A friend of mine told me several weeks
ago that he was grateful for the wonderful voice God gave him; and he
was justly proud of how he had honed that voice, taken instruction in
how to use it, and when he sang, he felt like he was giving glory to
God. I know a brilliant scientist who loves to uncover the mysteries
of nature, and is grateful not only for his mind but for all the
opportunities he's had down through the years to use his mind.
So what's the matter with our Pharisee
today? After all, he makes it a point to obey every law given by
Moses; while we might think some of those laws are pointless, like
not eating milk and meat at the same meal, there were many other laws
which had to do with charity, with studying the scriptures, with
treating your family right – and of course trying to live in such a
way as to recognize God is all in all. Most of the Pharisees were
really good people. And our Pharisee is probably similar; after all,
he tithes, he fasts, and he prays – the three pillars on which we
build our relationship to God. So what's with the Pharisee?
And the tax collector. He probably is
a sinner, really, and certainly in the eyes of the Jewish
authorities. He has sold out his people to work for the Romans. At
tax collecting time, he turned over the amount demanded of his
region, and then, with the help of Roman soldiers, he went and told
everyone how much they owed. He is the one who tells the Roman
soldiers that the shopkeeper over there didn't pay his fair share of
taxes, and the next thing you know the shopkeeper is minus a shop and
maybe thrown in jail. He probably thinks he is so far gone that
little things like avoiding pork and shellfish don't hardly matter.
And he has to deal with people who aren't Jews; he's got to rifle
through the wagon loads of pagans and Samaritans who bring their
goods to the city to sell. He's the tax man, and that meant getting
dirty.
The tax collector isn't just someone
who lives at the edge of proper society; he is the one who everyone
knows is chronically dishonest; that's why they had such a bad
reputation.
But here's the thing. The Pharisee
makes a statement that just isn't true. “I thank you. God, that I
am not like the rest of men, not even like this tax collector over
here. I am pretty special, and I've worked hard to get where I am.
And the tax collector makes a
statement that is completely true, of him, of you, of I, and of the
Pharisee; “I am a sinner and I need mercy”.
Now there is kind of a cosmic rule
going on here. It isn't that God hates the pharisee and loves the
tax collector. He loves them both, as much as he can and that is
with infinite love. He wants to be united with each of them; he
wants the intimacy of the creator with the creature, the whole reason
he became man and died on the cross in the first place.
But for the pharisee, there is no room
for God; he denies being like the rest of men; he is the reason for
his own goodness, and while he thanks God for this, he is thanking
God for what he chooses to do. And the tax collector; he realizes
that he's really running on fumes; when he thinks about his life, it
seems as though he is hardly up in the morning before he starts to
violate God's laws; and by evening all he can do is shake his head
and weep. The tax collector is empty, and only in an empty vessel
can God make his home. That's what the Tax collector is asking;
that's what is meant by mercy – to be given a good thing that we
don't deserve.
I think a lot of us are Pharisees; I
know that I am. All the things I'm proud of I can say that God had a
hand in all these things, but didn't I cooperate with his grace? And
don't I still try to live every day according to his Laws? But
that's the big mistake; I focus on the good things and I try to
ignore that I am a sinner; that every day I miss the mark; I get
distracted in my prayers, I get a little short tempered sometimes, I
put off things that I should do, I waste too much time – on the
computer, on Netflix. But when I go to bed at night I look back on
what I did right, not where I went wrong. And that's the entire
wrong attitude; I am leaving no room for God's mercy.
Today I think we all need to look at
our relationship with God. Are we busy building up treasure in
heaven? And we should be, by the way. But if we are, it's only
because God works through us, not because of anything that originates
from us. As Saint James said, “Every good and perfect gift is from
above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights....”
The Pharisee was a good man, and did
good things. But he thought he was doing God a favor. He thought
that because of his actions God owed him something. He was thankful
that he had avoided serious sins in his life. Instead of
concentrating on what he still needed to do, where he still needed to
grow, he focused on his spiritual successes.
The tax collector might have been able
to name a few good things also, but instead he looked at where he had
failed, where he had missed the mark. And that is the position from
which progress can be made, with God's help. Saint Theresa of Avila
said, “It is true that we can never be free from sin, but at least
let our sins not always be the same.”
It is very hard for you and I to look
at ourselves and realize, truly know, that we are sinners. It is
hard to know deep in our hearts that our only hope is God's mercy.
We may say the words, but unless we can point out each day where we
could have done better, where we missed the mark in doing God's will,
where we have failed, we have no room for allowing God to rule our
lives. And that's what Jesus is talking about when he says, “For
those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble
themselves will be exalted.”
