The Cost of Grace
A Sermon by Brent J. Eelman
Abington Presbyterian Church
November 4, 2007

Luke 19: 1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. ²A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. ⁵When 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.’ ⁶So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. ⁷All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ ⁸Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘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.’ ⁹Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’*

I received an email this week from a church member who noticed the sign on Old York Road. “I see your sermon is entitled ‘The Cost of Grace’. I can tell you exactly how much grace costs. I can even break it down for you.” My first reaction was “HUH?” It took me about 30 seconds to realize that the writer of this email had a daughter named Grace. No doubt he knew the cost of Grace, and I am sure that he was happy to make the sacrifices for his daughter. But the concern that I raise in the sermon title is not about a person named Grace, it is about the grace of God. In confirmation class we learn that God’s grace is free. Grace is given with no strings attached and can not be bought. One of the first heresies that the early church confronted was Simony or the belief that God’s grace and forgiveness could be purchased or earned. The story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, is a story about the God’s grace entering a person’s life and what we learn from that story is that God’s grace is given freely. But we also discover in Zacchaeus’ response, that God’s grace, though free, is not cheap. This is the first lesson of Christian stewardship, but more on that later. I would like to divide the story of Zacchaeus into two parts. First I want to examine the entry of grace into Zacchaeus’ life, and second, I want look at how Zacchaeus responds to Jesus.

I

We know a few things about Zacchaeus. First, he was a tax-collector, not a mere tax-collector; he was the chief tax collector! Second, He was wealthy. Third he was short in stature, hence the need to climb a tree. Fourth, he was curious about Jesus. Today we might call him a “seeker”. He was seeking something better in life. He wanted to see what the fuss was about Jesus without getting too involved. He wanted to keep a safe distance, So he climbed a tree so that he could see and hear Jesus. But can a person really keep a safe distance from God’s love in Jesus Christ? (We often try!)

It was at that very moment that Zacchaeus’ life changed. Jesus saw him in the tree, called him by name and told him to come down and then announced “I must stay at your house today.” Everything changed for Zacchaeus at that moment. He was no longer a cool casual observer of what was going on, literally aloof in a tree. He was now intimately involved. He was no longer a seeker, he was the one who was found. This is underscored in the words of Jesus, “I have come to seek out and save the lost.”

Let’s put ourselves into Zacchaeus’ shoes, (or sandals) for a moment. Once he got over the embarrassment of being called out by Jesus up in the tree, he was then told by Jesus that he planed to stay with him at his home. Jesus did not wait for an invitation. He invited himself into Zacchaeus’ house and life. How did Zacchaeus feel? He just wanted to see Jesus, from afar, from the tree. But that didn’t happen. Jesus chose to enter his life. God’s grace, in Jesus, entered his life.

The grace of God in all its powerful forms, be it forgiveness, acceptance, love, calling, mercy or vocation, is not something that we can control. God’s grace is not something that we decide when it will come home with us. God’s grace enters our lives uninvited. The grace of God enters our lives and transforms them, in the same way that Jesus entered the home of Zacchaeus. And its free…. But it is never cheap.

II

How did Zacchaeus respond? He responded with gratitude. This outcast and sinner, who was scorned by everyone, was suddenly hosting Jesus in his home. He was hated and alienated by others, (and probably with good reason!), but he was accepted and loved by Jesus. That is the grace of God! How could he respond but with gratitude.

The Heidelberg Catechism and the New Study Catechism of the church contains three parts. The first part describes the condition of humanity apart from God. The second is the entry of God’s grace into our lives. The third part centers on our response to God’s grace. The word that both catechisms use is “gratitude.” Gratitude is not merely saying “thank you.” Gratitude is the attitude which colors and transforms our lives and changes how we respond to the world. Gratitude is a life style. For Zacchaeus it meant going from being a taker, (one who enriched himself with the sweat of other’s labor), to a becoming a giver. He gave half of his wealth to the poor and giving back four fold what he had cheated from people. Do you think he grumbled when he made this pledge? Do you think he asked: “What will I get for my investment?” No, it was an expression of sheer joy. That is the cost of Grace: Gratitude.

There is a challenge for us in this story of Jesus and Zacchaeus. We gather in worship because Christ has entered our lives. He has entered our homes, and in this service he will share a meal at his table with us. We believe that God’s grace entered our lives and transformed them. We didn’t have to pay for it. It came without calling.. free… but how do we receive it? How do we respond to it? The cost of Grace is Gratitude. It is living a life with the open hand of giving, rather than the clawing hand of taking. Jesus taught more about money and possessions than any other topic and there is a universal theme that underlines his teaching. Give! Open your hands and give! Zacchaeus was touched that day by grace, and he gave and gave.

Two weeks ago, I preached about stewardship and said we need to get out of this obligation mode and think of stewardship as a free and joyous response to God’s love and gift of salvation. In the story of Zacchaeus we have an example of joyous giving in response to God’s love and grace. Zacchaeus didn’t groan: “Now I have to pony up more money because of this.” No! He joyously gave half to the poor. The challenge of this story for each of us is to examine our lives and how they have been touched by God’s grace. How we have been forgiven by God’s love. How we have been made whole by God’s daily presence. Upon examining our lives, are we grateful? How do we express that gratitude? That is the essential challenge of stewardship…

The great American psychiatrist, Karl Menninger, once remarked that the best indicator of mental health is a person’s generosity. The generous heart is a grateful heart. The grateful heart gives…. That is the cost of grace. Amen

 

*The New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989.

Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania,  www.apcusa.org