Tree Climbing

Climbing trees was a sport of youth. I remember a cousin climbing a pine tree, getting impossibly high. I tried to follow, but common sense overcame the adventure, fear overwhelmed courage, and I was soon on the ground again. Zaccheaus climbed a tree, not for the adventure of climbing, but for an opportunity to see Jesus for himself, anonymously. He was something of a voyeur, wanting to see while not being seen, not really interacting with the situation. Jesus, to the surprise and chagrin of the crowd, stops under the tree, exposes Zacheaus, and invites himself to his house. Its all quite alarming for everyone. This Sunday we will consider Jesus actions and our response to them.

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys

Gustav Dore: The Pharisee and the Publican

Its seems to be part of human nature to categorize folks, to put them in boxes. We do it very quickly too. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector seems to be a rather straight forward case of good guy and bad guy. We know whose side we should be on, who Jesus is pointing to as the example we should follow. But do we? Is the bad guy, apparently the Pharisee, really that bad? And what about the tax collector, should we really emulate him? He was an enemy conspirator after all. The story is really about where we put our eyes. Are they on Jesus or are we busy looking at others.

This Sunday we will look more closely at this parable of good guys and bad guys.

Thankfulness

It's thanksgiving weekend and we will be spending time this week thinking about what it means to be thankful. On Sunday we will be considering the story or the ten lepers and look at the significance of the return of the Samaritan leper to give thanks. Jesus commends this person and tells him that his faith has made him well. But what about the other nine? They too were made well weren't they? Or did they receive a different measure of wellness.

We will meet on Thanksgiving Day as well, at 10am, to set time aside to just be thankful. Our lives however should be models of thanksgiving, our world should be seen through a lens of thankfulness. We will consider Paul's words in Philippians 4 as a guide for thankful living.