Devotional: Confess Wrongdoings

Luke 19:1-10

On Thursday September 27, 2018 my wife Marilyn, my daughter Abra, and I watched the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on the testimonies of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court Justice Nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. On Friday September 28, 2018 the Senate Judiciary Committee was to vote on whether or not to recommend Judge Kavanaugh to the full senate to be voted on for final confirmation or rejection of Judge Kavanaugh.

Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona had stated that he intended to vote for the judge. Senator Flake was approached by two women in an elevator. They challenged his position and urged him not to vote for the judge. One of the women gave two reasons for her opposition to the judge. First, voting for the judge would be ignoring the pain of women in America. It would mean that their voices did not matter and women should suffer quietly. The second reason is the one that I want to emphasize. The young woman told Senator Flake that he should not vote for the judge because the Judge could not own his behavior. She stated that the proper thing to do is to own your wrongdoing and then try to do something to correct errors and make things right if possible.

In our bible passage, Jesus is in conversation with a man named Zaccheus. Zaccheus is despised by his fellow Jews because he is a tax collector for the hated Roman government. Tax collectors are known to cheat people out of their money. In the passage Zaccheus learns that the popular teacher Jesus is going to pass his way. When Jesus sees Zaccheus in the tree, Jesus invites Zaccheus to come down. Jesus wants to go to Zaccheus house to share a meal.

Zaccheus accepts Jesus’ invitation. Then, Zaccheus owns his wrongdoings. “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”’ There are lessons that we can take from this statement of Zaccheus.

First, we can own and confess our wrongdoing. We can confess that there are some wrongdoings that we are not conscious of at this time, but we confess these also. Second, we can take actions to try to make things right. We cannot undo what we have done, but we must do what we can to make things better for the persons that we have wronged. Third, we can accept Jesus’ invitation to dine with Him. Jesus’ invitation means that He is willing to forgive us our sins, and He offers us a new start in life.

Prayer: Father in heaven, we thank you for your grace and mercy that gives us an opportunity to seek reconciliation with those that we have wronged. Amen.