Proper 25C – George Yandell
The verses from Joel for today begin by calling on God’s people to “be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God”, because their fortunes had been reversed after the widespread destruction of the locusts. The rains have returned, the harvests will be plentiful, and the people shall once again have enough to eat. They are to praise the Lord their God, who dwells among them, for they “shall never again be put to shame”.
Joel proclaims a glorious future in which God’s Spirit will be poured out on all people, no matter their age, gender, or social status. God will be revealed through prophecy, dreams, and visions. At Pentecost, Peter quotes these words of Joel (Acts 2:17-21) in his call to faith and salvation at the coming of the Holy Spirit. (Adapted from “Synthesis: A Weekly Resource for Preaching”, October issue.)
Today’s Gospel parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is addressed to “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt”. This parable is unique to Luke and provides a further example of Luke’s teachings on prayer and Divine reversals. It suggests that the prophecy of Joel is not being realized in the time of Jesus. The people are not all receptive to the Holy Spirit and they are not united in working God’s program.
Jesus presents two sharply contrasting main characters. The Pharisee was a person of elite status, education, and respectability who knew and meticulously followed Mosaic Law. He would have been held up as a model citizen. (Adapted from “Synthesis: A Weekly Resource for Preaching”, October issue.)
The term Pharisee comes from the Greek word ‘pharisaios’, which in turn comes from Aramaic ‘perishayya’ meaning ‘the separated one.’ In Jesus’s day, the term Pharisee was interpreted different ways: it meant one who had withdrawn from sin by rigorous observance of the Law. Or it could have referred to one who has become set apart through observing what is good in the law- and it could have referred to Jews who had withdrawn from the popular political uprisings of Jewish militants against Roman occupation and extortion.
At the opposite end of the social spectrum was the tax collector. In first century Palestine, the responsibility of collecting Roman taxes was often contracted out to both Gentile and Jewish agents who could charge any tax rate they wished as long as the government received its due. By keeping the difference, tax collectors could become quite wealthy. (ibid)
Since many devout Jews regarded the paying of any tax to a foreign power as treason against God, any Jew participating in and profiteering from this system was considered a collaborator and a traitor. For this reason, a tax collector was counted among the worst of sinners and was banned from Jewish social and religious life. (ibid)
In the first two instances, knowledge & performance of traditional religious obligations set the person apart. Jesus condemned the practice of tying one’s quest for God to observing the law. He frequently dined with Pharisees, and may have been raised a Pharisee. But he disputed with those whose relations with God were founded only in pietistic actions of legal accountability. Jesus knew that strict religiosity could become an end in itself, and keep one separated from God as well as separated from unholy people.
The 18th Century English poet Robert Smithy must have been thinking of the tax collector when he wrote this poem:
Lord! Who are merciful as well as just, incline thine ear to me, a child of dust!
Not what I would, Lord, I offer thee, alas but what I can.
Father Almighty, who hast made me man, and bade me look to heaven, for thou art there,
Accept my sacrifice and humble prayer.
Four things which are not in thy treasury I lay before thee, Lord, with this petition:
My nothingness, my wants, my sins, and my contrition.
Thomas Merton wrote: “Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.”
Madeleine L’Engle says in A Circle of Quiet: “The moment that humility becomes self-conscious, it becomes [pride]. One cannot be humble and aware of oneself at the same time. Therefore, the act of creating- painting a picture, singing a song, writing a story- is a humble act…Humility is throwing oneself away in complete concentration on something or someone else.”
The figure of [pride-fullness] in today’s parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector illustrates this simple point. When one’s focus is “all about me” it is impossible to [live in] true humility. If constantly thinking about oneself and one’s “humility” immediately cancels the good, how might the virtue of humility be approached? If we cannot judge our own humility, how can we develop this trait?”
When we do not allow ourselves to “get in the way” and are concentrating on a task by “throwing ourselves away,” it can bring us closer to God and others. Prayer and meditation also qualify as “creative acts” that involve throwing ourselves away, forgetting ourselves, and abandoning ourselves to God. The other tasks of “making” and “creating” in our lives teach us about the qualities of true prayer. What we can offer God is both the Pharisee and the publican within us. We are both at once- both our pretense and our sins separate us from God. As Jesus proclaimed, “all who humble themselves are exalted.” Exaltation then is a flow, a yielding to God in every moment. It means God knows us, embraces us, and intends that we enter the work of the Holy Spirit as love is poured out on all people, no matter their age, gender, or social status. God is revealed even now through our dreams and visions. Enter the flow- God is creating us anew in each moment as we concentrate on others and lose ourselves in the life of the Holy Spirit.