Betty Owens Geary

Luke 18:9-14; The Message

He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’ “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’” Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.” 

Reflection

Confession:  I have, on occasion, had a thought something like the Pharisee had in this parable.  I may have seen someone I considered less fortunate than myself, perhaps a person experiencing homelessness, unwashed, wearing dirty clothes, hair unkempt. Or maybe it was someone who I thought was making poor life choices or behaving in ways I didn’t approve of. I have possibly thought to myself, I sure am grateful I’m not like that.

In stories like this parable, we always want to identify with the “hero.” But it’s hard to find a hero in this story.  The tax collector had plenty to pray about. The fact that he was a tax collector meant that he collaborated with the Romans in a way that betrayed his Jewish community. The Jews had good reason to despise him.

But Jesus seems to save his greatest condemnation for the Pharisee, and this might be cause for concern. You see, we—church people like you and me—can be more like the Pharisee than we may care to admit. We go to church, we serve on volunteer teams, committees, and councils, we give generously, we study the Bible and pray—the kinds of things this Pharisee thought made him so superior to the tax collector. The Pharisee was giving thanks to God that he was a righteous man who knew how to behave. 

Here’s what I think: we can be “Pharisees” in other areas of our lives too. Many of us have played by the rules and reaped the rewards. Maybe you did well in school and got a good job.  Maybe you exercise and eat healthy foods to take care of your body. Maybe you’re retired and living comfortably because you saved enough and invested wisely. You are right to be grateful for a good job, healthy lifestyle, adequate savings. But maybe—if we’re being honest—you also feel grateful that you are not like others who did not do these things. I confess I have felt that way.

The problem with this sort of gratitude is that it usually comes with a sense of self-satisfaction.  The Pharisee was just saying it out loud. And it’s not just that he was thanking God that he was not like the tax collector, or others who were not living up to his standards. Look at who Jesus addresses in this parable: those who were “complacently pleased with themselves.” The Pharisee was complacently pleased with himself.

When we give thanks for our good fortune, especially if it comes with a sense of satisfaction that we have earned it by our hard work or good behavior, we risk being complacently pleased with ourselves.  The same is true of our relationship with God.  The tax collector was humble enough to know that his behavior would never save him.  He knew he needed God’s grace.  The Pharisee also needed God’s grace; he just thought he could earn it by living right.  He couldn’t, and we can’t either.  The good news is God can do it for us, and does.

Prayer
God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen.