In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

When we hear the Gospel about Zacchæus, we know we are already on the threshold of Great Lent. It is important for us at the threshold of Great Lent to hear about the essence of Great Lent.

In the first place, we have the lesson of Zacchæus. Zacchæus was a man who spent his whole life taking everything from everyone because tax collectors did that in those days. It was not like Revenue Canada which is fairly well controlled, where we more or less get our money’s worth out of our taxes. In the days of the Roman Empire, Zacchæus, and others like him, were agents of the occupying power. He was a Jewish man, a son of Abraham, and an agent of the Roman Empire which had conquered Palestine. The Jewish people were oppressed by the Roman Empire, and they considered Zacchæus a traitor because he was an agent of the conquering power, and collecting taxes on behalf of the emperor.

In the second place, people like that had a free rein to collect whatever they wanted. They knew they had to collect a certain amount from the people in order to satisfy the tax requirements of the emperor who demanded that the tax collector “fleece the sheep”. He was told how much money he was supposed to collect each year, and he went about collecting it as well as he could. The tax collector in those days also had the right to collect whatever he could in order to live, and in order to do the tax collecting. They collected very much from the people, and were often considered extortionists. When it was tax time therefore, the people hid everything they had in the woods or in the ground.

That was the environment of Zacchæus, and his work until this particular time in the Gospel. Today we see Zacchæus wanting to see Christ. There was something about the events of his life that made him want to encounter Christ. You could probably say that the Holy Spirit was moving in his heart so that he wanted to encounter Christ. He did not necessarily know everything about why, but he knew that there was something out of order hidden inside of him. He must have known that Jesus Christ was able to put things in order. So it happened today. Zacchæus, being short, climbed up into a sycamore tree so that he could at least see Christ. He wasn’t expecting exactly to encounter Him, but at least he wanted to see Him.

Jesus, who is the Knower of hearts, knew what was going on in the heart of Zacchæus. The Lord came to the tree, and told Zacchæus to come down. Then the Lord went to Zacchæus’ house. That He would go to Zacchæus’ house was outrageous in His day. Even though He was controversial, Christ was considered a respected teacher. Here He goes to the house of a tax collector, who was considered to be a robber, and a traitor to his own people. Jesus had dinner with this man. To have dinner with someone like that was also very controversial. To have dinner with someone meant that somehow you were in communion with each other. It was a sign of fellowship with one another. You wouldn’t ordinarily eat with someone like Zacchæus if you were a respected person known for teaching what is right.

What is important here is not just obeying the letter of the law. The Saviour, who is the Originator of the Law, also knows the spirit of the Law. In the presence of the Saviour, the heart of Zacchæus is turned about. It’s not so much what was said at that dinner that touched Zacchæus. It was being with the Lord. You see it in other places in the Gospel. Often, when the Saviour is in one place or another, He does not say anything in particular to someone about something, yet things are happening around Him. His being there, wherever He is, produces a reaction. In Zacchæus’ case, it was the reaction of repentance. Zacchaeus turns about his whole life. He repays fourfold the things that he took from people. He had plenty of money. He could pay back fourfold things that were taken unrighteously. But the main point is not the restoration of everything. The main point is that Zacchæus’ life was turned about in a moment from that encounter with Christ: which is exactly the meaning of repentance. Just as it happened with the Apostle Paul, his life was turned about. He turned away from selfishness to selflessness. But more than that, his whole way of life changed. He turned about from self-love to love of Christ, and love of everyone, and everything around him instead of being closed in on himself. Instead of grasping everything, he became open.

He is our example of how things are supposed to be for us as we pass through this Lenten period. We are supposed to be turning away from ourselves, turning to Christ, and turning outwards. The way Zacchæus gave away half of his goods is also part of what we are supposed to do in Lent, and not just in Lent, but all the time. We are supposed to be living our lives open-heartedly, and open-handedly, sharing with people around us who are in need. Almsgiving, in other words, is a major characteristic of how we express ourselves in Great Lent. This should happen not just in Great Lent, but in the whole course of our Christian living.

The words of the Apostle Paul to his disciple Timothy today are really important, especially these particular words. He is exhorting Timothy, a young person, to be faithful to Christ, and to be a good leader in the Church. But how are you to be a good leader in the Church? Engraved on the back of most Crosses that priests are first given is the citation of these very words the Apostle Paul gave to Timothy: “Be an example to the believers”. The shepherd has to lead the flock into the Kingdom. The shepherd cannot push the flock into the Kingdom. The sheep will only follow the shepherd. If the shepherd tries to push them, they will resist in every way. However, if the sheep know that the shepherd loves them, like the Saviour who gives us the example in a parable, and if the shepherd walks forward in the direction they are supposed to go, the sheep will follow him. Therefore the Apostle Paul tells Timothy to be a good example to the people because he is supposed to be their shepherd, and they his sheep. If he goes in the right direction, they will follow.

The sheep, especially rational, human sheep, know all too well when the shepherd is out of kilter, and falling apart. The Tempter tempts everyone, but especially priests, and bishops, because they are the leaders. He tries to distract them, and pull them out of the right way so that they will get lost, and their people also. However, Big Red does not take into account that the Holy Spirit is active in the hearts of the sheep. If the shepherd gets out of focus, as sometimes happens, the sheep instinctively feel that there is something out of kilter with him.

What should the sheep do? Often they start to do what they ought not to do – complain, and grumble. That is really not the way to make things better for a priest who is out of focus. The more you grumble, the worse you make it for the priest, who somehow has become lost. What is important is that when the sheep see that something has gone wrong, they agree to pray together for the priest so that the Lord will touch the priest’s heart, and put him back into focus. They must not even try to force anything themselves. They offer their priest to the Lord, and ask Him to fix it. When they do that, it becomes possible for the priest to hear what is necessary to hear, to find what is wrong, and to repent. It is very much a question of mutual responsibility, living the Christian life. Yes, we are shepherds, and sheep, but we are not exactly shepherds, and sheep like the animals, and their keeper because we are called “rational” sheep. Even though we behave stupidly like sheep very often, at the same time we have the advantage of having received intelligence. We do have the ability to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us.

As we are about to enter Lent in a few short weeks, let us ask the Lord to keep our hearts turned about. This turning about of our hearts in repentance is a daily exercise for Orthodox Christians. Every day we have to have the determination to turn to Christ because our selfishness keeps dragging us down, and Big Red keeps distracting us. We have to ask Him to help us to remember to keep turning to Him. We always have to ask Him for help. We need to remember to turn to Christ. We have to pay attention to His example because He is the supreme example of how we should be living. His Mother is the second supreme example after Him of how we should be living life – a life that says Yes to the will of God, a life that is full of love, a life that is life-giving, a life that is turned to Christ.

Let us ask the Lord to make us a good example to other people (as the Apostle directed Timothy), so that we can encourage them to go in the right way, to see the joy, the hope, the peace, and the strength that we have in Christ. Let us follow Him willingly because of this love, this joy, this peace, confidence, and hope that we have in Christ. Let us endure every kind of difficulty because of our assurance, and our confidence in Christ who is with us, glorifying the all-holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

† Archdiocese of Canada - Orthodox Church in America