Thanksgiving 2024                                                                                                       Pastor Waldschmidt

Luke 19:1-10

DON’T FORGET TO SEE JESUS THIS THANKSGIVING

I.  HIS POWER II.  HIS MERCY  III.  HIS FORGIVENESS

     Do you have a list of things you would like to see this Thanksgiving?  Maybe on that list you have watching the  Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with its balloons and floats and marching bands.  Or maybe on your list you have seeing (and eating) a nice turkey dinner with pumpkin pie.  Perhaps there’s a good football game on your list of things to see.  Maybe you have loved ones that you can’t wait to see.  Maybe you are just looking forward to seeing your recliner and a good book for a day of taking it easy.  Maybe you can’t wait to see the ads and deals for your shopping list.  Maybe there is a movie you would like to see-Moana 2 or that movie about what started the Wizard of Oz.  All those things are wonderful blessings from our God- things to be thankful for.  But no matter what is on your list of things to see this Thanksgiving, don’t forget to see Jesus this Thanksgiving.  Don’t forget to see Jesus in all of it.    We can take our cue from Zacchaeus.  Let’s see Jesus this Thanksgiving.  His power, his mercy and his forgiveness.

       We are dealing with a clogged sewer pipe over at school.  For the last month it’s been clogged about once per week it seems.  The tax collectors of Jesus’ day were kind of like clogged sewers pipes.  Nobody liked dealing with them.  That’s because tax collectors often cheated their fellow countrymen out of large amounts of money.  The sewer pipe we are dealing with over at school is a sewer lateral, in other words, a main sewer pipe.  That’s what Zacchaeus was. "Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man named Zacchaeus was there. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.”   So he was a  chief tax collector in charge of many other tax collectors.  Maybe he had been training them.  He and the other tax collectors had gotten to be wealthy by collecting taxes, in many cases collecting far more than what was owed.   So his name, Zacchaeus didn't fit him very well.  It means "holy" "pure" or "just."  Maybe many people would have been saying Zacchaeus’ name with air quotes and growly voices because of all the evil ways Zacchaeus had defrauded the people out of their money.  Zacchaeus probably turned up people’s noses even if he didn’t smell bad.  But none of that can stop Jesus.   Let’s see his power. 

        In 1863, Abraham Lincoln wrote a pardon saving a turkey that had been given to the president’s family from the dinner table.   Apparently, Lincoln’s son had started to train the turkey to follow him around the White House grounds and he pleaded with his dad to save the turkey.  Lincoln had a soft heart and issued a presidential pardon for the turkey.  Since then, it has become a tradition that Presidents have pardoned a turkey in front of the White Hose.   This tradition lets us know that Thanksgiving isn’t far away.    These words in Luke 19 remind us that the suffering and death of Jesus are coming soon.    He was passing through Jericho on his was to Jerusalem where he would be arrested and killed.   There is a verse in this chapter where Jesus comes to a spot where he can see the city of Jerusalem and tears come to his eyes and he says something like, “If only you had known what would bring you peace, but you couldn’t see it” or would not see it.  Then later in this chapter, we hear of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem.   Jesus has many things on his mind, yet he takes time for Zacchaeus.   Busy times, the weight of the world on His shoulders, the disgust people felt for this tax collector, nothing can stop Jesus from going to see Zacchaeus.  See His power this thanksgiving.   

     "He was trying to see who Jesus was, but since he was short, he could not see because of the crowd.”  Nobody was going to give up seats so that Zacchaeus would have a better view of Jesus.  So instead, "He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, because he was about to pass by that way."  A Sycamore fig tree has real low branches, this made it easier for short Zacchaeus to get up into the tree.  The branches often spread out low over the paths they are near.  It was the perfect spot for Zacchaeus to see Jesus and he got to see Jesus’ power up close. 

     "When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today."  Did you hear that?  Jesus knew his name.  Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people there that day and Jesus knew Zacchaeus' name without asking it.   Jesus not only knew his name, but Jesus used His Xray vision to look into Zacchaeus’ heart.  That's something only God can do.  It’s just a little beam of power from John writes about in Revelation like this, “His eyes were like blazing fire.  His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”  Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.  I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”      

     Fellow Zacchaeuses, short, medium and tall- Your Jesus is strong and powerful.  He sees you this Thanksgiving in your own little sycamore fig trees trying to get a glimpse of Jesus in his word.  Jesus knows your name too.  He can also see into your heart.   He knows that joys and the hurts that you are carrying in your heart.   From your worries about getting the dinner just right to your concerns about getting along with family members to your worries about what that report from the doctor is going to say to your worries about that problem you think cannot be fixed.  Jesus  knows the things that scare you the most.  He sees how sin has ripped apart your life and mine.  Jesus, the one who rides on the clouds and  gives orders to angels has promised you "I will never leave you or forsake you."  Don’t forget to see Him this Thanksgiving. 

      Most of the people who heard Jesus call Zacchaeus’ name were probably hoping that Jesus was going to knock Zacchaeus out of the tree and bust him right in the chops, given the way that the people felt about tax collectors.   Come take a look.   Instead of blasting him, Jesus shows mercy.

     "When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”  He came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully.   When the people saw it, they were all grumbling because he went to be a guest of a sinful man.”  Zacchaeus was hoping for just a little glimpse of Jesus as he was walking by.  Look what he got!  Jesus talked with him, came to his house and ate dinner with him.   Instead of punishment, Jesus showed him mercy. 

     Thanksgiving is one of those days to especially think about how Jesus shows his mercy to you and to me.  Hasn’t God’s mercy and blessing gone beyond just putting food on the table today?  We deserved punishment but instead Jesus brought mercy.  Haven’t there been times when we have been greedy?  Haven’t there been times when we have only paid lip service to the fact that everything we have comes from God, but in our minds fallen into what God warns about in our Old Testament lesson thinking that what is have is because of our abilities.   Haven’t there been times when we have ignored the “secret of being content in all circumstances” that Paul talked about with the Phillipians?   No matter how hard we try, we cannot undo the evil that we do.  We cannot scoop the evil words that we say back into our mouths.  We cannot scrub our minds with soap and water.  But look at Jesus’ mercy.   He continued through Jericho and into Jerusalem where he would be lifted up on a cross.  God punished Jesus instead of Zacchaeus and you and me.  By that death he removed our transgressions from his sight as far as the east is from the west.  

     The Bible tells us that Jesus is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine."  Jesus comes to eat dinner at our house too.  Whether the house is full of people or if it is just us, Jesus is there with us.  Imagine that, in mercy he comes to us.  “I am with you always,” Jesus says.  He comes to us with mercy in His Word and in His Supper. 

      At the table, the forgiveness Jesus brings was reflected in Zacchaeus' life.  "Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I am going to give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay back four times as much.  Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  Those who were standing around and muttering about Jesus going to be the guest of a sinner took great pride in their being physical descendants of Abraham and even based their status with God upon being part of Abraham's family.   But Jesus tells them what Paul explains further to us in Galatians, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."   This Thanksgiving let’s see more and more the descendant of Abraham God sent to heal the sin sick heart with forgiveness.  

       So  Zacchaeus’ thanksgiving dinner wasn’t perfect.  There were some there who complained.  In addition to pardoning the turkey in 1863, President Lincoln also issued a much more somber, Thanksgiving Day proclamation.  It hadn’t been a perfect year and it wasn’t going to be a perfect Thanksgiving for many then either.  The Battle of Gettysburg had been fought in July 1863 with 50,000 American casualties. Lincoln’s proclamation urged his fellow  Americans to give thanks and praise to God for His blessings.  Repent of disobedience and perverseness.  Pray and care for those who had been made widows and orphans in the awful battles of the civil war.   Maybe this year has not been a perfect year for you.  Maybe this Thanksgiving won’t be the perfect Thanksgiving for you either.   As Jesus joins us for Thanksgiving, let’s not forget to see Jesus, his power, his mercy and forgiveness.  Amen