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Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
- Luke 18:9-14
Yesterday, we read that Jesus spoke a parable to His disciples, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'" Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector." This depiction of our spiritual standing and relationship to God uses two very different faces. A Pharisee, says my study bible, "is a highly respected and careful observer of the details of the Law, whereas the tax collector is despised as a sinner who collaborates with the occupying Roman forces, betraying and cheating his own people." In order to get the proper picture, we really have to see things from the contemporary point of view of Jesus' audience; there could not be a greater difference in the estimation of virtue and vice in each of these people in the story.
"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'" My study bible says, "The practices of this Pharisee are worthy examples to follow. His good deeds (fasting and giving tithes) are the primary weapons against the passions of lust and greed (adultery and extortion). However, without a humble and repentant heart, these outward practices are worthless and lead only to pride and judgment of others. Note that he prays with himself, for God is absent where there is boasting."
"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'" This may be the most effective image in terms of prayer that has been given to us. My study bible says that "the tax collector shows by his posture an awareness of the state of his soul, standing far from the altar of sacrifice with eyes cast downward." His prayer, God, be merciful to me a sinner, is the foundation of the Jesus Prayer (a practice in which one endeavors to pray without ceasing), and the perennial refrain heard everywhere in Christendom, "Lord have mercy."
"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." My study bible says that justified means forgiven and set right with God, for inward humility is blessed while pride in outward deeds is condemned.
There are many things to say about today's "landmark" passage. It's the archetypal understanding not only of our prayer but how we stand in relationship to God. It teaches us what it is to be justified in Christ's perspective. But there is more to it. Here's a great teaching on humility. We really have to understand how the deeds of the Pharisee are worthy and good. He's sort of like the most "politically correct" of the politically correct, but there's much more to it. He's doing things that are recognized as deeds which are pleasing to God, good practices which are in fact designed to lead to and support our humility and our understanding of humility. This is essential for us to understand. Tithing and fasting are ways in which we practice spiritual discipline, doing without, that above all have a powerful and good impact on who we are inwardly, so that we are more "ready" to hear God's word for us. And yet, this Pharisee, this pillar of good works and humble deeds, has missed the point -- he's praying "with himself." He's congratulating himself in some sense. He's not really talking to God and asking God what God wants of him. Granted, he's practicing things that are always recommended by the Church and by Jewish religious law and teachings to start with. But, despite the practices, he's still missed the point. And we have to start there: what is the point of humility? Humility is, essentially, the practice of giving ourselves to God. It's about putting ourselves before the Lord and asking, "What do You want me to do?" It's not about recounting our good deeds or basically praying to or with ourselves. It's about the face-to-face relationship with God that comes in prayer -- our great opportunity in prayer. It's about dialogue and not monologue. We within ourselves are not a closed off circle. In prayer, we are to join a great "circle that has no circumference and whose center is everywhere" -- God. This saying about God is so ancient nobody really knows for certain who first said it. Its truth stands as it serves well the Person who is Truth, Christ, Logos. That's the dialogue into which we enter properly in prayer, the true Face before which we stand in no other way possible than with humility. And the person who understood that best in today's story was the tax collector. That horrible, evil person who betrays his own people in the form of extortion and service to the enemy, the oppressor, the non-faithful -- he's the one who got it right in today's story. That's because he spoke face-to-face, and the Pharisee only spoke, basically, to himself. And there's a more important point to humility rather than its justification in and of itself as virtue. Humility is the one and only way we can know that we are seeking to serve Truth. It's the only way we really lay ourselves before Christ and ask, "What else do you want me to do?" or "What am I missing?" or "Where do I go from here, Lord?" Humility is the attitude that tells God that you are aware you don't know everything, and that there is more to learn. Humility is the willingness to see what you're blind to, to have the plank in your own eye removed, even when it's painful and difficult. Humility has the "moral intelligence," if one wills, to understand that whoever we are, there's more that we're unaware of, and more that God wants for us to learn, to aspire to in life. It's the face-to-face that really counts -- a dialogue, a relationship of love. It's the attitude of willingness to accept truth beyond what we know and where we are. It's the only true way to go to God. In yesterday's reading, Jesus left us with the admonition that it is constant and persistent prayer that sees us through the difficult times through which we await His Return. Today, He teaches us what it really means to pray. Can we understand Him? Do we want the truth He offers us?
