Omar Khadr - the Modern Tax Collector

I speak to you in the name of the One, True and Living God. Amen.


- sing – Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.
(He climbed up in a sycamore tree,
 for the Lord he wanted to see.
 And as the Savior passed him by,
 He looked up in the tree,
 And he said, "Zacchaeus, you come down from there;
 For I'm going to your house today,
 for I'm going to your house today"

 Zacchaeus came down from that tree,
 as happy as he could be,
 He gave his money to the poor,
 and said: "What a better man I'll be.")


What is it about tax collectors that makes them so attractive to Jesus?

Last week we were told that a tax collector was more deserving of the kingdom of heaven than an openly pious man. This week we hear that Zacchaeus, a man who has become rich by collecting tax for the Romans, has brought salvation to his house.

Why do we keep hearing about tax collectors?

I think that this is one of those times where our world just doesn’t fit with the world of Biblical times. We just don’t have the same kind of person in our society. We don’t have such a perfect target of social hatred.

Or do we?

During the cold war, the equivalent would have been a traitor, especially someone who was selling military secrets just for the money.

But who is it today? We have a perfect example currently in the news. Anyone?


Omar Khadr. Someone who is a citizen of a western country, who was born and grew up here, who goes somewhere else to fight against the west.


Think about how the US military has treated Omar Khadr and you know exactly how the people of Jesus’ time felt about tax collectors. If the people of Judah had not been under the thumb of the Romans, they would gladly have rounded up all the tax collectors and held them without trial until they confessed to being traitors. There was no question about their motives. There was no acceptable excuse for what they had done.


This is why Jesus choses tax collectors. Jesus uses them to show us what is wrong in our society. Jesus uses them to tell us that such an attitude does not fit in the kingdom of heaven.


So what does this tell us about how we should see the Omar Khadrs of the world?

Zacchaeus was a wee little man.

Omar Khadr was a child.

Zacchaeus was a son of Abraham, a member of the people of God.

Jesus tells us that we are all children of God, we are all beloved. Omar Khadr is no different. He is beloved of God.

Jesus tells us that we are to seek out and to save the lost. There is no question that Omar Khadr is one of the lost. He was taken as a child. He was told that God would reward him for killing in the name of God. He was convinced that his home country was his enemy. He was taught to hate.

Omar Khadr became a target for hatred. He is not the real enemy. The real enemy is an idea. The real enemy is the belief that one person can be hurt by someone else’s beliefs, not what they do, but just what they believe. It is this idea which leads to “cleansing wars.” This idea has no place in the Kingdom of God.


Most of us are never going to meet a modern version of a “tax collector.” But this Gospel can still lead us toward the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses the tax collector to show us that the most hated in society are part of God’s people. And if the most hated are included, then all must be included. There is no one who is not welcome at Jesus table. No one is so lost that they cannot be found. We are called to follow Jesus’ teaching. We are called to seek out the lost and bring them back to this (point) table. Back to Church Sunday is past. The invitations should just have started.

And as for Omar Khadr – I hope that he will not continue to be forgotten. I pray that someone will show him that he is beloved. He deserves to know that there is far more power to be found in love than there is in hate.

Thanks be to God.