Proper 25:
Joel 2:23–32
Psalm 65
II Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18
Luke 18:9–14
Joel 2:23–32
Psalm 65
II Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18
Luke 18:9–14
(A homily by Fr. Gene
Tucker, given at St. Thomas, Salem,
Illinois, on Saturday, October 26; and at St. John's,Centralia, and
Trinity, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, October 27, 2013. Homily text: Luke 18:9–14)
I am
constantly amazed at the great buildings that human beings have created over
the years, and especially those that were built in ages past when just about
all of the work was done by hand.
For
example, consider the Temple mount in Jerusalem, whose construction began under
King Herod the Great in about 20 BC. The
level platform that the Temple itself stood upon still exists today (although
the Temple itself was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD). It is huge!
Its walls stand many, many feet higher than the surrounding landscape,
and some of the stones in those walls weigh 20 tons. All of this stands on a foundation that has
supported everything above it for nearly 2,000 years now.
Those who
created this enormous structure surely did their homework when the business of
establishing a solid foundation for everything that would be built above it is
concerned. Maybe some of those who
worked so hard on the Temple may have thought that it might be OK to skimp a
little on the digging that was required to get to some solid ground. After all, perhaps they thought that, since
the foundation itself would be covered over, they could cut corners here and
there. No one would see it anyway. But, as we know well, a faulty foundation
will reveal itself, sooner or later.
Having a
good foundation is at the heart of today’s gospel reading, the Parable of the
Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
Luke alone
passes along Jesus’ teaching to us. Luke
delights in providing us with situations in which the unexpected happens, with
situations in which the high and the mighty are brought low, situations in
which the little guy comes out the winner.
The
Pharisee in today’s tale has built his spiritual house on a solid foundation,
at least by all outward appearances.
Notice that the Pharisee trumpets his accomplishments….He uses the
personal pronoun “I” five times. He
fasts twice a week, and gives a tithe (10%) of all that he gets. Both actions go above-and-beyond the
requirements of the Law of Moses.
By the
standards of his day, the Pharisee is doing very well…he is keeping the Law,
but is so careful to build his relationship with God that he takes additional
and extra steps to ensure his standing under the Law.
Moreover,
as the Pharisee stands in the Temple, he is careful to stay away from anyone
who was unclean, and who might cause him to become unclean, as well….people
like the tax collector, who was unclean by the judgments of the Pharisees and
others, were to be avoided.
But as we
turn to the tax collector, we cannot help but think that he has no foundation
at all upon which to relate to God.
Perhaps the Pharisees would want to have him – and his ilk – banned from
the Temple’s precincts altogether. By
the estimation of those who were considered to be holy and righteous – people
like the Pharisees – this tax collector is a sinner, pure and simple. And, it should be added, the Pharisees and
their allies most likely felt that tax collectors would always be sinners, with
no hope of ever being able to change.
The stains of their sins were so deep that no cleansing agent could ever
restore their purity.
Now,
however, the business of true
self-awareness comes into play.
The
Pharisee seems to be quite self-aware. His
awareness looks good, like a wall that stands for awhile, but which eventually
shows the faults in the foundation that lies beneath. The Pharisee is aware of his own outward
appearance, the way that his deeds look to others. And perhaps that is the reason that Jesus often
castigates the Pharisees, because much of what they did was calculated to draw
attention to themselves, and to create a good-looking show. Jesus’ words are harsh when they are applied
to the Pharisees and their allies….He says that “They do all their deeds to be
seen by others,” (Matthew 23: 7) and that they “Are like whitewashed tombs,
which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones and
all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23: 27)
So it seems
like the Pharisee has been building and building, but has skimped on the hard
work of laying a solid foundation for his relationship with God.
By
contrast, the tax collector is doing the hard work of digging to get at the
heart of things…he does not even lift up his eyes toward heaven (notice the
contrast between the body language of the tax collector and the Pharisee), but
beats his chest and cries out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
With this
prayer, the tax collector arrives at the bedrock of a relationship with
God: It always begins with the
confession of our true spiritual state….we are all sinners in God’s sight.
Once we
have arrived at this point, acknowledging before God what God already knows
about us, then God can begin the building process. Notice that God will do the building….anything
we might try to erect ourselves will have a faulty underpinning, which is, of
course, the Pharisee’s problem exactly.
Acknowledging
our true spiritual condition, absent God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness, allows
us to take no pride in our own accomplishments.
It does allow us, however, to see that we have the same spiritual
condition with everyone else, for they, too, are all sinners as well.
So, as God
has had mercy on us, we can, in turn, have compassion for others, as well. It allows us to live out the phrase in the
Lord’s Prayer which says, “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those
who trespass against us.”
AMEN.
