People's Prayers: Prayers of the People: Even for THAT Guy ~ 14th Sunday after Pentecost WLWC* Yr C

For Sunday, September 14, 2025; Readings: Isaiah 43:1-3a, 5-7; Psalm 36:5-10, Titus 2:11-1, Luke 19:1-10

And now, thus says the Maker of All…Fear not for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine…For I am the Incomparable One your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Fear Not, for with you am I… [Isaiah 43:1a,b, 3-5a]

Holy One…you save humankind and animalkind alike, Faithful One…All the woman-born take shelter in the shadow of your wings…Extend your faithful love to those who know you, and your justice to the upright of heart! [Psalm 36:5a, 6c, 7b, 10]

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all persons, instructing us to reject ungodliness and worldly passions, living wisely, justly, and godly in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah. [Titus 2:11-13]

Now Jesus entered Jericho…There was a man named Zaccheus and he was a chief tax collector and was rich…Jesus looked up at him and said…”Zaccheus, hurry and come down…” All who saw it began to grumble and said, “To a sinner has he gone to be a guest.” [Luke 19:1a, 2, 5b, 7]

Each of the readings this week proclaim that Salvation/Redemption has already happened. It is accomplished…well, mostly. We have been redeemed but that in and of itself isn’t a reason to universally celebrate. We still have to be the people we are called to be.

Today, as in every moment in the history of Creation, we live in an uneasy world, filled with turmoil, fear, displacement ~ war in many different destructive and trauma producing guises. Some of us are living in better conditions than others of us living in the same city or town or state or country. Yet, for those of us not willingly oblivious, merely paying attention to the news can be nearly hazardous to one’s health.

Isaiah is filled with hope and promise for the salvation given by God for the remnant of Israel and then extended to the entire world. The Psalmist tells us that God’s saving care is for humans and animals alike and we woman-born take shelter in the shadow of God’s wings. And Titus says the grace of God, Jesus, brings salvation to everyone. By instructing us all in the ways to live the life we have been given, we can then wait for the blessed hope of Jesus’s return.

But it is in this passage that Luke’s Gospel also provides hope. Good old Zaccheus, a short tax collector made wealthy perhaps by fraud or abuse of some kind, likely one who made threats, pulled in the Roman bullies to carry out threats with their brutal weapons of empire. And yet, Jesus calls to him and Zaccheus is thrilled to be singled out and immediately tells Jesus what he will do to make things right. And those righteous upstanding holy scribes and pharisees, all too happy to gossip, not about the evil doings of Zaccheus, but the nerve of Jesus who invites himself to be a guest of Zaccheus. Oh, we humans! It seems to be more satisfying to point fingers with others at others in order to be assured of our own hypocrisy and pretense of personal piety.

But then, as now, tragically, grief is all too common in this human living. Whether personally experienced or by observation there seems to be an exponentially growing tolerance of violence, the evils and proliferation of the multiplicity of -isms that transfix and divide us, and the haves exponentially increasing their having, while the least among us sink deeper into having ever less than before. Yet Jesus has been clear in the Sermon on the Mount* and elsewhere, that the least among us will come before us.

We are each guilty of sin by commission and by omission. We each have our faults and our virtues. Then comes a moment of delight. Those pillars of their community, having a gossip-fest over Jesus inviting himself to the house of that sinner, Zaccheus! (ok, is my delight about that a sin or just a fault?) Meanwhile, the truly Good News is that as Jesus knows our hearts even THAT guy is redeemed. No one is beyond the Grace of God when all we need to do is to willingly turn toward the blessings that await us. Many of us will turn toward that hope and blessing many times as we trip, fall, and get up again.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Holy and Faithful God, create in us upright hearts that drink from your fountain of life. As we find your light within us, embolden us to radiate that light to the world around us in our thoughts, words, and actions.

O Incomparable One

RESPONSE: Shelter us in the shadow of your wings

~ Holy and Faithful God, renew a right spirit within us all, especially those who govern on this Earth, in this Nation, and in this Community. Turn us to ways to care for all who are lost in poverty, the fear and deprivations of war, racism, homelessness, hunger, contagious disease, and more. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Incomparable One