By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: v10″Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. v11The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayeda thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. v12I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ v13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ v14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14
The gospel lesson appointed this Sunday is about the familiar story of the Pharisee and the tax collector as they pray in the temple. The parable raises the issue of our attitude as we approach God. God desires humble confession, and a willingness to bare our sin. Merit or works do not gain favour in God’s sight.
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The Pharisee was self-righteous. Self-righteous people think they are righteous because of their own efforts; they are not conscious of their sinful nature, their own unworthiness and their constant need for God’s help, mercy and grace. Because of their exceptional acts of piety and outward goodness, they think that they do not need God’s grace. The tax collector, on the other hand, was deeply conscious of his sin and guilt, and in true repentance turned from sin to God for forgiveness and mercy. He typifies the true child of God.
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He floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee. He continually proclaimed that he was the greatest. Remember him? He is Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of the 29th century. Perhaps few of us will ever reach the zenith of recognition in our field as did Muhammad Ali. In fact, if any of us were asked how many times we have boasted about what we were going to do, or boldly made a prediction about an outcome in which we played a major role, very few of us would admit any such prediction.
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Wives want assurances from their husbands that somehow they have made a difference in their husbands’ lives through the many thankless tasks they accomplish daily. Preschool children live for praise from their teachers, their parents, their grandparents. Employees look for recognition from their employers. All too often, in many respects, that is what strikes all about. They are not always about resources. They are often about lack of recognition from the company, from the employer. Maybe the need for recognition and approval can be our best kept secret. Maybe that need at times covers our own feeling of inadequacy, our own beliefs that we have not measured up to our expectations as well as others’ expectations. Perhaps that is why we need to hear the words of today’s text as well. For when all is said and done, we believe we have not lived up to God’s expectation.
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Surprisingly enough, living up to God’s expectations was not a problem for the Pharisee in today’s text. He had it made. After all, that was the purpose of the law: to help him meet God’s expectations. Rigorously, and religiously, he believed he had done that and more. So with the audience that perhaps included Pharisees, Jesus expanded this story to include a tax collector, a tax collector who regularly made his living by charging more than the stated tax required.
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The story becomes good news for us because it allows us to examine ourselves, honestly from the perspective of faith. It is true that we are not, nor will we ever be the people that God would have us be; and yet, that is precisely why God gives us his Son, Jesus Christ. God gives us the Son because, left to our resources, we could never gain the recognition nor the approval from God that we so desperately desire. The gift of the Son lifts from the shoulders the burden of our need to please God, to gain God’s favour. Jesus’ arrival in our lives helps us admit that we are not, nor will we ever be on the same level as God. Jesus’ presence in our lives makes us humbly aware of the great lengths that God will go to rescue us, the people of God. Jesus then becomes the positive proof that God’s mercy is great, God’s mercy is wide, and God’s covenant love of God’s people is resolute and steadfast.
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I read this story as part of a sermon relative to the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Publican),
There was a very lost, wicked, rebellious man who decided it would be good for business if he went down to the church and joined it. He was an adulterer, an alcoholic, and had never been a member of a church in his life. But when he went down to the altar to join the church, he gave public testimony to the church that there was no sin in his life, and that he had grown up in the church, and they readily accepted him as a member.
When he went home he told his wife what he had done, and his wife, a very godly lady, exploded. She excoriated him for being such a hypocrite, and demanded that he go back to the church the next week and confess what he really was. Well, God used his wife to really break him, and he took it to heart. The next Sunday he went back to the church, walked down to the front again, and this time confessed to the church all of his sins. He told them he was dishonest, an alcoholic, an adulterer, and he was sorry. They revoked his membership on the spot. He walked out of the church that day scratching his head and muttered to himself: “These church folks are really strange. I told a lie and they took me in; and when I told the truth they kicked me out!”
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The Lord Jesus told a story of two men in a similar situation who had totally different results. One man tried to talk himself into God’s kingdom, but he didn’t make it. One man tried to talk himself out of God’s kingdom and he did make it.
Now Luke makes it plain who Jesus told this parable to. For he says in v.9, “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”
I promise you, every one of you will find yourself somewhere in this story. Because at one time or another all of us are guilty of trying to impress God. You are going to learn, surprisingly, what does impress God, and what doesn’t.
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Let us pray.
Merciful God, we confess that all too often we are tempted to point to ourselves and our own accomplishments, believing that somehow what we do or what we accomplish makes us important or precious in your sight. Help us, O God, when we are tempted to look to ourselves as our source of strength and life, to remember that what we do in this life is fleeting, but what you have done for us is eternal. Help us always to value the gift of your grace that you have given us through your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us be grateful for your words of love, acceptance, and forgiveness that you continue to give because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Turn our lives around, O God, that everything we do might be a reflection of your grace, through Jesus Christ. Amen. (The Minister’s Annual Manual)**
