Inclusivity for All - Luke 19:1-10

2022 Clunies Ross House Chapel Sermon

Many of you who know me, know that I love the theatre and enjoy spending much of my free time going to various plays. Like many other people, I love the work of Shakespeare. That love was inspired by wonderful English teachers in school, on who even had a bust of Shakespeare on her keychain. And that love has continued to be fuelled throughout his life.

I have always valued the way his writings, although written in a very different context, can speak into our present context and have enjoyed seeing ways that his plays have been reinterpreted for different ages and places.

Perhaps one of my favourite plays of Shakespeare’s is The Merchant of Venice. And I couldn’t help but think of that play, and the character of Shylock, as I prepared for this Service.

Shylock is the antagonist in the play, a Jewish man who has been wronged and seeks revenge from those who wronged him. Traditionally he was portrayed in a stereotypical, sometimes antisemitic way. Yet in recent decades there has been a reinterpretation of his character, viewing him as the outsider, the misunderstood and mistreated. This way of viewing him helps to reframe and understand his desire for revenge.

We all know his analogy of demanding his ‘pound of flesh’. But perhaps a better insight into his character is this quote from Act 3.

“If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.”

He has been labelled as ‘the other’ for so much of his life because of his beliefs yet here he is challenging that assumption by identifying the common humanity that he shares with people of other faiths, and therefore questioning why others are justified in mistreating him.

It gives us a powerful image into this notion of inclusivity but showing us the importance of noticing the inherent humanity within each person, regardless of those things that might be different.

Inclusivity is such a powerful notion. It goes beyond merely identifying or accepting differences. But rather speaks to the importance of providing a space where those differences might flourish. Inclusivity means going beyond tolerating difference, but rather celebrating it.

Jesus’ ministry was a ministry of inclusivity. Time and time again the Biblical stories talk of him including those whom his society considered ‘the other’. He sits with the sick and the diseased, in a society when those people were literally ostracised from their communities. He eats with women and people of different cultures, in a society where those people were considered second class. Time and time again Jesus chooses the company of the outsiders, rather than those on the inside, and asserts that the Kingdom of God belongs to them.

The Bible Reading we heard read today speaks of this message of inclusivity. Here Jesus engages with a man named Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector. While not poor in that society he was incredibly marginalised because of what he did. People had a inherit dislike for him because of the role that he played in society.

But Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus and wanted to see him. He was so desperate that he climbed a tree, because he was short and no one would let him to the front of the crowd. When Jesus saw him he didn’t just acknowledge him, he went further than that. He said that he wanted to dine at Zacchaeus’ house that night. The people around Jesus were outraged that Jesus would choose the company of this outsider. But Jesus acknowledges his inert humanity and includes him in his ministry, and the ministry of God.

In this encounter Jesus is giving a picture of what inclusivity looks like. It means acknowledging people who are different, but also going further. It means providing space where those people can flourish and be the best that they can be.

This picture of inclusivity is a challenge for all of us. How might we follow the example of Jesus but genuinely including those who are marginalised in our society today. Jesus’ message of inclusivity challenges us to support those of diverse genders and sexualities without any caveats or questions. His message of inclusivity challenges us to welcome those from diverse cultures, no matter how they arrived here. Jesus’ message of inclusivity challenges us to support this sick, the mistreated and the oppressed so that they can reach their full humanity.

This is a challenging and confronting image of inclusivity, one that we too often fall short of; particularly in the Church. But the Good News of Jesus, is good for all people no matter what. Our call is to live that out, to show that genuine and full inclusivity in all that we do.

May that image of inclusivity, which Jesus showed to all, be the image that we strive for in our families, our school, our workplaces and our community at large. Amen