God, be merciful to me a sinner!

 

 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 

 

As we begin to enter into Lent, the lectionary gives us readings to consider and frame our Lenten journey, particularly in the context of the traditions of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.  For the Oriental Orthodox, Lent began on Monday; today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent for the western churches, Catholic and Protestant; for the Eastern Orthodox Lent will begin this Monday.  Yesterday we were given the story of Jesus on trial before Pilate:   Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.  Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.  Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king them?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."

 

  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."  My study Bible explains that the Pharisee is highly respected and a careful observer of the details of the Law, whereas the tax collector is despised as a sinner who collaborates with the occupying Roman forces, and who betrays and cheats his own people.  

"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.'"  The practices of this Pharisee are worthy examples to follow, my study Bible explains to us.  His good deeds (fasting and giving tithes) are the primary weapons against the passions of lust and greed (adultery and extortion).  But without a humble and repentant heart, these outwardly good practices are worthless and lead only to pride and judgment of others.  We are to 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!'"  My study Bible asks us to observe the posture of the tax collector:  it shows an awareness of the state of his soul, as he stands 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, as is the refrain "Lord have mercy" which permeates worship and personal prayer.   

 

"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."  To be justified means to be forgiven and set right with God, for inward humility is blessed while pride in outward deeds is condemned.

My study Bible explains that to be justified essentially means to be forgiven and set right with God.  In pursuit of that end, we must know that inward humility is blessed while pride in outward deeds is condemned.  And that is why this particular parable of Jesus is the archetypal parable for Lent, because during Lent our pursuit of the practices of prayer, of almsgiving, and of fasting are particularly directed at "getting right with God," as the expression goes.  And these are the means whereby we pursue that goal, with Lent as the period particularly dedicated to that end.  This period leading up to Easter is the period dedicated to a preparation for the Lord's Resurrection as the One whom we expect to meet at His Second Coming.  It is a time to think about how we are prepared to meet our Lord, what it is that God praises and that God does not.  The emphasis, then, has always been on the cultivation of humility, on the awareness of our own flaws and things we need to restore or repair, the ways in which we need to grow.  But without humility, we can't possibly even know where we need to shape up our thinking and our lives, the errors we fall into, or the ways in which our Lord would not be pleased to meet us.  This parable given by Jesus is the prime example we have of how Jesus teaches us our attitudes should be.  We can all perhaps recognize in modern form what the Pharisee would look like.  Let us note that his whole focus is first of all on his own self-righteousness, leading to a focus on comparison to others.  This is entirely the wrong focus.  Lent is the time when we learn to focus more clearly on God.  We fast from all the things that distract that focus, we just give everything a rest for a while and we think about God, focusing in on prayer and the other practices that help us to remember God and to know what we are to be about.  We attempt to make more space for attention to God.  We don't focus in on our passions and desires and the million and one things the world seems to clamor for us to follow.  The interesting thing about today's parable (or, at any rate, what grabs my attention today) is that God, however, is comparing us!  At least in this case, Jesus (our Lord) is clearly pointing out that one person is praying "with himself" and that the other, however, is quite aware of his own flaws -- and he compares the two for us, and the one aware of his own mistakes comes up justified, and not the nominally "good" Pharisee.  The Jesus Prayer practice mentioned by my study Bible is a simple yet profound practice of short, repeated prayer, developed through the monastic tradition in Orthodoxy.  It is based, for the most part, on the refrain of the penitent tax collector, but also from other passages in the Bible, and particularly from St. Paul's admonition to "pray without ceasing."  In the earliest monastic practices of the desert monks, it was common to repeat a short prayer from the Psalms:  "Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord!" (Psalm 70:1).  In this practice, the monastics were continually reminded of their spiritual struggle.  They would repeat it throughout the day, while doing their work or other activities.  Some used small pebbles to mark each recitation.  These short prayers were called "arrow prayers."  In the Eastern monastic tradition, the Jesus Prayer developed, a way to practice in various times and circumstances, including when alone, a short arrow prayer which is repeated and upon which one focuses.   This practice is also called the Prayer of the Heart, for the idea is that the repetition eventually becomes something which deepens itself within us, penetrating to the heart.  For those interested, I recommend this short, inexpensive book by Met. Kallistos Ware, or for a little more depth, this paperback authored in humility by one calling himself A Monk of the Eastern Church, but known to be Fr. Lev Gillet.   Another book teaching about this prayer tradition by Met. Kallistos is this one.  Please note that there are many Western advocates of this prayer who teach that it is meant to be accompanied by breathing exercises, but traditionally in the East this was never a part of the teaching, especially for lay people.  The true practice is simply to repeat the short prayer to oneself, and when you find your mind wandering (which will happen inevitably), just bring your focus back to the prayer.  In this prayer, even the very Name of Jesus is considered a prayer, and will work as an "arrow prayer."  Note that this is a prayer practice, not a meditation practice.  It is a way of "praying without ceasing," of calling upon Jesus and seeking His presence, both simple and profound, as our prayer deepens within us.