Saving Both Oppressed and Privileged

Floods and Wars have forced prioritized responses. Who gets rescued first? When the August 31 deadline to evacuate Afghanistan was announced, people began jockeying for seats on the plane. Somebody had to decide if women, children, soldiers, allies, citizens or dignitaries would be in the limited seats.

As floods devastated Tennesee, then Ida’s waters fell all the way from Louisiana to New York, emergency crews had to prioritize whom they could rescue and who would have to wait.

As thousands fall prey to the socialism and criminal activity of central America and flee for asylum at our southern border, agencies triage who will be allowed through the gate, who will be housed, and who will be returned.

Depending upon who is asked, you will get very different perceptions of who should be helped first.

Some want stimulus money to continue to go to the unemployed, while others believe the economy will be boosted by giving something extra to the essential workers who have staffed the stores, the schools and clinics throughout the pandemic.

Ideas of oppressed/privileged or victim/predator vary greatly and contribute to the social unrest that we all detest. Much of our economic unrest has been fanned into flames where individuals believe they are oppressed by those with privilege.

As I grew up here in Kansas then later moved to Oklahoma, I always thought that Labor Day was a celebration of all those who do honest labor for an honest wage, all those who contribute to our quality of life. It wasn’t until I moved to a state in America’s rust belt that I found out Labor Day was not originally a celebration of all labor, it was a celebration of organized labor and the unions that stand up to wealthy oppressors. Instead of celebrating the privilege we have to contribute to our own livelihood, it was originally, and still is in some places, a demonstration against management and ownership.

Depending upon your view of tomorrow’s holiday you may see yourself as honored or oppressed. We will see in the Scriptures that God’s kingdom gives value to and offers salvation to boththe esteemed and the despised.

Transition: Since we admit that we don’t all see things the same, let me take a few minutes to talk about…

Brokenness Has Many Faces

Different Ideas of Wealth

1. What defined “rich” in your mind as a kid? Was it clothing, cars or a zip code? I remember envying the kids who could have a birthday party at the burger or pizza restaurant.

2. Was it a certain status symbol? I read this week of someone who thought a clear plexiglass backboard on a basketball goal was the definition of rich.

When I was an early teen we lived in an old 2-story farmhouse that I later learned was very expensive to heat and cool. My dad, growing up spending summers in wheat fields South of Wichita thought it was foolish to spend all that money to run the air conditioner. So he made 2 decisions. 1) we installed an attic fan to pull air through the house at night. And 2) he bought a do-it-yourself above ground swimming pool on clearance that he and I installed ourselves. I later learned that some people in our church thought that if the preacher had a swimming pool, then he must be rich. Even though we qualified for free/reduced lunches at school, and couldn’t afford store bought clothes at the beginning of school, I just learned within the last few years that my father never received a single pay raise from that church after we put in that pool.

3. I don’t regret my upbringing! Although we didn’t have many material abundances, we had each other and the stability of parents who loved each other and did their best for us.

Physical and Relational Brokenness

1. You are aware of the person who is looked at differently due to a disability.

One of my closest friends was advised to terminate a pregnancy because the doctors identified a chromosomal abnormality that, if he survived at all, would cause significant birth defects. Paul and Michelle built a prayer team and Blake celebrated his 22ndbirthday last Sunday.

2. But I also have deep affection for Joy, Rick & Ty whom others would consider “broken” but they bring unique happiness to their families.

A couple of weeks ago one of the questions on Family Feud was, “How long is the average Hollywood marriage?” The #1 answer was 5 years!

3. The vast abundance of inequities of life experiences can cause many of us to view ourselves or others as oppressed or privileged.

Bridge to Text

1. By now many of you are wondering what everything I have said has to do with a wee little man in a tree.

2. D.A. Carson is frequently cited as the source for a quote that I have heard in various settings, “a text without context is pretext for a proof text”

3. This means that if you ignore the surrounding verses, you may make a Bible verse say something totally different from what it was meant to mean.

For example, Following the Texas heartbeat bill decision I read one person write, “Biblically life begins as first breath” and he used Gen 2:7 as proof. Adam was not a living being until God breathed breath of life into him.

4. To come to this conclusion based on Adam alone and totally ignore every other reference to pregnancy in the rest of the Bible is the worst example of prooftext I’ve ever heard. [It is even worse than telling someone to go out and hang himself because Judas did so, and to do it quickly]

5. Remember that chapter and verse divisions were not put in the Bible until around 1500. As the printing press was invented and there was opportunity for families to own their own copy of the Scripture instead of just one that was chained to the altar of the city church, the need arose to help people find the same section. So the division of chapters here is rather inconvenient.

Transition: Because BOTH stories happen in Jericho and both involve Jesus reaching out to someone whom the crowd would rather ignore, I think we should view both stories in one sermon. First we see a man who is…

Down and Out (18:35-43)

Blind & Begging in Jericho (v.35)

1. If you grew up in S.S. you probably thought of Joshua and his 7 daily tours when you heard Jericho.

2. If you lived in the MiddleEast today, you may think immediately of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

· New Jericho was located about a mile south of the Jericho destroyed by Joshua. It had been rebuilt in the fertile oasis in what is now the Palestinian occupied West Bank of the Jordan and was about 17 miles downhill from Jerusalem.

3. If you lived in Jesus’ day the name Jericho would have had a very different stereotype.

· Because Jericho was in a lush location on the trade route from Jerusalem to what is not Amman, Jordan, there was a lot of wealth that passed through. Harod had a palace there so it was a government site as well.

I learned many years ago that the best 2nd hand shops are those close to where wealthy people live. A thrift store in Johnson County or close to the Magnificent Mile in Chicago is going to have better items than the Et Cetera Shop in Hillsboro.

4. Anyone who drives on Highway 50 these days is likely to see plenty of SG and JO tags on the cars that speed past. It may help to think that Jesus is on his way to Wichita but is moving through Overland Park when a crowd gathers.

A Plea for Mercy (v.39b)

1. As far as beggars go, he probably didn’t have it too bad. He wasn’t like the lame who depended upon others to get him to the place where he could beg.

2. Yet, he knew he was bound in his current condition an the only way out of his lot in life would be to receive sight.

3. He realized that sight was not something he could do for himself, it was not something anybody else could do for him. There was no government program he could apply for.

4. His only hope was mercy from the one he believed to be the promised Messiah.

Healing leads to God’s Glory (v.43)

· The very one whom they were just hushing is the one that prompts all of them to realize the great compassion of God upon those in need of mercy.

Transition: From Down and Out in Jericho, the next story picks up in the same town with someone who is…

Up and Out (19:1-10)

As soon as we heard the name Zachaeus, many of us heard a tune in our heads: Zacchaeus was a wee little man. And a wee little man was he. Before his height is ever mentioned Luke makes a point to describe him differently: Zacchaeus was a rich, powerful man. And a rich powerful man was he.

Collecting taxes in Jericho (vv.1-2)

1. If the blind man knew that Jericho was wealthy and a good place to beg. Then you can be sure that the revenue department was fully staffed to get their full share.

2. As a chief tax collector, Zacchaeus probably did not deal with people directly, He supervised a staff and collected a portion of their profits, much like a corporate sales manager might do today.

3. As an overseer of wealthy employees, he had amassed his own sizeable wealth.

4. The descriptions we see in this paragraph are focused solely upon his occupation, his wealth and his stature.

5. But Jesus saw something else! Jesus saw a man who would not consider it an imposition to invite himself and his disciples who were traveling with Him. (v.5)

6. While a greedy man would have been hesitant to respond, Zac is so pleased with the honor of being asked that he received him joyfully. (v.6)

7. To the ruler last week (in the previous verses), his wealth was the one thing that stood between him and the kingdom. To Zach, his wealth is the one thing he can offer to serve the King and meet the needs of others.

8. The man whose wealth had become an idol walked away very sad (18:23). The man who used his wealth as an instrument to help other is described joyfully (19:6)

Salvation changes us (vv.7 & 9)

1. Many of us see this assertion and presume that I am about to describe a change within Zacchaeus. I believe the greatest change is what happens in the crowd!

2. The only thing that people think about Zac is that he must be a crook (because of his occupation and wealth) and he must be a sinner who is unworthy of Jesus’ visit.

3. The traditional understanding of verse 8 is based upon some huge assumptions.

a. We assume Jesus confronts Zack and his words in v. 8 are a commitment to a new future behavior.

b. What if the point of the story is NOT an assumed confrontation of Zac, but an indictment of the crowd.

c. As a wealthy man, he probably had lots of room in his home. Jesus wants to give his disciples a full rest before they begin the 17 mile uphill climb to Jerusalem, so Jesus invites himself (and his disciples) to be houseguests of this man.

d. Jesus did not see Zac’s wealth as a sign of sinfulness, He saw it as resource to be used by the Family—he also is a son of Abraham.

Application (v.10)

· The crowd got it wrong in both stories.

a. They saw the blind beggar as a nuisance to be hushed, Jesus saw him as a human being in need of mercy. When the people saw him receive mercy, they praised God!

b. They saw Zac as a scoundrel to be avoided, Jesus saw him as a part of the family who had a meaningful contribution that he could offer to the kingdom.

Conclusion:

The challenge is for us to be more like Jesus! Do we seek to see the lost saved? Are we too quick to jump to conclusions about people who are important to God and worth mercy?

If God were to enlarge your compassion today to make you a messenger of mercy, who might be the person you would be tempted to overlook? Is it the child of chapter 18 whom we don’t want to wait to mature? Is it the disabled person who seems to get in the way? The one we may think will never contribute equal to the effort required? The one who is in a different social class from you? If he or she isn’t like me, it must be because of some moral deficiency!

Now I’m gonna leave preaching and go to meddling, Might God be calling you to reach out with mercy to that person who thinks differently than you do about Covid? Can you show mercy to that one who “gave into the political lie”? Can you show mercy to that one who prefers naturopathy to increase natural immune response?

Jesus viewed the both the blind beggar and wealthy Zacchaeus different than the crowd, and He gave mercy and dignity to each of them.