30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 18:9-14
AN OLD FAMILIAR STORY, THIS GOSPEL. THE PHARISEE SEEMS PROUD, DISDAINFUL OF HIS FELLOW MAN, AND THINKS HE HAS IT MADE. THE TAX COLLECTOR, WHO RECOGNIZES THAT HE IS SINFUL, IS JUSTIFIED. THERE IS OBVIOUSLY A LESSON HERE FOR US ALL.
BUT MAYBE THE LESSON ISN'T SO OBVIOUS. BECAUSE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE STORY CAREFULLY, THE PHARISEE IS SPEAKING TO GOD. AND WHAT HE IS SAYING IS “I'VE GONE OUT OF MY WAY TO FOLLOW YOUR LAW, AND I THANK YOU THAT YOU'VE GIVEN ME THE GRACE NOT TO BE A SINNER, NOT TO BE LIKE THAT TAX COLLECTOR OVER THERE.” WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIS PRAYER?
AND TAX COLLECTORS IN JESUS' TIME WERE NOTORIOUS; THEY WERE CONSIDERED SINNERS BECAUSE THEY WORKED FOR THE ROMANS, AND THEY FREQUENTLY MADE THEIR LIVES A LITTLE MORE COMFORTABLE BY TAKING MORE THAN THEY WERE ENTITLED TO FROM WHAT THEY COLLECTED. A LOT OF THEM WERE THIEVES. SO WHEN THE TAX COLLECTOR SAYS, “HAVE MERCY ON ME, A SINNER,” THAT IS ALL WELL AND GOOD, BUT TOTALLY APPROPRIATE. WE CAN SEE WHY HE IS JUSTIFIED, BECAUSE GOD IS MERCIFUL AND FORGIVES SINS. BUT SHOULDN'T GOD BE EVEN MORE MERCIFUL TO THE PHARISEE, WHO SPENDS HIS WAKING HOURS TRYING TO LIVE ACCORDING TO GOD'S LAW?
PERHAPS WE NEED TO SEE WHERE GOD IS IN THIS PICTURE.
WHAT DOES GOD WANT? OUR HAPPINESS. THAT'S IT, HE DOESN'T NEED ANYTHING FROM US, REALLY. IN ONE PLACE HE SAYS, I DESIRE MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE. BUT HE ONLY WANTS MERCY BECAUSE IF WE ARE MERCIFUL TO EACH OTHER, THOSE GIVING AND RECEIVING MERCY WILL BE HAPPIER. AND THE PHARISEE IS NOT HAPPY. HE MAY BE PROUD, HE MAY BE SATISFIED, HE MAY TAKE SOME PLEASURE IN HIS METICULOUS CARE TO FOLLOW THE LAW, BUT THINK OF HOW IT MUST BE FOR HIM. EVERY WAKING MOMENT HE IS ON GUARD. WHAT IF HE DRINKS FROM A CUP THAT A SINNER HANDLED? WHAT IF HIS WIFE ACCIDENTALLY GETS THE MEAT PLATES MIXED UP WITH THE MILK PLATES? WHAT IF ON THE SABBATH HE WALKS MORE THAN THE PRESCRIBED DISTANCE, AND THUS DOES “WORK” IN THE NARROW TECHNICAL DEFINITION. IT WAS HARD BEING A PHARISEE, AND IT IS HARD FOR SOME OF US TO BE WHAT WE THINK WE MUST BE. BECAUSE THE PROBLEM THE PHARISEE HAD, AND THE PROBLEM MANY OF US HAVE, IS THAT WE THINK WE CAN SAVE OURSELVES. AND WE CAN'T. WE CAN'T SAVE OURSELVES BY GIVING EVERYTHING WE HAVE TO THE POOR, BY ENTERING A MONASTERY AND SPENDING OUR LIVES IN PRAYER; WE CAN'T EVEN SAVE OURSELVES BY NEVER COMMITTING SIN. SO THE PHARISEE, WHOM GOD WANTS TO BE HAPPY, IS NOT ALLOWING GOD TO GIVE HIM THAT HAPPINESS THAT COMES FROM LETTING GO, THAT COMES FROM RECOGNIZING THAT GOD HAS ALREADY SAVED US, THAT COMES FROM KNOWING THAT WE ARE UNCONDITIONALLY LOVED.
THE TAX COLLECTOR, ON THE OTHER HAND, RECOGNIZES THAT HE IS EMPTY. HE IS A SINNER. SIN IS THE ABSENCE OF GOOD, AND BEING A SINNER MEANS HAVING A GAPING HOLE IN OUR BEINGS, BECAUSE WE ARE MADE FOR GOOD, WE ARE MADE TO BE FILLED UP BY GOD. THE FIRST STEP IN ACHIEVING TRUE HAPPINESS, IS TO RECOGNIZE THIS FACT ABOUT OURSELVES. THINK ABOUT IT. WHEN WE HEAR SOMEONE LIKE MOTHER THERESA OR POPE BENEDICT SAY THEY ARE SINNERS, WE THINK THEY ARE BEING HUMBLE. AFTER ALL, THEY DO SO MUCH MORE, THEY PRAY SO MUCH MORE, THEY HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES TO GOD. BUT THE FACT IS THAT ALL MEN AND WOMEN ARE SINNERS, ALL MEN AND WOMEN IN THEIR NATURAL FALLEN STATE CAN'T REALLY BE OR DO GOOD. ST. PAUL EXPRESSED HIS FRUSTRATION THAT EVEN WHEN HE WANTED TO DO GOOD HE ENDED UP DOING WHAT HE DID NOT WANT TO. AFTER RECOGNIZING HIS EMPTINESS, THE TAX COLLECTOR ASKS FOR MERCY. PART OF THAT PETITION IS EXACTLY WHAT WE THINK OF IT – A PLEA NOT TO HAVE WHAT WE REALLY DESERVE FOR OUR SINS; BUT PART OF IT HAS TO DO WITH THE GOODNESS WE CAN ONLY RECEIVE FROM GOD. THE TAX COLLECTOR SAYS, IN EFFECT, I AM EMPTY, FILL ME UP WITH YOURSELF, YOU WHO ARE THE COMPLETE GOOD, YOU WHO ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FILL MY EMPTINESS. THE TAX COLLECTOR RECOGNIZES THAT HE CAN'T SAVE HIMSELF, THAT HE CAN'T EVEN PLAN THE NEXT HOUR OF HIS LIFE. AND THAT FREES HIM.
THE WONDERFUL FREEDOM OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD IS THE FREEDOM OF KNOWING THAT GOD HAS DONE ALL THE WORK. IN JESUS AND THROUGH HIS BLOOD WE ARE REDEEMED, OUR SINS FORGIVEN, AS ST. PAUL PROCLAIMS IN HIS LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS. ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS ALLOW GOD TO WORK IN US.
SO THE REAL STORY HERE IS NOT THAT THE PHARISEE IS PROUD AND THE TAX COLLECTOR HUMBLE. THERE HAVE BEEN PROUD, STUCK UP SAINTS. IT IS NOT THAT THE PHARISEE DOESN'T KNOW HE IS IMPERFECT AND NEEDS GOD; AFTER ALL, THAT'S WHY HE DOES WHAT HE DOES, BECAUSE HE IS TRYING TO GET GOD TO LOVE HIM.
THE REAL STORY IS THAT GOD LOVES THE PHARISEE AS MUCH AS GOD CAN, BUT THE PHARISEE WON'T ALLOW GOD TO WORK IN HIS LIFE; WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, DESPITE HIS LIFE OF ATTEMPTING TO PLEASE GOD, HE PUTS HIMSELF IN THE CENTER OF HIS LIFE, AND GOD IS JUST ANOTHER FACTOR TO BE CONSIDERED. AND GOD LOVES THE TAX COLLECTOR AS MUCH AS GOD CAN, AND THE TAX COLLECTOR STEPS ASIDE AND ALLOWS GOD TO BE THE CENTER OF HIS LIFE. AND HE IS JUSTIFIED, HE IS THE ONE GOD CAN BEGIN TO TRANSFORM, TO WORK THROUGH.
IN THIS SHORT STORY, THE PHARISEE COMES OFF AS A BAD PERSON. BUT THERE IS SOME PHARISEE IN EACH OF US. IT'S IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT WHETHER GOD IS FIRST IN OUR LIVES, OR WE ARE; IT IS IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT WHETHER WE CAN STAND BEFORE GOD AND TRULY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE SINNERS, AND ASK THAT HE FILL US UP WITH HIMSELF.