Death is part of life. It’s part of being a creature. Everything dies. Every creature gets a certain allotment of time, and then it’s over. When a dog dies, that’s it. The end. When Cats die so ends the story. Slugs, lizards, bacteria, etc. There is this life, and that’s it. There are, however, two exceptions this rule. The first are the Angels. They are creatures. They are created beings. God made them. They do not die because they are purely spiritual, so they don’t die, don’t have kids, don’t eat, and so on. The other exception is us. People. People are a little more complicated. We are physical and spiritual. Yes, our physical bodies will die, but that isn’t the end of the story.

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In the case of Zacchaeus, Jesus sees the curiosity. Far from being annoyed at the attention Zacchaeus gives him, Jesus want’s more. He breaks through Zacchaeus curiosity and makes himself present to Zaccheaus in a way that he could have not anticipated. Jesus goes to his house. Jesus knows that he is a sinner. He knows that to Zacchaeus he is just a spectacle, but Jesus also knows that he is the thing that Zacchaeus has been looking for.

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I am a Christian. You know how that makes me different than other people? It means I am admitting my need for a savior. It means I stand before God and man and say, I am a sinner in need of a savior. That is central to the Good News. Jesus came to save sinners, and as St. Paul reminds us in Romans 3, “all have sinned. . .” Even the Christians. Especially us. That’s why we needed a savior.

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We need to take a look at our prayer and ask, are we praying the way Jesus is describing? Or are we sending the occasional email to God, as if he is a celebrity or distant deity.

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Gratitude to the Lord is all too often missing from our prayer. Really, truly, if we appreciated everything that God has done and is doing for us, we would not be able to stop thanking him. But life is busy. The pace of modern life has sped up so much that it seems like the moment we overcome one challenge, another presents itself. I know in our life the has been true. With our son’s caner, each week seems to present a new obstacle. In one week we are panicked and in the hospital with a fever, and then just days later Ben is fine and wrestling with his little brother. The relief of having made it to the other side can be so great that we can forget all of the prayer and petition that was offered just a week ago. It’s not that we are not grateful, its just that if we are not intentional about that gratitude, life happens.

You know what? in my own life, when I focus on how much I am doing or how much I have to do, I am miserable. When I stand around waiting for someone to notice all the hard work I am putting in, rather than taking pride in the work itself, I feel unappreciated. It is a surefire recipe for depression. I’ve walked down that road. It’s not a good one.

It is interesting that in Luke 17: 7-10, Jesus talks a little bit about this. He says,

“When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.

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Here on the west coast, homelessness is reaching epidemic proportions. This is not really the forum to figure out how to solve the problem of homelessness. But, I think we do need to consider spiritual callousness. Do I even see the people suffering around me? Listen, I get it. I know that a lot of these folks are suffering from some self inflicted wounds. I know that handing money out to a person with a drug addiction is not helping them. I get it. It’s a tough situation. But you know what? You know the one thing I, as a Christian am not allowed to do? I am not allowed to stop seeing them. I am not allowed to not care.

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This guys is already in trouble for not taking good care of the masters finances, and his solution appear to be robbing the master. When the master finds out, you would imagine he is going to be very upset, but no. He is not. He actually praises the servant for acting prudently.

Am I missing something, because that doesn’t make sense. The answer is, yes. Yes, we are missing some information.

If you are a friend f the Lords, and I hope we all are, then you should be ready to celebrate with him when a sinner returns. We are not called to stand as judges and decide who get to come to the Lord. Everyone is precious to God. Every sinners return is a cause for celebration in heaven.

Can Jesus honestly be telling us to hate our parents? Can he be telling us to hate ourselves? Yes. . .and no. How does this make sense?