I REMEMBER

By Hartford Pryor

A few Sundays ago in our Sunday
School class, we learned about Zac-
chaeus being in the Sycamore tree
(Luke 19). The lesson brought back
fond memories of a great preacher.

It happened when Herbert Morgan
was pastor of the East Thomaston Bap-
tist Church. One Sunday, instead of
reading his scripture. Brother Morgan
began quoting it from memory. He
started with the story about the people
gathering in the streets of Jericho to see
Jesus. Rev. Morgan said that there was
a small man by the name ofNicodemas
who wouldn't get to see Jesus because
he was too short to see over the crowd,
so he ran down the street and climbed a
sycamore tree. When Jesus came by
and saw Nicodemas in the tree he told

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him to make haste and come down be-
cause he was going to his house to eat.
The crowd of people didn't like this at
all because Nicodemas was a tax col-
lector who charged the people more
money than he was suppose to collect.

Then all at once he stopped
(Herbert Morgan was absolutely un-
flappable) and said, "Nicodemas come
down from that tree, you're not sup-
pose to be up there." Then he added,
"Zacchaeus, you get up in that tree."
After he got the cast of characters
straightened out, he told how Jesus
went home with Zacchaeus and that
Zacchaeus had a change of heart and
told the people if he charged them too
much tax he would repay them four-
fold.

Whenever I hear the story of Zac-
chaeus, I think of this and laugh.