Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus
(Luke 19:1-10)
Being a short man,
I figured that I'd go
Early to see what all
Of the hoopla was about.

Being a Jew, I too,
Waited for the Messiah,
Even though I did not
Always do the right thing.

For years, I have been
Judged by biblical
Readers and the very
Crowd that saw me with Jesus.

I am known as a sinner;
I am known as a tax collector;
I am known as a heartless,
Ruthless man.
Yet people never realized
That deep down inside
I've always wanted
To be liberated from

Seeing the sad faces of
Children when I cause
Their parents to be
Evicted

Or the weeping widows
From whom I took
Last nickels and dimes
Used to rub together in hard times.

They never knew that it
Bothered me
Deep down within,
And I needed a way out.

I found it the day he
Called my name.
So many people were
Amazed at him knowing
My name.

But the miracle for me
Wasn't that he knew my name,
But that he knew what my name
Meant, which is "innocence."

He didn't just call me by my name,
He restored my name to
Its original meaning
And gave me a new life
With new meaning.

My name is Zacchaeus . . .
He always knew my name.
And he knows yours, too.


From the Africana Worship Book for Year C. Copyright Discipleship Resources. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

The Rev. B. Kevin Smalls is a clergy member of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference and the pastor of Queens Chapel UMC in Beltsville, MD.

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