I grew up in a little house on the edge of a small town in the middle Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. My dad built our house when I was 2 years old, and one of my earliest memories is of sitting down on the wet cement of the back porch steps. Our home had 3 bedrooms: one for Mom and Dad, one for my brother and me, and one that we grew up calling “Aunt Mary’s room.” When I was very little, my mother’s sister, a Presbyterian missionary in the Congo, stayed a few weeks with us, and from then on the room had its official name. Aunt Mary’s room was our guest room, and though many other guests have stayed there, the name stuck. Whenever we were expecting company, we—Mom—had to get Aunt Mary’s room ready. And that was always very exciting to me. Some people dread having overnight company, I suppose, but not me. Company means new people to meet, or old friends to enjoy. It means big meals, good conversation, friends to play with, a change in routine. When I was a little older, maybe around 10, we welcomed what was probably our most distinguished guest ever, and he was actually there because of Aunt Mary. His name was Isaac Kalonji Mutambayi. He was a pastor’s son who had become wealthy and powerful in the pharmaceuticals industry in the Congo, and was probably my Aunt’s biggest supporter. He was also the President of the Senate and Vice-President of the Nation of the Congo, but I didn’t know that as a little boy. To me, he was just a very different and very cool guest.

Luke tells a story about a very different and very cool guest who once came to stay with a man named Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus lived in the city of Jericho, the same one that Joshua’s army conquered as the wandering nation of the Jews occupied their new homeland in Canaan. In Zacchaeus’ time, Jericho was an important crossroads of commerce and industry. It was known for its large palm forest, its balsam groves, and its rose gardens. It was a wealthy town that produced significant tax revenue for the occupying Roman forces. And Zacchaeus was in on all the action, as the chief tax collector. Tax collectors were even less popular back then than they are now, because it was common practice for them to collect more tax than was necessary to pass on to the government, and they used that extra levy to enrich themselves. Zacchaeus was, by whatever method he gained it, a wealthy man.

Luke tells us that Jesus was passing through Jericho, and Zacchaeus was curious enough about Jesus to brave going into the crowds that day so that he might at least catch a glimpse of the visitor who was making such a splash with his preaching and miracles of healing. But there was another significant fact about Zacchaeus that every Sunday School kid learns early on: not only was he rich, he was short. You’ve got to love a guy like Zacchaeus, don’t you? Well, he was not loved by his fellow citizens of Jericho, but that didn’t stop him from making a spectacle of himself by climbing a tree so that he could see over the crowds and see Jesus. It’s hard to say exactly why he did it, though. Was he just curious? Was he skeptical? Was he just caught up in the emotion of the moment and the crowd frenzy at seeing someone famous? Was he genuinely interested in Jesus as a new prophet on the religious scene, or was he coolly aloof about the whole thing?

Jesus sees Zacchaeus and invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house. Do they call that chutzpah? We also don’t know if Jesus knew who Zacchaeus was, or if he was drawn to Zacchaeus simply because he went to the trouble to climb a tree, or if in some supernatural way he could sense something going on in Zacchaeus’ heart. By his clothes, perhaps, Jesus could tell that he was rich. Whatever motivated Jesus to welcome himself to Zacchaeus’ home it is telling that Zacchaeus was happy to have Jesus as his guest. Luke says he hurried down the tree and joyfully welcomed Jesus. But not everyone was happy. Everyone else was surprised and then offended. As the hated tax man, Zacchaeus was a known sinner. If anyone did not deserve Jesus’ attention, it was Zacchaeus. Surely Jesus should have picked the local rabbi or priest, perhaps one of the big givers to the synagogue, or at the very least someone with a better reputation than Zacchaeus.

Perhaps the crowd misses the amazing transformation in Zacchaeus that day. When he comes down the tree to welcome Jesus to his home, he does more than just say hello. He decides to share half his wealth with the poor and to make restitution four times over to anyone he has defrauded. Think about that for a minute: do a quick calculation of your net worth, multiply times one-half, and give it away. Then, with what is left, go and make up to anyone you’ve ever wronged. How many people do you and I know who make such an amazing about-face just because they meet someone new?

Who was this Jesus who could call forth such an incredible change in a man’s life? On this second Sunday in Lent, we are looking further at who Jesus is. Last week we met him as the Author of Life and therefore the Authority about Life in whose words and actions and person we meet the truth. And this week, as he invites Zacchaeus down from the tree, we meet him as the Prophet of the Kingdom of God. “Today salvation has come to this house…,” Jesus said, “for the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

When you and I hear the title of “prophet” we may think of a person who spends his time foretelling the future. In Israel’s history, there had been prophets of many kinds. But their work on God’s behalf was not so much about predicting the future as it was proclaiming God’s word and God’s will and God’s call in their own historical situation. Sometimes the prophets would talk about the future, but more in the sense of what they saw coming if the nation did not remain faithful to God, or if the nation would not turn from its unfaithful ways. In Jesus’ day, there was a hunger among the people for a new prophet, and a growing expectation that such a prophet would soon appear. In classic Jewish thought, a true prophet would help restore the status of the people as a nation, something that seemed especially needful now that the nation was overrun by the Romans. The Jews were hoping for a new prophet as a signal that their political fortunes were changing, and in fact, there were many such persons who appeared on the scene during this time but whose attempts to rally the nation met only with failure. Jesus arrived in this expectant religious and political context and said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God…”

Just as you and I don’t truly know Jesus unless we understand that he is the Authority about Life, we also don’t truly know Jesus unless we understand that he was the Prophet of the Kingdom of God. Jesus came and declared that God’s Reign had entered the world in a new way through him. In his words, in his mighty deeds, and in his very person, Jesus was the embodiment of God present on earth. In Jesus, there was an intersection between the heavens and the earth. And with Jesus, we came to understand that “heaven” is not someplace you go when you die, but heaven is the present reality of God’s presence with us. And in the story of what happened between Jesus and Zacchaeus, we see a perfect example of what happens when a person believes and sees that new reality.

The Kingdom of God has to do with changing a person’s heart and with changing a person’s life. When heaven intersects with earth, things become radically different. Here was Zacchaeus, who had the world by the tail and didn’t need anyone coming into his life to shake it up, coming down from a tree to welcome a guest whose message would forever change his life. Here was Zacchaeus, who by the world’s standards was on the top rung of the ladder, but who caught a glimpse of heaven on earth as he saw Jesus, and so he totally changed his ways. The Kingdom of which Jesus spoke was about turning over control of your life to God and then living that life in a different way. We know that Zacchaeus was a different person inside because of what he did on the outside. His conversion was not just a mental exercise, but a change of ethics and character and action. He gave away half his wealth, and more, because he was a new man.

The Kingdom of God is not a new political system, but politics is changed when the principles of the Kingdom are brought to bear. The Kingdom of God is not about some future reward, though the future does indeed look very different from a vantage point in the present reality of God with us. The Kingdom of God is not completely revealed in this lifetime, but it is taking shape in us and in our world as we surrender ourselves to God’s Kingship in our lives. The Kingdom of God is not just about giving your heart over to control by Jesus, but if you’ve given your heart, then you give everything else about your life, too. The Kingdom of God is about the Rule of God trumping the Rule of Self. And so, it comes down to whether you and I can learn something from Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus was lost, literally, “in the wrong place.” And Jesus came to put him in the right place, in the place where God is, in the Kingdom. What that meant for Zacchaeus was that he had to make room for God in his life. Zacchaeus welcomed God into his house as a guest, but then he allowed God to stay as the Head of his household and the Lord of his life. That’s what the Kingdom is about. Jesus came to invite us to be part of that Kingdom. But we have to invite him in. And so here’s the challenge of today: Have you welcomed Jesus into your house? Have you let him in all the way, or is he still sitting in the parlor, waiting to be invited into your kitchen, into your office, into your family room, into your bedroom, into every part of your life? You can live in the present reality of God’s Kingdom. All you have to do is welcome Jesus, the Prophet, to take up residence with you. Get the guest room ready.

Amen.