What We Don’t Do Is Just As Important As What We Do Do

Well, things kind of got away from me last week. Sorry about that. Here is the next post on the story of Zacchaeus…

I want to show you four things that we can see in Jesus’ forgiveness of Zacchaeus: two things that Jesus did not do, and two things that Zacchaeus did in response to what Jesus did not do. First, let’s look at the two things Jesus did not do.

The first thing that I notice here is that Jesus did not wait for Zacchaeus to repent or even to speak to him. Jesus initiated the discussion himself.

There are many places in the Bible where it is clear that repentance of the offender comes before the offer of forgiveness. For instance, God says in Ezekiel 18:30-31 (NIV) “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? And Jesus Himself says in Luke 17:3 (NIV) So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

That said, there are a number of passages that show while repentance is necessary, whether it precedes or follows the offer of forgiveness is not really what is important. In the case of Zacchaeus, forgiveness was the very thing that occasioned his repentance.

The Law required thieves to repay up to 200% of what was stolen. Zacchaeus was going far beyond that by giving half of his possessions to the poor and then returning four times what he had taken. This reveals his repentance and his joy in Jesus’ grace.

Jesus did not suggest that he return anything to the people, let alone give away his possessions—yet this was the joyous response of Zacchaeus to Jesus’ forgiveness. Jesus did not wait for Zacchaeus to repent. That’s the first thing Jesus did not do.

The second thing I notice Jesus not doing is bringing up Zacchaeus’ sins and shortcomings. This is also remarkable to the story. It is clear from Jesus’ dealing with the Pharisees that he was not averse to discussing people’s specific moral problems. Allow me to share a few of Jesus’ choice interchanges with the Pharisees.

• Matthew 23:13 (NIV) Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
• Matthew 23:23-24 (NIV) Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
• Luke 11:44 (NIV) Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it.

When you remember that coming into contact with a dead body made you ritualistically unclean and so unable to present yourself for worship, that was a stinging jab! Jesus had no problem telling people when they were wrong.

But in this case, he does not mention any at all. There are no words of criticism for Zacchaeus’ fleecing his own people to satisfy his own greed. Jesus gave no sermon on the injustice of the Roman government in so heavily taxing the people, or in their not assuring that taxes were collected fairly and justly. Jesus simply said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

The crowd did not admire the fact that Christ was so gracious. It is one thing to forgive someone. It is quite another to go home and eat with a guy who has been extorting an entire region of people for years! The crowds were waiting for the lecture on everyone’s responsibility to take God’s Law seriously. Or perhaps that famous sermon, “Romans in the Hands of an Angry God,” about how Rome was on the way out and how God’s patience with them was just paper-thin and would end at any moment. Where was the prophet when you needed one?

Ironically, Jesus was sounding much more like the prophets than the crowd was willing to admit. For example,

• Hosea 6:6, For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
• Micah 6:8, He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
• Zechariah 7:9, This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.’

I think the crowd expected Jesus to make an example of him. Or at least make him admit his sins, publicly repent, and ask for forgiveness. But Jesus chooses not to do or ask for any of those things. He simply invites himself over for dinner.

Jesus was not looking for an opportunity to be righteous. He was looking for an opportunity to be gracious. Let me say that again, that’s a real important thought. Jesus was not looking for an opportunity to be righteous. He was not looking for an opportunity to dispense justice from the Throne even though He had the right, even though He was right! He was not looking for opportunities to show how perfect He was. Jesus was looking for the opportunity to show how forgiving He was! Jesus did not bring up Zacchaeus’ shortcomings. That is the second thing Jesus did not do.

Next there are two responses of Zaccheaus to Jesus; two things that are seen in Zaccheaus’ life after experiencing this encounter with Grace. After all, what we don’t do is often just as important if not more important than what we do do. Don’t you agree?

The first thing I see here is that what Jesus didn’t do resulted in true repentance. Jesus says earlier in Luke 17:3, If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. In this instance Christ forgives Zacchaeus first and repentance follows. Jesus apparently did not keep a hard and fast order concerning repentance and the offer of forgiveness. Repentance is important, even necessary for the offender, but lack of repentance does not lead to the conclusion that one is justified in withholding forgiveness.

The story of Zacchaeus shows us that forgiveness can become the occasion for repentance. Grace is a very powerful thing. Grace can sometimes accomplish what a year of common sense sermons and lectures on mortal dos and don’ts cannot.

It is interesting that whenever God sent prophets to Israel, like Amos and Jeremiah, who were painfully critical in their messages, they did not see many turnarounds by the people.

Even Jesus had a much better record of evangelizing when he used grace tactics over critical ones. Think about it: Jesus was most critical with the Pharisees. He plainly and publicly showed where they were wrong and revealed what they really were to the public. Their response was hatred, hatred that resulted in murder.

The second thing that Zacchaeus did was to make things right.
Grace was not only the occasion for repentance, but gave the motivation for Zacchaeus’ obedience—even joyful obedience!

There is a big difference in achievement between a person doing something they see as a requirement, versus another person who loves and desires to perform the same task.

For a requirement we will do what is minimally acceptable. Let me illustrate what I mean. When I was living in New Jersey I worked for a big telecommunications company headquartered in Princeton. I had the job of figuring out problems between vendor invoices and our purchase orders. My supervisor made a deal with me that if I could clear the whole thing (all $50 million dollars) off by the end of the month she will take me to lunch anywhere I want to go. It was not long before I found myself asking questions like, “What if I can’t find 2-3 files. Will you still take me?” For a requirement, we want to know what we can get away with and still look good.

For a desire, however, we will go the extra mile. Forgiveness frees us to love obeying the law. We willingly do as much as we can. Forgiveness became more valuable to Zacchaeus than his money or possessions. It is interesting too, that Jesus did not tell Zacchaeus to stop being a tax collector, or give away the other half of his possessions—or that he could not stay wealthy. As the parable of the Publican and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14 suggests, it seems possible to be a godly tax collector. What Jesus did not do produced the motivation for personal moral excellence.