"Who can be right enough"

"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself:" God, I thank you that I am not like all other men." But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalt himself will be humbled, and he who humbled himself will be exalted. '" Luke 18:9-14

Paul Tillich, commenting on the Apostle Paul's assertion that the gospel is a stumbling block, once said that the danger is stumbling over the wrong thing there is something similar occuring in today's reading, so well want to take our interpretive steps with care. Most of us would like tax collector. But frankly, we may be more like the Pharisee a good, solid citizen who does things above the religious call of duty and would never consider himself capable of grossing sinning.

Its difficult to avoid interpreting the parable in straight forward, even simplistic terms, in part because the dramatic action of this parable is so very predictable even to those with only limited knowledge of the story of Jesus' life. Knowing that Pharisee are regularly cast in the gospel as Jesus ' opposition, we all to easily judge the Pharisee to be a self-righteous hypocrite and assume that the moral of this story is to be humble. There is a good reason for this straight forward interpretation, as Luke seems, to frame the parable in just these terms. The difficulty with such an interpretive back however, is that we might as well end up preaching. "Lord, we thank you that we are not like other people! Hypocrite overly pious, self righteous, or even like that Pharisee. We come to church each week, listen attentively to the scripture, and we have learned that we should always be humble."

In order to avoid the kind of self congratulatory reading of the parable that the parable itself would seem to condemn, it may help to note that, in fact, everything the Pharisee say is true. He has set himself apart from others by his faithful adherence to the law. He is the standards both Luke and Jesus seem to employ, righteously see (Luke 15:7). So before we judge him too quickly, we might reframe his prayer slightly and wonder if we have uttered it ourselves. Maybe we haven't said, "Lord, I thank you that i am not like other people.. '' but what about, on seeing someone down on his luck," there but for the grace of God go I"? It isn't that the Pharisee misses the true nature of his blessing. As Luke states in his introductory sentence, he has trusted in himself. His prayer of gratitudes maybe spoken to the Lord, but it is really about himself. He locates his rigjteousness entirely in his own actions and being.

The Tax collector, on the other hand, knows that he possess no means by which to claim righteousness. He has done nothing merit, indeed, he has to do  much to offend the Law of Israel. For this reason he stands back, hardly daring approach the temple, and throws himself on the mercy of the Lord.

Here is the essential contrast. One takes a claim to righteousness based on his own accomplishment, while the other relies entirely upon the Lord's benevolence. Rather than be grateful for his despising others. In his mind there are two of people. The righteous and the immoral, and he is grateful that he has placed himself among the righteous.

The Tax collector, on the other hand, isn't so much humble as desperate he is too overwhelmed by his plight to take time to divide humanity into sides. All he recognize is he stand near the temple is his own great need. He therefore stakes his hopes and claim not on anything he has done or deserved but entirely on the mercy of God.

I don't think it's an accident that this account takes places at the temple on the grounds of the temple, you were always intimately aware of who you were, of what status you had, of what you could expect from God there were, at the temple, "insiders" and "outsiders" according to there ruled there was no question of where the Pharisee and Tax collector stood. But when Jesus dies, all this changes as the gospels reports, the curtain in the temple is turn in two (Luke 23:45). Symbolically erasing all division of humanity before God. That act is prefigured here. As God justifies not the favored by temple law, but rather the one standing outside the temple gate, and aware only of his utter need.

This is what makes this parables so hard to preach, indeed what makes this parables a trap. For as soon as we fall from to the temptation to divide humanity into any kind of group. We have aligned ourselves squarely with the pharisee. Whether our division is between who's "in" and who's "out", this parables asserts, you will find God on the other side. Read this way, the parables ultimately escape even it narrative setting and reveals that it is not about self-righteousness and humility any more than it is about a pious pharisee and desperate Tax collector. Rather,  this parables is about God. God who alone can judge the human heart. God who determine is to justify the ungodly at the end of this storm, the Pharisee will leave the temple and return to his home. Righteous this hasn't changed. He was righteous when he came up and righteous when he came up and righteous as he goes back down. The Tax Collector. However, will leave the temple and go back down to his home justified, that is accounted righteous by the Holy one of Israel. How does this happen? The Tax Collector makes neither sacrifice nor restitution on what basis, then, is he named as righteous? On the basis of God's divine fiat and ordinance! This parable is therefore preached well only to the degree that each time we try to interpret it. We find ourselves, yet again, with nothing to claim but our dependence on God's mercy. When this happened and we forget, if only for a moment our human-constructed division, and stand before God, and invited to return to our home in mercy, grace, and gratitude.

Still convinced you are most like the repentance tax collector?  Then try the test of the words from Luke 18. Are you confident of your own righteousness? Do you compare yourself with others to see if you're closer to the top? Do you, like the Pharisee, spends most of your prayer time petitioning God about yourself?, If you answer yes to any of these questions, then it's time to swallow the Lord's prescription : Humble yourself.