Luke 19:1-10  (Mark 12:28-34)

There are three celebrations this week. One is a tradition in our country -that is

Halloween-, and the other two are celebrations with spiritual meaning–  All Saints Day, and Reformation Sunday-. Sadly, the two that have had more impact in our lives as church are celebrated with less festivity. No families outside the church are celebrating the assurance that our salvation is by grace and not by work or celebrating the fact that we can read the word of God in our own language. The Protestant Reformation changed the shape and theology of the church. Without the Protestant Reform we wouldn’t be able to hear the scripture read in English every Sunday. Therefore, it is thanks to Martin Luther’s Reformation -and we can add those reformers before him- that in our time people can own and read the Bible anywhere they want in their own language or dialect. Let us not forget that in 1486 the Archbishop of Mainz, Germany issued an edict threatening to excommunicate anyone who translated or circulated the Bible in any language other than Latin. Or that in 1536 William Tyndale was burned at the stake for translating the Scriptures into the English language.

You see, before the Protestant Reformation, the common people were absolutely forbidden from reading or interpreting the Scriptures. In those times the Bible was written in Greek and Latin and were not to be translated to any other language; no one was permitted to interpret or explain the Word of God except a priest. The Church gave more importance to tradition that to the Bible. Corruption reigned at all levels among the clergy. The Church taught that salvation was obtained through the sacraments, good works, and indulgences. An indulgence was forgiveness that could be bought from the Church. The Scriptural doctrine of salvation by faith, through the grace of Jesus Christ alone, was ignored or suppressed in favor of the interests of power and money.

Then, during all this theological chaos came along a monk with the name of Martin Luther, and on October 31, 1517, posted on the door of the castle-church at Wittenberg, Germany, ninety-five thesis. In his thesis or statements, Luther called for repentance, affirmed salvation by grace, and pointed to the authority of Scripture. John Wesley would later agree with him. Saying that scripture is “the sufficient rule of faith and practice.”

Brothers and sisters, Salvation by grace, Bible written in the language of the people was a revolutionary idea in those times! To put the Bible in the hands of the common people gave men and women direct access to God. Their lives, and consequently their society were transformed. Quickly, the movement to reform the Church spread from Germany and Switzerland to all of Europe and eventually to the new world.

The three fundamental principles of the Protestant Reformation were: The supremacy of faith over works; The supremacy of Christ and His people, over an exclusive priesthood, and the supremacy of Scripture over Church tradition. For centuries, the Church ignored these principles and these ignoring took the church and the leadership to look like anything but the Church of Christ. Church did not see like church; church did not act like church; church did not reflect Jesus. Jesus’ image had disappeared within the church.

What went wrong with the church of God? The answer is: church was suffering a severe amnesia.  As church, many times we forget. We forget who we are; we forget our mission; we forget our Lord and we forget our text. And because of this forgetfulness, church worshiped itself; church served itself and stop serving others. When we forget who we are, we start acting as who we are not. That is what our gospel lesson is about. Zacchaeus was a tax collector, someone who was considered a traitor because he collected money for the Romans; he also exploited others collecting more than what he should. Zacchaeus had forgotten who he was. He was a Jew, a son of Abraham and because he forgot it, he did not act like one. In the other hand the Pharisees also had forgotten who they were. They were children of a merciful God; a God who calls on His creatures to be like Him. And because they had forgotten who they were, they also had forgotten God’s mercy; they had forgotten Zacchaeus was their brother and all they could see was a traitor, a sinner and they were not able to see what Jesus saw, a child of Abraham.

It’s in this forgetfulness that Jesus enters in scene, and the first thing He does is to call the tax collector by his name, “Zacchaeus come down immediately” Zacchaeus means “pure, innocent.” While all pharisees called him traitor and sinner, Jesus called him pure, innocent.  “He has gone to be the guess of a sinner,” the Pharisees said when Jesus entered Zacchaeus’ home; but when Jesus entered Zacchaeus’ home, He said “salvation has come to this house.” Jesus called Zacchaeus, child of Abraham, by this he meant Zacchaeus was not alone, he was part of a people, and he had a history, he belonged to God’s chosen people.

We are living in times where for most of us our name does not mean much; all of us are only numbers. We call any office and the first thing they ask for is our number: Social Security number, license number, account number, telephone number and if we do not have a number, we have no identity. We are treated according to our numbers. A high number in your credit report opens a lot of doors; a low number can make our life miserable. But this morning the gospel has good news for all of us, God, the one who revealed Himself in Jesus of Nazareth does not look at us as a number, He does not see just what is obvious in us, He does not even see how we look or what we have done. He sees what Jesus has done for us; He sees Jesus’ hands; he sees Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. He knows our name; He knows that we are part of a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God as 1 Peter 2:9 reminds us.

Jesus does not call us sinners; He calls us brothers and sisters. God the Father, our creator, because of Jesus, calls us sons and daughters. When Jesus entered Zacchaeus’ house, Zacchaeus’ spiritual amnesia disappeared, he realized who he was, a son of Abraham and started acting as one. “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.”

I have one question this morning: Who are we? The Bible tells and reminds us in case we have forgotten that we are children of God; we are chosen people; we are a men and women bought by price; we are the reason why Jesus died on the cross; we are a very special person in which God pleases. Let’s not forget it and let’s act like that; let’s not forget it; God is expecting great things from his children. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9 also tells us about the responsibility we have as God’s children. “That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”   The Living Bible translates 1 Peter 2:9 as, “all this so that you may show to others how God called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” We are people called to share others what God has done in us. In our modern vocabulary, God’s people must be this world GPS. We must show the way. Or as in Habakkuk the prophet says, we must be the tablet the runners may read. People is too busy; they do not have time for God. But they can read on us God’s love; they can hear from us the transforming message of Jesus. Remember who you are and whom you are. And to do that we must remember the three fundamental principles of the Protestant Reformation: The supremacy of faith over works; The supremacy of Christ and His people, over an exclusive priesthood, and the supremacy of Scripture over Church tradition. I believe that as Europe was transformed with the power of faith, it can happen once again in our times. Have a blessed Reformation Sunday.