NRSV LUKE 18:9-14, THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Reinhold Niebuhr wrote in "Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic" that it is "so easy to repent of other people's sins." I think this is the perfect commentary on the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
Often in our lives, we (yes, we, first-person plural) cry to the Lord thanking God "I'm not that bad." In many cases, the places where we find our piety are the same places where our sin is found too. This was true in the case of this proverbial Pharisee. Our lesson is in the face of the Tax Collector, the man who confesses his own sins, not those of the whole world.
If not for God's grace, we would not be able to stand before the Lord. So please God, be merciful to me, a sinner!
I have often cried to the Lord, "thank God I am not that bad-off!" But a few of us also know how bad we are and how lucky we are to be as well-off as we are! I am a lucky guy; know you and getting to read these posting is the evidence of my claim. : > )
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