October 27, 2019
Luke 18:9-14
By: Jerry Mathis
When the Locally Empowered and Appointed Preachers or LEAP for short met in September, we welcomed a new class, looked over the syllabus, and signed up for the preaching schedule from now through next July.
I think maybe I got the best assignment because not only do I get to speak on Reformation Sunday, but it’s also Trunk or Treat day, celebrating Halloween, which is one of my favorite holidays along with Christmas, Easter, my birthday and Thanksgiving. I like Halloween because we can put on a costume and become something or someone we’re not normally. And, I really, really like candy.
I also like Reformation Sunday. It gives us a chance to say “Thank You” to Martin Luther. Without him and the beginning of the Reformation, we most likely would not have the choices of churches, including this one, we have today.
At the same time we (the LEAPERS) receive our preaching dates, we also get the suggested scriptures or that day. Here again, I think I got lucky. Between the words of Jeremiah and the reading from Luke, we have a lot to consider. It’s been said that the Bible is all things for all people for all time. How true. Today’s scriptures from around 600B.C. and then about two thousand years ago are so very relevant to our world, and especially to our country and even our community.
First, there is Jeremiah praying on behalf of the people and admitting their sins, including corruption, immorality and not caring for the earth. And especially what Jeremiah calls their backsliding. That is, going away from and ignoring God. Funny thing about human beings—the more history we have, the more we are inclined to repeat it.
This was a time of severe drought in that part of the world. While this may have been a naturally occurring event, no doubt Jeremiah (and probably others) must have been thinking it was God punishing them. So Jeremiah cries out to God, essentially saying, “O Lord, do not forsake us now. You have helped us in times of great distress before. We are your people and our hope is in you. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it”.
And God answers him, saying “The people love to wander and they don’t restrain their feet”. One interpretation suggests this means they were going around worshiping idols and false gods. God continues “So the Lord does not accept them and will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins”.
I want to be clear that when I use the word “we” I’m speaking collectively for all humans, not pointing a finger at any one individual. I don’t think we need God to punish us. We’re doing a good job of it on our own. There is so much hate in the world, and technology has led us to develop weapons capable of instantly killing and maiming great numbers of people in a very short time. Not just guns, but rockets, bombs, and even chemicals.
We are raping the earth through mining, drilling and deforestation. We are filling the oceans with plastic and other garbage and fouling the air we breathe and the water we drink. We have a government that is turning the Environmental Protection Agency into the Environmental PROFIT Agency along with encouraging and even blessing highly questionable decisions being made at other agencies such as the Department of the Interior. All this is happening because of worshiping the idols and false gods of power and the almighty dollar without regard for people or animals or the earth. We need a new Reformation.
We need a change of attitude, which brings us to our Gospel lesson from Luke, where he quotes Jesus’ parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector. Two guys that we might say have attitude challenges, especially the Pharisee.
The Pharisees were, and still are, if you count Hasidic Jews among them, a religious movement dedicated to following the laws of Moses and living in accordance with the Torah. They were, and are, very attentive to certain rituals.
Matt Skinner, in his commentary, says that Luke uses the Pharisee in the parable as an embodiment of arrogance and contemptuousness. He prays only for himself while professing his greatness and showing contempt for the tax collector. Maybe this is where we get the idea that Pharisees are not exactly nice guys whenever we read or hear about them.
But, if we take away the corruption, such as charging people a “temple tax” that said their parents would be cared for, and their “holier than thou” attitude, we find they were, and are, just being passionate about what they believed. I say “are” because we have people in the Christian church very much like that today.
If you go to their church you have to follow their rules and blindly believe what they tell you about the Bible. If you don’t, or if you ask questions, you will no longer be welcome. That’s fine with me. Having been to some and experienced it, I don’t want to go back there, anyway.
Now, we come to the other person in the parable: the Tax Collector. They were under Roman rule and viewed as dishonest and greedy. They were corrupt in that they could collect however much they wanted to and pocketed a good portion of it. And yet, Jesus deliberately reached out to them. He even called to one (Matthew or Levi as he was also known) to become one of his original disciples.
This tax collector we’re focusing on also prays only for himself, but in the opposite way of the Pharisee. He has a change of heart, recognizing and confessing his sinfulness, and asking for God’s mercy. And it is granted. The point of the parable seems to be that God’s mercy is all encompassing.
Here’s a question from Rod Boriack: When have you witnessed someone receive a second or third chance, forgiveness, a new start, or, in your opinion, an undeserved opportunity? Did you feel it was unfair?
Finally, what do we do when we see corruption and grave injustice and attitudes that need to be changed? There’s an old saying that goes “God helps them that help themselves”. We can help ourselves and we certainly need God to help us, although it may take some time and requires a certain amount of patience. Joan Chittister, in her book “The Time Is Now” implores us to be active in whatever way we can. Not just politically, but environmentally and especially socially. Speak out. Write letters. Make phone calls. Attend protests and rallies. Vote. And, most importantly, use the most powerful energy source we know of—prayer. The one thing that ties Jeremiah, the Pharisee and the tax collector together in our readings is that they prayed. And so should we. Pray every day, and even as Pastor Jennifer says, pray without ceasing.
Many of us in this congregation volunteer and work hard for social justice and environmental causes and organizations and even some political activities. But, we can always do more. We need to keep praying for God’s mercy and that Jesus’ commandment to love one another will someday shine through.
We need a new Reformation.
Amen.