are you able to see Jesus?

XXXI Sunday “c” Luke 19, 1-10 At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,"Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this housebecause this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. We don’t know why, we don’t know what he knew about Jesus, we just know that he wanted to see Jesus. But for many reasons he couldn’t. Zacchaeus wasn’t able to see Jesus. For one thing Zacchaeus was too short. He couldn’t see Jesus because he wasn’t tall enough. The gospel says that there were crowds of people that also kept Z from seeing Jesus. Zacchaeus also couldn’t see Jesus because he was a sinner. Z couldn’t see Jesus because he was a rich tax collector. People still don’t like tax collectors today, but in Z time to be a tax collector was even worse. Z collected the taxes for the Romans, there were a foreign power, so he was working with the enemy. Tax collectors also made their money by charging more than they were supposed to. Say that 10% was the tax that was paid to the Romans; well, the tax collectors made their money by charging whatever they wanted over and above the 10%, so they really stole the money from the poor. Z. was the chief tax collector, so this means that he was in charge of a whole slew of people who were getting rich off of the poor. Yes, Z wanted to see Jesus, but there were many reasons why he wasn’t able to see Jesus. The least of which was that he was too short, but he was also a thief, in cahoots with the enemy and he took advantage of others in order to make his money. But despite it all, he wanted to see Jesus. And you know what? Jesus wanted to see him as well. Imagine if you will this short rich man, someone who nobody liked climbing up a tree. I see him there in his fancy clothes, maybe he lost a shoe on his way up, he looks ridiculous up there. I can imagine the folks all laughing at Z. But you know what Jesus didn’t laugh at him, Jesus didn’t make fun of him. He didn’t criticize him for being rich. He didn’t label him as a sinner. No, Jesus did none of that and you know why. Because Jesus wanted to see Z. As badly as Z wanted to see Jesus, Jesus wanted to see Z as well. We are here as well because we want to see Jesus. That’s what bring us to church. We want to see Jesus, we want to hear his word, we want to receive his body and blood. We want to feel Jesus’ presence in our lives. Jesus wants to see us as well. What is it that keeps us from seeing Jesus? Why are we not able to see Jesus in our lives today? Are we too short or too tall? Are we too rich or too poor? Are they too many people around Jesus? Maybe… but like Z. the thing that keeps us most from seeing Jesus is that we are sinners. As I said Z made his money off of the poor. He charged them an unjust fee to get rich. And he was the head of the tax collectors, so he probably had no direct contact with the people, he told others to rip off the poor. The thing is, Z couldn’t see Jesus because he didn’t see Jesus in the poor, the people who were surrounded Jesus, he saw as obstacles. If he would have simply opened his eyes to the poor around him, he would have seen Jesus. He would have been able to see Jesus in the poor widows and the orphans in the street. He would have been able to see Jesus in the homeless of the streets, in the immigrants and the people whose homes were destroyed in hurricane Ian. We want to see Jesus. We believe that we hear his word in the scripture, we believe that we will receive his body in the Eucharist. But if we want to be able to see Jesus in this mass, we must be able to see Jesus in one another. Unlike Z people can’t be obstacles in our lives, they are the way that Jesus makes himself present to us. We need to see Jesus in our spouses, who might get on our nerves, and we get angry at. In our children, even when they are teenagers, and they think they know everything. In our parents, even when we are teenagers, and our parents think they know everything. Yes, we need to see Jesus more clearly in the folks that we love, but also in the folks that we don’t like. Republicans need to see Jesus in the Democrats and the Democrats in Republicans. We need to see Jesus in the people who live on our streets and who wait at our borders. Z saw the folks as obstacles we need to see them as a means to see Jesus. The good news is we don’t have to be perfect. Jesus went to Z’s house first. Z didn’t need to convert, renounce his sin and then Jesus went to his house. No, Jesus went to his house and then Z eyes were opened. As we celebrate this Eucharist. As Jesus makes his home in us our eyes are slowly opened, and we are better able to see Jesus in others.