I just got off a plane last night, very thankful that I had a good seat (exit row) with room to stretch out my long legs. Flying is probably the only situation where I am a bit unhappy to be somewhat tall and find myself so often so uncomfortable. Most of the time I’m happy to look at the world from a slightly elevated vantage point.
Yet my satisfaction with my height is chastened a bit by this week’s text, Luke 19:1-10, where I find Jesus very much favoring a shorter person. And Zacchaeus is not just physically short. Though he is wealthy, as a tax collector he comes out short in the social and spiritual dimensions of life. He is dishonest and disliked by most respectable people. Yet this is the man whose home Jesus decides to grace that day in Jericho.
I wonder how many “little” people, whether literally or figuratively small, I ignore or overlook in my daily life. Do I go looking for them like Jesus did, in order to treat them with dignity and respect? Or do I just focus on getting and keeping a nice roomy seat for myself in life’s journey.
The flip side of all this is the promise that when I’m genuinely feeling small, there is the promise that Jesus will be there. When we let ourselves be little rather than big, He says, “Today salvation has come to this house.” May we all learn from Zacchaeus a little smallness, and learn from our Lord a willingness to be with and among the little people of this world.