WINTER REFLECTIONS

This Term in Chapel we’ve been considering the topic of Reconciliation. In the Junior School we thought about ‘friendship fires’ and how we can be peacemakers in our everyday lives and the Secondary School took some time out to think about making peace as a nation. I was surprised by the way the story of a first century tax collector named Zacchaeus spoke to both levels.

Zacchaeus is most famous for being short. He wanted to see Jesus but wasn’t able to do so because he couldn’t see over the crowd. But the crowd who wouldn’t let him through looked down on him not because of his stature but because of his occupation. As a Jewish man, Zacchaeus was considered a traitor for collecting revenue for the colonial power of Rome, who ruled over Israel with an iron fist. More than that, we’re told he was wealthy. Tax collectors gained their wealth by the process of ‘tax farming’, using Roman military intimidation to extort as much as they could from their fellow Israelites and only passing on to Rome what was required. They resembled modern day mafia bosses more than employees of the Australian Taxation Department.

Zacchaeus finds a way to see Jesus, climbing a tree and waiting for him to pass. When Jesus stops and invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house the crowd complains. How could Jesus teach about justice and judgment and then befriend a ‘sinner’ who no upright Jew would associate with? Jesus of course had a habit of this. He seemed to make a point of accepting the marginalised and outcast. Moved by Jesus’ acceptance and forgiveness, Zacchaeus announced, “I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much to everyone I have ever cheated.” His offer of restitution is an example to those of us who have accumulated wealth illegitimately and showed an earnest desire to be reconciled with those he had wronged.

Growing up in South Africa during Apartheid, Rory Steyn was as closely aligned to a colonial system as Zacchaeus was. Serving as a bodyguard to Afrikaner President F. W. de Klerk, Rory viewed Nelson Mandela as a terrorist and was deeply suspicious of what his presidency would bring. After his election, Rory was surprised when Mandela called his security staff together, including white officers from the former regime, and told them that they would be able to keep their jobs. In fact, Mandela explained, he needed all of them to work together as an example of his unity government and that he intended to lead the country for the sake of all South Africans irrespective of their colour or their past. What changed Rory’s heart was the way Mandela then proceeded to befriend every member of his team, learning their names, their stories and the names of their partners and children. His security team went on to be a vanguard – people of all colours working, eating, relaxing and sharing life together where once they had fought.

In 2017, 250 Aboriginal leaders issued the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Like Jesus, who offered acceptance to an outcast tax collector and Mandela, who gave friendship to a man who had opposed his cause, those involved have invited all Australians to “Makarrata” – a coming together after a struggle.

This year is the year we’ll vote on a proposed First Nations Voice to Parliament. The Uluru Statement presents this as one step in a wider program, one where truth is acknowledged, and agreements are made.

It’s important for all of us to consider how we can be part of reconciliation and educate ourselves about the various perspectives before the upcoming vote. There will be many paths towards reconciliation and I encourage you to consider how you wish to play a part.

Whether it’s in the everyday of seeking peace in our workplaces and homes or on the scale of acknowledging a nation’s past, Jesus invites us to come together after a struggle. “Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great”. May we be that generation.