The Church As the New Covenant Community

Ancient Israel's faith, like most ancient cultures, was about distinguishing between who was included in the covenant community, and who was excluded.  This was revealed in the literal design of the tabernacle, which was later represented by the temple in Jerusalem.  The greater your connection and place within the community, the closer you could get to the inner sanctum, the holiest place.  Your inclusion or exclusion in the community depended upon gender, whether you were ritually clean, and your behavior.

The story of Zacchaeus reveals Jesus' radical vision for a new covenant community.  Zacchaeus is definitely "out" when it came to Israel's understanding of inclusion and exclusion.  He was the chief tax collector, who acted as an agent of Rome.  As a tax collector, he vocationally worked through handling money, which was considered profane.  Tax collector's were considered borderline criminals, both because they handled money and because of the perception that they used their power and influence to defraud people.

The community is thereby shocked and offended when Jesus seeks admission to Zacchaeus' home.  It would have been surprising enough if Jesus had accepted an invitation from Zacchaeus to enter Zacchaeus' home.  Instead, it is Jesus that extends the invitation.

In Jesus, God has turned the nature of the covenant community inside out and upside down.  In ancient Israel, God was at the center of God's house, and the entire preoccupation of the community was to petition admission to God's house through seeking places in the community that were considered ritually clean and holy.  Now, God petitions and seeks admission to the house of the one who would have been considered the most profane and the least ritually clean.  In Jesus, when we were lost in sin, God sought us out and petitioned to be in relationship with us for our redemption.

Too often the Church has forgotten this amazing vision and has adopted and appropriated the game that was played in ancient Israel of seeking admission to God's house, distinguishing between who is worthy and who is unworthy.  We have changed the standards for defining worthiness and unworthiness, but the game remains the same.