At this time of the year and in this
season, I have become a fan of “fact-checking.” As I was reading the Gospel
this week, a story came to mind. I did a little fact checking at snopes.com and
found this story to be a mixture between truth and fiction.
The story goes like this: There was
a pastor who was going to his mega church with 10,000 members. He showed up to
church and walked around while people were going inside. He asked for food,
change, and sometimes just said “hello.” Out of those 10,000 people, only 7
gave him the time of day…seven. He then went into church and wanted to go down
to the front row. Ushers stopped him, parishioners stopped him and gave him a
seat in the back of the church. When it was time to begin the service, the
leadership, who were in on it, said, “we now introduce our new pastor!” there
was clapping and everyone was excited. The homeless man began walking down the
aisle, then up on the stage, took the mic and began to reveal who he was…the
new pastor.
Imagine the judgement that went into
ignoring that man! Think about it! All those 10,000 people just walking by him,
denying his request for food, change, or not even saying hello. I can almost
hear their voices: “don’t bother me, I am going to church. What a scruffy guy.
He might get my clothes dirty. THANK GOD, I AM NOT LIKE HIM!
This is where our Gospel reading
comes into view and reveals something very telling. We have this Pharisee…this
important person who is in the hierarchy of the religious leaders standing at
prayer. This guy is lifting himself up all over the place! He starts going over
his list of good things that he does. He fasts and he gives of his income. I
might add he is also praying. This Pharisee in the parable is telling God of
the basic things that need to be done in order to be righteous! He has got the
checklist down pretty well, doesn’t he? It would seem so.
His first words are more revealing
than this checklist. Hi first words are, “God, thank you that I am not like
other people.” What a compliment! This Pharisee, and I am not trying to paint
Pharisees as evil, has already assumed that he is on the righteous list! He
thinks he has it all figured out. As long as I am not a thief, rogue, or
adulterer then he has hit the mark! He even pulls the “or even like this tax
collector.” This guy thinks that salvation is now his…he thinks he hit a home
run by doing the fasting, alms giving…and praying. So, he is pretty puffed up.
I am sure he can stick out his chest and walk proud as a peacock.
But Jesus tells us about
this…this…tax collector. He, too, is in the synagogue. He, too, is praying.
Jesus tells us that his head is bowed. He would not look to heaven, beats his
chest saying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” This man is acting quite
different. He is praying for God’s mercy. We know that tax collectors were not
looked upon too favorably. They were considered low-life’s. They took from
people, took a cut for themselves when it came to taxes. They were loathed in
the world.
The tax collector brings himself
before God, humbly. He is not walking around like any kind of proud peacock. He
realizes the nature of who he is by his profession and places himself before
God asking for mercy and not so sure that he is going to get the mercy he is
looking for. Yet, he pleads to God. This tax collector pleads to the only one
who decides righteousness. He pleads to the only one who can offer the mercy he
seeks.
Jesus gives us two examples of what
it means to be a child of God. We have the one example of the person who thinks
that he has checked off all the boxes to attain God’s favor and yet the Son of
God tells us that checking off the right boxes is not enough. He then shows us
the example of the one who comes to the temple and is not sure if he is in
God’s favor. He shows us the person, that we know to be questionable because of
his profession, and lifts this person…this uncertainty, this person who stands
before God humbly, and confesses himself a sinner…a broken person; a person
willing to throw himself before God’s judgement not knowing what to expect as
justified…as worthy of receiving God’s grace.
So, where do we fit on this scale,
if you will? What are our experiences? Well, I do believe there are times when
we make that “Thank God I am not like him or her,” statement. We make
judgements everyday about something, whether it is good or bad, right or wrong.
I would even venture to say that we all make a decision that serves our own
best interest on any given day. We make judgements about how someone dresses,
acts, talks, eats, haircuts, piercings, and the list goes on.
We can even make judgements about
worship, faith, and religion. How many times a person attends worship. Is there
religion one of good or evil, are their religious garments acceptable? All
these things and one traits mentioned above cause us to judge a person’s value,
worthiness, and even righteousness. Based on all those things, do we really
want that person in our community, neighborhood, or church?
The truth part of this story from
the beginning was that there have been several pastors who have been disguised
as homeless and living around their church to gauge reactions. The results
varied between helping to judging and rejecting.
And that is where we get caught in
the trap of judgement. That decision of righteousness is not ours to make. It
is not up to us to decide who is in and who is out. Jesus tells us that it is
God and only God who makes that call…NOT US! Through this parable Jesus shows
us what it means to be a child of God. It is not about checking off boxes,
showing up to make sure you meet what you believe are the expectations of being
righteous.
Jesus tells us that it is about not
knowing what our outcome is. Through this tax collector, we see that life as
children of God is walking humbly. Living the life as God’s child is realizing
the brokenness in our own lives and laying it all at Jesus feet at the foot of the
cross! Admitting that we are not worthy of God’s love because of our sinfulness
and hoping, praying, and pleading for God’s mercy to forgive us our sins (as it
says in the Lord’s Prayer).
The
Good News is that God’s mercy comes in the form of Jesus on the cross. Jesus
went to the cross for our sins and NOT out of some propping of himself. Jesus
went to the lowly cross as God’s son to take away the sin of the world! I hope
we all find it humbling that Jesus was hung on a cross…that the Son of God died
for you and me. He died to show us the mercy that God has for us; so, that we
know the length and the breadth of God’s love which can be very humbling!
AMEN!
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