Luke 18:9-14
Lectionary 30 in Ordinary Time ~ 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Who are you in our story, the Pharisee or the tax collector? Pharisees were a sect of Jews who held strictly to both written and oral law. We tend to think of Pharisees as being hypocrites. The reality is that most of them were righteous and respected Jews who followed the law.[1] First century listeners would have been surprised by the behavior of this Pharisee.
The second person in our story is a tax collector. Tax collectors were agents of the oppressive Roman government. He was probably dishonest, and, showing no mercy, collected more money than was owed to the Roman empire. He was most likely rich. That this tax collector was in the Temple would have been shocking.[2]
That’s where we find this tax collector, in the same temple, “standing far off”. The Pharisee was there, too, “standing by himself”. Both were Jews. Both were praying. The Pharisee prayed a prayer of thanksgiving. “’Thank you, Lord, that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’” His prayer, even though addressed to God, was really about himself.
Although all that the Pharisee said was true, we laugh at giving God thanks for not being like other people. But I know that in various ways I have done the same thing. In fact, just this weekend I said, “Thank you, God that I am a VA Tech Hokies fan and not a Miami Hurricanes fan.” Maybe you’ve heard people look at someone begging for food and whispered, “Thank you, God, that I am not poor.” “Thank you, God, that I am not disabled.” “Thank you God that I am not” –fill in the blank. “Thank you, God, that I am not like that person.”
Maybe you have had a conversation with someone who has dementia, or witnessed a co-worker getting fired, or listened to a parent talk about the trouble their child has gotten into. Suddenly, out of your mouth pops this cliché, “There but for the grace of God go I.” I’ve said it before. While this is meant as an expression and recognition of God’s grace in our lives, it is done by comparing ourselves with someone else. In other words, “Thank you God, that I am not like this person.” In other words, “God you have blessed me, but not blessed this other person.” In other words, I deserve God’s blessing, and this person must not. By comparing ourselves with others, we create a hierarchy of good and bad. We, of course, land on the side of deserving God-given superiority.
“There but for the grace of God go I” places the other person the side devoid God’s grace. Which is to say that they must have done something to offend God. The person with no permanent home, the addict, the unemployed, and the tax collector deserve what they got. God does not love them enough to offer grace, forgiveness and mercy. As the Pharisee said, “Thank you God, that I am not like other people.”
We know this is not God’s truth! God’s grace is unconditional. We cannot earn it. The Pharisee did not think he needed it. The tax collector, on the other hand, prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” While God would have us be generous with our money, stay faithful to our partners, and teach faith formation, the truth of it is that our justification is not achieved. We are set right with God through God’s actions. We are utterly dependent on God for our salvation.
The Pharisee trusted in himself; the tax collector trusted in God. So which are you, the Pharisee or the tax collector? Are you grateful that you are not like the Pharisee? Are you grateful you don’t live a life like the tax collector? This is the trap Jesus has set for us in this story! Just when we think we are glad we are not like the Pharisee, we are like the Pharisee. For me, I am both. There are times when I am proud of myself and think that I am responsible for all my blessings. Then there are times when I am convicted by my sins. In both cases, my only salvation is God. God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
Jesus presents us with one more set-up. This story is not so much about us as it is about God. It’s about our God who values relationship with us, we who are arrogant and we who are humble. It’s about God turning our human systems of success and failure upside down. Our relationship with God is not determined by our knowledge or attending committee meetings. Our relationship with God does not rest in our reciting the Ten Commandments, the size of our house, or the number of friends we have on FaceBook. God’s love is pure grace, given to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no place God won’t go to be in relationship with us, even death on a cross.
Through Jesus we learn that our God is like the father who gives his son his inheritance, and after the son spends it wastefully on himself, welcomes him back. Not only welcomes him back, but throws a party, too! Our God is like the shepherd who looks for the one out of a hundred sheep that strays. Through Jesus we learn that God loves disciples who can’t seem to get it right, lepers whom no one else will touch, and women who make their living in shameful ways. Even Judas had his feet washed tenderly.
Thank you God, that we are like those people, the ones whom the world deems not worthy, the ones who take what you give them and run away, and the ones don’t always tell the truth. Thank you, God, for your mercy on us, sinners all.
[1] For more information about Pharisees, tax collectors and the Temple, see Amy Jill Levine’s chapter on this parable. Short Stories by Jesus. New York: HarperCollins, 2014. 169-196.
[2] Ibid.