The Gospel text is a trap. It is a trap that I do not want you to fall into. It is a trap that many have fallen into hook, line and sinker.
It is mischievous. It is a “gotcha!” We are totally being set up!
Jesus tells this parable. It is a “prayer parable.” It is about praying always. It is about the need to pray.
You know, I get it. This is very basic stuff. Parents you want to teach your children. You want them to become good, honest, respectful adults. You want them to care for others. You want them to be kind…and not mean spirited.
Grandparents, I know you want the same things for your grandchildren. This is basic. You want them to avoid – false pride, hubris, self-righteousness and smugness. You want them to be nice!
All of us, each and every one of us are foolish, frail, faulty human beings. We all make mistakes. We all fall into sin.
This parable, this story is about the virtues of being humble. In other words, do not think “too highly of yourself.”
Two men are praying. They are obviously extremes, polar opposites.
One trusted himself. He regarded others with disdain and contempt. He was a swell person. A religious person. He fasted all the time. He prayed often. He tithed on everything, he held nothing back. Some would say he was a “good guy.” He was ritually clean. He was honored and held in high esteem. Like all of us though, he did have his faults.
He tended to look down on others, he considered them to be beneath him. Some thought him to be a tad snooty. And yet, he always did more than the law required.
He was self dependent…and very sure of himself.
He was not like others who may be: extortionists, unfair, unjust…he was not an adulterer, not a robber, he did not join in on violence, he was not overly proud, and he did not engage in sexual immorality. As a matter of fact – his name was engraved on all kinds of little brass plaques and plates and on stained glass windows, pews, and even on scholarships.
He was a stellar kind of guy.
Now the other guy…
He stood a ways off. He had to. He was forced to. He was not allowed to stand close to the Pharisee. He was considered to be ritually unclean because he was a publican, better known as being a tax collector. He was hated and despised. He was always considered a sinner, an extortionist, a deceiver, a turn coat – because he worked for the hated Roman Government. He too prayed, but not as often as the “other.” He was a casual pray-er. He would have been very unpopular because of his job.
This guy knew his faults and his failings. When he prayed, he said, “I am a jerk – let me off the hook anyways.” He did not look up into the heavens, but rather cast his eyes down at the ground. He actually beat his chest in public, which was considered to be a female gesture, showing his “extreme anguish.”
No one was quite sure if he showed any real remorse, or guilt and he did not confess specific, individual sins. Like many of us, he just conceded to being foolish, frail, faulty and very much a human being…a sinner! He missed the target repeatedly and he knew it, so therefore he pleaded for reconciliation.
Two men, two very different lives and two very different life-styles. One very religious…the other, not so much. One, ritually clean and the other, ritually unclean.
I think we are meant to choose. I think we are meant to decide. I think we are meant to judge between these two individuals.
And Jesus concluded, “I tell you this man went down to his home justified, rather than the other.”
Which man? The Tax Collector or the Pharisee? Be careful!
After all, we are not to judge. We are not to decide. We are not even to agree. If we decide between the two of them, are we not judging, even as the Pharisee judged others? Is that our role, is that our place?
It does not matter what the Nielsen ratings have to say about any of this.
Remember this is a “cautionary tale.”
We do not want to fall into the trap of judging, deciding or siding with one -against the other.
We do not want to say one is better or worse. Do not justify yourself, just ask for mercy.
As for us, we are to pray often, pray earnestly and are to remember others in our lives of prayer…
A little bit of humility and compassion for others, goes a long way!
So remember, just pray!