Sermon for 10/26/25

Sermon 10-26-25 Luke 18:9-14

There was a man about my Dad's age from up around Alma. Everyone knew him. He's dead now. He was of the opinion that everything he had and everything he did was much better than you or yours. The people in the neighborhood just tolerated him. We all know someone like that.

I was talking to one of my uncles one day and this fellow's name came up. My uncle had the perfect description of him. He said, “All his stuff is not only much better than yours, but yours isn't worth a shit”.

In our Gospel reading today Jesus tells a parable about people like that. His target is “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt”. There are two men in the parable, a Pharisee and a tax collector.

This parable is what bible scholars call a “floating saying”, that's a foundational theological concept. They appear in different contexts and variations throughout the New Testament. This parable is also an “example-story” like the parable of the Good Samaritan. And like anything else, the repetition reinforces the importance of the point. Here, it's the importance of humility verses pride.

Keep in mind, not all tax collectors were repentant and many of the Pharisees, though Jesus bucks heads with them all over the Gospels, were lowly.

It was not easy being a Pharisee. They voluntarily adopted a lifestyle of supererogation, performing more work than duty required. They are considered the beginners of modern Rabbinic Judaism. As a whole the Pharisee sect was something to be looked up to and admired. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. We have one here. “Two men went up to the Temple to pray”.

There were two prescribed hours for praying for the Jewish people, 9 AM and 3 PM. Those who lived in Jerusalem or were visiting there would have taken advantage of the Temple to do just that. We are not told, but assuming they are there at those times, the devout would have been shoulder to shoulder.

The Pharisee was standing by himself. He would not have been participating in corporate worship, reciting a common prayer together, appropriate for that occasion, like we do here in our services every time we meet.

He has his own prayer. He was by himself and probably no one there could hear what he was praying. And he thanks God.

He thanks God he is not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers or even that tax collector standing over there by himself. Then he reminds God of all his attributes. He fasts twice a week and gives a tenth of all his income.

Both Christians and Jews fasted. The Judean tradition was more concerned with public fasting. There are rules for public fasting in the Books of Moses, especially in Leviticus.

There are four types of fasts listed in the Bible. Liquid fasting: no food, just water or juice. Partial fasting: omitting something specific, such as meat, for twelve hours. Absolute fasting: no food or drink. And an Intimacy fasting: which means, ah, well, you know, no intimacy.

Probably the best known New Testament fast was after Jesus' baptism, when He fasted in the wilderness for forty days. That one is in Matthew, Mark and Luke. At the end of those days the authors say “He was hungry”, they do not mention any thing of thirst. It was probably a Liquid Fast.

The Pharisee's twice weekly fast was above and beyond the call of duty.

He also reminds God that he gives a tenth of all his income. That was also above and beyond. There was a first, second and third tithe in first century Israel. The first tithe was the only one required by law. That one is found in the Book of Deuteronomy and consists of ten percent of agricultural products only; fruit, grain and livestock. Those products were taken to the Temple for the support of the Levites who worked and performed the services there. A tithe on income was not required.

The Pharisee thanked God, but his thoughts were on himself.

The tax collector presents a considerable and humble contrast to the Pharisee. He stands far off and would not even raise his face to heaven. He adopts the customary posture for Jewish prayer: arms crossed over his chest, eyes looking downward. He beats his breast.

Striking the breast in Middle-Eastern regions was a practice usually saved for and used by women. Men did not customarily do that except under extreme and adverse conditions. He just stands and repeats “God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God, be merciful to me, a sinner”. Repetition reinforces importance.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.

Sound familiar? Those words, or ones nearly the same, can be found six times in our Book of Common Prayer in the first one third of the book. We say them corporately. The tax collector is reciting his version alone, in a huge hall, full of people, men.

Both the tax collector's words and actions expressed his sense of unworthiness. He confesses that he is a sinner and prays for God's mercy. The Pharisee did not go really to pray, he went to remind God how good he was.

Jesus lets us and His listeners at the time hear the two prayers in His example story. It is also another story of divine reversal. You can describe both these men any way you want. My uncle Darrell would have been pretty adept at that, but they are not liars. Each man described himself and neither one lied.

The tax collector humbled himself before God, the Pharisee did not. The tax collector then went home justified, accepted by God. The Pharisee did not. “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Amen.