Proper 25, Year C (October 23, 2022) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Proper 25, Yr C (2022)                                                          

Luke 18:9-14                                                                              

In the name of the one, holy, and living God:

in whom we live, and move, and have our being.  Amen.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray,

one a Pharisee

and the other a tax collector….”

This sounds like a great set-up for:

“two men went up to the temple to pray…one got it right,

and the other got it wrong,”

but life is never quite so simple. 

Nor is this parable!

Let’s take a closer look at these two men…

            What do we know about them?

We are told that each of these two men was standing alone…

by himself,

       praying in the temple.

So, both of these men were people of faith

who have gone to the temple to pray!

Through the Pharisee’s prayer we learn the following things about his way of life:

            He does not steal,

he is just,

he has not committed adultery,

he fasts twice a week (probably in addition to fasting on holy days),

and he tithes 10% of all his income (not just 10% of a portion of his income).

Frankly, that is quite a holy way of life…

            one to be admired

                        and replicated.

So…truth be told, the Pharisee is speaking the truth: he is righteous.

He leads a blameless life according to the law.

Now, let’s look at the tax collector.

“The tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven,

but was beating his breast and saying,

‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”

What was his way of life? 

Tax collectors were typically wealthy men. 

They were responsible for collecting taxes owed to the Roman Empire,

but they could also receive in personal payment anything they were able to squeeze out of their neighbors. 

Typically, tax collectors gouged the poor in order to live very comfortable lives themselves.

Yet, we hear that

this tax collector is standing alone and praying to God,

beating his breast and begging for God’s mercy,

recognizing himself to be a sinner.

So, perhaps this tax collector recognizes the sinfulness of his greed:

how he makes the poor to suffer even more than they already are

      while indulging his own appetites. 

Or maybe he doesn’t gouge the poor at all.

Maybe he had to choose between taking a job as a tax collector for the Roman government and feeding his family,

so he chose the job.

Maybe he feels miserable participating in an oppressive government as his daily job.

Whatever the cause of his breast-beating,

the tax collector seems to truly stand alone before God…

       he compares himself to no one. 

He recognizes only his own sinfulness

and prays for God’s mercy.

We have no indication of whether he intends or is even able to change his ways. 

Perhaps every week he enters the Temple,

beats his breast,

 and begs God for mercy!

Whatever his course of life or the reasons for it,

we are told that upon recognizing his sinful ways and begging God for mercy,

he goes home justified because he humbled himself.

       He recognized his dependence upon God for healing and even for life itself.

Luke prefaces the telling of this parable by saying that Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.

There is nothing wrong with the way that the Pharisee lives his life;

            in fact, it is quite admirable.

What, then, is the problem?

It narrows down to one thing:

while the Pharisee is right about the kind of life he should live,

he is confused about the source of that life.

While he addresses his prayer to God,

his prayer is actually about himself.

He toots his horn to God about all the wonderful things he does,

       and because he misses the source of his blessing – the source of his righteousness -

    he sets himself over and against other people,

despising the very people God loves.

By judging others according to his own righteousness,

he entirely misses God’s grace.

For this reason, he leaves the Temple as righteous according to the law,

but he is not justified;

       that is, he is not accounted and called righteous by God. 

It never would have occurred to him to ask…

or to recognize and receive the pure gift of God’s love and mercy.

He did not recognize that he did not need to earn God’s Grace…

            God’s Grace is pure gift.

The tax collector, however,

in his humility,

       acknowledges that he is utterly and entirely dependent upon God’s mercy.

So the tax collector knows the one thing that the Pharisee does not:

his life depends upon God.

His past, present, and future depend entirely upon God’s grace and mercy…

not upon his own accomplishments.

So… in each of these characters we see places of holiness and sources of destruction…

these are not either/or characters.

Perhaps the essential piece to the parable is recognizing that God is the source of all that we are and all that we have…

that our lives and everything and everyone in them are on loan as a gift! 

If we understand all of life as a gift from God,

then perhaps we may live with humility, grace, and generosity.

It is a difficult task:

joining holiness of life with humility before God.

One way our culture stands in self-righteous judgment of others is through “policing.”

We police language, religion, education, beliefs, political stances.

In our policing of every aspect of life,

            we have created a culture of judgment and fear.

It seems we can no longer even have honest discourse for fear of being attacked,

            whether literally or verbally.

One example of this is the advent of “cancel culture”

            where anyone can decide who can be cancelled.

We no longer even bother to ask the other side of the story…

            or what circumstances might have led to a particular remark or action.

It’s not that the remark or action is not harmful,

            but if we understood the “why” behind it,

we may find some compassion.

We might be able to respond with Grace…

because the bottom line is that we all screw up!

The question is whether we acknowledge our own sinfulness and accept God’s grace.

It is always easier to point out someone else’s sin rather than acknowledge our own.

But, I suggest that we do not remain in relationship with people based on their (or our) perfect behavior;

we remain in relationship through love and forgiveness.

When we point fingers and “cancel” someone…

            we are negating the life of a human being…

                        a beloved child of God…

       cutting them off from work, relationships, family, even church.

If we remained in relationships based on perfect behavior,

            I think we’d all be standing alone.

As righteous as we try to be,

            we will fail.

Justification by God –

God’s Grace –

                        frees us from fear and insecurity and despair…

       and allows us to embrace ourselves and one another with God’s abiding love.

Every week as we come to this Holy banquet Table

we offer up our hands to receive a gift from God…

a gift of bread and wine,

the Body and Blood of Christ,

    who offers us inclusion, forgiveness, and renewal of life.

Next week we will come back again

and confess where we have fallen short this week

and beg for God’s mercy. 

And we will once again receive God’s gift of sustenance for our journeys.

Two men went up to the temple to pray…

            one went down to his home justified rather than the other; for…

                        all who humble themselves will be exalted.

So, my friends, let us love one another,

            let us love our neighbor,

                        let us love ourselves…

      for God first loves us and loves us to the very end.

Amen.