Proper 25 (year C)

Luke hot takes:

Pharisees were a social movement against Hellenization of Judaism -> after the fall of the temple, their ideas became the foundations of Rabbinic Judaism as we know it now

They are not all bad or good - there is an apparent bias against them in the Bible - Paul was a Pharisee!

It is not just about their heart, but also what they learnt and what was put on them - the Pharisee is expected to act in certain way and so is the Tax Collector - Implicit bias

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Good morning,

Today is our Stewardship Sunday and well, as Christians, we are called to good stewardship of the various aspects of our lives. I will get back to it, but let’s dive into the text first. We are still in the very long section of parables, but we are slowly inching towards the triumphant entrance to Jerusalem - it is only about 4 parables away and a few stories in between, so to speak! But of course, in our church year we are still ways before Easter - soon we will have Advent, which marks the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry and not the end. Today’s parable is sandwiched between The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge, which we have addressed last week and Jesus blessing the children for “it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”

Today’s parable was earmarked for those who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt” and it is a scene from the temple, where two men show up to pray. One is a Pharisee, a member of the social movement that fought the Hellenization of Judaism and the other one a tax collector, a man reviled especially by the Jewish, who had suffered under double taxation - by the Romans and their religion. The Pharisee is not really presented in a good way as he prays thusly:

The New Revised Standard Version The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.

Not a good look, is it. On the other hand, the tax collector is presented in more favorable light as he

The New Revised Standard Version The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner

Then Jesus concludes that the tax collector

The New Revised Standard Version The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Before we look into it closer, I think there are a few things needed to be ascertained, so that we do not fall into interpretative traps.

Firstly, both men were Jewish and both men would be, outside of the parable, complex beings with ups and downs, good sides and bad sides. Just because a man is a Pharisee, a frequent actor pitted against Jesus, does not mean such person is wholly evil and similarly just because one is a tax collector, an oppressed person, it does not mean that person is wholly good. Following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, it is much of the Pharisaic movement that turned into the rabbinical Judaism as we can observe it today. And on the same token, while our ethics recognize that the world is a complex place and we may be coerced or forced into doing something that is considered unethical, even if it is lawful, such as collaborating with an occupying empire such as the Romans, it does not simply absolve us from such acts - we still make choices and have to bear the consequences for them.

The difference lies, as it is often with these parables, in their attitude. We do not have to feel bound by the obvious bias against the Pharisees that probably got there via the Lucan community working on this gospel (it could have been anybody, really), but the core of it remains the same - the man, who happens to be a Pharisee, comes to the temple to gloat about his righteousness in comparison to others, including the tax collector. In short, he is giving himself a pat on the back and expects the same from God. And then the man, who happens to be the tax collector, comes into the temple to do penance in admitting his sinfulness.

In a way, this is also a type of stewardship - the stewardship of our conscience. In a black and white thinking, one is either wholly righteous and thus right with God or wholly unrighteous and thus in conflict with God. There are branches of Christianity that believe in a similar way. You are then either thinking like the Pharisee, in a self-delusion about your greatness and holiness or you may fall into a deep pit of despair as you think about your failings.

In our theology, the first is perhaps the neutral point of origin for humanity - we lie to ourselves and others and embellish ourselves incessantly. The second is, where we may found ourselves thrown in if we get to know the truth that sets us free - the truth that we are all sinful and fall short of glory of God. As Jesus notes, self-exaltation leads to being humbled and being humbled leads to exaltation. With this cycle complete, we can actually start living in God’s grace, after we realize that we cannot be wholly righteous, but also that the despair of knowing is not where we ought to end. In fact, it is only the beginning. Good news, you know something that many deny in themselves - that you are both a saint and a sinner through Jesus Christ our Lord and here on earth, we will never stop being both! And there is more Good news - we are called to use that as a motivating force, because if you do not have to become someone else entirely, say a total saint, then you are freed to actually do what matters. Let’s look closer at that.

See, we sin every day, there is no way around it. Perhaps in mostly little ways - a hateful thought there, failure to be generous over there....many ways we can do that as the Bible teaches us. However, it is paired with grace - we are sinners, but thanks to faith in/of Jesus (we don’t quite know), we are also empowered to spread God’s will through our acts of kindness, love, and care. Seeing and noticing those that are invisible to others, for example noticing and greeting service staff at an event that for many people are just a pair of hands delivering stuff with no names or identities or being considerate of the creation around us, caring for plants and trees and tending to the animals, all done with love and compassion as a part of our reality. Snapping out of the delusion of perfection is step one, acknowledging our imperfections and failures is step two, and proceeding to good stewardship of our conscience and through it of the whole world is step three. Not because we most, but because we get to!

I think the tax collector was commended by Jesus not for doing all that is needed, but for being on the way…the Pharisee was at step zero, too absorbed with his own delusion of perfection! As we consider our stewardship in the world, let us be on the journey of being real about ourselves, our imperfect actions, and need for grace. Then and only then, we can truly strive to be stewards in the world and tend for it all with humility. And I assure you that God will commend us in our attempts and help us along the way. Amen.

Prayer Over Pledge Cards

Gracious and loving God, giver of all that is good and true and beautiful and life-giving. These cards represent our sweat, they represent our lives, they represent our dreams. The pledges which we make on them are but tokens of the awesome gifts that have been given to us and they are pledged in thanksgiving for all we have received, for all we have been inspired to be, for all we are challenged to become, in this place. May they be the first fruits of all we have and not what we have left over, so that we may live out as closely as possible how you give to us. May we see them as our offering to you, sacred, holy, yet earthy, filled with possibilities. May we hold this image in our hearts and minds so as we watch our offerings each week come to your table, we can see our very selves being part of this offering, it is us on the table, living sacrifices to you. Amen.