TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 2013 LUKE 19:1-10 Sometimes he wished he were dead. That way he could escape the sneers of the people, that way he could avoid the judgmental looks, that way the pushing and shoving and jostling he endured on the street would come to a merciful end. It's not easy being the object of derision, he reassured himself. Not everyone had his courage. Your average man could not cope with the hatred that you are called to suffer. Take Jacob down the street – the Jacob who treats you with abject contempt, that Jacob who spits in your direction when you pass, that Jacob who once tripped you up and laughed over you as you lay helpless in the dust – that bully Jacob who does not have what it takes to stand up under the persecution you bravely face each day.

He tried to put a positive spin on it, pretend that the insults didn't hurt, that the barbs didn't sting. They were only words, after all. But argue though he did, he did not believe himself. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words … well, words cut like a knife.

Did they have no respect for his learning? Did they not understand his (Read the full Sermon here: Treetop Hideaway.pdf ) Mount Calvary Camp Hill