Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-06-10
SARAH u. LOWRLE,S
SATURDAY EVENING TALK


The worst that has even been said
about our contractor bosses in this
State might have been said. about many
of the publicans OF the Roman prov :.
inces in which our Lord spent his brief
life.
Yet the treatment Of them By Christ
would get from some OF the follow |.
ers Of Jesus today. The followers oI
Christ today treat the whole subject
Of the contractor bosses much as the
ordinary good society folk and the i'm.
portant synagogue folk treated the pub.
leans Of their day. They condemned
them as men and avoided them as fel :
low citizens, and they quarreled with
any one else who treated them as neigh
bors--as the good Samaritan treated the
man who had fallen among thieves. for
instance.
Perhaps IL those Of us who think Of
ourselves as ''reformers. or even those
Of us who pride ourselves on being
just ordinary good citizens would treat
our local politicians with some Of TIC
discriminating common sense with which
our Lord treated a contractor bose OF
His day. we might get a more heipfus
light on one another. Possibly. too
the personal contact might help us botl'
and eventually help the city and state.
T,HE contractor boss of that day
i was one Zacchaeus Of Jericho and
he was chief publican and he was
rich. There was great crowd. We.
coming and congratulatory and also
supplicating and demanding. pressing IN
from all the streets as Christ passed
81 lta al % Tho
Evidently. however. rich as he wns
and important. Zacchaeus was neither
one Of a committee Of arrangements MOI
Of welcome. In fact. the persons who
formel the majority OF the welcoming
crowd and were recognized as the cit
izens Of repute whom Christ would nc
honored by meeting would not have al :
lowed the contractor n place in their
midst. They very rishtfully hated his
particular sort of success nnd they
counted it as part Of their religion T.
desnise him.
Rut Zacchaeus had an intense interest
in Christ. He wanted to see Him. He
did not court snub by demanding M
interview with Him. or By bribinS
some one to make way for him in the
crowd He did rather n humble
thing. in its way pathetic thing !,
He ran ahead with the rabble and with
the youngsters Of the town and climbed
into one Of the trees that overhung the
street. 81 he could look down on the
popular Hero as He passed beneath.
"And when Christ came to the place
He looked up and said 'Zacchaeus.
make haste and come down. for today
must stay at thy mousse
As THE story runs, the man did
n make haste and came down. and
received the Hero of the day at his
house-jovfully. so the tale has II. And
not only that. To celebrate the great
event he dedicated 70 the poor Of the
city half Of his goods. and volunteered
to make restitution four times over for
anv act Of extortion in the past.
His guest witnessed his promise and
accepted him as His follower. and to
those VINO murmured at His trusting
such man. not to speak of staying
OF the house Of sinner, He vouch-
safed this explanation
The Son Of Man came n seek and
to save that which was lost
There is nothing harder to restore
than n lost reputation. nothing that
takes more serene faith than 10 trust
one who has proved untrustworthv.
But il the strong refuse to lend hand
how are the fallen to rise?
THOSE Of ns who have only neglected
our citizenship and not sold II may
keen our rcputations for honesty by
keeping our c'ean hands in our pockets
or folded before us and priding orr
selves in not encouraging evil. But il
was not our Lords way. He went 70
the house OF Zacchaeus and treated him
Ike Christian--until he was Chris.
tian with all his soul.