Pharisee or Tax Collector?

Rev. Debbie Cato
Luke 18:9-14
Fairfield Community Church
October 23, 2022

God of Wisdom and Grace, you speak through your Word read and proclaimed. Prepare us now to listen well. Open our ears to your truth. Humble us in your presence so nothing will stand in the way of what you say to us today. Amen.

 

Pharisee or Tax Collector?

 

Jesus loved to tell parables, didn’t he?  Little stories to teach us about the Kingdom of Heaven.  Rather than just telling his disciples and the hundreds and thousands of people that would follow him around how to live; how to treat one another; and how to be in relationship with God, Jesus would give illustrations through parables.  And it’s through these parables that He teaches us as well.

The challenge with the parables Jesus tells is that they are often hard to understand – they certainly left the disciples puzzled often enough.  More times than not, Jesus doesn’t even explain what they mean!  In fact, at one point his disciples ask him, “Why do you speak to us in parables?” And Jesus tells them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.…”  (Mt. 13:10-11)  Even his answer to their question is confusing!

But in today’s parable, Jesus gives us a clue right up front what this parable is about.  This passage begins with the answer:  “Jesus told this parable to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.”   Jesus told this parable to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else. 

 Whew!  I guess we can all relax.  This parable isn’t meant for any of us, is it?!

 Jesus sets the stage.  He says, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”   Now admit it – you already have pre-conceived ideas about this parable based on who these men are?  A Pharisee and a tax collector.  In some ways, I think it’s unfortunate that Jesus chose to use a Pharisee and a tax collector in this parable, but He did. 

 So, let’s set aside our ideas of who a Pharisee and a tax collector are and have an open mind.  Both these men are Jews because they are going to the temple.  They are both pious – they are going to pray.  Would you agree?  These two men are just two Jews going to the temple to pray.  But that’s where the similarities end.  And if you don’t listen carefully, you will miss the point because in typical Jesus’ fashion, he reminds us that appearances can be deceiving! 

The Pharisee is known for having extraordinary piety.  To Jesus’ original listeners, a Pharisee was a highly respected Jew.  A Pharisee loved and honored God.   His religion required him to fast once a week on holy days, but this Pharisee fasts twice a week.  The law required him to give one tenth of certain kinds of his income, but this Pharisee gives one tenth of all his income. This Pharisee goes over and above what is required.  He is a good Jew.  He does not steal or covet; he is not unjust; he does not commit adultery.  His religion is important to him.  He is faithful to God.

Yet, the Pharisee falls into the sin of arrogance and pride because he attempts to elevate himself above others – even God.  When it comes right down to it, the Pharisee is ignorant of his standing with God.  He gives thanks to God that he is better than the thief, the adulterer, or even the tax collector who he sees in the back of the temple praying.  The Pharisee sees his righteousness as a result of his own actions.  He is proud of himself.  He prays about who he is, what he has done, and what he has not done to put himself in good standing with God.  I do this and I do that… I, I, I…..   The Pharisee trusts in himself and in doing so, he justifies himself.  

Now, we need to remember that Jesus original listeners despise tax collectors.  Tax collectors worked for the enemy – the Roman Government.  They collected money for the enemy government.  Tax collectors paid the Roman Empire a set amount for the privilege of gathering whatever they could squeeze and gouge from their neighbors.  They were free to collect that money any way they wanted and anything over and above what was owed to Rome, they kept for themselves.  This was the source of their own wealth.  Far from being seen as humble, they were seen as powerful and unscrupulous.  They were thieves and traitors.

Jesus’ listeners must have been shocked as they listened to His parable.  After all he was telling it to “some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.”   Yet, it’s the tax collector, who genuinely recognizes his offenses and his brokenness.  He is self-mortified in his plea before God.  His prayer is short and simple and heartfelt.   “Standing far off, not even looking up to heaven, the tax collector beats his chest saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”   It is the tax collector who understands that he is so steeped in sin, that he cannot save himself.  He is totally and utterly dependent on God for salvation.  His only hope is to completely trust in God’s mercy.  And it is the tax collector who is justified by God.  Not because of anything he has done – but because he reaches out to God for mercy.  

It’s hard to hear this parable without placing yourself in one role or the other.  Who are you, a Pharisee or a tax collector? 

Which of us hasn’t felt a bit self-satisfied on a Sunday morning?  Coming to church instead of staying home to watch football? 

     Getting up early to worship God rather than stay in bed and get that extra hour of sleep on a Sunday morning. 

Lord, we pray, help that other political party come to their senses and realize your desire for our country is what my political party stands for, not theirs. 

     Heavenly Father, thank you that I’m raising my children not to talk like their children talk or behave like their children behave. 

                   Thank you Lord that I don’t do the things that that person over there does… that I don’t look like that person over there….

     Thank you God that I am saved. 

Lord, I am here in church every Sunday morning and I come to Bible study every week.  I pray regularly.  I pledge faithfully.  I serve on three important church committees.  You fill in the blanks.

For some of us, it is only when we mess up in a big way that we gain the humility of the tax collector.  Those in recovery programs call it “hitting rock bottom.”  Sometimes it takes major mistakes or crises in our lives to help us see our need for God’s grace and forgiveness.  Sometimes it only comes at the end of our life – when we know we are dying.  Only then do we echo the tax collector’s words:  “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

It’s very tempting to trust in ourselves that we are righteous and to view others with contempt.  We can even blame it on “being human.”  We do our duty and confess our sins each Sunday; we put our envelope in the offering plate.  We serve the church and the world in so many ways.  Hooray for us!  Boo for those who don’t follow the rules like we do – those who do work that is detestable; those who live a lifestyle that we don’t agree with; those who should not be allowed to sit in the same pew with us.   

Even if we do not take our judgment to this extreme, (like say it out loud!) it can be hard to avoid looking on some of “them” with contempt when they do not conform to our expected standards of behavior, especially in regard to religious practices. 

We have to remember that the Pharisee is a religious person, a leader among his fellow Jews, a spiritual guide for those who seek to follow God’s law faithfully.  He is careful in his religious observance and generous with his money.  No doubt he is a good person; a religious man.  The problem here is not his religious observance or his piety, but his inability to see and name his dependence on God.  His sin is his reliance on himself.

The question is; who are we depending on?  Ourselves, or God?  I think if we are honest, we all struggle with spiritual pride at times – I know I do.  We forget that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves.  We can never be good enough on our own.  We can never “do” enough good things.  We are all sinners.  The Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians that “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God.”   

 To the horror of Jesus’ audience, God’s amazing mercy goes to the tax collector.  He humbled himself, genuinely acknowledged his sinfulness and his desperate need for God’s mercy.  It is his candor, his simplicity, and his absolute trust in God’s mercy that makes his prayer, a model prayer.  Like the tax collector, we must be willing to stand before God without excuses, without special pleading, without expectations, without a single claim on anything except God’s mercy.

You see, the beauty of this parable is that we are all like both the Pharisee and the tax collector.  Often, we are independent and self-reliant and prideful and give ourselves too much credit.  And, there are times in our lives when all we can do is beat our chests and cry out to God, “Be merciful to me, a sinner!”  And just like both the Pharisee and the tax collector, we are all sinners – every single one of us.

No matter who we are, or how “good” we think we are, we need to remember that just like the tax collector – and just like the Pharisee, we are all steeped in sin.  We must all reach out to God for mercy.  We are all totally and utterly dependent on God for salvation.  Our only hope is to completely trust in God’s mercy.

If a tax collector can find mercy before God, who is excluded?  Praise Be to God!  Amen.