Transformation
One of the things that continues to strike me as I read and re-read the book of Nehemiah is the savviness and awareness of Nehemiah. He seems to lead with ease, courage, and infinite amounts of wisdom as he walks through challenges and opposition. We could easily read through his book and wonder what is wrong with us. Or, we could miss all of the context clues and really think that staying, living, and leading in a faithful way is supposed to be easy. The reality is that it wasn’t easy for Nehemiah, and it isn’t easy for us. The simple truth is that faithfulness is easier said than done. What we shouldn’t miss in Nehemiah’s story is that his faithfulness is a product of the transformation of his identity. He knew who he was because he knew whose he was. And because of those things, he knew how he was supposed to act and respond in challenging circumstances. In the Gospels, one story of transformation has always stood out to me, the story of Zacchaeus.
Here is how Brennan Manning describes Zacchaeus’ transformation,
“When you read the Gospels carefully, you’ll notice this extraordinary gift that Jesus had. I’m not talking about physical healing per se, but more of the inner healing through a simple word, a look, a glance, a touch. Consider the celebrated scene with the little runt Zacchaeus. He’s collecting taxes for Rome from his own people, with a kickback from the take. He’s a traitor to the Jewish cause and the Jews are onto him, so they excommunicate him, a terrible penalty at the time. Basically, it meant that Zacchaeus, a lifelong Jew, could never again eat a meal in a Jewish Home. He could never go to the synagogue on the Sabbath or to Jerusalem for the high feast.
One day Zacchaeus is in his shop counting his money and he hears of the prophet of Nazareth is passing by. He wants to get a look, so he runs down the street. Now remember, this is Zacchaeus, the wee little man. He’s so short he can’t see over the shoulders of the taller men, so he climbs up a Sycamore tree. Interesting, isn’t it? He went out on a limb for Jesus.
Jesus looks up and says, “Zacchaeus, come down. I want to have supper in your house today.”
Now, when orthodox Jew, which Jesus was, says “I want to have supper with you,” he’s saying, I want to enter into a friendship with you. Everyone else in that self-righteous, judgmental, Jewish community drove deeper and deeper into isolation deciding to put up with Zacchaeus just as he was. But Jesus looked at him and believed in what he could become, so he invited himself to dinner.
And what happens? Zacchaeus jumps down out of the tree. Feelings that were dried up for years in his heart suddenly began to well up, boil up, convert his entire being. He begins to blubber, “Uh, uh, I’ll give back fourfold everything I’ve stolen. And I’ll give half of my goods to the poor.” Jesus’ affirming “Come down” changed the direction of the wee little man’s life.”[1]
For you and me, we can often think that our faithfulness is directly tied to our willingness or ability to do the work. Or, worse yet, our production. Yes, Nehemiah accomplishes a great deal. Zacchaeus gives away a great deal. But those great actions of faithfulness only came from the inner transformation that God gives.
Maybe the question we need to ask is, “Do I know who I am because of whose I am?”
[1] Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing of God. (2009), pp. 83-85.