He Just Wanted to See

The people thought he was repugnant, the lowest of the low. Whether he was short of stature or just a despicable little man we aren’t sure. What we know is that that day, something – some hunger, some longing, some deep hope – drew him to the roadside where Jesus would be passing by. He just wanted to see.

Why did he climb that tree? Were the people standing shoulder to shoulder, murmuring to themselves about not letting him in? Were the parents there at the front making sure their children had space on a blanket and a view? Were there just so many people there was no way he could see over them? He just wanted to see.

On Reformation Sunday, the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenburg, Germany, declaring that the church should be reformed because there were too many barriers for people to see and know the welcome, the acceptance, the love of Jesus, it is appropriate that we read the story of Zacchaeus and consider how we are called to make sure everyone can see.

This morning, two of our members, J.B. Wann and Autumn Colley, are going to share how Farmington Presbyterian has impacted their lives.

What Farmington Presbyterian Church Has Meant to Me, J.B. Wann

At my baptism, the church agreed to nurture me in Christian living. Through the ministries of Farmington I have been supported by the youth group and Wednesday night dinners. My daily joys are shared with people who listen and care for me while we grow in faith together.

I also minister to the church, by remembering the prayer requests made in the worship service, participating in the liturgy each Sunday, online or in person, and by helping with Room in the Inn.

In 2017 I was confirmed as a member of Farmington by profession of faith and I continue to work faithfully to serve God through my presence and participation here with you. Each Sunday after worship I enjoy making sure to meet and greet any visitors – I want everyone to be at home here at Farmington.

What Farmington Presbyterian Church Has Meant to Me, Autumn Colley

Some time after confirmation, I began having more questions about my faith. I went along with
everything because it felt wrong to have the questions I had, and I didn’t like questioning. I
wanted to just believe in God without overthinking everything. But as I got a little older I couldn’t
help it when I began to see more of the world around me. Things that were once unexplainable
to humans and answered with simply God, are now explained with science. What are
earthquakes? They’re the plates of the Earth shifting. What are the stars? Big fiery balls of
hydrogen and helium, just like the sun is. We even have scientific explanations for how the
universe was created, something that isn’t just because God created it from darkness and
nothing-ness. And it doesn’t make sense that a god who loves us would allow bad things to
happen.

It’s baffling to think that He looks down at the world, sees all the wars, pandemics, and
innocents condemned and allows it all to happen. Oftentimes it seems like hardly any good
comes from this world with what’s always broadcasted on the news, and I at least can’t help but
think: “Why though?” Then again, this is the same god that flooded the Earth and wiped out
pretty much the whole of humanity. Of course He felt bad about it after, but He had enough of a
temper that He did it.

More recently I’ve been curious about older religions. Think how many gods and goddesses that
are remembered today, and those that never will be remembered. What’s to stop Christianity
from being one of those old religions of an ancient past, hundreds, even thousands of years into
the future? If God is real, why did He allow Himself to be drowned out for thousands of years by
other gods? Maybe He simply allowed humans to believe what made most sense to them
because they wouldn’t be able to comprehend the truth at the time.

I had all these questions, and it felt wrong to have them. I shouldn’t be questioning anything,
because who am to question what’s been written for thousands of years? After the pandemic
and restrictions had passed and we came back to church, I became a bit more involved than I
had been as a kid. I was a bit begrudging about attending Sunday school and youth group,
because I didn’t want to go through the stories of the Bible over and over again and be taught
why it’s important to learn those stories so that we know that God loves us and everything will
be okay no matter what. That was another thing that felt wrong to question about the Bible
because, out of context, a lot of quotes said to us makes it feel like that the Bible is reassuring
us that no matter how bad things get, you’ll be okay and you’ll get what you want all because
you had faith in the Lord.

That’s not what I ended up learning in Sunday school and youth group. In fact, part of that is the
opposite of what I learned. I learned that you might be dragged in the dirt, and you might be left
in the dark. It won’t be okay for a while, and the Lord isn’t going to give you everything just
because you simply believed. I learned that a lot of people have these same exact questions I
had and we discussed them openly when it at one point felt wrong to even simply think them.
Even at Montreat with a bunch of strangers we talked about our questions. I sat with kids older
and younger than me, and they asked the same questions I had, and it suddenly didn’t feel
wrong to have them. If I didn’t have any questions, I’d be running through the world blindly
trusting whatever I heard. If I didn’t question anything, I’d be following words meant for people
hundreds and thousands of years ago, although still relevant to some degree today. Times
change, and that’s the same even for the Bible.

Right now in homeschool and Sunday school, I’m learning about the historical context behind
the Bible. It opens up the world around all the events taking place so that they don’t feel so
isolated in their own little mythical tale. In the story about God asking Abraham to sacrifice his
son Isaac, it seemed a bit extreme to me that God would ask Abraham to do such a thing, and
that Abraham would so readily do it no matter how much it broke his heart. In that time period
when this happened, child sacrifice was a thing. It wasn’t very common, but if the people were
desperate enough to please their gods in times of great need, they would do that. So Abraham
would have possibly thought that maybe his God wanted a child sacrifice as well. But our god
didn’t need a human sacrifice. He didn’t need us to sacrifice our children to work or to be
appeased.

More recently I’ve reached Joseph’s story which took place during the 15th dynasty of Egypt’s
history where the Hyksos people had migrated over time and gradually taken over Lower Egypt.
One of the reasons that the Pharaoh had so eagerly welcomed Joseph wasn’t just because he
was so impressed by the interpretation of the dreams, but because they were both Semites,
which the Hyksos people originated from.

So having the historical context behind the Bible makes it seem a lot less disconnected from the
world around us. The Bible was not necessarily made for us people in the modern age. It was
made for the Hebrew and Gentile people back when it was actually written. The Bible was not
made for the individual person, it was made for the people. When the Bible refers to “you”, it
does not necessarily mean us as a singular being. The Bible does not say, one day for you, just
you, it will be alright. It means the whole of the people, that one day for the Hebrews and
humanity, it will be okay. Maybe not now, but one day.

I think what I’ve learned so far in my time here at the church and the knowledge I’ve gained, is
that humanity has always endured and suffered through hardships, and will continue to do so.
This is our battle to go through, but we certainly don’t have to go through it alone. I’ve learned
with the friends I’ve made here, my peers, and teachers that we will have these hard questions,
but we ask them together, and we help each other through them together. The world has been
laid out before us, and we don’t know how it will go. We are His children and we’re growing,
learning, and we will hold His hand and walk as close to His side as possible through the
darkness, through what we do not know.

J.B. and Autumn, we are humbled that you have seen Christ in and through us, and we are grateful for the ways we see Christ in and through you. As Jesus arrived at Zacchaeus’s house, people grumbled. Zacchaeus offers restitution, but not just what is owed. Voluntary restitution called for returning the original amount with an additional 20%, but Zacchaeus pays back 4 times as much as he has taken. And Jesus declares, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.” Salvation in Greek is more than saved, in other stories it is the word we translate for healing. Zacchaeus is saved, healed, made well,…made whole. His whole life is transformed. Nothing he had done had moved him beyond the reach of God’s seeking love. He just wanted to see. Who do we need to move over for, make room for, hold on our shoulders? How can we make sure everyone can see Jesus?