Musical Prelude and Service

Luke 18:9-14
I have started with this caution a few times in the past, but I want to offer it once again. We have a
tendency in the Christian church of equating Pharisees with rules obsessed hypocrites. We name
them as the opponents of Jesus. Pharisee becomes an insult we toss around at other Christians when
we have a problem with their interpretation of scripture.
This is a problem. We may not intend it as a form of antisemitism, but as a number of Rabbis I follow
have pointed out, it is. You see, Pharisees were a sect of Judaism who essentially kept the religion
alive after the destruction of the second temple. Their tradition of lively and intense debate of Jewish
scripture and law were vital to its development in the time of Jesus and the following centuries.
The Pharisees and their work led to the modern Rabbinic movement.
Furthermore, as a number of Rabbis have pointed out, there is a very good chance – based on what
Jesus is quoted as having said and his constant debates with Pharisees that are recorded – that Jesus
himself was a Pharisee. If you remove the editorializing of the Gospel writers and simply look at the
questions and answers between Jesus and the Pharisees, you have a vigorous debate about how to
apply Jewish law.
So, once again, I encourage you to consider carefully how we use the word Pharisee and what it says
about our relationship to our Jewish siblings.
Now. Have you noted how often tax collectors are praised or welcomed by Jesus?
This is certainly not the first story we have heard of good or repentant tax collectors. There is the
story of Zacchaeus. There is Matthew the tax collector who becomes one of Jesus’ followers.
There is also of course this story.
I don’t think it is because Jesus is particularly fond of tax collectors. Tax collectors were generally
despised by the populace. They tended to be members of the community or at least the region who
were contracted by the empire to collect the taxes imposed by the ruling elite. That would go to the
kingdom established by the Romans. Ultimately, the money collected made its way to the emperor in
Rome, but along the way some money was kept by the client king, the governor, and of course by
the tax collector himself. It was a lovely pyramid of greed and exploitation. And the tax collector was
the local representative of the whole thing; the most visible sign of this oppression and greed for
those who actually financed this system.
For the people hearing these stories and listening to Jesus preach, the tax collector tends to embody
just about everything wrong with the world. Greed. Self-interest. Cruelty. It would be challenging to
see qualities such as love for one another, mercy, peace and justice in the actions and attitudes of
people who took money from their neighbours using threats of violence and imprisonment.
So, for Jesus to point at tax collectors and state; even they are open to God’s grace and mercy would
be shocking, to say the least.
By contrast, the Pharisees were religious leaders, who dedicated their lives to finding a right
relationship with God. They studied Jewish law closely and entered into vigorous debate with their
contemporaries to better determine how the law; those stories, histories and directions on how to
live in just relationship with one another applied in their current lives.
They tended to represent the preferred path to a righteous relationship with God.
And in this story Jesus uses these two people to offer up a teachable moment. What is our
relationship to God and to one another? How do we live out that relationship and how does it affect
how we view one another?
In this parable, the tax collector comes before God seeking forgiveness. He notes the ways he has
harmed others and seeks forgiveness.
By contrast, this particular pharisee boasts of his good acts and his admirable standing and expresses
gratitude that he is not like the tax collector. He feels good about himself by comparison.
From outward appearances, through the perspective of those following and learning from Jesus,
looking at the two men, the Pharisee is clearly the better example of who to emulate. He gives of
himself and his wealth. He dedicates himself to God and discerning how to best follow Jewish law.
The tax collector is a greedy, self-interested collaborator who has betrayed his people.
And yet, Jesus points to the tax collector and essentially says God hears his prayers and will respond.
The Pharisee who is focused on how he is better than his neighbours still have a lot of work to do.
One of the scriptures I frequently turn to as a lens through which I consider other scripture is Micah
6:6-8. That’s the passage that debates how I should come before God. Is it sufficient to bring lots of
sacrifices such as calves, and wine and oil? Will that satisfy God?
No, says Micah. What God requires is that we seek justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with
God.
Walk humbly with God. The Pharisee is doing all kinds of things right. We don’t know what his
relationship is with his community. We are not told what his commitment is to justice or how kind he
is to his neighbours. But he isn’t displaying a great deal of humility, even in his prayers before God.
He is comparing himself in prayer; to others he clearly views as beneath himself and his comment is
essentially, ‘I’m sure glad I’m not like that guy over there or the crooks and murderers who make
things so bad.’
The last few years have seen an incredible amount of division. We seem to be encouraged to pick
sides on a host of issues and we are told the stakes are immense. That those who oppose our
viewpoint on things from how to respond to the pandemic to what political party or leader we favour,
makes us fair game for incredible judgement.
I will be honest here. I have very strong views on a number of issues that are frequently in the news.
I won’t share them here. But can I or should I let those views creep into how I relate to the people I
see and interact with on a day-to-day basis? Should I pass judgement on them? Clearly not. Love
kindness, seek justice and walk, humbly with God.
God sees us. God hears us and God listens to our prayers. No matter who we are and where we are
on our journey.
I have little doubt that in telling this story, Jesus looked at the actions and attitudes of tax collectors
and saw people who displayed little kindness and had very little interest in justice. He saw people
who were concerned almost exclusively with the collection of wealth, which as I have said, in Luke he
has criticized with passion on many occasions. By the same token, Jesus would see the Pharisees as
colleagues and in many cases friends. If he wasn’t a Pharisee himself, he would have been
significantly influenced by that tradition of studying and debating Jewish law intensely to discern how
it should be applied in their everyday life.
Be careful of your pride. God has a way of turning things upside down.
Again, remember this part from the first chapter of Luke. He has shown strength with his arm; he
has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
Walk humbly with God.
What is your relationship with the world around you and with God? How do you view the people
around you? Do you see them as worthy of God’s love? Do you see them as less than you? We need
to be careful we don’t begin the process of dehumanizing the people around us. We are all beloved
children of God. We are all invited into a relationship with God and are called to ask how we treat
one another. We are more than our worst actions.
Thanks be to God.

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789