Being Good and Being Heard

By Steve Leininger

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031321.cfm
Hosea 6:1-6
Luke 18:9-14

Today’s Gospel from Luke is one of a series of parables Jesus told shortly before his final journey to Jerusalem. Listen to the reading and see if you can relate to both characters in the story.

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — 
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” [Luke 18:9-14]

There are a lot of resources available to help provide context, clarity, or new perspectives on material we use when preparing a reflection. A large portion of my reflection today came from a reflection written by Nicholas T. Batzig, Assistant Pastor at Wayside Presbyterian Church in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. He has generously given me permission to use whatever might be of assistance my presentation. His original work, Two Went Up to Pray is here: https://feedingonchrist.org/two-went-up-to-pray/

The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is the most theological of all Jesus’ parables. It is the most theological because it deals with the subject that is of most importance to the life of the Christian–namely, how a man or woman, boy or girl is accepted before God.

The irony of this parable is that both men were going to the Temple to pray. On face value they seem to both be praying to the same God. Both men have come to the same place of worship. Both were members of the same covenant community. Both are men of the working class. But that’s where the similarity ends.

Jesus loved to draw contrasts in order to drive home Kingdom principles and truths. When he sets out these two men, he does so by appeal to their ethical, social, and religious standing. The Pharisee was a respected, religious member of the covenant community. The tax collector was a despised and questionable figure in Jewish society.

In his sermon, “Going Up, Going Down: The Story of Two Men at Church,” Sinclair Ferguson set out a series of reasons why we would have to conclude that the tax collector was not on his way to heaven, but the Pharisee was. By all human standards, the tax collector was disqualified from salvation on account of the following sinful characteristics:

• The tax collector had been an unmerciful, money extorting man.
• The tax collector is unjust to the poor and the weak.
• The tax collector doesn’t pray in what was the acceptable manner and form.
• The tax collector probably hadn’t been to the Temple in years.

On the other hand, some of the apparent moral virtues of the Pharisee include:

• The Pharisee is a man of discipline and prayer. The Pharisee had given a tenth of all that he had. Sinclair Ferguson explained, “If a church were made up entirely of Pharisees, it’s church budget would double, if not triple, if not actually quadruple.”
• The Pharisee is thankful for all things in his life.
• The Pharisee is different from other people.
• The Pharisee lives a far better life in society than the tax collector does.
• The Pharisee is more like me or like you than the tax collector is.

Ferguson notes, “Most of them as they listened to this story were guessing, ‘It’s obviously which one gets saved. It’s bound to be the Pharisee. He’s the only one with the qualifications. The other one is utterly disqualified. However, there is one thing missing. He has a religion that has no place for mercy, whereas the tax collector saw his need for mercy. He has no place for those psalms that speak about need, that speak about despair, that speak about wretchedness.”

The Pharisee was so consumed with his own accomplishments that he self-righteously looked down at the tax collector. The tax collector was so consumed with acknowledging his own sin and his need for God’s mercy that he didn’t have time to evaluate the Pharisee. The Pharisee “spoke this prayer to himself;” the tax collector cried out to God. The Pharisee outlined his accomplishments; the tax collector summed up all of his actions when he confessed to God that he was “a sinner.” One was a prayer of self-congratulation and one was a prayer of self-abasement.

The end result? The Pharisee went home still in his sins and the tax collector went home as justified before God because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to him by faith alone. Eric Alexander explains, “The way of merit and of good works may take a man into the Temple, but it will not take him into Heaven.”

There are, however, several dangers to avoid when reading this parable. When we look at the picture of these two men and we might align ourselves with the tax collector and fall into the error of concluding that God is commending a sinful life rather than a life of devotion. Alexander again observes,

“What Jesus condemns in the Pharisee is not his righteousness, but his self-righteousness; and, what Jesus commends in the tax collector is not that he is a sinner, but that he is a repentant sinner who is crying out to God for mercy. The parable is setting out two ways of salvation, the way of merit and the way of mercy, the way of salvation by works and the way of salvation by free grace.”

The other danger is to fall into the same error of the Pharisee from the side of the tax collector. We can easily start to despise the Pharisee in a similar self-righteousness manner as the Pharisee despises the tax collector. J. Gresham Machen explained,

“No doubt we think we can avoid the Pharisee’s error. God was not for him, we say, because he was contemptuous toward the publican; we will be tender to the publican, as Jesus taught us to be, and then God will be for us. It is no doubt a good idea; it is well that we are tender toward the publican. But what is our attitude toward the Pharisee? Alas, we despise him in a truly Pharisaical manner. We go up into the temple to pray; we stand and pray thus with ourselves: “God I thank thee that I am not as other men are, proud of my own righteousness, uncharitable toward publicans, or even as this—Pharisee.”

What we need to realize after hearing this parable is that the thing that makes the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector is the One telling the parable. When the tax collector beat his breast and cried out to God for mercy, he was really asking God to give him an atoning sacrifice for his sin. The Savior of the parable was heading to the cross to lay down his life for the filthy, morally bankrupt, religiously void tax collector so that he might justify him by faith alone. This is what distinguishes between one who is saved and one who perishes.

I’d like to offer a couple more observations about today’s Gospel reading. Do you remember who Jesus was talking to? Was he directing this parable to the Pharisees? You know, sort of an “I’m calling you out” kind of rebuke? No! “Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” [Luke 18:9] 

In Christian theology, justification is God's righteous act of removing the condemnation, guilt, and penalty of sin. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says that the tax collector went home “justified”, but not the Pharisee. While the Pharisee had done lots of good works, his prayer to himself was not what God listening for. Nothing to justify here, move along. 

The tax collector reached out to God, praying “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus assures us that the Father heard this because the tax collector “went home justified.”

Jesus concludes the Gospel with the message that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” This is a message we hear many times in the New Testament. Almost the exact same phrase was used by Jesus earlier in The Parable of the Wedding Feast, a warning not to take up a place of honor on one’s own accord lest you be asked to give up your seat for someone of greater prominence. Instead, take a lower, most humble place in the beginning. If appropriate, the host will invite you to “move up higher.” Jesus concludes this parable with “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Sound familiar?

If we are doing well at some point in life, the proper response is “Thank you, God. What can I do to help?” Recognize that we are all sinners, we can all do better.