Two Men Praying
Preaching
Preaching the Parables
Series II, Cycle C
Object:
9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves
that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt:
10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people:
thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful
to me, a sinner!' 14I tell you, this 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."
The parable about two men praying would have shocked the people to whom Jesus told it. He drew upon two well-known and widely accepted stereotypes. First is the Pharisee, who was generally regarded as the epitome of the religious person. Most Jewish families would have been proud to have their son grow up to be a Pharisee. The second was a publican. He was the epitome of the sinner. He was regarded as a traitor because he worked for the Roman occupying government. Most tax collectors were also corrupt. They overcharged for taxes. They probably could be bribed. And who enjoys paying taxes anyway, even under the best of governments and most honest of tax collectors?
Jesus shatters the images by a reversal of roles. The best of the good guys is the bad guy. One of the worst of the bad guys comes out as accepted by God. How could the people wrap their minds around this story?
The story is so familiar to us that we need to be careful that we do not adopt reverse stereotypes. It is doubtful that all Pharisees would make the prayer of the one in the parable. It is even more doubtful that every publican would bemoan his activities as this one did. We need to be careful that we would not be shocked if our stereotypes were shattered by persons who don't fit the image we have of them.
Context
Context of Luke 18
Just prior to the parable of the two men praying, Jesus had told the parable of the persistent widow and the bad judge. It is placed in the context of the need of the disciples to pray constantly. While the parable of the two men praying is more concerned with who trusts in God's grace rather than their own merit for their righteousness, it is the prayers of the two men that show their attitudes and God's response. So the theme of the proper way to pray continues in this parable.
Context of the Lectionary
The First Lesson. (Joel 2:23-32) The Israelite people had experienced hard times. They had apparently had the crops destroyed by swarming locusts. The rains may also have failed. Now Joel, speaking for the Lord, assures the people that the crops will be abundant as evidence that they are vindicated. Indeed. they will have additional signs. God's spirit will be poured out on their children and their slaves. Even natural events will show portents of disasters from which the faithful will survive.
The Second Lesson. (2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18) Paul is anticipating the end of his life. He is assured that his life of faithfulness will be crowned with righteousness. In the second set of verses he acknowledges that when everyone else had forsaken him, it was the Lord who was present and gave him the strength to proclaim the message to the Gentiles. Therefore the glory for what he has accomplished belongs to God.
Gospel. (Luke 18:9-14) The parable continues the themes of the first two lessons. The faithful are vindicated by the Lord when they trust in him and not in themselves. It is the grace of God which vindicates the faithful, not their accomplishments or their merits.
Psalm. (Psalm 65) It is the Lord who answers prayer. God grants forgiveness for wrongdoing. Thanksgiving is due to God because the goodness that flows through natural events is also from the Lord. As Joel also says, the bounty and goodness are signs of salvation and deliverance.
Context of Related Scripture
Tithing:
Genesis 28:22 -- Jacob vows to give one tenth in return for God's protection and support.
Leviticus 27:30-33 -- Tithing of the seed of the ground and the fruit from trees, or acceptable substitutes.
Numbers 18:21-33 -- A tithe given to Levites for their service but they are to give a tithe of the tithes they receive.
Deuteronomy 12:17 -- The people in the towns are not to eat the things that are given as a tithe.
Deuteronomy 14:22-30 -- Regulations about giving and use of the produce from seed.
Amos 4:4 -- Amos calls the people to bring tithes every three days.
Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42 -- The Pharisees who tithe the most minute of seeds yet neglect weightier matters of the law.
Fasting:
Leviticus 16:29 ff. -- Fasting in the seventh month on the tenth day.
Matthew 4:2 -- Jesus fasting for forty days in the wilderness.
Matthew 6:16-18 -- Do not make an obvious display of your fasting.
Matthew 9:14; Mark 2:19 -- The disciples of John the Baptist wonder why they and the Pharisees fast but Jesus' disciples do not.
Other Scriptures:
Matthew 18:4 -- Being humble as a child.
Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11 -- Exalting and humility.
Luke 23:48 -- Sorrow expressed by beating on the breast at the crucifixion.
Philippians 3:9 -- Paul claims to be blameless with regard to the law.
1 Peter 5:6 -- Humble yourself before God.
Content
Precis of the Parable
Two men went up to the temple, apparently at the time of worship. One, a Pharisee, stood apart from the worshippers and offered a prayer that at once both praised his own virtues and at the same time condemned other persons. He condemned thieves, hoodlums, and adulterers. He noted that in tithing and fasting he went beyond the minimal demands of the law. The other man, a tax collector, also stood apart. He expressed his abject sadness at his condition as a sinner and prayed for God's mercy.
Jesus comments that the tax collector who admitted his sin was justified in God's sight while the one who extolled his own virtues and condemned the sins of others was not justified. Some believe that the Gospel writer appended a saying that is found in variations elsewhere in the Gospels. It says in effect that those who boast about their accomplishments will be humbled while the humble persons will be exalted.
Thesis: Pride and self-righteous prayers do not avail in God's sight but humble recognition of sin does.
Theme: Proper praying recognizes our status as sinners in the presence of God.
Key Words in the Passage
1. "Trusted in Themselves." (v. 9) The persons to whom the parable has reference are probably the Pharisees who prided themselves in their religiosity. They also held in contempt the common people whom they considered ceremonially unclean and therefore not worthy to enter into temple worship.
2. "Standing by Himself." (v. 11) While worship in the temple was a corporate experience during the daily sacrifices, the Pharisees did not want to rub elbows with the common people. To do so would render themselves unclean. They thought that would compromise their righteousness before God. Note also the people did not sit for worship but stood to observe the sacrifice for the atonement of their sins.
3. "Not Like Other People." (v. 11) By invidious comparisons with the people with whom the Pharisee did not even want to have physical contact, he wishes to elevate his status before God. He lumps all of them together as sinners.
4. "This Tax Collector." (v. 11) The tax collector was the stereotypical epitome of the outcast in Jewish society. He did not keep the religious rites scrupulously because he was engaged in a business. He worked for the Gentile overlords, which meant that he was looked upon as one who betrayed his own people politically, culturally, and religiously.
5. "Fast Twice a Week." (v. 12) The law of Moses did not require such frequent fasting. The Pharisees introduced the practice of fasting on Monday to memorialize when Moses went up Mount Sinai and on Thursday when he came down with the law.
6. "A Tenth of All My Income." (v. 12) The law of Moses did not require tithing of all income. Capital was exempted once it was tithed. Some indicate that only certain crops were subject to the tithe. The Pharisees wanted to assure their righteousness by going beyond the minimal requirements and tithed everything they had or received.
7. "Standing Far Off." (v. 13) The tax collector showed his sense of extreme alienation from God and the people. He separated himself both from his fellow Jews and from God by distancing himself from the worshipping community and the center of the ceremonial acts.
8. "Beating His Breast." (v. 13) In Jewish culture beating on the breast was usually only done by women and at the sorrow over death. It indicated that the tax collector considered himself almost as a dead man before the other worshippers and God. Translation of this passage has caused some problems in other cultures where pounding the chest is a sign of victory, not sorrow, as anyone who ever saw the old Tarzan movies would surely recognize! In some of these cultures, they express a similar sorrow by clubbing their head with clenched fists.
9. "God, Be Merciful." (v. 13) The tax collector appeals to God that the sacrifice made in the act of worship might also accomplish an atonement for his sins. He did not consider himself worthy and so had to throw himself on the mercy of a loving and compassionate God.
10. "Went Down ... Justified." (v. 14) The Temple is on the mount in Jerusalem. The person leaving would go down from the high place of the Temple. It may also be symbolic of the height of worship and going down to daily work where one could again be contaminated. Jesus affirms that God offers forgiveness to the person who is truly repentant and acknowledges the sin.
Contemplation
Issues and Insights
1. Two Men. The parable has several contrasts between the two men. You have one praying with pride in his accomplishments; the other is humbled by his sin. In German this appears more stark: Hochmut is pride; Demut is humility. In the two men you have two sinners: one who is conscious of his sin; the other who denies his sin by holding other persons in contempt. You have two men standing apart: one because he is excluding others; the second because he is excluded by others. You have two men who offer prayers: one offering his merit to God; the other praying for mercy from God. Two people are approaching the kingdom: one by obedience to the law; the other depending upon the grace of God.
2. Public Prayer. The parable raises the issue of the nature of public prayer. Some Christians understand Jesus to teach that a person should not pray in public or audibly. One should only pray in private and in silence. They feel that prayer is a private conversation between the person and God. No one can pray for another person, according to their understanding of Jesus' teachings.
A grave danger in public prayer is that one addresses the audience who is hearing the prayer rather than God. Prayer does not necessarily have to be expressed orally. God can hear the unspoken utterances of the heart and mind.
Should prayer try to gather the concerns and needs of the corporate body to present them before God? Should public prayer be a bidding prayer in which the leader helps guide the corporate body by suggesting the various steps through prayer? The members of the congregation are allowed time to offer their particular expressions in silent prayer. Can you teach people how to pray through public prayer? If so, how do you do it?
3. Standing Before God. The two men at prayer showed something of their real condition by where they stood and why. It raises questions of where we stand before God. It also raises the question of where we stand in the corporate worshipping body and where we stand in the larger community.
Do we stand before God aware of our dependency, our need, and our failures in sin and mistaken actions and thoughts? Do we stand as superior to others in the worshipping body? Or do we stand with them, so identified that we take part in their sin and failures? Do we stand with them so ready to share their suffering and pain that we feel it as much as they do? Do we stand with them so that we feel responsible to help meet their needs or relieve their sufferings as much as our resources, including our spiritual strength, our wealth, and our material goods, make possible?
Do we stand in judgment over human weakness, stumbling, and sin? Do we stand apart so that we are not contaminated by the sin of others? Do we stand separate because we feel superior because of our Christian beliefs and actions, especially in comparison to those who hold different beliefs or engage in other practices?
4. Justified Before God. The practice at the temple where the two men prayed was to offer sacrifices daily to atone for the sins of the worshipping people. Animals were offered. Underlying the practice is the belief that one needed to offer life, symbolized by the shedding of the blood of the animals. That would show how sorry the worshippers were for their sins. At the time of Abram, it was thought that atonement required sacrifice of human life to appease God. Animals became the substitute for human sacrifice.
Christians believe that Christ's death demonstrated that God did not require such sacrifices. What God requires is the genuine repentance of persons and reliance upon the mercy of the God manifested in Jesus Christ.
It is interesting that Jesus did not indicate whether the tax collector changed his behavior. While the Gospels tell of at least two other tax collectors who became followers of Jesus and changed their behavior (the disciple Matthew and Zacchaeus), the tax collector in the parable went home more justified than the Pharisee simply by his abject confession and acknowledgment that he was a sinner before God.
5. With Whom Can God Work? The parable suggests that God can work better with the sinners who are aware of their need than with the "good" persons who already think they have it made. Those who are self-satisfied and self-righteous are not open to change or improvement. They have already arrived.
The person who can be helped is one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, as the beatitude states it. People who work in the mental health or social welfare areas recognize this truth at that level. An axiom of therapy is that you cannot help persons unless they want to be helped, at least if the problems are based in personality rather than in some physical disease or chemical imbalance.
6. A Caution. The parable gets people's attention by a role reversal, as noted above. People would have assumed that the Pharisee would be more readily justified in worship than the tax collector. People who are familiar with this parable may do a re-reversal. They may make the assumption that they are justified because they are not like the Pharisee.
Christians need also to guard against a tendency to judge all Pharisees, even all Jews, negatively. To do so would be equally against the spirit and intent of the parable.
Homily Hints
1. Proper Praying. (vv. 11-12) The sermon can be directed to the proper attitude in coming to prayer before God.
A. No Human Pride
B. No Elevating Self by Merit
C. Confession of Sin and Need
D. Open to God's Forgiveness
2. Standing by Himself. (v. 11) The importance of corporate worship.
A. No Person Is Self-Made. Persons need community to meet their needs.
B. A Reality Check. Persons need the critique and support of others to know their real condition.
C. Fulfilled in Fellowship. Persons find their fulfillment when they love God and their neighbors.
3. Standing Far Off. (v. 13) The sermon could have a double thrust: when a person feels alienated; relating to the alienated.
A. Reconciled by Christ. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
B. Overcoming Alienation. Persons overcome a sense of alienation by changing behavior by God's help and by accepting their worth and acceptance by God.
C. Accepting the Alienated. Jesus was ready to accept and overcome people's alienation. Christian community brings the alienated in by the love of its members in Christ.
4. God, Be Merciful! (v. 13) Praying for forgiveness.
A. Acknowledging Sinfulness
B. Acknowledging God's Love and Compassion
C. Forgiving Self
1. Desiring Change
2. Making Restitution Where Possible
5. Being Exalted. (v. 13) Conditions whereby one is worthy of exaltation.
A. Jesus' Exaltation. (Note that Paul in Philippians 2:9 contends Jesus was exalted for having humbled himself in obedience to God.)
B. How to Be Humble. It is not a claim made. It is a recognition bestowed.
1. After Obedience to God
2. In Service to Others
3. Death to Self-will
4. Having the Mind of Christ
Contact
Points of Contact
1. Self-Evaluation. A prime requisite for being justified in God's sight is to have an honest evaluation of one's self. That involves an awareness of imperfections. No person is perfect and without sin. Persons are unable to sustain their own lives. Without God's grace in providing life and the means for supporting life, all persons would cease to exist. Thus people need to be aware of their dependency, that they owe their very lives to God.
Having acknowledged imperfection and dependency, persons are then ready to turn to God in thanksgiving and in repentance for their lack of trust and faith in God. Rendering themselves in need before God, they are able to receive God's grace and mercy which will enable them to continue to live. They allow God to sustain their growth toward the perfection found in Jesus Christ.
2. Putting Others Down. One of the subtle deceptions that misleads persons is the belief that they can be superior by putting others down. No person gains in status by denigrating or undermining another person or group of persons. The very fact that they engage in such activity shows that they have not matured. They may attempt to raise themselves by the way they treat other persons, but that only demeans their own humanity.
People may also play mind games. They fool themselves into blaming others for their problems and their position. They then seek to harm or destroy the person or representative groups whom they hold responsible for their lacks and failures. Such thoughts or actions in no way improve them personally or their status before God, or even in the appraisal of other people.
The way people meet their needs is by taking responsibility for their situation, committing themselves to dependency on the Holy Spirit, and recognizing that their worth comes from who they are and what they do, not by the status or behavior of others.
Often these persons can be helped by the love and patience of others who accept them. They manifest by their concern that the person is of worth regardless of what has happened to that person in the past. That is one of the functions of the Christian fellowship.
3. Justified by God. A paradox of life is that persons never can be satisfied if they seek to be justified in their existence by what they accomplish. Even the most accomplished person, if honest to self, is more aware of shortcoming than people who know that person only by what he has done. The person is aware of what he should have done and left undone or of what he did that fell short of what he expected and wanted to happen.
Only grace allows persons to feel justified. It is the awareness that God accepts and loves them as they are, with all their blemishes and failures, that leaves them justified. God's love is a gift, not payment earned by merit.
4. Where Do You Stand? Jesus constantly reached out to the people who were in distress. He did not hesitate to mingle with or even to have physical contact with people who were frequently shunned by others. He healed the lepers. He entered into conversation with the Samaritan woman and brought healing to her. He accepted the bathing of his feet by a woman of ill repute. He dined with people considered gluttons and outcasts. He did not put people down or ignore them but sought to uplift and heal them.
Those who would follow the teachings and examples of Jesus are more likely to be found serving the poor, the outcast, the needy than with the rich, the well-to-do, and the respectable in society. They will be more ready to serve than to be served. They will more likely be found among the powerless than wielding the kinds of power which are generally believed to be power in the world.
If Christians want to pray to be justified by God, they may ask where they stand. Do they stand apart because they want to keep themselves pure? Will they stand apart because they are alienated? Or do they stand in the world, ready to serve human need with only the power of the Spirit to help them?
5. How Do I Pray? The Pharisee used his personal prayer to glorify himself and condemn others. He probably did it so that the people around him could hear his self-exaltation and his accusations of others. He did not come before God with a sense of gratitude and need.
A Christian needs to reflect on the attitude brought to prayer. Is it just an exercise of piety, a duty to be met, a routine form? Or is the prayer an earnest reaching out in gratitude for blessing received and an affirmation of need for forgiveness and renewal? Is the prayer a dialogue, more like a conversation than a public or private address, than a monologue? Is it the openness to receive strength for renewal and change rather than an expectation that something magical will be done for the praying person or group?
A proper prayer is more determined by the attitude, the yearning for right relationships with God, with other persons, and with self than whether it is according to a particular form or whether it is even expressed in words. It is placing oneself in the presence of God and allowing oneself to be bathed in the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Then one can arise justified and ready to act as a child of God in the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Illustrative Materials
1. Ceremonial Prayer. The leader of chapel at a school realized just as he was to give the closing prayer that he had failed to make an announcement that affected the student body. He incorporated into his prayer something like the following, "We thank you, Lord, that you know that all classes will be shortened by ten minutes due to the extended chapel session."
2. Good Guy, Bad Guy. After the death in a plane crash of Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, President Clinton appointed Mickey Kantor to replace him. In making the appointment he noted that Kantor had frequently played the role of the bad guy in negotiations where Ron Brown could be the good guy. He said that Mickey Kantor, the former Trade Representative, could now be the good guy as Secretary of Commerce. Apparently Kantor's successor, Charlene Borshefsky, his former top deputy and now Acting Trade Representative, must now assume the bad guy role. Can the roles so easily be reversed? Can the bad guy now change character and become the good guy?
3. Modern Pharisaism? Some white supremacists claim that whites are the only true Christians. They justify their hatred of Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians, and Jews by this belief. Eventually only the whites will survive and the others will be destroyed. They take religious superiority to an extreme, far worse than the Pharisee in his prayer. A Christian pastor who knew some of them well contends that their beliefs on race have nothing to do with Christianity.
4. How Much Prayer? At a gathering of Americans and Europeans in Europe, prayers were frequently said throughout a day of meetings. At the evening meal an American participant was asked to pray a blessing. He declined, saying "I'm all prayed up."
5. Prayer as Blasphemy. Georgia Harkness is reported to have said that offering a prayer without readiness to act on it may be blaspheming God!
The parable about two men praying would have shocked the people to whom Jesus told it. He drew upon two well-known and widely accepted stereotypes. First is the Pharisee, who was generally regarded as the epitome of the religious person. Most Jewish families would have been proud to have their son grow up to be a Pharisee. The second was a publican. He was the epitome of the sinner. He was regarded as a traitor because he worked for the Roman occupying government. Most tax collectors were also corrupt. They overcharged for taxes. They probably could be bribed. And who enjoys paying taxes anyway, even under the best of governments and most honest of tax collectors?
Jesus shatters the images by a reversal of roles. The best of the good guys is the bad guy. One of the worst of the bad guys comes out as accepted by God. How could the people wrap their minds around this story?
The story is so familiar to us that we need to be careful that we do not adopt reverse stereotypes. It is doubtful that all Pharisees would make the prayer of the one in the parable. It is even more doubtful that every publican would bemoan his activities as this one did. We need to be careful that we would not be shocked if our stereotypes were shattered by persons who don't fit the image we have of them.
Context
Context of Luke 18
Just prior to the parable of the two men praying, Jesus had told the parable of the persistent widow and the bad judge. It is placed in the context of the need of the disciples to pray constantly. While the parable of the two men praying is more concerned with who trusts in God's grace rather than their own merit for their righteousness, it is the prayers of the two men that show their attitudes and God's response. So the theme of the proper way to pray continues in this parable.
Context of the Lectionary
The First Lesson. (Joel 2:23-32) The Israelite people had experienced hard times. They had apparently had the crops destroyed by swarming locusts. The rains may also have failed. Now Joel, speaking for the Lord, assures the people that the crops will be abundant as evidence that they are vindicated. Indeed. they will have additional signs. God's spirit will be poured out on their children and their slaves. Even natural events will show portents of disasters from which the faithful will survive.
The Second Lesson. (2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18) Paul is anticipating the end of his life. He is assured that his life of faithfulness will be crowned with righteousness. In the second set of verses he acknowledges that when everyone else had forsaken him, it was the Lord who was present and gave him the strength to proclaim the message to the Gentiles. Therefore the glory for what he has accomplished belongs to God.
Gospel. (Luke 18:9-14) The parable continues the themes of the first two lessons. The faithful are vindicated by the Lord when they trust in him and not in themselves. It is the grace of God which vindicates the faithful, not their accomplishments or their merits.
Psalm. (Psalm 65) It is the Lord who answers prayer. God grants forgiveness for wrongdoing. Thanksgiving is due to God because the goodness that flows through natural events is also from the Lord. As Joel also says, the bounty and goodness are signs of salvation and deliverance.
Context of Related Scripture
Tithing:
Genesis 28:22 -- Jacob vows to give one tenth in return for God's protection and support.
Leviticus 27:30-33 -- Tithing of the seed of the ground and the fruit from trees, or acceptable substitutes.
Numbers 18:21-33 -- A tithe given to Levites for their service but they are to give a tithe of the tithes they receive.
Deuteronomy 12:17 -- The people in the towns are not to eat the things that are given as a tithe.
Deuteronomy 14:22-30 -- Regulations about giving and use of the produce from seed.
Amos 4:4 -- Amos calls the people to bring tithes every three days.
Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42 -- The Pharisees who tithe the most minute of seeds yet neglect weightier matters of the law.
Fasting:
Leviticus 16:29 ff. -- Fasting in the seventh month on the tenth day.
Matthew 4:2 -- Jesus fasting for forty days in the wilderness.
Matthew 6:16-18 -- Do not make an obvious display of your fasting.
Matthew 9:14; Mark 2:19 -- The disciples of John the Baptist wonder why they and the Pharisees fast but Jesus' disciples do not.
Other Scriptures:
Matthew 18:4 -- Being humble as a child.
Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11 -- Exalting and humility.
Luke 23:48 -- Sorrow expressed by beating on the breast at the crucifixion.
Philippians 3:9 -- Paul claims to be blameless with regard to the law.
1 Peter 5:6 -- Humble yourself before God.
Content
Precis of the Parable
Two men went up to the temple, apparently at the time of worship. One, a Pharisee, stood apart from the worshippers and offered a prayer that at once both praised his own virtues and at the same time condemned other persons. He condemned thieves, hoodlums, and adulterers. He noted that in tithing and fasting he went beyond the minimal demands of the law. The other man, a tax collector, also stood apart. He expressed his abject sadness at his condition as a sinner and prayed for God's mercy.
Jesus comments that the tax collector who admitted his sin was justified in God's sight while the one who extolled his own virtues and condemned the sins of others was not justified. Some believe that the Gospel writer appended a saying that is found in variations elsewhere in the Gospels. It says in effect that those who boast about their accomplishments will be humbled while the humble persons will be exalted.
Thesis: Pride and self-righteous prayers do not avail in God's sight but humble recognition of sin does.
Theme: Proper praying recognizes our status as sinners in the presence of God.
Key Words in the Passage
1. "Trusted in Themselves." (v. 9) The persons to whom the parable has reference are probably the Pharisees who prided themselves in their religiosity. They also held in contempt the common people whom they considered ceremonially unclean and therefore not worthy to enter into temple worship.
2. "Standing by Himself." (v. 11) While worship in the temple was a corporate experience during the daily sacrifices, the Pharisees did not want to rub elbows with the common people. To do so would render themselves unclean. They thought that would compromise their righteousness before God. Note also the people did not sit for worship but stood to observe the sacrifice for the atonement of their sins.
3. "Not Like Other People." (v. 11) By invidious comparisons with the people with whom the Pharisee did not even want to have physical contact, he wishes to elevate his status before God. He lumps all of them together as sinners.
4. "This Tax Collector." (v. 11) The tax collector was the stereotypical epitome of the outcast in Jewish society. He did not keep the religious rites scrupulously because he was engaged in a business. He worked for the Gentile overlords, which meant that he was looked upon as one who betrayed his own people politically, culturally, and religiously.
5. "Fast Twice a Week." (v. 12) The law of Moses did not require such frequent fasting. The Pharisees introduced the practice of fasting on Monday to memorialize when Moses went up Mount Sinai and on Thursday when he came down with the law.
6. "A Tenth of All My Income." (v. 12) The law of Moses did not require tithing of all income. Capital was exempted once it was tithed. Some indicate that only certain crops were subject to the tithe. The Pharisees wanted to assure their righteousness by going beyond the minimal requirements and tithed everything they had or received.
7. "Standing Far Off." (v. 13) The tax collector showed his sense of extreme alienation from God and the people. He separated himself both from his fellow Jews and from God by distancing himself from the worshipping community and the center of the ceremonial acts.
8. "Beating His Breast." (v. 13) In Jewish culture beating on the breast was usually only done by women and at the sorrow over death. It indicated that the tax collector considered himself almost as a dead man before the other worshippers and God. Translation of this passage has caused some problems in other cultures where pounding the chest is a sign of victory, not sorrow, as anyone who ever saw the old Tarzan movies would surely recognize! In some of these cultures, they express a similar sorrow by clubbing their head with clenched fists.
9. "God, Be Merciful." (v. 13) The tax collector appeals to God that the sacrifice made in the act of worship might also accomplish an atonement for his sins. He did not consider himself worthy and so had to throw himself on the mercy of a loving and compassionate God.
10. "Went Down ... Justified." (v. 14) The Temple is on the mount in Jerusalem. The person leaving would go down from the high place of the Temple. It may also be symbolic of the height of worship and going down to daily work where one could again be contaminated. Jesus affirms that God offers forgiveness to the person who is truly repentant and acknowledges the sin.
Contemplation
Issues and Insights
1. Two Men. The parable has several contrasts between the two men. You have one praying with pride in his accomplishments; the other is humbled by his sin. In German this appears more stark: Hochmut is pride; Demut is humility. In the two men you have two sinners: one who is conscious of his sin; the other who denies his sin by holding other persons in contempt. You have two men standing apart: one because he is excluding others; the second because he is excluded by others. You have two men who offer prayers: one offering his merit to God; the other praying for mercy from God. Two people are approaching the kingdom: one by obedience to the law; the other depending upon the grace of God.
2. Public Prayer. The parable raises the issue of the nature of public prayer. Some Christians understand Jesus to teach that a person should not pray in public or audibly. One should only pray in private and in silence. They feel that prayer is a private conversation between the person and God. No one can pray for another person, according to their understanding of Jesus' teachings.
A grave danger in public prayer is that one addresses the audience who is hearing the prayer rather than God. Prayer does not necessarily have to be expressed orally. God can hear the unspoken utterances of the heart and mind.
Should prayer try to gather the concerns and needs of the corporate body to present them before God? Should public prayer be a bidding prayer in which the leader helps guide the corporate body by suggesting the various steps through prayer? The members of the congregation are allowed time to offer their particular expressions in silent prayer. Can you teach people how to pray through public prayer? If so, how do you do it?
3. Standing Before God. The two men at prayer showed something of their real condition by where they stood and why. It raises questions of where we stand before God. It also raises the question of where we stand in the corporate worshipping body and where we stand in the larger community.
Do we stand before God aware of our dependency, our need, and our failures in sin and mistaken actions and thoughts? Do we stand as superior to others in the worshipping body? Or do we stand with them, so identified that we take part in their sin and failures? Do we stand with them so ready to share their suffering and pain that we feel it as much as they do? Do we stand with them so that we feel responsible to help meet their needs or relieve their sufferings as much as our resources, including our spiritual strength, our wealth, and our material goods, make possible?
Do we stand in judgment over human weakness, stumbling, and sin? Do we stand apart so that we are not contaminated by the sin of others? Do we stand separate because we feel superior because of our Christian beliefs and actions, especially in comparison to those who hold different beliefs or engage in other practices?
4. Justified Before God. The practice at the temple where the two men prayed was to offer sacrifices daily to atone for the sins of the worshipping people. Animals were offered. Underlying the practice is the belief that one needed to offer life, symbolized by the shedding of the blood of the animals. That would show how sorry the worshippers were for their sins. At the time of Abram, it was thought that atonement required sacrifice of human life to appease God. Animals became the substitute for human sacrifice.
Christians believe that Christ's death demonstrated that God did not require such sacrifices. What God requires is the genuine repentance of persons and reliance upon the mercy of the God manifested in Jesus Christ.
It is interesting that Jesus did not indicate whether the tax collector changed his behavior. While the Gospels tell of at least two other tax collectors who became followers of Jesus and changed their behavior (the disciple Matthew and Zacchaeus), the tax collector in the parable went home more justified than the Pharisee simply by his abject confession and acknowledgment that he was a sinner before God.
5. With Whom Can God Work? The parable suggests that God can work better with the sinners who are aware of their need than with the "good" persons who already think they have it made. Those who are self-satisfied and self-righteous are not open to change or improvement. They have already arrived.
The person who can be helped is one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, as the beatitude states it. People who work in the mental health or social welfare areas recognize this truth at that level. An axiom of therapy is that you cannot help persons unless they want to be helped, at least if the problems are based in personality rather than in some physical disease or chemical imbalance.
6. A Caution. The parable gets people's attention by a role reversal, as noted above. People would have assumed that the Pharisee would be more readily justified in worship than the tax collector. People who are familiar with this parable may do a re-reversal. They may make the assumption that they are justified because they are not like the Pharisee.
Christians need also to guard against a tendency to judge all Pharisees, even all Jews, negatively. To do so would be equally against the spirit and intent of the parable.
Homily Hints
1. Proper Praying. (vv. 11-12) The sermon can be directed to the proper attitude in coming to prayer before God.
A. No Human Pride
B. No Elevating Self by Merit
C. Confession of Sin and Need
D. Open to God's Forgiveness
2. Standing by Himself. (v. 11) The importance of corporate worship.
A. No Person Is Self-Made. Persons need community to meet their needs.
B. A Reality Check. Persons need the critique and support of others to know their real condition.
C. Fulfilled in Fellowship. Persons find their fulfillment when they love God and their neighbors.
3. Standing Far Off. (v. 13) The sermon could have a double thrust: when a person feels alienated; relating to the alienated.
A. Reconciled by Christ. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
B. Overcoming Alienation. Persons overcome a sense of alienation by changing behavior by God's help and by accepting their worth and acceptance by God.
C. Accepting the Alienated. Jesus was ready to accept and overcome people's alienation. Christian community brings the alienated in by the love of its members in Christ.
4. God, Be Merciful! (v. 13) Praying for forgiveness.
A. Acknowledging Sinfulness
B. Acknowledging God's Love and Compassion
C. Forgiving Self
1. Desiring Change
2. Making Restitution Where Possible
5. Being Exalted. (v. 13) Conditions whereby one is worthy of exaltation.
A. Jesus' Exaltation. (Note that Paul in Philippians 2:9 contends Jesus was exalted for having humbled himself in obedience to God.)
B. How to Be Humble. It is not a claim made. It is a recognition bestowed.
1. After Obedience to God
2. In Service to Others
3. Death to Self-will
4. Having the Mind of Christ
Contact
Points of Contact
1. Self-Evaluation. A prime requisite for being justified in God's sight is to have an honest evaluation of one's self. That involves an awareness of imperfections. No person is perfect and without sin. Persons are unable to sustain their own lives. Without God's grace in providing life and the means for supporting life, all persons would cease to exist. Thus people need to be aware of their dependency, that they owe their very lives to God.
Having acknowledged imperfection and dependency, persons are then ready to turn to God in thanksgiving and in repentance for their lack of trust and faith in God. Rendering themselves in need before God, they are able to receive God's grace and mercy which will enable them to continue to live. They allow God to sustain their growth toward the perfection found in Jesus Christ.
2. Putting Others Down. One of the subtle deceptions that misleads persons is the belief that they can be superior by putting others down. No person gains in status by denigrating or undermining another person or group of persons. The very fact that they engage in such activity shows that they have not matured. They may attempt to raise themselves by the way they treat other persons, but that only demeans their own humanity.
People may also play mind games. They fool themselves into blaming others for their problems and their position. They then seek to harm or destroy the person or representative groups whom they hold responsible for their lacks and failures. Such thoughts or actions in no way improve them personally or their status before God, or even in the appraisal of other people.
The way people meet their needs is by taking responsibility for their situation, committing themselves to dependency on the Holy Spirit, and recognizing that their worth comes from who they are and what they do, not by the status or behavior of others.
Often these persons can be helped by the love and patience of others who accept them. They manifest by their concern that the person is of worth regardless of what has happened to that person in the past. That is one of the functions of the Christian fellowship.
3. Justified by God. A paradox of life is that persons never can be satisfied if they seek to be justified in their existence by what they accomplish. Even the most accomplished person, if honest to self, is more aware of shortcoming than people who know that person only by what he has done. The person is aware of what he should have done and left undone or of what he did that fell short of what he expected and wanted to happen.
Only grace allows persons to feel justified. It is the awareness that God accepts and loves them as they are, with all their blemishes and failures, that leaves them justified. God's love is a gift, not payment earned by merit.
4. Where Do You Stand? Jesus constantly reached out to the people who were in distress. He did not hesitate to mingle with or even to have physical contact with people who were frequently shunned by others. He healed the lepers. He entered into conversation with the Samaritan woman and brought healing to her. He accepted the bathing of his feet by a woman of ill repute. He dined with people considered gluttons and outcasts. He did not put people down or ignore them but sought to uplift and heal them.
Those who would follow the teachings and examples of Jesus are more likely to be found serving the poor, the outcast, the needy than with the rich, the well-to-do, and the respectable in society. They will be more ready to serve than to be served. They will more likely be found among the powerless than wielding the kinds of power which are generally believed to be power in the world.
If Christians want to pray to be justified by God, they may ask where they stand. Do they stand apart because they want to keep themselves pure? Will they stand apart because they are alienated? Or do they stand in the world, ready to serve human need with only the power of the Spirit to help them?
5. How Do I Pray? The Pharisee used his personal prayer to glorify himself and condemn others. He probably did it so that the people around him could hear his self-exaltation and his accusations of others. He did not come before God with a sense of gratitude and need.
A Christian needs to reflect on the attitude brought to prayer. Is it just an exercise of piety, a duty to be met, a routine form? Or is the prayer an earnest reaching out in gratitude for blessing received and an affirmation of need for forgiveness and renewal? Is the prayer a dialogue, more like a conversation than a public or private address, than a monologue? Is it the openness to receive strength for renewal and change rather than an expectation that something magical will be done for the praying person or group?
A proper prayer is more determined by the attitude, the yearning for right relationships with God, with other persons, and with self than whether it is according to a particular form or whether it is even expressed in words. It is placing oneself in the presence of God and allowing oneself to be bathed in the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Then one can arise justified and ready to act as a child of God in the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Illustrative Materials
1. Ceremonial Prayer. The leader of chapel at a school realized just as he was to give the closing prayer that he had failed to make an announcement that affected the student body. He incorporated into his prayer something like the following, "We thank you, Lord, that you know that all classes will be shortened by ten minutes due to the extended chapel session."
2. Good Guy, Bad Guy. After the death in a plane crash of Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, President Clinton appointed Mickey Kantor to replace him. In making the appointment he noted that Kantor had frequently played the role of the bad guy in negotiations where Ron Brown could be the good guy. He said that Mickey Kantor, the former Trade Representative, could now be the good guy as Secretary of Commerce. Apparently Kantor's successor, Charlene Borshefsky, his former top deputy and now Acting Trade Representative, must now assume the bad guy role. Can the roles so easily be reversed? Can the bad guy now change character and become the good guy?
3. Modern Pharisaism? Some white supremacists claim that whites are the only true Christians. They justify their hatred of Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians, and Jews by this belief. Eventually only the whites will survive and the others will be destroyed. They take religious superiority to an extreme, far worse than the Pharisee in his prayer. A Christian pastor who knew some of them well contends that their beliefs on race have nothing to do with Christianity.
4. How Much Prayer? At a gathering of Americans and Europeans in Europe, prayers were frequently said throughout a day of meetings. At the evening meal an American participant was asked to pray a blessing. He declined, saying "I'm all prayed up."
5. Prayer as Blasphemy. Georgia Harkness is reported to have said that offering a prayer without readiness to act on it may be blaspheming God!
