A Tale of Two
The parable we are presented with today gives us the picture of two people who have come to the Temple to pray. The Pharisee is one of a group in the society who has dedicated himself to be ultra pure and righteous. His whole life is lived in perfect obedience to God. Of course we know that such a thing is physically impossible for any one of us. Even those recognized as saints knew that they were not perfect in all things. In spite of his imperfections – which are well known to Jesus – the Pharisee considers himself to be a good person whose prayers will ever be heard and answered by God. In his mind God hears only those who are pure of heart and who uphold the law in its entirety. While we cannot say for certain what the motives were for the Pharisee to come to the Temple to pray, we know that he would have come out of a sense of duty; he would have come because it was expected; he would have come because it was a public place where everyone could see his devotion and his faithfulness to God. But rather than simply focusing his attention in prayer by sharing his heart and soul with God, the Pharisee looks around at others who have come to pray. His gaze falls on a man whom he recognizes as a tax collector. Tax collectors were even less liked in that day as they were independent business men hired by the state. Corruption was part of being a tax collector and many of them would exact more in tax than the state required. They were counted among the scum of the society. No one wanted to be a tax collector let alone even be close to one. Seeing this man in prayer, the Pharisee cannot resist the opportunity to reflect on his life and the life of this man. “Thank God that I am not like that man,” declares the Pharisee. Sound familiar? The Pharisee saw a man whom he had no use for; a man for whom he believed God had no use for. In his heart he believed that this man’s prayers to God were useless because this man was not living according to God’s will and commandments. To his mind anyone who disobeyed the law of God in any way did not deserve to even come to God. God would have nothing to do with such a person. But the Pharisee believed he was the kind of person that God desired. He fasted twice a week, he gave tithes of all he received, he prayed regularly, he watched everything he did and everything he said. He was the perfect man of God. He expected nothing less than to be blessed and loved by God. It is tempting to believe in our own goodness. It is even more tempting to make judgments for God presuming to know how God should view another person.
The tax collector, however, has not come to the Temple out of a sense of duty; he has no grand illusions about his life or his righteous standing with God. He comes with no expectation that God will hear his prayer or even deign to answer him. But he has come to a public place, to a holy place to offer his prayer; yet he knows that he is not a well respected member of the society and that others may question his presence. But this does not deter him from being there. He looks at no one – not even God. He is afraid to lift his eyes to heaven and beats his breast as a sign of repentance and mourning for his life. He is there not for anyone’s benefit except his own. He knows he is a sinner and he asks not for forgiveness but for mercy. He comes to God with a burden and he lays his burden at the feet of God. And when he leaves, he goes with no assurance that he has been forgiven but with the hope that God indeed will be merciful to him. And from what we know of God, we believe that God would answer his prayer and he would find God to be full of grace and mercy toward him who came in all humility and honesty before God.
Of course, the two people chosen for this parable were chosen because they represented the two extremes of the Jewish society of that day – the ultra religious Pharisee who was seen as a model of what the people of God were to aspire to and the tax collector who was seen as the scum of the society. The one trusted more in his ability to live the life of God perfectly of his own strength while the other had no aspirations of ever being perfect. The one congratulated himself on being a person who could do no wrong while the other felt remorse for his life choices and came seeking not to be justified but for a little mercy and understanding. Yet Jesus declares that the tax collector – not the Pharisee – was the one who left right with God.
As much as we resist the temptation to judge others, we invariably find ourselves passing judgment on others both for things they have done and things they have either forgotten or neglected to do. Sometimes these judgments are simply an expression of our anger, frustration or disappointment about a certain situation. But at other times, these judgments are a way of reassuring ourselves of our own place in the order of things, of ensuring that we will be seen by others and by God as more reliable, more trustworthy or even more righteous.
Our attitude as people of God is so critical. Our willingness to not judge others for the path their life has taken or see ourselves as better than them will reveal to them that God is willing to forgive and restore them. It will reveal to them that God is willing to walk with them and work with them as they seek to change their lives.
There, but for the grace of God, go I. We often use that old saying when we find ourselves faced with a situation similar to that of the Pharisee. But the saying is not meant to enable us to make judgments about others but is meant to help us focus on how God’s presence in our life has made a difference to the direction of our life. We are then given an opportunity to share that presence of God by seeking to be a community of faith that opens the door and allows those who are seeking for God’s grace and mercy to find it. We need to ever remember that if the grace of God is good enough for us, it is good enough for all.
We who are here in this place have chosen to seek for God. We come here to worship God, we come here to express our love for God and our thankfulness for God’s mercy and forgiveness. May we never forget to be humble about our life with God for it is not of our own doing that we have this relationship with God; it is of God – God’s love, God’s grace, God’s mercy and God’s forgiveness.
To God be the glory now and forever. AMEN.