Do you remember a time when you were lost?

Because of the construction on highway 70, they had shut down the eastbound ramp onto 70. I wasn't aware of this until too late, and there I was, right at where the ramp should be, not able to turn. So I took the road right before the ramp, figuring it would get me somewhere. It did. Right into another traffic jam, and now I was late. So I hopped off of that road to another, and then to another, and pretty soon, I was lost. Not hopelessly, because I knew N., S., E., and W. But the streets were unfamiliar, and I took some roads that I thought would get me somewhere, and they didn't... And I was lost. Of course, being a guy, I am not allowed to ask directions. Nor was I sure that asking directions in the part of town where I now found myself was a great idea... The worst part of being lost, is the realization that you are alone. You get that queasy, sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, and you are not sure how to extricate yourself from the pit. Being lost - we all have known it, haven't we?

Zacchaeus was lost in the worst kind of way. Business was good. The money was fine. His social life - fair for a tax collector. But, his moral compass was gone. And his sense of meaning was completely absent. He hardly knew how to be honest anymore. His wealth, though he could have anything he wanted, was empty. He was lost in the worst sort of way, right there in the midst of his own city, his own occupation and his own household and friends. Lost when you know you shouldn't be.

So, Zacchaeus does what anyone who is lost should do - he tries to recover his bearings. He seeks a vantage point where he can see, a compass that he can rely upon. He tries to see Jesus, someone whom he believes knows the way. Like a recovering alcoholic is paired with a sponsor who can mentor them, because they know the way, Zacchaeus wants to pair himself with Jesus. Believes that if he can just see Jesus, it will be enough. If he can just find him, that will suffice.

What he discovers is greater than he could hope for. He discovers that Jesus has been looking for him. When he was lost, he wasn't alone trying to get out of the morass - "Zacchaeus, come down, for I must come to your house today." I've come to show you how to live, to restore the moral compass, to help you find meaning in your life.

And in that instant, Zacchaeus is changed. He is found in the best sort of way. It becomes clear that the compass he was seeking is about using his wealth to help his brothers and sisters in need - I shall give 1/2 of my possessions to the poor. It is about acting with an honesty that was trapped deep within - If I defraud someone, I will repay it 4 times... And Jesus says: "Salvation has come this day to this household." Why? Because Zacchaeus has found what he needs for living; he has that life is all about the connections that one makes. All about living as a member of a community and being responsive to that community. And its all about the love of God which has come to seek out and find those who were lost.

For you and I - where have we been lost this past week or month? Where, in the midst of the things and routines that are a part of who we are have we lost sight of our moral compass? Perhaps it is in being sharp with the teacher who is doing their best to help us, but we don't get it. Perhaps it is when I've just changed my major again and now I have another 10 years of school ahead of me and I don't know if I am doing the right thing. Perhaps it is in the experience of relationships that aren't quite going as we would like and we start making choices that compromise who we are to hang on to the other.

No matter where you are lost this week, w ith Zacchaeus, I invite you to climb whatever tree you need to see Jesus. Be it the tree of a good conversation with a trusted friend; the tree of the theological virtues put into practice, the tree of a well made confession - spend a little time finding the vantage point that will allow you to know what Zacchaeus came to know: That the son of man has come to seek you out, however and wherever you are lost...