How small is small? Recently we had the image of the mustard seed in the Gospel which prompted us to consider how something seemingly insignificant and small can grow into something large enough to “live in” and in fact share dwelling (bird in the mustard bush). In today’s first reading from the book of Wisdom (http://www.usccb.org/bible/wisdom/11:22), we have perhaps the most extreme image of “smallness”:
” Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance
or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.
But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;”
The breadth of the universe cannot be measured as it expands “out” from our “seeing point” for 13.7 billion light years and then unimaginably farther as light speeds on. So what could the Wisdom writer be saying to compare the universe to God as a single grain or a few drop? Just Stop It! The comparison defies mental grasp and yet we “know” that there is great truth in this. And this truth seems to have something to do with what the Wisdom writer refers to as God’s “mercy on all.”
Turning to St Luke’s Gospel (http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/19:1) day we see another image of smallness. This time the “smallness” is captured in the physical stature of a tax collector in the town of Jericho:
“Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way….
Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.”
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
“He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”
The “crowd” is preventing little Zacchaeus from “seeing” Jesus so the little man climbs a tree in order to see. When Jesus sees Zacchaeus he tells him to “come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And then we have a picture of how the crowd “sees” Zacchaeus, when they grumble at the fact that Jesus intends to dine with this filthy rich short man who makes his money by taking from others.
We “crowd” each other and even ourselves by the sometimes stale eyesight that we use when we look at each other. Forget 13.7 billion light years- many times we can’t see what is staring us in the face. We all may want to “see” this Jesus whom everyone is talking about, but there is so much “stuff” in the way that blocks our vision. But when we make the move to see from another perspective, like the Sycamore tree, it’s not so much that we see Jesus, but that Jesus sees us and we feel His loving gaze upon us.
We tend to unknowingly make our lives “small” when we cling to “wealth” gained at the expense of others. Our lives become lonely and quite desperate. This “wealth” is not tied literally to money, but to anything that we hold onto so much so that we and others are hurt by it.
There’s another bit of “smallness” going on in the Gospel. We see it in the people’s indignation at Jesus’ proposing to go to Zaccheus’ home. There’s nothing quite so bitter as seeing someone that we know to engage in vile behavior actually “get off” or be exonerated.
What is happening here? Jesus says “come down!” It seems to always be about “coming down” or becoming empty with Jesus. Zacchaeus may have climbed a tree to try to see Jesus, but once Jesus’ eyes fall upon the little man, the false “height” of his life is exposed and – here’s the kicker – Healed at the same time. The loving gaze of Jesus invites the small man to really “come down” which means to receive Mercy. And then it flows!
As the Wisdom writer tells us…”you spare all things, because they are yours, O LORD and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things!” Zacchaeus can really “see” now and he doesn’t have to climb a tree to do it. The merciful gaze of Jesus touches that place within Zacchaeus that has always belonged to Christ – that ” imperishable spirit” in all things!
“And he came down quickly and received him…
Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
‘Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over.’ ”
This “coming down” is an entering into the wonderful embrace of a Merciful God whose healing arms transform us quite miraculously so that we can let go of that “excess baggage” that deprives others of life. Extortion and greed are the physical realities that result from withholding our lives from each other. The refusal to “come down” and empty ourselves by giving life and love to each other is that which must be seen by Jesus and thus transformed when we accept the gaze. This seems to be what Zacchaeus is now able to do in Jesus’ company. And that transformation can even transform grumbling bystanders who are also called into this healing place.
The smallness of a grain on a balance, a dewdrop on the earth, or a puny tax collector in a Sycamore are never over-looked, but in fact invited into and expanded infinitely in breadth within the Healing universe of God’s Mercy, which never reprimands but always transforms and restores! It is comforting to know that there is no place so small that mercy cannot enter!
Peace
Thomas