30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C): Luke 18:9-14
I realize as I get older that I have difficulty meeting so-called normal people. I don’t know what to talk about. I can fool around at the dinner table with people with disabilities, but I can see that I am becoming marginalized. I know it is important to speak to the wider world. But it is not always easy when you discover you are living in two worlds. – Jean Vanier
Oh, so it’s that story again. The Pharisee and the tax collector.
“Yeah, yeah, Father, we know all about it”, you might say. “The Pharisee is boasting, and the tax collector is humble. God blesses the humble and not the proud. We’re glad that this boastful Pharisee got his nose put down in the end.”
Are you? Are we?
You see, there’s a problem here. We can rattle off the “correct” answer to this parable of Jesus in our sleep. But… but… when it comes to anything that affects our practical, everyday lives, most of us choose the Pharisee. Every. Single. Time.
Don’t believe me? Try this…
Look at the Pharisee and the tax collector for a moment. Then ask yourself these questions: which one would be seen as “cool” or “popular” in school? Which one would be seen as “most likely to succeed”? Which one would do well in business or sports or the military? If both were running for political office, which one would be elected? Which one would be seen as a gifted leader in most Church communities?
The Pharisee. Every. Single. Time.
So, we choose the tax collector on Sunday, like we’re supposed to… but the rest of the week, we opt for the Pharisee for anything practical. What does that say about our trust in the Lord? Who really is running our show, anyway?
Our society, like many others, rewards people like our Pharisee and considers people like our tax collector to be losers. On the other hand, Jesus opts for the tax collector. God’s ways are not our ways.
Let’s look more closely at these two people and see what we can learn about them, and about the ways of God.
The Pharisee on our story isn’t just a Pharisee. He stands for a kind of person whom we encounter frequently. His prayer tells us a great deal about him. He must always be in control. Note that he asks nothing of God. He needs nothing from God or anyone else. Instead, he rattles off his résumé, thanking God that he is in control. We get the impression that, in doing so, the Pharisee expects to put God in his debt. How can God not reward such a successful servant?
Secondly, the Pharisee must be seen by others to be in control and successful. Others must see all his qualities. And only his qualities. No flaws or weaknesses allowed. No failures, no apologies, no second guessing. Because most societies value these qualities, the Pharisee makes sure to proclaim them out loud to everyone. Many people would be impressed.
However, anyone who is like our Pharisee has a little problem. Each human being has some fault, some weakness, some area of struggle, failure or pain. Our Pharisee cannot or will not acknowledge any of this. What does our Pharisee do? He projects these things onto someone else, and then treats this other person (or persons) with contempt whenever no one else is around. Who might this other person be? A spouse; a child; a neighbor; an employee or fellow worker; someone who is somehow ‘different’ from others and who is not likely to have any defenders. This other person becomes the scapegoat, and can suffer serious abuse from our seemingly-perfect Pharisee. That person pays the price for the Pharisee’s unacknowledged weaknesses or struggles.
Our Pharisees, then, live in a fantasy world of their own creation, where they do everything right, and others are always to blame for any problems. How can our loving Lord get through to such people? Often, God will lead them to a time of disaster in order to free them from these illusions and open them to grace. It doesn’t always work. The Pharisee may finally be open to God; the Pharisee may also become embittered by a seemingly cruel world that refuses to give him his due honor and glory.
Now, let’s look at the tax collector. He makes no boasts about himself. He does not seek to draw attention to his goodness. He does not believe that he has any right to God’s goodness. He fully acknowledges his need, his weakness, and his sins, and places all his faith in God’s mercy. Nothing else. Not his résumé, not how others see him, not his ability to control his life… but in God’s mercy. Because he is fully open and fully trusting in God, the tax collector went home justified. There is room in his life for God to come and show His love fully. In the tax collector’s “weakness”, God’s strength has room to enter. It can happen in no other way.
The tax collector is focused on God and no one else. The Pharisee, however, cannot help but notice the tax collector, disparages him, and thanks God that he is not like him. Such a loser, lurking in the shadows, the Pharisee may think. He doesn’t even deserve to be near the Temple. The tax collector would agree. He doesn’t deserve anything. All is gift. And because God is gift – and only gift – only the tax collector, and those like him, can truly receive God and be justified.
One final point about our two characters. People who are like our Pharisee would seem to be loners by nature, as they want to be in control and never acknowledge weaknesses or needs. However, because no one can really live totally on their own, they seek out like-minded people who will support each other’s fantasies and also agree on who their scapegoat(s) will be. The spirit of our Pharisee, then, is ultimately divisive in the worst sense. We see this far too often in our world today.
People who are like our tax collector, however, are very different. Because they fully acknowledge their sins and weaknesses, and trust in the mercy of God, they in turn can be merciful to others’ weaknesses and sins. They know how to apologize and how to forgive. They have no weak egos to defend, no public image to prop up. Because of this, they can bring people of various backgrounds together and be a means of God’s healing love for all. It is through people like the tax collector – those who are seen as weak – that the Lord builds His Church. It is often people who are the weakest – the disabled and the persecuted – who teach the rest of us the most about what it means to be a follower of Christ and a member of His Church.
So, then. How well do we really know this story of the Pharisee and the tax collector? Are we ready to let it challenge us and expose how we have been compromised by the world, so that we can entrust ourselves more truly to the Lord’s mercy? Do we really believe that God’s love and power are made most perfect in what looks like weakness and folly to the world? Do we, ultimately, dare to stand in the shadow of the Cross, trusting that we will one day bask in the glory of the Resurrection?