Lent: Day Twenty-Two

Then Jesus told this story to those who look down on everybody else, while being convinced that they themselves are hot stuff. “Once upon a time, two men went up to the Temple to pray. One of them was a lay-minister and the other one was a tax-collector.

"The lay-minister stood up and whispered this prayer to himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like everybody else! I thank you that I’m not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer. Most of all, God, I thank you that I’m not like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week and I give back ten percent of all my earnings.’
    
“But the tax-collector kept his distance. He wouldn’t even look up toward heaven. He simply pounded on his chest and said, ‘God, be merciful to me! I'm full of sin!’

"I’m telling all of you that the tax-collector returned home in a right relationship with God, but the lay-minister didn’t. Everyone who glorifies himself will be humiliated! And everyone who humbles himself will be glorified!”

(As Luke Tells It, The New Peace Treaty: A New Translation of the New Testament)

It is important that we don't condemn the Pharisee (the lay-minister). If we condemn the Pharisee for his shortcomings, then we because just like the Pharisee in the story. We cannot condemn him without becoming him.

That being said, we must also remember that Jesus doesn't even condemn the Pharisee. Actually, if the Pharisee is being honest (and there's no reason to believe he isn't), everything he does is good. Yet, his prayer lacks humility. We cannot say that his prayer isn't acceptable to God, but we can say that the tax collector's prayer was more acceptable. Why can we say that? Because as good as the Pharisee is (and there's no denying that he is a good, religious man), his prayer, though technically a prayer, elevated himself to God, rather than elevates God. The Pharisee is the focus of his own prayer. He isn't honoring God by his prayer, he is honoring himself. The tax collector, on the other hand, is solely focused on God, and God's mercy. He is a sinful man and he knows it, and because he knows it, he throws himself on God's mercy.

Jesus is telling this story to people who are convinced of their own holiness--they think they are all that an a bag of chips. But they gauge their holiness on their own standards of what they think is holy, whereas the sinful man in the story agrees that he is sinful.

We are all in the same boat as the tax collector--we are sinners. This doesn't mean that we aren't good people, or that we don't do good things, it just means that we all fall short of the glory of God. And we can try to puff ourselves up, hoping that no one notices our shortcomings, or we can admit our shortcomings and throw ourselves on God's mercy. Jesus recommends the latter.

What's worse, when we puff ourselves up, we often trick ourselves into believing it. I think if the Pharisee (a good man, a religious man, a man who did a lot of good things, a man who lived like he was supposed to) had a fault, is that he allowed himself to believe that he is better than other people because of who he was and what he did. He thought he was more deserving of God's love and grace. The Irony of faith is that it isn't those who are holy who get the most grace, it's those who are the most sinful--they need the most grace, so they get it.

If grace were hot coffee, the Pharisee would have a cup of coffee that was almost full, so he would only need a little bit--just to top it off and warm it up. The tax collector's cup is nearly empty. He may only have a few drops in it. So he gets a refill. In the end, they both have the same amount of coffee in their cups, but the cup that was empty received more, and the cup that was more full received less. But the cup that was more full wasn't a better cup of coffee, because in the end, both cups of coffee are the same.

Today, I place myself with the humble tax collector, asking God for mercy as I realize that I am a sinner, which is what I often say as my Act of Contrition in the Sacrament of Reconciliation: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

And He always does!