Maybe—Yes!

October 31, 2004

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Luke 19: 1-10

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 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 down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus 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.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! Happy Halloween!

Last year, a group of trick-or-treaters came to my door. There was a boy in a Roman toga and sash. Another little boy had a patch on one eye, a black hat with skull and crossbones drawn on, and a plastic sword. A little girl wore a pink poodle skirt, bobby socks, and penny loafers. And there was a little boy with spiked hair, and he was wearing a tie-dyed shirt and bell bottoms.

I asked each child what he or she was dressed up as.

“I’m a sixties person,” said the boy with spiked hair.

“I am a fifties person,” said the girl in the poodle skirt.

“I’m a pirate.”

“I’m Julius Caesar.”

Well, I looked at the fifties and the sixties people and I said, “Did you know, when I was a boy and my sister was a little girl, we dressed like that? Those weren’t costume back then.” They just stood there with their bags open, waiting for their candy. I thought, you know, things I’ve lived through are now relegated to the time of pirates and Julius Caesar. Oh my! Time flies!

Halloween is the day when people can be someone they’re not, the time when people can take on an identity that isn’t really their own. You know, the Bible tells us about somebody who wanted to be someone else. His name was Zacchaeus. I wonder what it felt like to be Zacchaeus. There was something missing in his life. The Bible tells us he was short of stature. I think that, metaphorically speaking, it means that something was missing; his life was short on something. I wonder what it was.

He’d tried on a couple of costumes. He’d tried on the costume of the chief tax collector. What a title! Perhaps he thought it would make him feel tall. Well, it wasn’t a very good title, because it meant that he extorted a lot of money from people.

He tried on another costume, the costume of riches. It wasn’t terribly well-gotten riches, I must say – it made a lot of enemies for him. But he tried it on. He thought maybe riches would fill up his life. But you know what? It didn’t. It was just a costume. Maybe it brought him some happiness here and there, but not deep down inside.

And then a wonderful thing happened. Luke 19:3 says “He was trying to see who Jesus was.” There it is! Something wonderful happened; the Holy Spirit got into Zacchaeus and told him, “There’s something more to life. The costumes won’t do the job. There’s more than the ill-gotten riches. There’s more.” And something stirred within Zacchaeus.

Oh, my, how he needed Jesus! How about for you and me? We don’t extort anybody. We don’t do things that make people hate us. But is there something missing? Something wonderful happened to Zacchaeus. In the midst of being hated, in the midst of feeling short of things, he had the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He had the insight that with God, maybe--yes! Maybe there is hope for me. Maybe there is more to life than what I’ve been facing. Maybe there is more to me than being hated. Maybe there is more to me than a dead-end street. Maybe there is hope.

So he climbed up into a tree. Zacchaeus needed Jesus, and he looked to see who He was. And lo and behold! He had the happiest thing of his life happen. He found out that Jesus needed him! Wow! The Bible says that Jesus was passing through this wonderful oasis city of Jericho, and there was Zacchaeus in a tree.

Does it strike you that Jesus knew his name? Check it out. He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down.” He didn’t say, “Hey you, come down. What’s your name?” He said, “Zacchaeus, come on down. I must stay with you today.” And in that moment, Zacchaeus grew to full stature. In that moment, his life was fulfilled and he hurried down and welcomed Jesus warmly. It was the happiest thing that ever happened in his life, and he would take Jesus to be the guest in his home.

Do you need Jesus? Do I? Oh, yes, we do. But the happy discovery is that Jesus needs us, and He calls us each by name and says, “I must stay with you.” And Zacchaeus’s life was different. As they walked to his home, see what happened – verse 7. “All who saw it began to grumble.” I wonder why they grumbled.

“It’s not fair, Jesus. It’s not fair that You should go with Zacchaeus who’s wronged us so badly.” And then Zacchaeus did an amazing thing. He said, “Wait. Wait. Wait. Please understand. Don’t take this joy from me. I’m a changed man. I will prove it to you. I will help people who need help, and I will fix the wrongs that I did. I’ll do it four-fold.” The law did not require four-fold. An unrestitutable damage required only two-fold. But Zacchaeus said he’d do it four-fold. He wanted to show them that he was a changed man because of Jesus.

And Jesus said, “Today, salvation” – which is wholeness, true health – “has come to your house, Zacchaeus. Remember, everybody, he too is a son of Abraham. That means he’s one of us. Look, he’s a changed man.”

And so, too, can we be changed people. Friends, the one thing I’d like you to take from this message is this: it all started with possibility-thinking. It all started when Zacchaeus said, “Maybe--yes.” It all started when the Holy Spirit moved within his heart so that he said, “Maybe there’s something possible for me.” How about you?

When you read your Bible this week, when you pray, when you take a moment to talk to the Lord, I invite you to use that moment to say, “Maybe--yes!” maybe there’s a good outcome here. Maybe something good can happen for me.” The Bible is the story of maybe--yes. Abraham hears the voice of the Lord: “You’re going to become a mighty nation.” And Abraham says maybe--yes. Mary hears the voice of an angel: “You’re going to bear a son, and He’s going to be great.” And she says maybe--yes! The shepherds hear the voice of an angel saying “Unto you a child is born.” And they say “Yes!” to God’s positive possibility. Jesus hangs upon the cross and in His dying moment knows that He will rise again. Yes! It’s God’s positive possibility. It’s there for you, too.

I invite you to look at the situation, the challenge you face, the thing that looked hopeless, and see God’s light breaking out and saying to you, “Yes! Positive possibilities are coming your way.” Because, God loves you. Have a blessed week. Amen.