Proper 25C; Luke
18:9-14; St. Paul’s, Smithfield, 10/27/2019
Jim Melnyk: “We’re
Caught in a Trap”
So, Jesus, a Pharisee, and a tax collector
walk into a bar and the bar tender asks, “Hey, is this some sort of a parable?”
And we have to answer, “Yes, yes it is – and it’s a marvelous example of a
parable at that.”
On the surface we feel pushed to
make a judgement between the overly supercilious Pharisee and the repentant tax
collector. The contrast between the two is obvious, pushing us to choose the tax
collector over the religious leader. But as New Testament professor Amy-Jill
Levine makes clear, “Once we negatively judge one character and promote the
other, the parable traps [us].”[1] Inevitably
we choose, and so with apologies to Elvis, we’re caught in a trap – therefore
we must take the time to look back and figure this parable out.
Luke introduces this parable by
telling us Jesus’ audience is those who “trust in themselves that they are
righteous and regard others with contempt.” Being 18 chapters into Luke’s
gospel by now our immediate thought is that this must be addressed to the religious
leaders with whom Jesus contends. You know, the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees
and such. But while there may actually be some Pharisees hanging out with the
crowd at this point in the narration, Jesus is in reality speaking to his many
disciples following him along the way – challenging them to avoid getting too
full of themselves – perhaps a real temptation by those who find themselves
close to their charismatic leader and friend.
Once we realize this parable is
being told for anyone who trust too much in their own righteousness we are
freed to take a closer look at both the Pharisee and the tax collector, and
what Jesus might actually be trying to tell us about repentance, forgiveness,
and grace.
In order to understand what Jesus
is doing with this parable we must look at Pharisees in general, and this
Pharisee in particular, with early first century Jewish eyes. Our twenty-first
century Christian eyes have been indoctrinated with negative stereotypes about
Pharisees. In fact, the term Pharisee is often used in our culture as synonym
for hypocrite. While Luke’s portrayal of Pharisees is a bit more ambivalent
than Matthew’s, in the end it’s mostly negative. However, Levine reminds us,
“For the majority of Jesus’ Jewish audience, the Pharisees would have been respected
teachers, those who walk the walk as well as talk the talk.”[2]
Paul, our patron saint, was a Pharisee, and he viewed his being a Pharisee as
“a marker of distinction,”[3]
rather than a character flaw.
Jesus tells us a story that
includes a Pharisee whose prayer is a caricature of self-absorption rather than
a comment on the piety of all Pharisees. Jesus creates in this Pharisee a straw
dog of self-righteousness that according to Levine would have had any Pharisees
listening in chuckling. And those listening would have found themselves
surprised at his prayer.
Tax collectors, on the other hand,
are treated much more kindly by Luke than Pharisees. Beginning with the opening
stories about John the Baptist and continuing throughout the gospel, it is the tax
collectors and other sinners who are seen as repentant and ready to enter the
kingdom of God.[4] In
Luke’s gospel Jesus calls a tax collector, Levi, to be a disciple and breaks
bread with a repentant Zacchaeus. Luke’s late first-century readers would
identify with the tax collector in this story simply because of the way they
are treated throughout the first seventeen chapters of the gospel – they are
“invariably sinners on their way to becoming righteous.”[5]
But tax collectors were notorious
sinners in first century Palestine, and Jews in Jesus’ day “would beg to differ
[with Luke’s characterization. They would have seen] the tax collector [as] the
agent of Rome and not the agent of God…. The tax collector would have been
presumed to be corrupt,” as we see with those addressed by John the Baptist in
Chapter three – where he admonishes them to “collect no more than the amount
prescribed.”[6] The tax
collector’s presence in the Temple is a surprise – and while those listening to
Jesus may have understood such folks could be justified, they wouldn’t have
been overly happy with that prospect – nobody likes to see their enemies raised
up and forgiven.
And what we might begin to realize
is that Luke’s portrayal of Pharisees and tax collectors would not have fit the
conventional wisdom of early first century Jews who would have struggled with a
Pharisee who is almost cartoonish in his prayers, and a tax collector who is
not only in the Temple, but who prays for forgiveness. The characters in this
parable and the outcome would have turned Jesus’ listeners on their ears.
But the conclusion of the parable
can be even more explosive for the listener if we allow ourselves to be
challenged by how we translate the Greek phrase we read as “rather than.” This
man (the tax collector) went down to his home justified “rather than” the other
(that is, the Pharisee). Amy-Jill Levine points out that a perfectly correct
translation of the phrase para ekeinon
can also be “alongside.” In other words, this man, that is the tax collector,
went down to his home justified alongside the other, that is, the Pharisee.” It’s
as if the communal aspects of the Pharisee’s faith has a positive, redemptive,
impact upon the repentant tax collector’s life and faith.
Jesus challenges us about the
judgements we make regarding others. Do we pick the Pharisee who seems to be
doing everything he’s supposed to be doing – even though he is, as one of our
Wednesday Bible Study participants remarked, a bit of a windbag? Or do we pick
the tax collector who courageously stands before God in the Temple and
confesses his greedy alliance with Rome, and yet we have no idea if he actually
changes his way of life? Remember, “Once we negatively judge one character and
promote the other, the parable traps [us].”[7]
Jesus is tricky-smart that way.
What if the whole point of the
parable is not about picking the right character in the story, but rather
about not picking at all? About not judging? What if it turns out the Pharisee
and the tax collector are actually two sides of the same coin?
What if the parable is about
recognizing when we’re being a bit too full of ourselves and not full enough
toward others? What if the parable is also about recognizing our ability to
really mess up in our lives, hurting ourselves and others, and turning away
from the love of God in our lives? What if the parable is about finding the
right attitude in our own hearts and then amending our lives to be in sync with
what it means to love God, to love our neighbor, and even to better love
ourselves in a healthy way?
Two Episcopalians went up to the
National Cathedral to pray. One the backbone of their church, always there when
the need arose, and rather smugly comfortable with their place in the order of
things. The other always wrestling with doing what was right, often failing,
but now willing to acknowledge the brokenness in their life. And as it turns
out, God loves them both, just as God indeed loves each of us.
[1] Amy-Jill
Levine, Short Stories by Jesus: The
Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi, 192
[2] Ibid,
176 (paraphrased)
[3] Ibid,
177
[4] Luke
3:12; Luke 5:27; Luke 7:29
[5] Levine,
173
[6] Ibid,
174
[7] Levine,
192
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