CALVARY
BAPTIST CHURCH
Rev. Fred Weimert October 28, 2007
“Sola Humilimus”(Only
the most Humble)
Today’s
gospel reading
follows
on the heels of last weeks reading.
Like
last weeks reading it is a parable,
and
these two parables
were put together in the text…
probably
because they are both about prayer.
Last week’s
parable
was
about the Widow and the Unjust Judge…
and
it taught us that we should not lose heart in praying.
This week’s
parable
is
about the Pharisee and the tax collector…
and
it’s stated purpose is
that
we should be humble in prayer…
not
exalting ourselves.
Sounds
simple…
I
should be able to dispense with this
in
even less time than usual.
Luke 18: 9 – 14
He also told this parable to some
who trusted in themselves
that
they were righteous
and
regarded others with contempt:
"Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee
and the other a tax collector.
The 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.
I fast
twice a week;
I give a
tenth of all my income.'
But 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!'
I 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."
HERE
ENDS THE
Because it is
Reformation Sunday…
I
decided to look at what Dr. Martin Luther said about this passage,
and
I found a couple of places where he talked about it.
One
was in a sermon
preached
July 27th, 1516…
a
year and about ½
before the Reformation began.
The
other mention of the text was in his writings
on
Psalm 32
from
which he quoted the words:
“Blessed
are those whose iniquities are forgiven.”
And
then in both places
Luther
tears into the Jews…
His
Anti-Semitism was not confined to his
Letters
to the German Nobility…
Luther
didn’t like the Jews.
In
the text on the Psalm he says…
“Hypocrites do not think
they have sin…
Pharisees
and heretics the same
reject Christ
who
bears the sins of the world,
because
they have none.”
The problem which
Luther has with this text
Is
that he is hearing the words…
but
he is not hearing the story.
Now, he may well be
hearing the words
the
same way the people in the first century church
heard
the words…
and
intended the words to be heard…
as
being against the Jews…
who
were worse than tax collectors.
However, I doubt
very seriously,
that
Jesus,
a
Jew himself,
In
all likely hood,
as
a person raised in the synagogue tradition
in
It
is quite probable that Jesus was a Pharisee…
Not
a Sadducee
or
and Essene
or
a Herodian
He
was more likely from the Rabbinic tradition a
Pharisee.
I
doubt that Jesus intended this story to condemn the pride
of
all Jewish people.
It is a story about
pride or hubris and humility…
before
God.
A
number of years ago
in
1978
a
Southern Baptist minister, President of the SBC
by the name Baily Smith said…
“God doesn’t hear the prayers
of
the Jews.”
Which
caused quite a furor
in
both the Jewish and Christian world.
I
am certain his thoughts were shaped
by this and other passages…
He
took it as Luther had taken it.
But
the problem with that remark was…
How
dare, Baily Smith,
claim
to know the mind of God…
and
to have the ear of God.
You
arrogant, prideful, rascal…
At
least Luther had said we shouldn’t gloat about this,
or
we would be as guilty as the Pharisee…
Which
is where Smith should be placed.
Listen to what Fred
Craddock said of these characters from the story
in
his commentary on Luke,
first as he speaks of the tax collector:
“Without any question the parable was
a shock to its first listeners.
If anyone within the community of Judaism
would
not go home from the temple justified,
it
would be a tax collector.
Working
for a foreign government
collecting
taxes from his own people,
a
participant in a cruel and corrupt system,
politically
a traitor,
religiously
unclean,
a publican was a reprehensible
character.” pg. 210f
If this parable is
to have the shock value it had when Jesus first told it…
It
needs to be brought up to date…
We
need to do some work with character development.
If
I were looking for someone with the stench of a tax collector today
It
would need to be someone
like an American who sided with the Taliban
or al-Qaida…
Like
that young man from
captured
in
fighting
for the Taliban.
What
if he came to church to pray…
even
if he came to pray humbly…
We
might have trouble stomaching his presence…
He
might be a good replacement
for the tax collector
in today’s American version.
So who would play
the Pharisee.
Not
the Jews…
This
isn’t the place for them today.
Yes
they had prayers that talked
about their being thankful…
that
I wasn’t created a gentile…
that
I wasn’t created a woman…
and
possibly
that I wasn’t created a tax
collector…
But
so do we…
Our
prayers of thanksgiving include thankfulness for
not
being born into poverty…
Not
being born in
Not
owning a house in southern
And
maybe for not being a Muslim like
the Taliban or Alkida…
I
love Fred Craddock’s description of this other character...
He strikes us as arrogant, to be sure,
but
no one can doubt his disciplined adherence
to
the moral and ethical code of his faith.
He
is the faithful,
dependable,
tithing
type
who
pay the salaries of ministers
so
they can preach on the parable
of the
Pharisee and the publican! pg. 211
and
a few lines later Craddock writes:
The Pharisee is not a venomous villain
and
the publican is not generous Joe the bartender
or
Goldie the good–hearted hooker. pg.
211
The Pharisee in
this story is meant to be us…
We
whose sensibilities are troubled by certain people
coming
into the sanctuary and praying…
Even praying humbly…
Especially praying humbly
how
dare they…
Hey,
Jesus didn’t you say:
Every
tree that does not bear good fruit
is
cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus you will know them by
their fruits. Matthew 7: 19-20
Look
at the fruit of this Taliban…
Look
what he has done to women…
Look
at the violence of his ways…
And
he doesn’t agree with us about Jesus…
Doesn’t
pray in his name.
I
am thankful not to be like him…
maybe
even proud not to be like him.
As if sensing our
skepticism about this parable
Luke
in the very next chapter
Tells
a story,
which
like the parable,
only he, Luke, tells.
about
a tax collector…
who
climes a tree to see Jesus…
who
ends up having dinner with Jesus…
at
his probably very lovely…
maybe
even opulent home.
and
people grumbled…
But
Zacchaeus became so convicted by Jesus
That
he promised to give back
his
ill gotten gain,
and
donate to the poor…
Now,
we can live with that story…
we
can respect a tax collector like that.
We
can tell by his fruit…
his
works…
that
he has changed…
that
that day salvation
had come to his house.
But
that is another story…
and
not this story.
I
shouldn’t even have brought it up…
because
it causes this parable to lose its sharp clarity.
Jesus told this
parable to remind us that all of the righteousness
even
of the very righteous…
even
our own…
is
as filthy rags when we step into the presence of God.
because
God knows our imperfections.
God
knows that all have sinned
and,
therefore, fall short of
being worthy to stand
in
God’s glorious presence.
Even
our greatest achievements
don’t
merit our strolling into God’s presence with pride.
It
doesn’t mean that we don’t try…
or
that we have no self esteem…
It
just means that when we come into the presence of God
it
is always a product of God’s grace…
and
not our worth.
because
we are all children of God.
And
since God has opened the door to us…
It
certainly shouldn’t surprise us
that
God would open the door
to
everyone…
Tax
collectors and Taliban
Jews
and Christians
Buddhists
and Baptists.
God
hears us all the same…
and
hopes that our sincerity is sincere…
not
just in this building…
but
out there in the world as well.
May
we walk with the humility of Jesus
in
the world every day. Amen.