It’s all about looking down on others

Last after Trinity—27 October 2019—Ivinghoe Benefice

Gospel Luke 18

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”

¹³ ‘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.”

¹⁴ ‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’

Sermon

It’s rare for Jesus to explain to whom his parables are directed. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is one example when he does.

Jesus explicitly aims it at those who are confident in their own righteousness, who look down on others.

Which includes me, of course…. As you may have seen, many priests are good at spiritual superiority.

In getting to grips with this parable, we need to forget all we know about the stereotypes of Pharisees and Tax Collectors.

Pharisees

The Pharisees of the first century were not “legalists” who were trying to earn God’s favour. They were a Jewish movement that emphasized the importance of obedience to the law of Moses.

The Pharisees’ attention to things like rituals for cleansing one’s body or one’s cookware was part of a larger effort to encounter God’s holiness in everyday life.

Not only did the Pharisees seek to follow the Law, but they also spent time developing the Torah—the oral body of interpretation of the Law. Even if the Pharisees became arrogant and contemptuous of others—they certainly were not villains, otherwise Jesus would not have spent so much time debating with them.

Tax Collectors

It’s hard to be sure what part the tax collectors played in collecting individual taxes, but we know private citizens were encouraged by the Roman authorities to bid for contracts to collect taxes, and to line their pockets with whatever they could recoup over and above what was properly due.

Forcing people at point of dagger to hand over more than was due did nothing for these men’s social standing—nor did the fact they were prepared to collude with the Romans. But tax collectors were not murderers or anything more than petty scoundrels—otherwise Jesus would not have socialised with them, nor reached out to them as objects for his mercy and compassion.

Justification

Having understood a bit about the Pharisees’ search for holiness and the Tax Collectors’ pursuit of money—we can now turn to look at what was the point of the parable.

The Pharisee gave an account of all he did—with thanks to God for his righteous and holy life. What help did he seek? None. He was not looking for forgiveness. He did not have to ask for mercy, because he did not feel in any need of it. After all, following the Law was what God asked of his chosen people, and that’s exactly what the Pharisee did.

The tax collector on the other hand could not bear to look up to heaven and pray to God. All he managed was “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Yet Jesus says:

¹⁴ ‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’

When the tax collector leaves the temple “justified,” he goes home unburdened. Vindicated. In restored relationship with God.

But when Jesus says, “This man went down to his home justified” we should imagine his words taking his audience’s collective breath away. The tax collector is not the kind of person one might expect to be so easily restored. Beating his breast in sorrow, the man utters a simple request for mercy and confesses his sinfulness. But he does not promise to change. He does not offer to pay back what has extorted nor find another job.

Justification, for the tax collector, comes with simple, real, costly contrition. Forgiveness will almost certainly lead to repentance and reconciliation—but that is for the tax collector to offer.

Contempt

But what follows from the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector is not the full explanation. The Pharisee’s main problem is that his prayer regards the tax collector with such contempt. He assumes his corrupt neighbour has placed himself beyond God’s mercy when in truth he has not. So the message of the parable—for me—is one of contempt not just sin.

The parable exposes the disdain we harbour. What is disdain? It is the manifestation of a belief that we know better than God who should receive mercy and how they should receive it. Disdain is the failed attempt to put ourselves in the place of God. That’s the ultimate sin, and the rationale behind this small but powerful parable Jesus told.

Contrition or Contempt?

Contrition or Contempt. All of us—priests, parishioners, publicans, Pharisees, pastors, politicians, or perpetrators—are capable of either contrition or contempt. Those attitudes express themselves in how we view our neighbours and in what we rely upon to guide our daily lives.

Take the example of the tax collector—he could not bear to look up to heaven and pray to God. All he managed was “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Amen