Over the past three weeks, the readings at Mass have centered around prayer and the lessons associated with this all-important activity. Today’s readings continue this theme as Jesus offers a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector. It would be easy to over-simplify what is going in this story. The Pharisee is the bad guy because of his prideful prayer while the tax-collector is the good guy because of his simple, humble approach. While some of this is true, there is much more for us to consider as we apply this powerful parable to our own lives.
Right off the bat, the purpose of this parable is striking. Luke tells us that Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. Christ had the divine ability to read hearts, to see what was going on in the depths of the souls of those who were listening to his teachings. And as he was speaking, he could see many hearts were self-confident, to the point of being cocky, of their own righteousness. This prideful view caused them to look down on others whom they determined were not as as righteous as they. As we prepare to reflect on the prayer of the Pharisee and tax collector, it would be good to first open our own hearts and intentions to the Lord. What does he see in your heart and mine? Aren’t most of us very similar to his listeners 2000 years ago, often secretly convinced of our own righteousness? Isn’t there a part of each of us that looks around the church or work or school and finds those who seem worse off than ourselves in some physical, material, or spiritual way? How easy it is to think less of the people who don’t have it together, who seem to wallow in their weakness and sinfulness? Even now, 2000 years later, Christ can see our hearts and help us to see that we need this parable just as much as his listeners did!
In the story, two people went into the temple to pray. One was a pharisee, which means he was a respectable person in Jewish society. This pharisee had a lot going for him! He was not greedy, dishonest, or impure. How many of us could say that honestly to the Lord? He fasted twice a week, prayed four times a day and even gave ten percent of everything he earned back to the temple! How many of us can boast of that?! In many ways, the pharisee was excellent, fulfilling the love of God and neighbor by his good deeds. I suspect if we had it all together like him, we might be tempted to say some of the very same things. But even with all of these good things he was doing, he went away unjustified.
On the other hand, there is a tax collector, who sneaks into the temple and stays in the back, at a distance Luke tells us. This was a man who made a living cheating others, overcharging them on taxes so that he could skim off the top. Tax collectors could do this because they constantly threatened people with extortion and would report them to the authorities as tax-evaders is they refused to pay their inflated fees. It is a sure bet that this guy was not giving a tenth of his income to the temple, nor was he darkening its doorways four times a day like the pharisee. In every way, he was the opposite of the pharisee, dishonest, greedy, and disliked by all who encountered him. And yet, Jesus tells us that he went away justified because of his prayer.
But why was this shady character justified while the much more pious and faithful Pharisee dismissed? Some care needs to be taken here so that we understand exactly what Jesus is saying and don’t lose the full power of the parable.
The Pharisee’s prayer is not rejected because he is pious in his religious practice, faithful in his external observance of the Law, or generous in returning God’s gifts. He is mostly a good guy, an admirable character. He is doing good things, things which the Lord still expects of each of us. However, he goes away unjustified because his prayer is scarcely a prayer at all. Instead of humbly praising God for all of the blessings he has received and acknowledging Him as the source of strength in keeping the Law and living a good life, the pharisee exults himself. Rather than praising God in his prayer or asking for mercy in the ways he falls short of the mark, he praises himself. He feels righteous because he compares himself to the tax collector. In doing so, he forgets that one is not justified by how good he looks compared to another person but by how he appears in the sight of God.
There are many things about the tax collector that we should never imitate. His dishonest way of life, his strong-arm tactics, his general lack of virtue. He is a bad man and Jesus is not holding up his life as an example. But the tax collector does one thing, the one thing that is most important in the eyes of God. He is humble before God, realizing he is not worthy to lift his eyes to heaven or to move to the front of the temple. His prayer to God is not an excuse for his actions rather, it is simply a prayer for mercy. When he prays that simple prayer: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” he finds the key to justification and receives God’s forgiveness.
Both the Pharisee and the tax collector have something to teach us because we have elements of each in our lives. The pride and self-righteousness of the pharisee are dangers for all of us. The sinfulness of the tax-collector, his greed, selfishness, and evil lifestyle are things that most of us struggle with in some way, shape, or form. In light of this, we can take away three important lessons from the parable:
First, it was not the lifestyle of the pharisee that got him in trouble nor the life of the tax collector that made him admirable. Therefore, let us strive to imitate the Pharisee in his commendable practice of regular prayer, fasting, and generous almsgiving. Let us seek to eliminate sin, in all its forms from our lives and strive to be righteous in every way.
Secondly, we should never forget the simple prayer of the tax collector. God is not won over by smooth-talking or elaborate words but rather by the heartfelt and humble prayers. If we acknowledge our need for God and his mercy, we can be sure that he will grant us all that is necessary to be justified in his sight. Our prayers should always acknowledge that we are sinners in need of God’s mercy.
Lastly, we should remember that God simply wants us to place our trust in him. He is not impressed by how we stack up to others. It is not good enough to be better than others if we don’t place our complete trust in him. The parable shows us that God abandons those who believe they can exult themselves, and exults those who abandon themselves, if they abandon themselves to him.
So do not be proud! Let us humble ourselves in the sight of God and make the prayer of the tax-collector our own: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”
