In William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, the actors roam the stage looking for a scarce potion that can make humans fall in love. What with our church splits, divorce rate, homicides, racism, and terrorist wars, such an elixir, such a love potion, could come in handy in our own day. 

Jesus Christ told us in the Great Commandment to love our neighbor (Mark 12:28 ff). Then he stuck around to show us how it's done. What we have in the Gospels is not just words of love, but the deeds themselves all demonstrated in Christ's treatment of people. We call this "relational theology." And nowhere are the four principles of how Jesus modeled this love better found than in the story of Zacchaeus.

Data Collection

 Notice how love begins with the gathering of information about an individual. Jesus strode into town and spied Zacchaeus "short of stature," "trying to see who Jesus was," peeking in and out through the milling crowd, and finally running "ahead" to climb a sycamore tree to see him. Christ also took the time to comprehend the facts that Zacchaeus was a tax collector and rich. The fact is, one cannot love someone he does not know. Love is relational. And without some level of knowledge, love does not exist.

 Jesus had intrinsic knowledge. He could look at the woman at the well and tell of her failed romances. He told Nathaniel just looking at him that he was a Hebrew in whom there was no guile. And, indeed, sometimes God gifts us with such discernment. Haven't you ever looked deeply in another's face and seen broken commandments, great suffering, or bitterness?
 Mostly, however, we get to know people by taking the time to ask questions and listen. "Who are you?" "What brings you here?" "What are you thinking?"

Many years ago, I'd been to a Christian camp in upstate New York. Five days of two-a-day meetings had exhausted me. So when I got on the plane in Albany, I planned to sleep. But the elderly woman beside me wanted to talk. "Are you flying to Baltimore?" "Yes," I said wearily, "there I'll change for North Carolina." Then I shut my eyes and slumped in my seat, all body language meant to say politely, "Leave me alone. I'll go to sleep now."
Still the woman rattled on. "Oh, I do hope it is not raining in Baltimore!"
I thought to myself, "Lady, who cares?"

On and on, she talked. So finally I sat up and politely inquired, "Why are you flying to Baltimore and so concerned with the weather?" That's when she told me her husband was dead, his casket was in the jet's storage, and his graveside funeral would be in Baltimore. So she was hoping for good weather. 

I asked God to give me strength to listen to her for an hour. And she told me how they met, about his career in sales, how their only son died in a war, and of his last years in an awful bout with cancer.

The plane landed and I walked her to a taxi that would take her to a funeral home. As I shut the door, she was saying to the driver, "Do you think it will rain today?" And I caught myself praying, "Please, God! Let him listen to her."

Affirmation

After Jesus gathered information about Zacchaeus as a rich, lonely, unpopular taxman with enough spiritual hunger to cause him to climb a tree to see what was going on, Jesus moved to the second step in expressing love. He affirmed the man.

Once a person opens up to you, gives you a glimpse of himself, he can be insecure. "Does he like me?" "Will he make fun of me?" "Will he think I'm okay?" And unless you give him or her some sign of approval, of respect, the relationship can go no farther.

That's why Jesus parading through Jericho looks up and sees this lonely, quizzical face peering at him through the tree branches, and blurts out for all to hear, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today."

Can you imagine being lonely, going to a basketball game alone, and come half-time, Michael Jordan leaves the court, walks up to the nosebleed section where you are seated, shakes your hand, calls you by name, and asks if he could have supper with you following the game? It's something like that with Zacchaeus and Jesus.

I can just see that little fellow shinny quickly down from the tree, square his shoulders, and walk like a Bantam rooster with Jesus to his house. "I am somebody!" he was thinking. "Jesus needs me. Me! Do you see?"

God has wonderfully gifted each of us with what we need to affirm other people. We can smile at them, shake hands, pay a compliment, say, "I like you!" give a gift, hug, catch their eye, or even spend time with them.

Out in public stores I see parents sometimes shred their little children's self-esteem when they jerk their tiny arms and hiss for all to hear, "You're bad! I'm sorry I had you. Just wait until I get you home. I'm going to beat you good!" Can you imagine one's self-image after growing up for eighteen years in that home?

Contrast that with the seven-year-old kid who finally swings at a pitch in a little league game, gets a hit to the outfield, and stands at home plate jumping up and down celebrating. The crowd is yelling, "Run! You gotta run!" The kid looks confused, suddenly turns, and runs out to tackle the pitcher. The bleachers are in stunned silence. But a father proudly stands up and affirms as he claps, "That's my boy! That's my son! Isn't he some athlete? He can hit! He can tackle!"  Affirmation builds trust. It says, "You are safe with me!"

Problem Solving

Now Jesus takes the third step in love. He begins to deal with Zacchaeus' problems. And we've all got them. He was short, probably never chosen to be on a playground team as a kid. He'd been hurt. So now he was a tax collector with a big government stick. And he could hit back. Besides that, he was rich. He could prove he was somebody now. But when he went home alone at night, his life was all rather hollow.

Do you remember from your childhood the fairy tale about a wicked witch who turned the handsome young prince into a green, slimy, warty bullfrog sitting on a lily pad? "You'll never be restored until a lovely princess comes along and kisses you on the lips!" she cackled. Well, what chance is there that will happen? Yet one day a beautiful princess comes along the garden path, sees the ugly frog prince, but looks again, this time deeper. She sees beyond all the ugly to the real need, and she kisses him. Slowly all the ugly falls away until the young handsome prince is restored.

That's what Jesus does to us. That's what he did for Zacchaeus. The text doesn't give the details. But, somehow over supper Jesus probed the man's lonely tortured soul. They spoke of greed and revenge, of loneliness, and of love, of real purpose in life, of joy and peace. And somehow Zacchaeus turned from his darkness to the Light. He repented. He trusted. He took the hand Jesus extended to him.

Goal Setting

Now Jesus takes the final step of love. He's gathered data on the man, affirmed him, and sat at table to deal with the man's problems. Now he will set goals. He told the woman caught in the act of adultery, "Go and sin no more." He told Legion after his exorcism, "Go home to your friends and tell them there how much the Lord has done for you." He told the paralytic, "Sin nor more that nothing worse befall you."

Zacchaeus set his own goal. He stood and proclaimed, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, will I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay it back four times as much."

Goal setting is like a doctor's prescription. It is medicine, charting out a new course with God for improvement, change, growth. A worthy goal can be to get debt-free, to quit drinking, to join a small group Bible study, to memorize scripture related to your personal struggle, or to let go of money you've been hoarding so it can work for Jesus.

Jesus had a rich young ruler come running up to him, inquiring, "What must I do to be saved?" And Jesus gathered data on the man -- rich, young, ruler. He affirmed him. The Bible says he looked on him and loved him. Then he dealt with the problem -- "He trusted in riches." And he set the goal: "Go sell all you have and give it to the poor and come follow me, and you shall have treasure in heaven." But the Bible says the lad's face fell. And he went away sorrowfully, for he did love his money. And Jesus let him walk away. He would not water it down.

So, you see, in loving people, not even Jesus could go every step, all the way, with every person.

Four Bases

It may help one to understand these four steps in the process of love as the four bases of a baseball game. First base: data gathering. Second base: affirmation. Third base: dealing with problems. And home plate: goal setting.

No one gets a hit and scores by running straight to third base. You'd be out! The bases must be taken in turn. Likewise, in loving people, we mustn't head for third base. "You smoke too much!" "You're fat!" "You talk too much!" We must take time to get to know people. Build trust by affirming them. Only then have we earned our right to be heard, to meddle in their hurts.

Conclusion

I delight in the Peanuts comic strips, especially Lucy who is in love with piano-playing Schroeder. In one strip, Schroeder is playing a concerto while Lucy looks at him doe-eyed, asking, "Do you know what love is?" Schroeder stops the music and says, "Love is a strong bond or attachment toward another, a decision to act in their best interest." Then he resumes his concert. Lucy looks at the audience and laments, "Gee, on paper Schroeder is just great!" 

And our challenge in Jesus Christ is to take what Christ has taught on paper and live out these four bases, the process of love, with our spouses, our children, neighbors, nation-states, the boss at work, and the newcomer at church.

We, in Christ, can each be God's love!