I’m Better Than You Because…

Luke 18:9-14                     Rev. Todd B. Freeman

Bethany Presbyterian Church, Dallas       October 24, 2004

“Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt:”  (NRSV).

 “…to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else….” (The Jerusalem Bible).

“…aimed at those who were sure of their own goodness and looked down on everyone else.” 

(The New English Bible).

“…to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people…”  (Eugene H. Peterson’s The Message).

That’s how four different versions of the Bible translate Luke’s introduction to today’s parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

The temptation for us (at least for me) is to introduce this parable as a story about a pious, legalistic, dogmatic, self-righteous, hypocritical fundamentalist who thinks he, or she, has a lock on the right way to interpret scripture, has God all figured out, and who considers himself, or herself, as morally superior to those who differ in their belief or practice of the Christian faith. You know, those other Christians across town.

I will admit that I am one of those who would like to think that is how this parable should be introduced. Well I would be wrong, and would be missing the point altogether. For I will also admit that my thoughts, and sometimes even my prayers, contain similar sentiments as the Pharisee, “God, I thank you that I am not like these other people…,” like those moralistic fundamentalists.

But the point is this: we do not experience the impact of this parable if we approach it with the understanding that the Pharisee is a bad guy (which over the centuries we have been trained to do), and the tax collector (whom Jesus was fond of eating with) is seen as the good guy. Because we know how the parable ends, we assume that the Pharisee must represent the one who put his trust on himself that he was righteous and the one who despised and had contempt for others.

In the Jewish culture in which this parable was first heard, however, the Pharisees were seen as exemplars of righteousness, from which all others measured their traditional religious practices. The particular Pharisee in this parable even exceeds the law itself. He fasts more than the law requires, he tithes on everything he has, not on just the items required by the law. Since Pharisees prayed and went to the temple and did all the proper religious duties, they most certainly must be trusting God.

Tax collectors, on the other hand, were considered by their fellow Jews to be traitors, so they must have been the ones who despised and had contempt for others. Even though they were Jewish, they worked for the Roman government. Tax collectors were often rich because they often overcharged what was required in order to skim money off the top for themselves. To the original hearers of this parable tax collectors were reprehensible. And not only were they political traitors, they were religiously unclean.

Therefore, if we paint the Pharisee as a villain, and the tax collector as a hero, all this parable really says is that they get what they deserve. That, however, is the exact opposite of this parable’s message.

If we were to set this parable in today’s context, the Pharisee would be cast as an example of the ideal church member, one who participates in all the church functions, is a good pledger, and is seen as a deeply spiritual person. As offensive as it might be for me to say this, and for you to hear it, it is you and I who are the ones most likely to be cast in role of the Pharisee.

Let us not forget that Jesus’ parables were radical. They turned the common perspective upside down and inside out. Parables were offensive, and if we do not perceive this seemingly inoffensive parable as such, then we have not heard it as Jesus intended.

Jesus Seminar scholar, John Dominic Crossan, says this parable would be written in this day and age, at least for Catholics, this way, “A pope and a pimp walk into St. Peter’s Cathedral to pray…”

It is with this proper realignment, then, that we should approach this parable, whether we like it or not.

Perhaps the chief problem with the attitude of the Pharisee isn’t so much that he recognizes that he is a pious person, but that he has contempt for others not like him. Here we have piety, a religious expression of spirituality, which despises other human beings. Love of God has become separated from love of neighbor. And any time we have contempt for others we are just as guilty as the Pharisee in this parable. Contempt is defined as despising or lacking respect for another person, or group of persons. It is the opposite of having admiration for another.

I am deeply troubled by the ways many things are in our country today. We are so deeply divided along so many issues that contempt has become one of the most common characteristics in our society. One side not only has differences with the other side, they despise the other side. In this divisive presidential campaign, for example, I have heard this word ‘contempt’ used a lot. One political party has deep contempt for the other. And this applies not only to the presidential candidates themselves.

I will confess my contempt for many of those on the far radical right in this country, whether it be in politics or religion. Does this parable, then, have something to say to me? Yes it does. What about you? Are you guilty of having contempt toward others?

If one becomes so convinced of their ‘rightness’ concerning the issues, and the other side’s ‘wrongness,’ then isn’t our absoluteness just as much a form of fundamentalism as theirs?

Perhaps we all have something to learn, then, from the attitude of the tax collector. Unlike the Pharisee’s prayer, which reveals his absorption in his own virtue, the tax collector approached God in deep humility, fully aware of his own sinfulness. The tax collector boasts nothing before God. His prayer echoes the opening words of Psalm 51: “Have mercy on me, O God.” The crucial addition, however, is the tax collector’s self-designation as “a sinner.” Nothing more is reported of the tax collector’s prayer. It is complete as it stands, and nothing more needs to be said of his character.

The twist in Jesus parable comes in the common role reversal at the end. The one who presumed he was righteous and not like the unrighteous was not “justified.” In other words, he was not made right in his relationship with God. The one who was so acutely aware of his unrighteousness was made righteous – right with God. He had entered a right relationship with God because he was prepared to come with no bargaining chips but simply the willingness to receive God’s love. The Pharisee was not in such a right relationship, although he was convinced he was.

How aware are we of our own sinfulness? Really. And I’m not talking about in a self-loathing, self-hatred kind of way – for that in itself, is sinful. How aware are we, really, of our need for God’s mercy? Perhaps we need to up our awareness a couple of notches, or so.

This parable is meant to be subversive. It deals with self-righteousness. Commentator William Loader writes:

When individuals and communities define their identity by contrasting themselves to their opponents, they, like the Pharisee, most often become unable to see their own errors and failings.

The message of Jesus is quite sharp: bolstering one’s sense of identity by disparaging others (even when they are terrible sinners) so easily leads to illusions of grandeur and a failure to see ourselves as we really are…

The answer is not to pretend the tax collector has done no wrong, but to accept our common humanity and to know that our real value is in loving and accepting ourselves as God loves us and not upping our value by downing others.

The tax collector is also a person of worth. [So is the right-wing fundamentalist. And you can insert the opposition political party of your choice here.] Loader concludes, as will I, “We can forget trying to earn credit points with God and establishing our worth on a relative scale. When we do so we will have so much more time and space and energy for compassion, both receiving and giving it. And we ‘Pharisees’ need it – just as much as tax collectors.”

Amen.