Sermon Luke 18:9-14 October 23, 2016 Parable Series yr C
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Public Image
We just heard the Scriptures read about the Pharisee and the
tax collector.
Two people with life styles that Jesus sets apart. So here
in the congregation let’s set ourselves apart.
Let’s say for example the baptismal side of the congregation-you
are the Pharisees. You know the Scriptures, the prayers and the creeds. You
have it all together when it comes to knowing how to do it all correctly.
Now you on the choir side, you are the tax collectors. You
don’t know all the prayers and you know you’re not perfect. You know you’re not
even really welcome in the ‘religious’ group.
And the choir, organist, you are the disciples listening to
the words of Jesus.
SO as the Pharisees you can say to the tax collectors, “I
am glad I’m not like you.” How easy is that to say? Now the tax collector
group, you can say, “I’m not worthy.” And the disciples, you can say, “I’m
glad I’m not either of you.”
This story from Jesus is a pretty easy story.
The Pharisee is pompous and has it
all together from the point of view of the religious tradition of the Law. He
really was doing it all right. He could claim his righteousness by his actions.
He could come to God and let God know all the correct ways he has lived out his
life. He was setting himself apart from a life of uncleanliness and only
associated with the appropriate people of faith. He wanted God to recognize him
for his public image and his earthly status.
The tax collector on the other hand did his job, which was a
despised career.
He was not a public image that
people wanted to even get close to. His circle of friends was also people like
himself. He steered clear of those righteous people because he didn’t fit in.
He had no earthly status worth recognizing .
The disciples were a band of Jesus followers and sometimes
it was cool to be with Jesus (especially when he was followed by tons of
people) and other times it was easier not to admit knowing him because he had
stones hurled at him.
You, who are the Pharisees, it’s not easy to look at the tax
collectors and say, “I’m better than you”, is it? And you who are the tax
collectors it’s not hard to say, “God have mercy”, is it?
And you disciples, I bet you’re siding with the tax
collector right now. You would be convincing yourself this is the guy you want
to be, because you want to get the good grade from Jesus.
You can let Jesus know you have the story figured out and we
can all go home now.
The crazy thing about this story though, is the minute we
have it figured out who we want to be and who want to avoid being, we get back
to judging.
We get back to pointing out our differences and claiming we
are better than the other. “Look at me, I know how to be humble.”
We are people that need to have an identity.
We need to know who we are and how we fit in in this world.
So we are grouped by what we do, how we look, or what we
believe. And often to make ourselves comfortable with who we are, we say we are
glad we are not like those people. We are glad we are not
criminals, or bounty hunters, or foreigners, or TV evangelists, or politicians,
or movie stars. “We are better than that”, we say.
The hard part about this parable is (as David Lose writes) the
minute we claim who is and who is out, we draw a line between us and God.
The lines we draw to separate ourselves, to make the distinction of how we are
not the other, we separate ourselves from God.
When we throw the moral code on
others, we will be required to look in the mirror and wonder how well we too,
live in the moral code we hurl at others. When we claim our views are better
than another’s without taking the time to listen, we put ourselves on a
pedestal and claim our own righteousness. When we refuse to accept differences
of opinions or of a person’s choice to make-even in an election-we dismiss
them, and diminish them in order to justify who we are to make ourselves
feel better. We return to the chant, “We are better than you.” And when we
can’t believe people can do those horrific things to another human being, when
we claim we cannot say hurtful things, or maim, or cause pain, we once again,
draw a line of who we believe we are not. For within all of us there is a
dangerous place we must learn to ask God, “In your mercy, forgive us, we have
sinned.”
We, the religious, are so quick to judge, so anxious to be
right. We have put so many in the other group that no one dares to step over
the threshold of the church anymore because they, like the tax collector, do
not feel worthy. And yet, none of us are.
And yet, this hard part is also our Good News.
There is no separation from God’s love and mercy. All have fallen short and all
are made righteous through Christ.
So, anyone can come before God as this tax collector has
done. He didn’t use the correct formula for prayer. He couldn’t stand in the
special place to pray. He couldn’t claim victory of how wonderful he was. He
could only recognize the wonder and the mercy of God. God came first in his
prayer. And that is the good
news-God sees us and accepts us as we are.
When we are able to put God first
in our prayers and receive God’s mercy; when we are able to put God first in
our relationship to God; we are then able to recognize who we are to one
another. The divide of Pharisees, tax collectors, and disciples melts away.
So now that we have been told that all of us are justified
in God’s eyes we can reach out to each other and shake hands. We can see each
other for the uniqueness of God’s image expressed in us.
We can say. “I’m glad you are who you are, for there
is no better than the gift of God in you.”
God places a love song within each of us.
A song that defines us and makes us who we are.
God works within us so that we can see the beauty of
creation in our souls.
This is where we find ourselves in humble prayer.
This is where we discover the grace that makes us unique and
sets us apart, not apart from one another, but as a part of the whole, the Body
of Christ.
The joy for us in this parable is that we don’t have to have
an earthly status or a public image to the world’s standards.
We only need the grace of God to carry us as we go.
The Pharisee and the tax collector, the disciples and Jesus
are in each of us.
We can remove the sides we are on and we can recognize the
power of God at work within each of us drawing us closer as we learn from one
another.
With Christ there is no division, we are all friends. Amen.
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