We started with a clip of Tom Brady. Twenty-seven years old. Three Super Bowl rings. Married to the number one supermodel in the world. And on camera he asked why he had three rings and still thought there was something greater out there for him. It has to be more than this, he said. I have done it. I am twenty-seven. What else is there?
Then: I wish I knew.
C.S. Lewis asked the question a different way. If nothing in this life can fully satisfy us, could it be that we were created for more than just this life?
Maybe we were made for more than what other people think of us. More than possessions and titles. Because every time we finally get the thing we were sure would do it, something inside asks the question again.
That is exactly where we find Zacchaeus. Maybe it is where you find yourself.
A man at the top of the top
Jericho was a city of enormous affluence and influence. Know of any other city like that? And Zacchaeus was not just wealthy. He was Miami wealthy — that is a whole other class — and he was the chief tax collector, which means he had climbed to the top of the top.
Here is something I did not know about tax collectors. They bought the franchise. Think about what that means. You look at a career, you know your people will hate you, your family will be embarrassed by you, and the people you serve will resent every visit. And you buy it anyway, because you see opportunity.
Rome's arrangement was simple. Collect our money, and whatever you take above that, you keep. So he was not skimming a percentage of a legitimate bill. He was overcharging his neighbors, by design, and pocketing the difference. Everybody hated this guy. I am sure his kids never raised a hand at school to talk about what dad does.
And there he sits at the pinnacle, with everything a person could ask for, knowing there has to be something more.
So he does something undignified. He runs ahead of the crowd — a grown man, running — and climbs a sycamore tree like a kid, because he is short and cannot see over anyone. He does not care who watches. He is that desperate.
Your tree
Maybe yours is not a sycamore.
Maybe it is the tree of success. You have been climbing your whole life, and it has cost you. Maybe a marriage. Maybe most of your kids' childhood. And you still think there has got to be something more.
Maybe it is the relationship tree. You have been looking for Mr. or Mrs. Right Now instead of Mr. Right down the road, and you have made compromises to keep it, and it is not going anywhere good.
Maybe it is reputation. We live in a beautiful city and people like to show it. Miami has more people leasing cars that cost more than their mortgages. The average person spends two and a half hours a day scrolling. And the research keeps finding the same thing: more likes and more followers track with higher levels of depression and anxiety. Our Surgeon General calls it an epidemic of loneliness in the most connected era in human history.
You climb that tree and it leaves your mouth dry.
The insider calls the outsider by name
Then verse 5. Zacchaeus thinks he is looking for Jesus. Here is the irony of the whole story: Jesus already knows exactly where he is, and Jesus knows his name.
Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.
In our culture we might find that presumptuous — let me check my calendar. In the Middle East it is an honor. My friend Panos, who read the Scripture for us this morning, says that in his culture you tell people to come over any time and you mean it, and when someone says they are coming, you get the food ready.
Remember, this man has no friends. He is lonely at the top. And Jesus is offering the outsider a place inside.
I serve as the chaplain for the Miami Marlins, so I get to be around people who look like insiders from the outside. After a game one night, in the locker room, a player looked at me and said, Chap, there's got to be something more. Best season of my life. More fans than ever. All these people know my name and follow me. But I don't think they know me. If I didn't wear this jersey, I don't think they'd care.
Everything on the outside. Nothing on the inside.
We opened a Bible together, and he came to Christ. And the change was not subtle. He stopped walking onto that field anxious about whether he would earn his worth or keep his spot. He started playing as an act of worship, because every opportunity was a gift. He is about to hit his thirtieth home run this season.
Inside out
Watch what Zacchaeus does the moment he is down from that tree. Half of everything to the poor. And anyone he defrauded — which is essentially everyone watching — paid back fourfold.
The law required twenty percent restitution. Zacchaeus did not ask what the standard was. He had just been handed extravagant grace, and extravagant grace was the only currency he had left to spend.
There is an old hymn called Just As I Am. A lot of people come to Christ just as they are, and then leave just as they were. That is not how this works. When Christ comes in, he does not only change your heart. He changes your life. From the inside out.
And Jesus does not stop there. Verse 10: the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. He takes outsiders and brings them in. Then he takes insiders and sends them back out to the outsiders. That is what a faith family on mission means. He does not save you so you can hold eternal fire insurance. He saves you and hands you something to live for — his kingdom, not yours.
So there is something more. It is not a thing. Not a title. Not a follower count. Not a number in an account. It is a person, and he knows your name the way he knew Zacchaeus'.
Which tree have you been climbing? And what is it going to take to get you down?
