Pentecost 20 (Proper 25C) 2022

Text: “14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

The message of today’s Gospel reading is fairly straightforward. It raises the question:

Who is it for you?

We’re certainly not in the habit of praying in the same manner as the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable— making a show of it, making it a big production. But that doesn’t mean that you and I are immune to the temptation. As one author put it:

No matter how self-righteous and defensive humans can be, we all know what we are. Whatever terms we use to describe unrighteousness, we know that we are sinful sausage: rancid clumps of selfishness, hatred, lust, and greed encased in human flesh. We also know that God, however we conceive of him, has the power to judge us for this. (Fiene, Hans. “If You Don’t Know Enough About Politics, Don’t Tweet Or Vote.” www.TheFederalist.com. July 27, 2018).

Still, that doesn’t keep you and me from trying. So who is it for you? Who is the “tax collector” in your life? Who is there, in the back of your mind, making you feel incredibly righteousness by comparison?

What do you trust in?

What is it that makes you not like those other people? The Pharisee had a ready list of things that made him righteous— unlike the tax collector.

He has his list of the things that he doesn’t do— unlike the tax collector. “I’m not an extortioner.” “I’m not unjust.” “I’m not an adulterer.” And he has a list of the things that he does: “I fast,” he said. “I give my tithe.” He has his resume ready to read to God, in case God might have forgotten about all of the good things that he deserved. If the first list didn’t qualify him as righteous, then the second list certainly must.

What’s on your list? What is it that you trust in? You don’t use foul language like the other guy does. You don’t skip church to go camping. You call your mother every evening. You give to food pantries at least once a year. You’re not an adulterer. You’re not a thief. You’re not a gossip (like some people). You may even tithe. What’s on the spiritual resume that you wave at God to remind Him of all the good things that you deserve?

And today you and I have things you can put on that resume that the Pharisee could only dream about. You have all the things that he listed— both the things that you do and the things you don’t do. PLUS, you have politics. You’re not like those immoral heathens on the other side, fighting for what is clearly contrary to God’s will. Thank God you’re not like those Democrats. Thank God you’re not like those Republicans. You’re not like those who are uninformed and uninvolved. You’re fighting to rebuild the morally upright nation that God desires. You’re fighting for the rights of the oppressed against a system that’s rigged against them.

Of course, that’s only one area that we can turn to in order to make ourselves righteous. All the old “standby’s” are still there: the inactive church member; the divorced guy; the bar owner— thank God you’re not like any of them. You rarely miss church more than once or twice a month. You use most of your offering envelopes. You’ve served on every board and in every office twice. Your marriage is in pretty good shape. You’ve got a good, respectable job.

Where do you find your righteousness?

Do you find it in the voting booth? Do you find it by having a perfect family? Do you find it in what you’ve given to the church?

The problem is that none of those things can make you righteous. And, as Jesus points out here, there is the very real danger that, while you’re updating your spiritual resume, that Democrat/Republican, that inactive church member, that divorced guy, that bar owner is standing far off, beating his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

Which one of you goes away justified?

It’s not just an abstract, future question. It’s not just a matter of where you’ll end up some day. It has desperate, daily ramifications. For example, why is it that our politics has become so polarized? So heated? So hate-filled? Arguably, it’s because so many are trying to base their righteousness on their political purity. But seeking righteousness that way is like chasing after the wind. It’s like drinking sea water to try to quench your thirst. Or, to use Jesus’ words, “Everyone who exalts themselves [in these ways] will be humbled.”

The same is true for anything on your spiritual resume.

That road leads to one of two places: pride or despair.

You either ended up as deluded as the Pharisee in the parable or you end up trying to shoulder a burden that you’re not capable of carrying.

Truly, this is a humbling text. It strips from us everything you and I would list on our spiritual resumes. It leaves you, standing before God, simply pleading, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

And is there a better place to be? “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,” Jesus warned. But He added, “the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” The road of self-righteousness leads only to pride or to despair. But the road of repentance leads to God.

There is, actually, One who could legitimately stand off by Himself knowing that He is not like the rest of us human beings: Jesus.

He could have rightly said, “I’m not like other men. I’m not an idolater; I’m not rebellious; I’m not a murderer; I’m not an adulterer; I’m not a liar; I’m not a thief.” And, unlike you and I, He would have been absolutely correct. He did it. He was perfectly righteous in every way. In what He said. In what He thought. In what He did. And yet, that righteousness did not lead Him to exalt Himself. Instead, He humbled Himself.

As Isaiah promised, “11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11).

Let me clarify what I just said. He was exalted. But He did not exalt Himself. As the Father said of Him, “13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted” (Isaiah 52:13). When He was exalted, that, too, was an act of humility as He was lifted up onto the cross.

More importantly, when He went to that cross, He took your sin with Him. Rather than praying, “Father, I thank you that I am not like other men,” on the way to the cross He became the one and only idolator who has ever lived. He became the one and only murderer. He became The Adulterer. He became The Liar. The Thief.

He did it so that He could be driven far off instead of you. He chose to be despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not (Isaiah 53:3).

He was pierced for your transgressions; he was crushed for your iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought you peace, and with his wounds you are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

“For [your] sake God made Him to be sin who knew no sin so that, in Him, [you] might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

On account of His humility, “9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11 ).

As Jeremiah prophesied, He is “The Lord [your] Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

Rather than standing off at a distance and giving thanks that He’s not like you, instead He was not ashamed to call you brothers.

He has clothed you in the perfect robe of His righteousness, which covers all your sin.

He was condemned so that you would go away justified. And it is not just an abstract, future promise of where you’ll end up some day. It transforms every moment of every day. It enables you to handle the upcoming election with humility rather than self-righteous anger. It frees you to listen to what others are actually saying rather than shouting the cliches that have taken the place of political discourse.

It enables you to try to use the ballot box in faithful service to your neighbor by protecting unborn life and protecting the rights of the oppressed.

It lifts the burden of trying to have a “perfect family” and, instead, fills your home with grace.

It strengthens you to live holy lives, free from the pressure of self-made righteousness.

It frees you from praying, “God, I thank you that I’m not like those people,” and enables you to love them.

In the end, it exalts you, with Christ, to the right hand of the Father.

Go in peace, perfectly justified by the righteousness of Christ.