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When to climb that tree!

Anthony Malone

11/2/08

Always makes a great childrens story, the original Little Man. And why?  Because of his size.  Are we also so small? Start with a view of the universe and its immensity. There is somewhere like 1 million ants per person on earth.  So even those physically smaller than ourselves dwarf us in numbers. From the child's viewpoint or from our own, we are indeed really small.

But there is a much deeper story here.  Why did Zaccheus climb that tree?  He wanted to see the Jesus parade but he also wanted to be noticed by Jesus.  Some deep sense in him knew he would change when Jesus called him and Zaccheus made that decision. It was the critical moment of truth. Sink or swim. Dive in or get off the diving board.  The moment would pass and his life could go on as he knew or real unprecidented change, would result. it It was his time to  either hold on to his past or let go into the unknown of the life Jesus was offering.

A Sinner

Drugs, prostitution, orders people killed. He grew up in a Christian home and learned the stories of the bible. But he could never internalize them and make them his own.

He had it all. Power, women, speed, money, admiration from peers. "Trust no one, take what you want, my way is the only way." He is larger than life. Bigger than the sun, moon and stars.

His current girl friend becomes pregnant and decides to have the baby. He is clear with her that he will provide some monetary support but don't count on him to be a father. When the baby comes, his own estranged grandmother sends him the bible story book he had as a child for the baby.

In the quiet of the night he knows something is terribly wrong. That yearning for real connection that he had with his grandmother awakens. He remembers something powerful about loving and being loved. He surveys his money, power and the whole of his life and sees the meaningless of it.

He knows the Jesus parade goes by every day. Now he cannot laugh at it or ignore. He has found that without without that loving connectioin in his life, he is a small small being in a meaningless universe. And for him the words now have a insistent meaning

It is the time to search

It is the time to count your losses

It is not the time to hold on

And It is the right time to let go 

Does he pray?  Does he put himself up in that tree to be noticed by Jesus and even more frightening to be publically called by Jesus. He knows what going up in that tree will mean. His life will turn upside down. He will lose his power and those that admire him, he will have to submit to righteous truth and give himself up for judgement and pay the consequences for serious wrongs.

Does He go up in that tree?

The Homeless Person

Alcohol has taken over his life. His best days are in an alcoholic haze. He has learned over the years to become small. He is ignored on the streets, takes small steps, looks for cans and bottles for the small change and has given up on any big dreams. In spite of all the problems in being homeless being small is a safe place for him. No one can see him, he is so small he is invisable and that is fine with him. Locked in to that small tight space of his spirit he can meet the next day and look forward to the haze returning. And that he wants out of life.

Then one day wandering downtown at the capital building he watches a busload of children visiting unload. Each child filled with potential, a sense of the future and of dreams being fulfilled. The haze clears, his smallness is exposed to himself and now he faces what he has dreaded. Does he go up into that tree. And for him the words now have an insistent meaning

It is the time to search

It is the time to count your losses

It is not the A right time to hold on

And It is the right time to let go

Does he pray?  Does he put himself up in that tree to be noticed by Jesus and even more frightening to be publically called by Jesus. He knows what going up in that tree will mean. His life will turn upside down. He will lose the security of his smallness and would have to leave that safe haze to meet the harshness of the life and start his dreams anew.

Does he go up in that tree?

A saved person

Goes to church frequently, is middle class, college educated and doing ok.

who feels small   Depressed, desolate, discontented,

Small in spirit, small in action, small ungraciousness, small in generosity, small in love and accepting gods love.

maybe she will watch some days the parade of Jesus but many days just alone, in twilight, uncertain of the what the parade is all about. And for her the words now have an insistent meaning

It is the right time to search

It is the right time to count your losses

It is the right time to hold on

And It is the  right time to let go

Does she pray?  Does she put himself up in that tree to be noticed by Jesus and even more frightening to be publically called by Jesus. She knows what going up in that tree will mean. Her life will turn upside down.

Does she go up in that tree?

Who does Jesus call?  Is it just the chosen like Zaccheus. Or is Zaccheus everyman and every woman. That's what I think. The invitiation to get up into the tree, disrupt the parade, discard your smallness and be radically changed by Jesus is there for each one of us.

How about you?

Are you Disgruntled? Unhappy with life, dulled by our modern society,

See yourself as small, unworthy, not worth the effort, or a sinner?  

Are you afraid of heights 

or are you just Too small

Do you want to be noticed, picked on by Jesus?  Do you want to be forgiven.  Do you want to be noticed by Jesus really? What happens when you are? Climbing that tree is an act of humiliation, desperation, uncertainty and bravery. If You put yourself in the path of Jesus.  Jesus will see you, call you and change your life from small to great. From empty to fulfilling. And for you the words now have a insistent meaning

Now is the right time to search

Now is the right time to count your losses

Now is the right time to hold on

And now is the right time to let go

So do you pray?  Do you put himself up in that tree to be noticed by Jesus and even more frightening to be publically called by Jesus. You know what going up in that tree will mean. Your life will turn upside down.