I'm Humbler Than You

Lectionary Reading: Luke 18:9-14 (NRSV)

Within the scripture today, the reversal of the righteousness of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector would have been astounding within first century Judaism.

Because we have grown up with this parable, it is not so shocking for us today.

We have come to accept humility as one of the traits that at least Christian leadership should exhibit.  Well, technically, all Christians should show humility but at the very least the clergy should make an attempt.

There are still some strands of Christians who embrace the more judgmental attitude reflected by the Pharisees.  When you see a preacher lashing out against sin that he stands above (women may do this as well but most of the denominations that emphasize this style of preaching do not ordain women), it doesn’t reflect the kind of humility shown by the tax collector in the parable.  To include oneself in the sin that is being exposed is more likely to get people to identify with their own vulnerability to it.

Have you ever seen a pastor that preaches a lot of 

judgment participating in ceremonial foot washing?

I'm sure it happens but I believe it's rare

compared to those that emphasize grace.

And yes, this whole caption is ironic.

If I throw stones against you for something that doesn’t bother me, I elevate myself above you in righteousness.  As we both remain “in Christ” I fail to connect that our righteousness is equal regardless of our faithfulness with regards to this particular sin.  It is the faithfulness of Jesus Christ that affords our righteousness before God.  This doesn’t mean that right behavior or faithfulness in the face of temptation is not important.  But it does mean that these are always responses to the grace we’ve received.

“How do we lift each other up?” becomes the Christian response to sin. 

And if we are really not bothered by this particular behavior?

In other words, “What if I really am empirically better than this person with regards to this sin?”

It may be that we need to confess our own weaknesses.  To come to a place where we all recognize that we struggle at times with who we are called to be seems to be what Jesus is calling us to acknowledge within today’s parable.

I hope you’ll join us on Sunday as we continue to wrestle with this scripture in worship!

In Christ,

Sam

Photo by John Ragai via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.