New Wineskins

May 28 Gathering: Zacchaeus

Bible Stories for Grown-Ups Chapter 5

It’s one of the oddest stories in the New Testament: Jesus enters the ancient village of Jericho enroute to Jerusalem, where he will soon be tried and executed as an enemy of the state. While passing through, he encounters a tax collector named Zacchaeus who, because of his short stature, had to climb a tree to see what all the fuss was about.

Whatever the reason he climbed the tree, the diminutive extortionist has a change of heart when he meets Jesus and pledges to give half of his assets to the poor and to return any money he stole with 400% interest.

On the surface, it seems to be a story about repentance: Zacchaeus feels “convicted” about the wrong he has done and decides to make things right. But it’s also a story about reparations. In realizing the wrong he has done, Zacchaeus determines to not just repay what he has stolen, but to restore the fabric of his community.

It’s a massive turn from the story just a couple chapters earlier when a rich young ruler goes away sad after Jesus tells him to sell all he has and give the money to the poor. So what exactly is the point?

This week our New Wineskins study of Bible Stories for Grown-Ups gives us a 2-for-1 with a discussion not only of the story of Zacchaeus but also how the parable of the rich young ruler relates to the message the writer of Luke is trying to get across. We’ll dig into the difference between being sorry for committing harm and actually doing something to reverse the harm, and how that might relate to Jesus’s message of the kingdom of heaven.

Join us this Sunday, May 28, in the New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom as we talk about Zacchaeus as model for modern reparations movements.

6:00pm ET: Happy Half-Hour (informal meet & greet time)
6:30pm ET: Presentation & conversation begin

New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom

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Special announcement!

Bible Stories for Grown-Ups author Josh Scott will join us LIVE during our June 25 gathering to answer your questions and dig even deeper into the interpretive lenses that inform the book. Mark your calendar now and be sure to join us as we welcome Josh back to New Wineskins!

Join us every week for a new discussion!

Sunday, April 23: Introduction
Sunday, April 30: Chapter 1 – Noah’s Ark
Sunday, May 7: Chapter 2 – The Binding of Isaac
Sunday, May 14: Chapter 3 – Jonah
Sunday, May 21: Chapter 4 – The Parable of the Talents
Sunday, May 28: Chapter 5 – Zacchaeus
Sunday, June 4: Chapter 6 – Healing the Blind Man
Sunday, June 11: Postscript – Where do we go from here?
Sunday, June 18: What have we learned and why does it matter?
Sunday, June 25: Josh Scott visits New Wineskins!

Bible Stories for Grown-Ups is available through several booksellers. Here are some links to the most popular sites:

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Feature image: A sycamore fig tree in Jericho, Israel, c. 2019 (Photo by Joe Webb)

May 21 Gathering: The Parable of the Talents

Bible Stories for Grown-Ups Chapter 4

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

How many times have we heard that line preached at a funeral as a way of commending the deceased on a life well lived in service to God, Church, and Community? Or as a way of honoring someone’s perseverance at some kind of milestone-marking service like a graduation ceremony?

For many, if not most Christians, those words from the well-known passage known as the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30) are ones we long to hear. They’re the ultimate recognition of a job well done.

Did you ever stop to think, though, about whether or not that’s really the intent behind the master’s praise in that particular parable?

What if, instead of reading it as a story about wasted gifts, we saw it instead as an account of resistance? What if we considered the master’s congratulatory words not as praise for us to desire, but as the language of oppression and empire that Jesus calls his followers to stand against?

This week our New Wineskins study of Bible Stories for Grown-Ups turns to the New Testament with a discussion of how the context of the Parable of the Talents upends most of our traditional interpretations and exposes our tendencies to interpret scripture through assumptions born out of power and privilege…including our assumptions about who symbolizes God in Jesus’ parables.

Join us this Sunday, May 21, in the New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom for a stimulating conversation about the deeper and more subversive agenda Jesus may be trying to communicate through this familiar parable.

6:00pm ET: Happy Half-Hour (informal meet & greet time)
6:30pm ET: Presentation & conversation begin

New Wineskins Virtual Theology Pub powered by Zoom

Click here to view this week’s video

(Free Amplify membership required to view videos. Use access code HKWRJN if prompted then enter your contact information to access the videos.)