Falling Short

Sunday School children often sing it, "Zacchaeus! You come down!" as they wag their fingers, with hands on hips, capturing one version of Christ's words to a man who didn't quite fit in. The story is familiar to many (Luke 19:1-10). Zacchaeus, a Jewish tax collector for the Romans, made his fortune from the misery of his own people. He was evidently quite a short man, which prompted him to climb a tree one day to see and hear Jesus. He was also despised by everyone, and for good cause. He was a man full of shame and failure, isolated and desperate. So desperate, that he ran ahead of everyone else in town, climbed a tree, and . . . waited. What he was expecting, we'll never know. What he experienced, however, was acceptance, respect, and a chance to change. He took that chance and the world around him changed at once (read the story to find out how). No one else thought he deserved this chance - no one but Christ. Both Jesus and Zacchaeus took a chance, and with that risk came meaningful dialogue and transformation.

It's a rare person who has experienced abuse and not turned around and done some pretty bad things to others. You're too hard on your kids. You're unreasonable with your partner. You've abandoned precious friends and aligned yourself with dysfunctional acquaintances. You've mishandled your body, your mind, your values, and your resources. You've harmed others and yourself. That's a common by-product of abuse - you're not alone in these disastrous ways of living. It's the path most of us travel after the trauma of abuse. It's also what keeps the cycle of abuse and dysfunction going from generation to generation unless something interrupts it.

For Zacchaeus, what interrupted his cycle of abuse was desperation. Shame can be a powerful force - powerful enough to awaken a hunger for something better - for dignity and self-respect. For freedom. There is a Scripture that reads, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." (Galatians 5:1). For an abuse survivor, that freedom means that shame is put into perspective, that lies are exposed, and that dignity is recognized as a God-given right (not a privilege).

The way Jesus interacted with this flawed person who had fallen short - physically, relationally, and spiritually - is important. Everyone around you may misjudge you, may be sick and tired of how you live, and may think you're too far gone - but that's not how you're viewed by Christ. Christ zeroed in on Zacchaeus in that tree and said, "I'm coming home with you." I think Christ imposed himself on Zacchaeus only because this shame-filled man was so desperate. I'm not sure that Zacchaeus could have actually articulated why he was there - why he had put such effort into running and climbing and seeing and hearing - but his actions said it all.

Jesus invited himself in only after a desperate person exposed his desperation. Desperation, shame, failure, and falling short are not bad for you - as long as they make you hungry for something more - as long as they give you a taste for change and energize you to risk it all for a second chance. It's interesting that the ONE person singled out for intimate fellowship with Jesus was the ONE who - in the eyes of society - had fallen short of being an accepted member of the community.

Climb the tree, change your perspective, do what you need to do to get a better glimpse of God's gracious acceptance. Then, be ready to move, because SOMEBODY's coming home with you and it will change the way you live. Change the way you handle yourself and others. Replace shame with dignity.