Sunday, November 2, 2025, All Saints Sunday – Isaiah 1:10-18, Psalm 32:1-7, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12, Luke 19:1-10
Let’s be honest—we all know what it feels like to be lost, whether it’s losing our way in life, feeling out of place, or wondering if anyone truly notices us. Sometimes, we feel invisible in a crowd, just as Zacchaeus did. Other times, we wonder if even God cares. Today’s scripture reminds us that being lost isn’t just for the obvious outsiders; sometimes, those who appear put together can feel lost too. The truth is, at some point, we all need to be found.
Zacchaeus couldn’t see above the crowd due to his small stature, but the crowd also forced him to climb above them because they refused to make a space for him—he was an outcast as a tax collector. If there was an actual Zacchaeus, maybe it’s true he was literally short. But his height also symbolizes how he was diminished in the eyes of his community. He was hated, and they weren’t going to make space for him to allow for a better view of the popular rabbi, Jesus. But Zacchaeus was determined not to let the people or his size get in the way of seeing Jesus. Something in him knew Jesus was important and worth laying eyes on.
In fact, Zacchaeus was willing to look foolish in front of everyone. As Todd R. Hains writes, “Zacchaeus is mainly remembered for being short and a hated tax collector who climbed a sycamore tree. It’s easy to think of him as a silly little man. But he wasn’t. He was little, but he was rich and powerful.” Especially, I would add, over the poor people who were, like a flock of sheep, being fleeced by the wolves like him who controlled everything. Hains continues, “This rich, powerful man climbed a tree. In his fancy clothes. In front of those people who hated him. In front of all those people he’d hurt. I don’t imagine he climbed the tree very gracefully or skillfully. He looked ridiculous. People laughed at him. Why did Zacchaeus make a fool of himself? He was asking the question we all ask: Does God care about me?”
Why did he wonder? Maybe because he felt unworthy of Jesus’ notice because he knew that he hurt other people. He knew that he was benefiting through taking his own cut from the taxes he collected, making himself rich in the process. What’s interesting is that Zacchaeus wasn’t trying to get Jesus’ attention. He was just minding his own business when Jesus came right up to the base of that sycamore tree and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
Jesus calls him by name and brings Zacchaeus back down to earth, to be on the same level as the community, and invites himself to Zacchaeus’s house for dinner.
Jesus accepts him, even as he is still a sinner.
This is really important. Jesus doesn’t require him to repent first! It’s because he is already accepted that Zacchaeus can face himself and his sin. And in so doing, he’s also restored to community by Jesus. He’s made whole again. Zacchaeus is so moved by this acceptance and restoration that he vows to give half his wealth to the poor and to pay restitution to those he defrauded four times over, going above and beyond what is required by the law.
Zacchaeus was lost in his sin. He had gone down a rabbit hole of error and made a lot of enemies. But you know what? We’re all lost. We all wonder if God will notice us. If God cares about us. We’ve all hurt people. And we all feel cut off by community sometimes.
As Todd Hains writes, “The Zacchaeuses, the Sauls, the thieves on the cross—we all know they’re lost. But not all the lost look very lost. What about the Virgin Mary? John the Baptist? The apostle Peter? There are times we all feel lost. We feel like Zacchaeus. We don’t think there’s a hope of being found. There are other times we don’t think we’re lost at all. We’ve got things together, and we’re doing all right. We’re proper saints like Mary, John, and Peter. But despite our feelings and appearances, the hard truth is we’re all lost: ‘All we like sheep have gone astray’ (Isa. 53:6).”
We can even be lost when we’re in love. I’ve spent my whole life believing that when somebody really saw me—the real me—and chose to love me even with all my flaws, that I would be found, that I would be safe, and that I would be home.
But I’ve been listening again to a wonderful song called “A Break in the Cup” by a North Carolina songwriter named David Wilcox. I assume it’s written about himself and his wife and it expresses a deep truth about human love.
I try so hard to please you, To be the love that fills you up
I try to pour on sweet affection, But I think you got a broken cup.
Because you can’t believe I love you, I try to tell you that there is no doubt
But as soon as I fill you with all I’ve got, That little break will let it run right out
I cannot make you happy, I’m learning love and money never do
But I can pour myself out ’til I’m empty
Trying to be just who you’d want me to
I cannot make you happy, Even though our love is true
For there’s a break in the cup that holds love Inside of you
Now I begin to understand you, As you explain the fear you feel
It’s when you see me fall into that sorrow, That makes you doubt the love is real
Because lonely wind still blows through me, I turn away so you can’t see
But now how can I still be so empty, With all this love that you pour on me?
I guess you cannot make me happy, And that’s a money-back guarantee
But you can pour yourself out ’til you’re empty,
Trying to be just who’d I want you to be
You cannot make me happy, It’s just the law of gravity
And that break in the cup that holds love Inside of me
So if you’re tempted to rescue me, Drowning in this quicksand up to my neck
Before you grab my hand to save me, Why don’t you ask me if I’m finished yet?
You cannot make me happy, Not when there’s empty inside of me
But you can pull yourself right in here with me,
My misery’d love to have your company
We cannot trade empty for empty, We must go to the waterfall
For there’s a break in the cup that holds love
A break in the cup that holds love
A break in the cup that holds love
Inside us all, Inside us all
“We must go to the waterfall.” God is the waterfall. Jesus went to the waterfall of God whenever he felt empty and tired. And he could then become a waterfall for Zacchaeus, and for others too, because he allowed God’s source of living water to flow right through him. Will we let God’s living water find us and bring us home too? As Todd Hains writes, “God cares that we’re lost. No matter our situation, he seeks and saves. He’s seeking you…will you believe?”
Will we believe? Will we climb the tree and risk being seen? Will we allow ourselves to be loved? I pray that we all can allow God to accept and restore us even in our brokenness. We must, it’s the only way that the lost may be found.
