Great Britain achieved significant victories in wars against France in the mid-18th century. These conflicts often took place in locations including North America and India and Britain became the dominant global power during that time. However, the cost was immense.
The years of warfare had left the nation on the brink of financial crisis. The nation was left deeply in debt. To pay off this massive debt, the British Government began to impose heavy taxes on its colonies, including those in India and the American colonies.
In India as well, the British government created a similar problem by enforcing a highly unfair taxation called the ‘Salt Act’, which stopped Indians to produce or sell their own salt. The British controlled all salt sales and imposed a heavy tax on the Indian salt product.
The British government sent their officials to India and North America to enforce these taxation policies. And these British officials in India and America hired local people to collect taxes on their behalf.
Naturally, these local tax collectors were seen as traitors by their own people. They hated and hated these tax collectors because they worked for their enemies by exploiting their own fellow people.
These stories are the first-century version of Zacchaeus’ story in today’s reading. Whether it was Britain taxing America or India in 19th century or Rome taxing Judea in the first century, their unjust and heavy taxes took advantage of millions of ordinary and struggling people in other countries.
Zacchaeus was a Chief Tax Collector in the city of Jericho. Those tax collectors had a required target at the end of each financial year. But they collected extra money and kept the profit for themselves. And Zacchaeus was in charge of this whole scam. This made him very rich but people called him a greedy traitor and hated him badly.
Many Indian farmers and workers fought against the injustice imposed by the British, and the same things happened in America as well. And eventually, they were able to establish their own, new governments.
In Zacchaeus’ case, however, he took a completely different path. He chose to focus on his individual and personal life. He then came up with his own solution.
When Jesus told Zacchaeus to come down from the tree, he responded, “Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’”
Positive political and social changes can help establish God’s Kingdom in some countries. However, as individual believers, we don’t need to wait for a huge revolution or a political change to spread God’s Kingdom life.
When you constantly correct and fix your sins and wrongdoings in your ordinary life, that itself becomes the seed for establishing God’s Kingdom in you and in your community.
The Gospel of Luke is called ‘the Good News to the Poor’. In Chapter 4 Jesus makes clear his purpose on earth, announcing “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
This is where Jesus clearly announced his mission—the whole reason he came to Earth! It was like his inauguration speech or job description for his life for the world.
This is exactly what Jesus recognised in Zacchaeus. Before this moment, Zacchaeus worked for himself and his family only. But from now on, he decided to live and work for others, especially for those who needed his help.
Look at how Jesus responded to Zacchaeus’s decision: “Today, salvation has come to this house, because this man is also one of God’s people. The Son of God came to seek and to save the lost.”
That was Jesus’s mission. And today, He is calling on you to join Him in that mission. Some people might say that joining God’s mission is optional—that it’s their personal choice. But I challenge that idea.
Friends in Christ, our time here on Earth is too short to look for other choices. There is no middle ground. There is no “maybe” or “grey area.” We don’t have a choice! Our purpose on this planet is to join his mission and follow him wherever he leads us. You are either fully committed or you are not.
It doesn’t matter if you are at home, at work, in school, or anywhere else. Your mission is always to bring God’s Kingdom values such as justice, forgiveness, kindness, compassion, sacrifice, and integrity to every part of your ordinary life.
The Kingdom of God isn’t just a place you go to someday; the Kingdom of God is a way of life you must choose to start now, and every day for the rest of your life.
Only then, God declares that salvation will come to you and everyone in your home, and you will always be called ‘God’s dear children’. Amen!