nuns’ song about Zacchaeus that I heard a hundred times and loved to sing when I was small? Is it because as a kid I loved to climb trees? We would spend hours at the top of the willow trees in my best friend’s back yard. But in reflecting on this story this week, I think one of the things I really love is that Zacchaeus takes direct action in response to the love of God he receives from Jesus. He immediately sets about making things right. I love that. The taking action. The doing something to make change, to implement justice, right relationship. It’s not all head and heart, it’s the bank account, too. Not just words, which can be powerful, but also behavior and action. Not just theory but practice. I love that.
This month some 60 years ago, 250,000 people marched on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was the largest demonstration for human rights in our nation’s history. People were spell bound by what have become Dr. King’s iconic words painting the possibility of hope for the future for the people of this country and the world. In the wake of the march, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act were passed.
In an editorial in the latest issue of the journal The Christian Century, editor Peter Marty, talks about the aftermath of the march: “According to the American National Election Studies for 1956, 65 percent of White people believed the government should guarantee a job to anyone who wanted one and provide a minimum standard of living. Heather McGhee, who has studied the ANES surveys extensively, notes that White support for these ideas cratered between 1960 and 1964, from nearly 70 percent to 35 percent.” [The Christian Century, August 2023, p. 1.] This was a back lash against civil rights legislation and federal programs benefitting African Americans.
Doing something, taking action, to address race related inequity was not popular with the majority of Whites. And that spirit continues today. White people might be ok about talking an anti racist game, or the theory of equity, but when it comes to actually doing something, making restitution, redistributing resources, etc. that is when the controversy erupts. Here in Florida, the government not only doesn’t want to do anything about creating right relationships among the diverse racial groups of our state but it also wants to mask, bury, and hide the truth about the wrongs that have been done to create the harm that is impacting all of our lives right now.
The Gospel of Jesus teaches us to tell the truth because the truth is what will set us free. Set us free to say and do the things that can lead to forgiveness, reconciliation, and right relationship. Zacchaeus knew what he had done was wrong and immediately took steps to make things right. We need to know what we have been part of as a society and we need to be part of making things right on many fronts, not just race relations, otherwise the wounds just fester and poison the whole enterprise. As we well know.
In a country with our wealth and our resources, there is no reason, no reason, why every single person does not have a safe place to live and food to eat and needed health care. Period. We do not have this because laws in this country protect the amassing of wealth and limit the paying of taxes to fund the common good. The reason we do not have housing, food, quality education and healthcare for all is not lack of resources. It is lack of desire. Lack of will. Lack of moral vision.
The gospel is Good News telling us that we have the power to make things right. We are capable of pursing reconciliation and of making things right, no matter what has happened to cause harm and damage. The Gospel is a message of ultimate healing and well being for everyone. Reconciliation and forgiveness are powerful paths for bringing us to wholeness and joy.
Yes, this involves spiritual work, prayer, and interpersonal relations. It involves our forgiving of ourselves, each other, and those who have gone before us. It involves living into right relationship with God, however we conceive of God, and Creation. And this work involves more than just how we feel or what we might say. It also involves taking action. Making things right. Zacchaeus makes bold declarations of his intentions: He gives half of his wealth to the poor. And pledges to repay those cheated four fold. And we know there were those who were extorted; that is how the system was set up. Zacchaeus does this out of joy and delight. In response to the Good News of the Gospel. He does not have to remain an outcast. He can be restored to the community. And he wants to do his part to pursue reconciliation with the community.
Forgiveness and reconciliation. This is not only something between us and God in our hearts. It is not only something that Jesus does for our souls. It is not only about making peace with yourself in your spirit and forgiving yourself or your family member or friend, with words. Forgiveness and reconciliation are also about setting things right. And making recompense for the damage that has been caused. It is about making things right not just saying the right thing.
In May at an ecumenical conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, leaders joined together to call for a global tax and economic system that restores the extensive resources appropriated from the African continent by global corporations. The initiative emphasizes that global corporations have robbed Africa of millions of dollars through evasive tax practices while low income Africans, especially women, pay exorbitant consumption taxes. “Our resources need to start working for us,” said Francis Kairu, a policy adviser at Tax Justice Network Africa. “We need to ensure that tax is addressing inequality issues, including gender.” And what is the inspiration for this tax reparations initiative in Africa? Zacchaeus. It is called the Zacchaeus Tax Campaign or ZacTax. Those who have exploited the tax system are being called to repent and make reparations like Zacchaeus did. [The Christian Century, August 2023, p. 17.]
The Gospel promises us the joy of living in right relationship even when we find ourselves up a tree like dear Zacchaeus.
May Zaccheaus continue to inspire us to take action – radical, drastic, profligate action – toward being in right relationship with ourselves, our God, our families and friends, the Earth, our society, and the entire human community. There is much work to do. And we have much to contribute! What a glorious future we can create! Yes, pray. Yes, say things that show contrition and understanding. Yes, ask for and offer forgiveness freely. But also, take action. Reach out. Open your wallet. Go out on a limb. That’s where the best fruit is. Amen.
A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.
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