Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
“For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Revelation 3:17, NRSVCE)
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. (Luke 19:5-6, NRSVCE)
Zacchaeus was a wealthy chief tax collector. He was also short, so he climbed a tree to see Jesus walk past. There’s no indication he actually 
expected to interact with the holy man; he just wanted to see Him.
Then, WHAM, all of a sudden Jesus is calling him out by name, and inviting Himself to Zacchaeus’s home!
Some might have been taken aback—remember, he wanted to see Jesus, not necessarily have him over to the house. But not Zacchaeus. He’s excited, and pledges to give away half his possessions and make reparations to any he has harmed.
It’s pretty easy to see Jesus walk past. I look at the line drawing of Saint Teresa of Calcutta in my bedroom, or the Saint Francis Cabrini refrigerator magnet I keep in my office. Now, there are a couple of women who welcomed Jesus into their home and kept welcoming him, even during times of spiritual dryness or physical ailments or worldly obstacles.
What is not so easy for me is to go from the participant sport of watching Jesus to the participatory activity of letting Him into my home. It’s sooo much easier to be an armchair, lukewarm Christian.
But as we’re told in the Book of Revelation, lukewarm Christians get spit out. So today, let’s remember we may be “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” amid our tangible wealth… and despite all that, Jesus still wants to come in.
