First Baptist Church of Herndon

Stop to look at the trees

Linda Soller | Mar 09, 2015

I have always been a fan of the story of Zacchaeus, ever since I learned that he and I shared a common bond of being vertically challenged. As an adult there have been times when my job didn’t make me the most popular person around. I can relate to how he must have felt when the public made their disparaging remarks to him, the tax collector. More times than I could count people have said to me, “Wow, you are really short!” Every now and then I get, “I love standing next to you, it makes me feel so tall.” I understand for the most part people don’t mean to be insensitive. When people I know tease or comment they realize it doesn’t upset me. I’m truly surprised when people who don’t know me say something, because they don’t have a clue if I’ll be upset. Being attentive to the feelings of others is one area in which Jesus excelled. He even loved the short tax collector!

Daily we head out on route to our destination. Invariably we will encounter people of all shapes and sizes. Some will be friendly, others will ignore us, and still others will go unnoticed as we lead our busy lives. Have you seen the insurance commercial where little children are in adult situations and they express their frustrations at how they are ignored or mistreated? The one little guy throws his cell phone because he is on hold. The little girl can’t get the attention of the waiter, and so on. These child actors are portraying the frustrations we have all experienced one time or another. The commercial simply drives home the point people can be right there and still not be seen. The cute kids help us to laugh as opposed to getting angry.

Jesus was headed to Jerusalem with His disciples. They were passing through Jericho, dealing with the crowds which often gathered as Jesus passed through communities. Everyone wanted to see Jesus. Zacchaeus was no different, except for his height which made it impossible to see over the crowd. He wasn’t a child who could sit on their parent’s shoulders. He could have tried to butt his way to the front. Unfortunately as the tax collector he may have met with more physical resistance than he wanted. He did the sensible thing and climbed up in a tree to look over the crowd. I would bet you he never anticipated being noticed. Why would Jesus bother to check out the trees? Zacchaeus was wrong. Jesus not only stopped and looked up in the tree, He invited Himself to go home with the tax collector, and nobody did that.

There are people who live in the margins of life. People who go unnoticed and who may be lonely are all around us. Some of those people work with you, live near you, maybe even go to your church. Not all of them think to climb up above the crowd for a better view. Every now and then there is someone you never paid much attention to. Perhaps they make a suggestion at a meeting, or join a club, or greet a visitor, or befriend a new employee. They are putting themselves out there to be seen, and to see what it is like to share the view with everyone else. Each of us needs to be more aware of our surroundings and the people we may not routinely notice. Even when we are focused on ourselves and our destination we need to stop and look at the trees. Jesus did.

Have a great week! :o)  Linda