The Things You Do For Love

My next-door neighbor when I was a kid was a big ex-G.I. named Jack. He was big and strong and the whole neighborhood would shake on those occasions when he would yell at his dogs, which was most every day. Looking back, he was never anything less than kind towards us neighborhood kids—provided we weren’t foolhardy enough to date his daughter—but we always made extra sure to stay on his good side just the same.

There was one thing about Jack that kept all of us kids curious. We noticed that when he was out mowing the lawn without a shirt on or reaching out from under his truck to grab a wrench, Jack had the most remarkable thing tattooed to his arm: a woman wearing a long-sleeved gown. This didn’t make sense. My great uncle was a World War Two veteran and he had a dragon tattooed on his arm. My friends and I once saw a biker at Ron’s Variety Store who had a big skull and crossbones etched in his arm. So why would big, burly Jack be caught waltzing around with a school marm prominently displayed on his forearm?

I never did work up the courage to ask him about it. But I did the next best thing—I asked his wife, Helen, while he was at work. Turns out that she was a widow with a young son when her and Jack met. Jack was good to her; he was good to her son. The courtship was rightly assumed by everyone to be progressing to marriage until one day the woman saw Jack in a short–sleeved shirt: he had a tattoo of a naked lady on his arm! Jack explained that it was a souvenir he discovered after he came to from a weekend on shore leave!

It didn’t really matter to Helen what state of consciousness he was in when he had the offending tattoo applied. She had her own self-respect to consider, and she also had her young son to think about. Although it was painful, she told Jack that she could never, ever marry a man with something like that tattooed on his arm.

Since laser-removal didn’t exist back in the fifties, and it was unlikely that he could find a doctor willing to do a frivolous amputation, Jack did the only thing he could do to undo his mistake and re-win Helen’s love: He had an evening gown tattooed overtop of the woman! He showed up at the woman’s apartment with an engagement ring and a short-sleeved shirt and love triumphed! The ribbing he received from the guys at the steel mill didn’t compare to the joy he had over his newfound family.

It’s funny the things people will do for love. We spend so much of our time trying to give the appearance of having it all under control, but for the sake of love, we’re so willing to play the fool. Taking dancing lessons… Walking through the mall carrying a giant stuffed-animal gift… Wearing matching sweaters… The ridicule you may incur from the odd coworker that you run into—and believe me, you will run into a coworker—still seems a decent trade for the affection you’ll receive. Zacchaeus was one of the most foolish people in all of the gospels, and this is the story of the very wise thing he did:

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. (Luke 19: 1 – 4)

Zacchaeus was what you would call a white-collar criminal. He was just as much of a thief as a purse-snatcher, but he got away with his thievery because he did it weekdays from 9 to 5. His racket was to collect taxes for the Roman Empire from his neighbors. The beauty of it was that Rome allowed him to set his own commission rate. So in a busy center of commerce like Jericho, Zacchaeus was able to shake a lot of extra drachmas out of people.

As you can probably imagine, everybody hated this guy. Even more than people hate Martha Stewart. But there wasn’t much they could do about him, because if things got out of hand—say a taxpayer revolt—Zacchaeus could pick up his cell-phone and have the Roman National Guard there in a heartbeat. Now, he had to be kind of careful about how often he called, because if Rome got the impression that he wasn’t capable of managing his territory they could always appoint somebody else as chief tax collector.

So above all else, it was important that Zacchaeus carried himself with dignity and authority. So what does he do when Jesus comes to town? He climbs up a tree! I guess we all have moments when the facade slips and we’re seen in a less than dignified light. He had probably heard enough rumors about Jesus that his curiosity to observe this amazing teacher beat out his pride.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " (Luke 19: 5 – 7)

Usually the scriptures say that the Pharisees were the ones doing the muttering. But in Zacchaeus’ case it says all the people began to mutter. Everybody really hated this guy! The victimized people didn’t understand that Zacchaeus, for all his credit cards, the Mini Cooper, and the pool in the back yard was in reality wretchedly, wretchedly poor. He was suffering from what Mother Theresa called “the most terrible poverty” of all—“loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.”

So can you imagine what it must have felt like to Zacchaeus when Jesus called him down out of the tree? The lump in the throat, the heart skipping a beat, the sting of holding back tears, the indescribable wow that radiates out from your heart to the rest of your body… I’m kind of surprised that Zacchaeus didn’t fall right out of the tree.

Jesus did something very brave that day: He allowed his own reputation to be damaged so that he could reach out in love to Zacchaeus. He didn’t allow his ministry to people to be confined by any man-made social or religious construct. And we would do well to follow in his example. I’m not that old, but I’ve seen plenty of evangelism efforts come and go in my time. I remember revival meetings, coffeehouses, bus ministry, Chick Tracts, Evangelism Explosion, cell groups, Christian concerts, music festivals, Promise Keepers and Billy Graham Films. I remember when we were “gonna win the world for Jesus” by 1980, 1990, and 2000. I guess the new figure getting kicked around is 2020. It’s not my intention to denigrate anyone’s effort. But I do wonder what would happen if we took a break from all the programs and simply do as Jesus did, which was to extend hospitality to all people? It would probably never sell!

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, 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." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19: 8 - 10

No one infuriates people so like the white-collar criminal: his crimes are hard to investigate and even harder to prosecute. It’s so easy for the perpetrator to rationalize his behavior, too, when he’s embezzling money rather than, say, snatching purses, because he doesn’t feel like a criminal. But Zacchaeus doesn’t pull a Kenneth Lay and say but I’m only the CEO. Instead, he melts under the grace and love that is lavished on him by the Christ. In response to the connection he makes with God, he also reconnects to his fellow Israelites and offers charity and a restitution well above the guidelines outlined in the law. So often we talk about salvation as if it’s a spiritual abstraction or formula. But the story of Zacchaeus demonstrates a salvation that’s not only a spiritual restoration, but a physical and emotional restoration in the community as well.

We aren’t that unlike Zacchaeus, are we? In our own unique and personal and even sometimes ridiculous ways we climb our own tree to catch a glimpse of the Christ. The things we do for love: We visit a church… We read the Bible… We volunteer... We begin to pray again… And we experience those wonderful moments when we are struck by the realization that we aren’t so much the seeker, as the sought after. Truly in the end, we understand that we aren’t even the one on a tree—that place reserved for Christ alone.

The things a person will do for love!