There are a lot of upbeat songs about Zacchaeus, mostly for children. But the story of Zacchaeus is not just for kids.

Two songs resonate wonderfully with this Gospel without ever mentioning Zacchaeus by name. The assembly sings in the persona of Zacchaeus: those who feel unworthy, those who who are really trying to know Jesus, those to whom Jesus himself says, “I want to come into your house today.”

  “Take, O Take Me as I Am” is a lovely, thoughtful ostinato by John Bell, of the ecumenical Iona Community. (You may have seen him at more than one NPM convention; he works all over the world.) The song shows up an at least eighteen hymnals across denominations. The text couldn’t be simpler:

Take, O take me as I am;
summon out what I shall be;
set your seal upon my heart and live in me.

Imagine singing those words during the Preparation of Gifts or after Communion, repeating them, “unpacking” them in the realization that we are Zacchaeus—undeserving, but the Lord wants to stay in our house today.

Another song, probably more familiar in Protestant worship is the 19th-century hymn “Just As I Am,” whose Long Meter tune WOODWORTH (1849) was written by William B. Bradbury. The text (1835) is by the English poet and hymn writer Charlotte Elliott. Look at these verses in the light of today’s Gospel:

4. Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
sight, riches, healing of the mind,
yea, all I need in thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

5. Just as I am, thou wilt receive,
wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
because thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Billy Graham claimed that he converted to Christianity hearing this song as the altar call at a revival meeting. It would become the altar call for his crusades. It would be a terrific choral anthem for today.