"Attitude"
Sermon Presented October 28, 2007
Luke 18:9-14
In the October 16th issue of Christian Century, there was an article by A. J. Jacobs, a young man raised in a secular Jewish household and calling himself an agnostic. As an experiment, he decided to find the original intent of the biblical teaching and then live for a year obeying as many of the laws of the Hebrew Scripture as possible. If the passage was unquestionably figurative, he wouldn't obey it literally, but if there was a doubt, he would err on the side of being literal.
He struggled to tell the truth, realizing that he really did lie a lot! When he read admonitions to stone one who breaks the Sabbath or commits adultery, he tossed small pebbles at a man he saw at work on both Saturday and Sunday, and dropped pebbles on the shoes of a man who told him he had committed adultery. He began to pray on a regular basis - prayers of thanksgiving being the easiest for him to master. The more he prayed, the better he felt.
Not joining in the office gossip turned out to be a killer! He couldn't even discuss the boozy actress or the celebrity who was about to ditch his wife for a younger woman. He decided that if he wanted to be biblically safe, he needed to ditch negative language completely. When he began obeying the proverbs, he became sleep-deprived. He had real trouble loving his neighbor.
About a fourth of the way through the year - Day 91 - he realized that he was becoming a religious idiot. He thought of the story in the Talmud of a devout man who wouldn't save a drowning woman because he was afraid of breaking the no-touching-women ban. This was the ultimate pious fool!
One reason he embarked on the experiment was to take legalism to its logical extreme and show that it leads to righteous idiocy. What better way to demonstrate the absurdity of Jewish and Christian fundamentalism? However, as with everything involving religion, his project became much more complicated than he intended. His project became a spiritual journey. (Pp. 24-33)
Our parable this morning, told by Jesus, concerns how to pray. The two characters in the story are a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee in Luke's gospel isn't the "bad guy" that Matthew makes him out to be, but is a religious leader that mirrors Jesus' own background. He's the good guy! He obeys the religious laws! The tax collector is the "bad guy". He's wealthy because he collaborates with the Romans against the Jews. As with most parables, the ending shocks Jesus' audience. Hear the story from Luke 18:9-14.
Let's look at the two actors in this drama. Both come to the temple to pray! One is a religious leader and the other a tax collector despised by the religious establishment. Both pray audibly. The Pharisee reminds God of his "goodness" just in case God has forgotten, and even compares himself favorably to the man praying next to him. He thanks God that his life isn't lived in pursuit of evil but in the spiritual disciplines of fasting and tithing.
The tax collector stands far off - feeling his sinfulness deeply and asking for God's mercy. The shock of the parable is that God justifies the tax collector and condemns the Pharisee. God justifies the humble.
Jesus says that this parable is for those who regard themselves as righteous and look with contempt on those deemed less righteous. It's a parable for religious folk. It's for those who think they're better than those who don't attend church as regularly as they; who don't work as hard as they; who don't give at least 10% of their income to the church; who don't believe the same theology as they; or who happen to have a vice that they don't have. But Jesus isn't just pointing at self-righteous people here. He's pointing at self-righteous people who have contempt for those who fail to measure up to their standards. It's a parable about attitude: a righteous attitude toward self and contempt for others. It's for those who are trying to work out their own salvation and believe they are doing a pretty good job of it.
In this parable, Jesus gives us two models for prayer - one acceptable and one unacceptable. The punch line must have been a real shocker! Why, if there's anyone who isn't justified, it must be the tax collector! He cheats people when he collects their taxes. His prayer may be right, but his life isn't!
As for the Pharisee, his life is exemplary. His obedience to the law is above reproach. He strikes us as arrogant, but let's face it; he's the one we want as a church member. He pays the bills, is present every Sunday, and does everything asked of him. However, when he thanks God that he's not like the tax collector, he moves from gratitude to judgmentalism. His attitude is contemptuous of the one praying next to him. We can't be right with God and have contempt for others. We can't be right with God when we use "us-them" language, and most of us are guilty of that! "I don't want to be associated with those liberals, conservatives, Pentecostals, Muslims, or Fundamentalists." When we lose sight of our own sins, we begin to focus on others and we say: "Well, thank God, I'm not like that!"
Many people use us - the religious folk - as an excuse
for not coming to church. "I live a better life than they! Why
do I need church?" They look at us and compare themselves favorably.
We can all find someone to compare ourselves to who will make us look
good in our own eyes, and we avoid facing our own sins. The tax collector
didn't look at the Pharisee and make excuses; he felt the weight of
his sins and asked God for mercy.
When we have the attitude that we are above reproach - or at least better
than another - we are set for a fall.
When we have the attitude that we are righteous and another is unrighteous, our judgmentalism is evident. When we are open to see our own sins, we are open to spiritual growth. When the agnostic Jew was open to a year of religious legalism - intent on showing the absurdity of fundamentalism, he found God because he learned to pray humbly!
Moral superiority causes family conflict and diminishes our witness at work and in the neighborhood. And yet, we can't seem to help comparing ourselves to others. "I'm surely a better Christian, a better preacher, a better church member, a better deacon, a better giver, a better parent, a better neighbor than _____", you fill in the blank. When we make these comparisons, we choose our strengths and their weaknesses! And if we aren't careful, we look on the other with contempt!
Jesus says through this parable that we are justified before God when we admit that we sin and ask for God's mercy. We are justified when we recognize that we need God. Both men came to the temple to pray. One sought God and the other told God how righteous he was.
When we come to worship, do we come with empty hands - as people who need mercy? Are we able to maintain a healthy self-image without prideful self-righteousness? The answers to these questions won't come easily, but are ones we need to ponder!
The Pharisee is a good man. He does all of the things good religious people do. The tax collector isn't good, but he is under conviction and his prayer reflects that. He calls out to God for mercy, while the Pharisee recounts his virtue.
On Wednesday nights, we have studied two books by Philip Yancey. In an on-line interview in response to the question: "What does a spiritually healthy person look like, in your opinion?" Yancey said: "She or he is someone utterly convinced that this is God's world, and is here to explore and to reach out and try to represent God and be God's hands in this world. Of course that means caring for the needy, but it also means flat out enjoying the great goodness of this world around us….We're not supposed to be cookie cutter, uptight people. We're supposed to be fully alive." When we are uptight, always trying to obey the laws, we become spiritually unhealthy. Spiritually healthy people are humble and concerned about others. Spiritually healthy people aren't afraid to dance in the sanctuary.
Justification by God doesn't mean we need to tearfully move to the front of the church and confess our sins on the 15th verse of Just as I Am - as happened when I was younger. Justification - according to Jesus, means to come into God's presence and the presence of humanity with humility - seeking to be a better person because of our encounter with God. Jesus says that if we are humble before God, God will exalt us.
Our relationship with God has social implications. It's not just between God and us. It's between us and others who may not fit our definition of spirituality. Prayer is the time to open ourselves to God, hoping that God will show us what we need to see. Prayer is a time to humble ourselves and allow God to come to us and change us.
When we don't allow God to probe our hearts, we either justify our actions or we believe we are beyond hope. But when God is involved, God will show us what we need to see - when we need to see it - in a merciful way.
"God be merciful to me a sinner," cries the man who is not at all good but who is offering his own corrupt heart to God. His prayer comes from his need, and it's what God wants to hear. As he humbles himself before God and weeps and beats his breast in sorrow, God comes to him, forgives him and exalts him.
I imagine that most of us have been like both people in the parable. We have been convicted of our sins and have turned in sorrow and humility to God who has forgiven us and cleansed us. And we've also been - or are - like the Pharisee who sees the faults of others but not his own. What will our response to the parable be?
The parable begins: "Two men went up… a Pharisee and a tax collector." The tax collector was justified and the Pharisee was not. Whomever we most relate to right now, let's cry out: "Lord, have mercy!"
