Last
Sunday, the Lord drew our attention on the need to pray constantly without
getting tired. Today, he wants to teach us the “dos” and “don’ts” in approaching
God. Not every prayer is acceptable in God’s eyes and not all who come to his
presence win his favour. The first reading from the book of Sirach tells us the
nature of God. “The Lord is the judge, and with him there is no partiality”
(35:15). The reading goes further to tell us that “The prayer of the humble pierces
the clouds and it will not rest until it reaches its goal; it will not desist
until the Most High responds”.
Through
the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector Jesus shows how God detests
the prayer of the proud and exalts the humble. Both were in the presence of
God. Both believed in God, both prayed. However both didn’t go home the same
way. The Pharisee prayed thus before God. “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.'”. The Pharisees were proud elites
of the Jewish community. Because of their strict observance of the moral law
and discipline, they regard others as sinners and unworthy. Actually, they make
serious effort and even go extra mile in keeping the requirements of the law. The
law prescribed only one compulsory fasting, i.e. on the Day of Atonement but
this man fasted twice a week probably in the market place to attract a good
audience. In Numbers 18:21 and Deut 14:22, the Levites were to receive a tithe
of a man’s produce. But this man tithed the tenth of all his income. So when he
said he was not like the tax collector he was not joking about it.
On the
other side, 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!'”. This man did not mince words calling himself a sinner. He meant it. Tax
collectors, because they worked for pagan Romans, mixed with gentiles and
handled unclean money, were regarded as having low moral standards, public
sinners and public enemies. More so, they extort and oppress people in carrying
out their job. But deep in their hearts was a longing for righteousness and the
mercy of God. This longing pushed this poor tax collector to seek the mercy of
God in self abasement and with a humble contrite heart which God did not spurn.
What’s
wrong with the Pharisee? No doubt, he was a virtuous man but his virtue was
destroyed by pride and self exaltation. He forgot that in spite of his rigorous
efforts he was a sinner. He was pointing one accusing finger at others while
the rest of the four were pointing at him like most of us who are “angels”
while their neighbours are “demons”. A story was told of a king who was celebrating
his birthday. As part of the activities marking his birthday, he was to grant
amnesty to one prisoner. As he was walking around the cells, he was asking the
inmates what brought them to the prison. They were all telling the tales of
their how innocent they were. However, one of the convicted criminals said that
he was not innocent, that he was guilty of the crime he was convicted of. The
king ordered the warders to release “the only guilty criminal” before he
corrupts the “the other innocent prisoners”.
Today,
because our attitudes are not far from the Pharisee’s, God is calling on us to
emulate this tax collector in his presence. Self righteousness and hypocrisy
has corroded the hearts of many Christians. False sense of worth and ego have
stolen the souls of most of our brethren in the church. Spirituality is
replaced with religiosity. The paradox of the “most religious country” in the
world is that our pews are filled up but our hearts are empty. No one accepts
to be a sinner anymore. We always point at others.
Let us
point out why we go to church as raised in this parable. We go to church to
pray and not to pose. No one who is proud can pray. No one who looks down on others
can pray. The best form of prayer is the recognition of the holiness of God and
our own sinfulness. The cognizance of our weakness is the strength of our
holiness. Most importantly we go to church to attain salvation. Paul was a
Pharisee. But his proud pharisaic life could not save him. Today, he tells
us in the second reading that he is awaiting the crown of glory after running
the good race after the example of Christ the ideal example of humility who
humbled himself even to accepting death on a cross. When Christ comes with his
crown of glory to judge, judgment will favour the humble who will be exalted. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty
hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6)
