Sermon - October 24, 2010
Year C - The Year of Luke - Pentecost 22
Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22; Psalm 84:1-6; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14

In our gospel for today, we hear the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Through a parable, Jesus presents us with the meaning of sin, forgiveness, and self-righteousness. Two men, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector, go up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee stands by himself and he is quite impressed with who he is. 

We often think of Pharisee as the bad guy in this story; however, this is not fair. We need to remember that there were many good things about the Pharisees. Many of their beliefs were actually very similar to Jesus'. Furthermore, they were some of society’s most responsible people. They were dependable, honest, upright, and contributors to the community. Frankly, there were many things to admire about Pharisees. 

The Pharisee in today's story is a man at home in the temple. He says his prayers. He gives more than he has to. Although the tithe on income was standard, he tithes on everything he has, and many people would have benefited from his generosity. However, like many humans, they were stuck. In other words, they were stuck on themselves; they were stuck in their way of thinking; they were assured that they and they alone were in God's favor.

The Pharisee enters the temple, and he stands in the correct posture for prayer; his arms are raised and his head is lifted. However, notice something – in his prayer, he has nothing to ask of God. Basically, he is giving God a progress report. As far as he can tell, he has it all under control, and he is happy about it: “God I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, unrighteous folks, adulterers, or even like that tax collector over there.”

Meanwhile, standing off at a distance, is the tax collector. He has nothing to show for himself, and he knows it. He earned his living by working for a foreign government collecting taxes from his own people. These taxes in turn would be used to oppress his countrymen further. For years, he has collected high taxes from his Jewish neighbors to give to the Roman government. He gives the Romans their flat rate, and makes his money by charging an excess and keeping it for himself. He is a crook, a traitor, and a sinner. He is guilty and he knows it. 

He keeps his head lowered as he comes into the temple. We do not know why his guilt has the better of him today; Never-the-less, here he is in the temple, full of remorse, beating his breast and saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” He does not bargain with God. He does not try to flatter God. All he does is ask for God’s mercy.

The surprise ending of the story is that the Pharisee, who gives a wonderful performance in the temple, goes home empty. He came asking nothing of God and he goes home getting nothing from God. The tax collector, despicable fellow that he is, shows up empty-handed asking for God’s mercy, and goes home justified, that is, in right relationship with God.

We may hear this parable as a lesson on humility: do not be proud like the Pharisee; go home and be humble like the tax collector. Well, humility is a virtue. However, there can also be a trap when it comes to being humble.

We can be proud of the fact that we are not proud. In other words, we can be proud of our humility. We can look down on others because they are not as humble as we are. We take a parable about confession, and God’s amazing forgiveness, and turn it into a story about how we can earn or merit God’s love through our humility. 

We think we have the answer. If we can just be humble like the tax collector, and not be puffed up with pride like the Pharisee, then God will accept us and love us. We may even find ourselves praying, “God, I thank you that I am not like the Pharisee.” 

The trap here is that we ask the wrong question of this parable. We are asking the question “What can I do to be worthy of God's love?” When the more useful question might be, "Who is this God that he so freely forgives a sinner such as me?" 

The Pharisee in the parable thinks he has the answer in his righteous observance. He fasts. He prays. He tithes. He lives an upright life. The tragedy is that he is cutting himself off from his neighbors and from God. In fact, he sees no need of God in his life, because he comes to the temple not to ask anything of God, but to essentially brag to God. Thus, he leaves the temple with nothing.

The tragedy of trying to make ourselves worthy of love through our supposed virtues, even the virtue of humility, is that we end up casting a sideward glance at others and measuring ourselves against them. If I need to earn God’s love, then I will have to be better than the other person is. However, the truth is that in the fire of God’s love even our supposed virtues are burned away. They are exposed as being nothing when compared to God who made the heavens and the earth.

However, if we ask questions such as, “Who is this God? Do you forgive me? Do you love me,” then the parable gives us an answer. To the question, “Do you love me?” God replies resoundingly, “Yes.” 

The tax collector’s humility was not a virtue that earned him God’s love and acceptance. The tax collector’s humility is a posture of openness in which he is able to receive God’s love. He came to the temple empty, but went home filled.

Ultimately, the Pharisee and the tax collector are the same. They both are sinners. They both need God’s love. The difference is that the Pharisee does not know it and the tax collector does. The tax collector goes up to the temple with nothing to show for himself. His hands and his heart are empty and he knows it. Therefore, he has room to experience the gospel and the good news, which tells us, “There is nothing we can do to earn the grace and love of God.” 

The love that moves the sun and the other stars, the love that created and sustains the cosmos is always uttering its eternal “Yes” to our question and confession, “Do you love me? Do you forgive me?” 

Confession is to open ourselves to God's love for we cannot earn it. Everything else we tell ourselves is a veil before our eyes. All self-flattery, self-importance and self-righteousness ends in the presence of God. When we stop reciting our resumes in the temple, the incarnate God meets us, saying, "I know who you are; I forgive your sins. I know your emptiness, and I will fill it with forgiveness so that you also may go home justified. Amen.