For the ten of us who were on the recent Mission Trip to Malawi,
between our first and second week there we were fortunate enough
to visit a wildlife reserve called Vwaza Marsh.
It was a beautiful place, where upon our arrival we were welcomed by,
I’d have to say, close to 100 elephants,
some which ventured as close as I am to the first set of pews.
It was a well timed respite
from the overwhelming experiences of our first week in Malawi,
a time to reflect upon what we had seen up to that point.
Not too distant from where we took our meals
there was a large tree with much movement in the branches.
We soon discovered that the movement was the result of baboons,
literally dozens of them, moving along the branches of the tree eating figs.
I don’t believe that I have ever seen a fig tree before
and this particular tree was a spectacular first encounter.
It was a tall tree, with a wide trunk, strong branches, and a great breadth.
I thought, now there’s a tree that would be great to climb,
if it wasn’t for all the baboons.

The sycamore tree is a type of fig tree
and I can well imagine Zacchaeus scampering up one of the sturdy branches
and positioning himself for a good view of Jesus.
But we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves here.
On the way to Jerusalem, Luke’s gospel records that Jesus entered Jericho.
Jericho, in the words of one commentary, was an oasis in the desert.
Fed by a subterranean spring, it was a popular tourist destination,
lush with palm trees, sycamores and other vegetation that grew in splendid gardens.
It was a favoured destination of the Herods, the rulers of Palestine,
who reportedly built lavish satellite palaces there
along with various sports arenas, theaters, and other pleasure-oriented venues.
It was the Las Vegas of its time.
It is no wonder that a chief tax collector like Zacchaeus,
which, by the way, is a term not repeated anywhere else in all Greek literature,
its no wonder that Zacchaeus was able to become enormously wealthy
levying taxes in a city like Jericho.

Zacchaeus was wealthy, but he was clearly conflicted.
According to Fred Craddock, the fact that Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector
implicates him more deeply in the corrupt tax system of the Roman government.
In a corrupt system, the loftier one’s position,
the greater one’s complicity in that system.
As Craddock continues, though we don’t know anything of the private life of Zacchaeus, this much we know on principle:
no one can be privately righteous while participating and profiting from a programme that robs and crushes other persons.
Such dichotomous thinking has been a blight on the church throughout its history, especially in those times and places
in which individualism has dominated over community…
(Fred Craddock, Interpretation – Luke p.218-219)

Zacchaeus was conflicted.
He must have struggled as a Jew,
getting rich from unjust taxes levied against his own people.
He must have struggled with how the more wealthy he got,
the more he was shunned by his own people.
Zacchaeus is recorded as being short,
but the true shortness in Zacchaeus’ life was not shortness of height,
but shortness of peace.
Perhaps that restlessness may not have been externally obvious,
but clearly something inside him drove him to want to see this Jesus.
He needed to see Jesus so badly
that it drove him to do something he never imagined he could do.
Hearing that Jesus was passing through Jericho,
Zacchaeus felt compelled to see him.
Being vertically challenged, he climbed a fig tree and went out on a limb,
in more ways than one.
For a grown man to climb a tree is an act of desperation.
We smile when a child does it, we marvel at the energy and exuberance of youth,
but for a grown man, and a chief tax collector at that, it was simply unacceptable.
If Zacchaeus had been merely curious,
his curiosity would have melted away when faced with the impenetrable crowds,
but it was something more than mere curiosity.
So he abandoned any pretense of respectability,
by this time Zacchaeus probably didn’t have much of a reputation to protect,
and he went out on a limb, looking for Jesus.

I wonder, when was the last time we went out on a limb looking for Jesus?
When was the last time we shed the cloak of respectability
in our desire to seek out Jesus?
Isn’t it too often the case
that even when we might be feeling as conflicted and as restless as Zacchaeus did,
we find it very difficult to break out of our self consciousness
and our self imposed boundaries of acceptable behaviour?
That doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem in places like Malawi.
I suppose when you don’t have so much that you think that you’ve got to protect,
its perhaps easier to be less self conscious.
I don’t want to share too much about Malawi at this time
because our mission team is planning a service at the end of the month
to share our collective experiences with the congregation.
But I will touch on a few examples.
Where we stayed, at the Ekwendeni Mission,
all the staff that worked at the mission gathered in the morning for devotionals.
There was chapel at the hospital with concrete pews,
which had been worn smooth by years of use,
that was packed to standing room only at 7 am.
One morning we joined the staff for devotionals and we had prepared a hymn,
What a friend we have in Jesus,
that we had learned in the Chewa language.
What we didn’t know what that there are at least three major languages spoken in Malawi and in Ekwendni, they don’t speak Chewa, they speak Timbuku.
No wonder when we invited those gathered to join us in singing, hardly anyone did.
But the rest of the time, sing they did, and gladly, loudly, joyfully.

With such vibrant expressions of faith,
it is hardly surprising that we met some extraordinary people,
people who for the sake of Jesus and for the sake of the gospel,
went out on a limb on a daily basis.
I think of a lady named Maria, who was diagnosed as HIV positive,
who is alive today because of the anti-retroviral medications she takes,
medications made possible in part by agencies like PWSD.
Her husband died without being tested in a traffic accident and soon after
his family set fire to the house where Maria and her four children were sleeping. Fortunately, she and her children escaped and fled,
and eventually she ended up at the hospital
coordinating support groups for HIV positive people.
She would go around without fear or embarrassment,
asking anyone whom she encountered whether they had been tested for HIV/AIDS.
I think of the countless men, women and children,
who sang and danced, who hugged and embraced us,
as they shared their food, their water and their care for one another and for us.
I think of the number of ministers we met,
who would often be restricted to traveling on a bicycle, over rough terrain,
wearing their suits and collars, bringing the gospel to the people in their districts.
Is it any wonder that the nation is 80-90% Christian!

I wonder what the percentage is in Canada, in Calgary?
Perhaps we need to find a tree to climb,
a way to go out on a limb for Jesus, for the sake of the gospel.
Perhaps we need to think about ways
in which we can not worry so much about appearances
but truly seek out and share what’s important in life, for living.
Some of you may have read the Moderator’s message
at the back of the Presbyterian Record this month.
The Rev. Dr. Hans Kouwenberg asks whether we in the PCC
have any regional or national vision for evangelism.
As the convener of our Presbytery’s Mission Committee,
which for the past few years has been looking to start new churches in our Presbytery,
I have to say that I wonder as well.
The Moderator continues, somehow the concern for those Jesus calls the lost,
seems to have been drained out of our lives and thoughts.
For some, it has even become embarrassing to be an overt Christian.
Out on a limb for my faith, for Jesus, not on your life.
Kouwenberg understands that sometimes
we as Christians have been inappropriately aggressive and not nuanced enough,
but have we lost faith in believing that Jesus Christ is the answer
to our own and the world’s questions?
Have we lost our vision and nerve to take his gospel to others?

My friends, we can’t sit here and lament the decline in the numbers of people
who attend church if we refuse to share the good news with those who need to hear it.
We can’t bemoan the state of the church
if we aren’t prepared to do anything about changing the patterns.
If we’re feeling as restless as Zacchaeus was feeling,
if we’re lacking peace in our hearts about our lives, the life of the church,
maybe we need to go out on a limb more often.
Maybe we need to be looking for Jesus more intentionally.
When we are in need, when we are conflicted, when we are restless,
do we seek out Jesus first?
Is he even an option, or are we more comfortable reading self help books,
visiting counselors and therapists, anyone but Jesus?
If Jesus is the answer, why is it so hard for us to risk our faith,
to put ourselves on a limb trusting in him?

Its not as scary as we might think.
Zacchaeus climbed that fig tree.
And what did he find?
He found that Jesus was looking for him.
Here’s the good part.
If we go looking for Jesus, we will always find that Jesus has been looking for us already. Zacchaeus may have thought that he would not be noticed by Jesus,
what with all the crowds on the ground.
But he was wrong.
Jesus knew exactly where Zacchaeus was.
And when Jesus found Zacchaeus
everything changed for the diminutive chief tax collector of Jericho.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because Zacchaeus made the decision
to give away half of his possessions to the poor
and to repay those he had cheated fourfold,
that salvation came to his house.
Zacchaeus had been changed when Jesus first looked up at him in the tree.
Life changed for Zacchaeus when Jesus found him.
His generosity is his response to what Jesus had already done for him.
Zacchaeus made himself available and found that Jesus was already looking for him.
Do we make ourselves available for Jesus and for the sake of his gospel?
Or are we more comfortable in the anonymity of the crowd?
Do we shrink in our visibility when the gospel calls us to go out on a limb,
or are we willing to step up and step out?
The next time the conversation turns to religion,
will we shrink away or might we find something gracious and invitational to say?
The next time we see an injustice,
will we grow a little shorter or might we rise above the anonymous crowd
and speak up for those who have no voice of their own?
The next time we encounter someone
who is hungry for more meaning and relevance in life,
will we hope and pray that they will find it somewhere else,
or might we see it as an opportunity to share our faith?

Jesus ends our text this morning with the words,
For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.
You see, Jesus knows what it means to go out on a limb for us.
His arms were stretched out on a limb, his body was stretched out on a cross,
and he died his death so that we, the lost, might live his life.
My friends, its good news, it’s the best news.
And it needs to be shared.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the answer for us and for our world. What we know to be true in our hearts, may we be courageous enough to share with those you seek. Grant us the desire to seek you constantly and to discover that you have been looking for us already. If we are available to you and for your gospel, you will use us and you will equip us to be your gracious servants and loving communities. Help us to stand above the anonymity of the crowd and be heralds of your good news. In your name we pray, Amen.