NOTES: 1] Zaccheus was a chief customs / toll agent. Jericho was on a busy trade route. Agents like him were hated & despised as 'enemies of the people', for working for the Romans or the Jewish puppet kings; also, they inflated the taxes they charged, & profited from the difference between what they contracted to pay the government & the higher amount they collected. 2] A sycamore tree belongs to the fig family. It has mulberry-like leaves. A good tree to hide in at the right season.  .

WARMING UP: Have we ever hidden in / played in / built a 'cubby' in a tree of any kind?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything that's happened since last week's group?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

1-4        Does it strike us that we rarely see Jesus staying in a village or town, but usually passing through? (Though here reason emerges for him to stay a little longer.) Is there some symbolism here that we ought to take on board? Is there still another symbol for us in the fact that being short, Zaccheus can't see Jesus through the crowd? Are we any more helpful in making way for others to see Jesus rather than being a hindrance to them (as this crowd may have been keen to elbow Zaccheus out)? Do we have enough ways of helping people genuinely curious about Jesus to find 'vantage points' today? Do we need to develop more imaginative ways of recognixing, creating such vantage points? What kind of 'view' of Jesus have we ourselves built up over the years? Is it any different now from the view we had long ago? If so, how has it changed? If not, is it time it changed? Time we changed? Would a sycamore tree make a useful addition to the other 'Faith symbols' we hold as important?

5-10     Are we as aware as we need to be of how Jesus 'doesn't miss a thing' as he moves among people because he is totally interested in them (us), & totally open? How gifted, skilled, are we at noticing what's happening to people, going on in them, troubling them, etc.? Are we interested enough in them, & open enough to them to be so aware? Have we developed any 'checking out' skills to make sure we don't get things wrong? Having checked out what's happening to 'X', are we practised enough at then doing something about whatever it is we see them to be in need of, practically, spiritually, socially? Can any of those three stand alone in practice?
            Given that we preach Jesus as the friend of outcasts, is that the way people outside the church who are disinterested in, excluded, or alienated from the church actually see him today? What about the 'outcasts' hidden among our ranks? Are we even aware of who they are?
             If we had to choose one word for the way Jesus responds to Zaccheus, what would that word be? Does it represent something that's a part of us, too, because we are part of the Body of Christ? What kind of definition of 'sinner' do we have in our heart & mind? Is that definition a reason we're not too good at relating to them? Or, maybe we are? Do we recognize ourself in their ranks or not?
            Is there some kind of restitution we still need to make to someone we've wronged in some way - real or imagined - along life's way? Is that just too hard? If Zaccheus can go up that tree a little man & come down a big man after being 'eyeballed' by Jesus, doesn't this mean there's still hope for us? What might it mean for us to be recognized as a son or daughter of Abraham? Or to be recognized as one who's been found by the Son of Man?