The Seeking and Saving God
(Free Version) Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost- Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12; Luke 19:1-10
Find this week’s readings here. This week, in our “Deep Dive,” we look deeper at the background of Habakkuk, examining the false or hollow gods we construct in our world; specifically, we look at the idea of objectification in the work of Martin Buber. In our Thessalonians background, we look at some important insights from Ben Witherington, the importance of repentance in gratitude from Dan Allender, and quotes from Augustine, John Chrysostom, and Aquinas. In our gospel reading, we try to break through the familiarity of the reading, looking at the role of “chief tax collector.” We feature insights from N.T. Wright, David Jeffrey, and Augustine on “the crowds.”
This week’s readings are an indictment on the ways in which we (both individually and collectively) turn to pseudo gods, objectify others, and look out for ourselves alone. At the same time, this week’s readings are a revelation that such things are not the end of the story. We hear of the transforming power of God when everything seems stacked against it.
In our Old Testament reading (Habakkuk 1:1-14, 2:1-4), the prophet Habakkuk laments to God about the state of the world and of God’s own people. They are violent and divisive. Justice never prevails. When God tells Habakkuk that he plans to use the even more evil Babylonians as judgment against his own people, Habakkuk can’t take it. It makes no sense. God is everlasting, and the Babylonian gods are hollow, mere projections.
This may cause us to think about the false gods to which we have given power. What has the final say in our lives? What are the “projected gods” that we create? We think that we have control of our lives, but we have no more control than the fish (1:14) who have no kings or systems of control.
And yet, God promises Habakkuk that the Babylonians too will experience judgement. Habakkuk needs to write down the fact that the people’s thirst for vengeance has a way of catching up with them. God will be their judge and hold them accountable for their actions. Justice will be done. They may have to wait for it, but God will put things right. We do not get the “good news” of the book until chapter 3, but ultimately, God is faithful.
In our New Testament reading (2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12), Paul (the primary voice), as well as Silas, and Timothy, greet the church of the Thessalonians. The letter begins with thankfulness. God is doing a work in the church. Their faith is growing and so is their love; this is especially significant because it is happening in the midst of suffering. This work is rightly attributed to God, and is a source of boasting. God does this kind of thing: raising up a people who grow good fruit in the midst of suffering. This makes sense, considering the one they follow. Paul’s prayer is that God would continue to make them worthy of the calling. As they anticipate God’s new world, they are to be a “new world” people here and now. He prays that the Spirit’s power will bring every good deed they desire to fruition. All of this is for the sake of mutual glorification: Jesus in the church and the church in him.
Zacchaeus is an interesting character in our gospel reading (Luke 19:1-10). Our children’s church readings of this passage may cause us to think of him as “cute.” While certainly humorous, Zacchaeus was also deeply despised as a traitor because of his profession—one known for cheating neighbors and lining one’s pockets. Something, we are not sure what, drives Zacchaeus towards Jesus. Limited by the crowds due to his short stature, Zacchaeus elevates by climbing a tree in order to get a better look at Jesus. Like Judah twisted up in violence in Habakkuk, like the church of the Thessalonians struggling under the weight of an oppressive empire, Zacchaeus is held back, not only by the stature of the crowd around him but by the people’s view of him and by his own choices. Though he was seeking to see Jesus, it is Jesus who spots him, calling him to open his heart and his home. This alone is enough to bring about dramatic transformation. The rich man gives away his riches. The one who seeks Jesus has been sought and saved by Jesus.
If nothing else, these readings ought to challenge our imaginations. In a world mired by violence and objectification, there is a vision that has been made plain. There is a greater hope. The just will live by it. In a world of suffering and oppression, God does powerful works in small, dispatched communities on the edge of the empire. This work and these communities are characterized by faith and love. And there is no one too despised, too far gone, too far outside the boundaries to experience Christ’s saving love, for he is the one who seeks and the one who saves the lost.