[Luke 18:9-14] is a parable with two characters in it. Like last Sunday, Jesus sets up a comparison in the parable between the two characters. Let’s have a peek at the two men. Luke tells us that one was a Pharisee; the other was a tax collector.
Thanks in some measure to the gospel writers, who rarely portray the Pharisees in a favorable light, we are predisposed to identify the Pharisee as self-righteous. But for Jesus’ original audience, the Pharisee would be the one who would be expected to offer the right kind of prayer. As pious lay leaders, they were known for surpassing others in their piety and their exact interpretation of the law. Nor would this man’s prayer have sounded particularly objectionable to Jesus’ audience. There were similar prayers in various Jewish writings. And listen to these lines: “My mouth has not transgressed as humans often do. As your lips have instructed me, I have kept the way of the law. My steps have kept to your paths; my feet have not faltered.” Sound familiar? These words are from Psalm 17.
The Pharisee also mentions his exemplary fasting and tithing. The only fast day prescribed in the Law is the Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur. That the Pharisee fasted more often would have been looked upon as praiseworthy. The same could be said of the Pharisee’s tithes, which also went beyond what was required.
And so, at first glance, the Pharisee’s prayer, his fasting, and his tithing are all good. But listen closely to his prayer. After the opening addressed to God, every other pronoun is “I”: “I thank you…I am not like…I fast…I pay…” The Pharisee’s whole prayer is centered on himself and his accomplishments. He seems to need nothing from God. Indeed, Luke tells us that the Pharisee was praying to himself
If his relationship with God is out of kilter, so is his relationship with other human beings. He judges and labels them, and in so doing, he usurps God’s prerogative. Moreover, all that he has received has not given him a compassionate heart toward others. His stance seems to be one of entitlement rather than gratitude. He is in right relationship neither with God nor with other people.
The tax-collector, by contrast, stands apart because he knows he is despised by the Pharisee. Jews considered his type greedy, sinful, unclean, dishonest, and in league with the Romans. But listen to his prayer and his way of praying. He does not lift his eyes to heaven, which indicates his compunction. He beats his breast, a sign of deep sorrow and mourning. His prayer is a simple cry for mercy – it literally means, “make atonement for me.” His hope is that the atonement sacrifices offered in the Temple might apply to him, as well. Although we are given no indication that he made any restitution for his offenses – and he probably couldn’t have found all the people he had
cheated, even if he had wanted to – he returned home justified. He is righteous because he recognizes who he is in relation to God, and that any good that comes to him is by God’s mercy.
So what does this all say to us? First, if we have instinctively despised the Pharisee in today’s gospel, we have done exactly what we are condemning him for doing. How much different from him are we?
Second, today’ s parable, among others, shows us why prayer is a theme in Luke’s gospel. For Luke, prayer is faith in action. Prayer is not an optional pious exercise, which we carry out to demonstrate our relationship with God. Rather, prayer is that relationship with God. The way we pray, therefore, reveals the kind of relationship we have. If we do not cry out day and night to the Lord, much like the tax collector, then we do not have faith, because that constant crying out to God is what faith does. Likewise, if our prayer is self-assertion before God, like the Pharisee, then it cannot be answered by God’s gift of righteousness. If we see ourselves as righteous, then God’s gift of real righteousness is canceled.
Do we view God’s goodness to us as something that we deserve, that we have earned by our piety and observance, or do we see God’s gifts as exactly that — gifts? Is our stance towards God one of utter dependence, with gratitude for what God gives, and trust that God will give us what we need? If this really is our stance, then we will have no smugness of superiority towards others; we will be able to see all people as brothers and sisters of the same gracious God, and this, in turn, will lead us to work for the good of all.
Fr. David Brown, OSB
Belmont Abbey
October 24, 2010
