31st Sunday: Order from Chaos

In Genesis, God brings order to the world. Adam and Eve invite disorder into the world through their desire to be God, to impose their own order on what is good. That hurts the well-being of their children who are not yet a part of their story. Recall that in the story of Cain and Abel,

“Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.” When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.  Then the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel? "He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Gen. 4:8-9

 Violence, lies and refusing what is owed to another invites chaos into our life. Through us and our sin, chaos enters the world. In today’s story, Zacchaeus responds that he is his brother’s keeper, by making restitution for his wrongdoing and opening his hand in generosity to the poor he brings a right order into the world.
 
Jericho, Jesus and Chaos
A huge, disorderly crowd followed Jesus through Jericho. A Tax Collector climbed a tree in order to see better. No one would make room for him to be in front of the chaos. Jesus saw him. The crowd reacted, ‘this man is a sinner!’ Luke’s Gospel often holds up the disreputable as a place where righteousness resides. Why? Because Jesus came to bring the sinners to righteousness, to bring order out of chaos. Parable’s work because of contrast. The more stark the contrast, the clearer the point. Last week, Jesus’ parable involved a proud Pharisee and a humble Tax Collector, whose simple prayer showed the way to God. This week, the Tax Collector Zacchaeus is used as an example of righteousness arising from moral chaos.

Think of Zacchaeus as suspended above the ground in his tree. He is part of the Roman order, the pax Romana. He collaborates in the empire's war machine which systematically subjugates and exploits the various people of the empire. He has profited by being a collaborator. He has also been hurt. His Jewish community ostracizes him. They won't even let him up front where he could see Jesus. They can see over his head, but he can't see over their head unless he climbs the tree. Both the Romans and the Jews have ordered the world according to how they see what is important and what is not. Jesus sees it all, and sees it very differently. 
 
Jesus and Zacchaeus
A couple of side points. First, the encounter takes place in Jericho, a border town, where taxes were collected. Second, an irony is embedded Zacchaeus’ name. The Hebrew root word, “ zakkai,” is synonymous with righteous or upright. (tzaddiq in Hebrew.) Third, hospitality is important in the ancient world. Eating a meal with someone is the principle expression of hospitality. Jesus invites Himself and so offers hospitality, in a sense 'communion', to Zacchaeus.  Jesus’ offer of communion with Zacchaeus inspires a change in his life. 

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.” Lk. 19:9

Justice and Exodus: Law brings order into chaos
Where does Zacchaeus' offer come from?  In the Book of Exodus there are laws about theft and restitution. Moses taught them as God's laws. 

“ When someone steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for the one ox, and four sheep for the one sheep. … He must make full restitution. If he has nothing, he shall be sold to pay for his theft. If what he stole is found alive in his possession, be it an ox, a donkey or a sheep, he shall make twofold restitution.”  Ex. 21:27, 22:1-3

Fourfold or twofold, the law demands that order be restored. When Jesus hears that Zacchaeus submits to God's order, he is pleased. 
 
Almsgiving recognizes fundamental duties we owe to the poor
In Jewish tradition, almsgiving is actually known as tzedakah—righteousness. Giving to the poor was the righteous act, par excellence. Zacchaeus is opening his hand to the poor in a conscious act of righteousness.

“When you give, give generously and not with a stingy heart; for that, the LORD, your God, will bless you in all your works and undertakings. The land will never lack for needy persons; that is why I command you: “Open your hand freely to your poor and to your needy kin in your land.” Dt. 15:10-11

 Zacchaeus’ response to the command of the Mosaic Law is responded to by Jesus,

“And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” Lk. 19:10

Again, the Lord is pleased. How has salvation come to Zacchaeus house? First he has volunteered to live by God’s law. Second, Jesus is having dinner with him tonight. God dwells among the chaos in the heart of those who respond to Him. Something nice with a good dessert, probably.
 
Chaos and Order: Always at play in human community
Jordan Peterson, an atheist/agnostic wrote a best seller entitled, 12 Rules for Life. He used Judeo-Christian stories as archetypes of human reality.  Chaos and Order are two human realities. If you have ever raised children, you know that this is true. In Genesis 1, God created order out of chaos. In Peterson’s view of life, chaos is always nagging at the edge of our life and community trying to reclaim lost territory to God's order. Peterson writes,

“Chaos is what extends, eternally and without limit, beyond the boundaries of all states, all ideas, and all disciplines. It’s the foreigner, the stranger, the member of another gang, the rustle in the bushes in the night-time, the monster under the bed, the hidden anger of your mother, and the sickness of your child. Chaos is the despair and horror you feel when you have been profoundly betrayed. It’s the place you end up when things fall apart; when your dreams die, your career collapses, or your marriage ends. It’s the underworld of fairytale and myth, where the dragon and the gold it guards eternally co-exist. Chaos is where we are when we don’t know where we are, and what we are doing when we don’t know what we are doing. It is, in short, all those things and situations we neither know nor understand.” Peterson, Jordan B.12 Rules for Life (pp. 34-35). Random House of Canada. Kindle Edition.

Righteousness is a well-ordered interior life. Life swirling around the righteous might be chaotic, but that person’s interior life is in good and orderly shape. She recognizes the duties she owes to herself and others. God brings chaos into order with a word. God’s law brings order to the free choices we make. We may not control war, the economy, other our-of-control people, our birth, genetics and life situation, but we can control how we respond in justice and charity. Like Zacchaeus climbing a tree, God's law takes us above the fray, emotionally, intellectually, physically and spiritually. 
 
Zacchaeus entered into the violent order of Rome by his consent and collaboration, itself a form of artificial order imposing chaos and violence in an effort to control.  Rome is artificial because it is built on the will of the emperor and people of Rome imposed through conquest and domination. The people surrounding Jesus enforce their sense of order by ostracizing Zacchaeus and keeping him away from God as he walks through Jericho. In the story of Zacchaeus, the crowd sees the Tax Collector as living a life outside of the order decreed by the community. Jesus invites Zacchaeus into God’s order and Zacchaeus accepts the offer by making restitution to those he has cheated and opening his hand to the poor. We ought to do likewise.