Thirtieth
Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2013
Sirach
35:12-14, 16-18
Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14
Those
of you participate in Mass on a regular basis know that each Mass every day of
the year is both different and the same. The readings from the Bible and the
prayers are always different; the Eucharistic prayer which I proclaim at the
altar is the same. From this pulpit you have heard the word parable used many,
many times as part of the third reading known as the Gospel. In the Bible there are only 4 Gospels written
by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The
Gospels were written for different readers: some of them Jews like Jesus, some
who had no religion, some who were Jews and became Christians. The Gospels give
us the words of Jesus and how Jesus wanted his followers to live. Jesus was a teacher. Like all outstanding teachers he uses
parables to teach. A Parable is another
name for a story. Jesus uses parables,
like the one in today’s Gospel, to help his listeners identify and change
harmful behavior in themselves. Today Jesus tells us the story of two people
who come to the temple to prayer. One of these is a Pharisee and the other is a
tax collector. One thinks he will avoid
hell because he is such a wonderful person; the other throws himself at God’s
mercy.
Pharisees enjoyed the unqualified respect of
the Jews but were often opponents of Jesus. In English today the word Pharisee
often refers to a hypocrite, to someone who pretends to be religious but who is
not. At the time of Jesus, however, Pharisees were often devout and
religious. They were ordinary persons
who volunteered their time to help others. They also tried to follow the Jewish
religion with great care. And by and
large, the people loved and respected the Pharisees more than any other Jewish
group. That respect was earned because
they went way beyond the rules of the Bible.
If the Bible said that a person should give 10% of his income to the
temple, the Pharisee would give 20%; if the Bible said you should go to church
once a week, the Pharisees went every day. But the problem with this Pharisee
was that he thought he was not a sinner
like everyone else -- especially like the tax collector.
In Jesus’ time the tax collector would have
been regarded as the opposite of the Pharisee.
Tax collectors were an especially terrible group. The tax collector collected taxes for the
Roman government who ruled Palestine. The Roman government would set the amount
of taxes to be collected. The Roman government would require tax upon tax upon
tax from these poor Jewish people. They would tax the Jews blind. These taxes
support the luxurious life style of the Roman politicians.
No
person was more hated than the tax collectors. They took money from those who
were very poor and they would torture or abuse those who fell behind in their
payments. Interest rates were often 25% on the grain the farmers raised. You
may remember that one time Jesus went into the temple and throw over all the
tables of the money of the tax collectors.
Jewish
persons could bid on an amount they would give the Roman government. They then
would make a contract to pay the set amount to the Roman Government. The Roman
government would then give the job of tax collector to the one who would pay
the largest bribe to the Romans. In exchange the tax collector collected the
tax from his Jewish neighbor, plus any amount he could collect for himself. Tax
collectors often overcharged the people keeping the profits for themselves.
They were also known as spies for the Roman occupiers. Jewish rabbis taught
that there were two occasions that it was all right for a Jewish person to lie
-- you could lie to someone who wanted to kill you, and to a tax
collector.
In
the story today the Pharisee and the tax collector both go to the temple to
pray. The Pharisee tells God how good he
has been. His entire prayer directs attention to himself and his
accomplishments: “I thank you...I am not like.... I fast.... I pray....” He
thanks God not for the gifts he has been given but for not being like all the
rest of humanity. He appears to have no
need of God.
The
tax collector, in contrast, beats his breast and prays simply, “O
God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Focusing on God, he prays for
openness to divine mercy, which has the power to transform his sinfulness. The
tax collector concentrates only on God in his prayer, while the Pharisee spends
most of his energy focusing on how much better he is than the tax
collector. The sinner throws himself at
the mercy of God; the Pharisee recites his spiritual resume.
What does this story highlight? The
Pharisee was actually better than he said he was, and the tax collector was
probably worse than he said he was. The problem Jesus exposes is that the
Pharisee was comparing himself to other people while the tax collector was
comparing himself to God. Jesus’ expectation of the Pharisee, and thus of us,
is that we judge our goodness and holiness by looking at God, not by looking at
those around us. God is the standard!
This story can be both good news or bad
news? It all
depends on our point of view. For those
who wish their good deeds added up on deposit in God’s heavenly bank, this
story is bad news. But for those who
thought they were forever stiff-armed from God because of their terrible bad
sins, this story is surprising good news.
Those who think they do not have
a prayer to make it to heaven need to know that a prayer is precisely what they
do have. It’s all any of us have ever
had. Each of you have come to church
because we are in need of God. Today as you prepare for communion personally
prepare yourselves, not the one next to you.
As I hold the Eucharist for you to see and pray: BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD,
BEHOLD HIM WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD. And, and like the tax
collector you respond: LORD, I AM NOT WORTHY THAT YOU SHOULD ENTER UNDER MY
ROOF, BUT ONLY THE SAY THE WORD AND MY SOUL SHALL BE HEALED. O LORD
HAVE MERCY ON ME, A SINNER.
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