Justified, or Self-Justified? – sermon on October 23, 2016
Joel 2: 23-32 Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the Lord your God! For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness. He has poured down for you abundant rain. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring. The threshing floors will be full of grain, and vats shall overflow with new wine and olive oil.
God says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, and the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter. It was I who sent this great army against you. Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people be disgraced. Then you will know that I am among my people Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other. Never again will my people be disgraced. Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days, I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.”
Luke 18: 9-14 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Sermon: Justified, or Self-Justified? By Rev. Doreen Oughton
It seems like a straightforward passage, doesn’t it, from the Gospel of Luke? It’s all laid out for us. Jesus is talking to people who he perceives are confident in their own righteousness and contemptuous of everyone else. And so he tells a story about a Pharisee who is confident in his righteousness and contemptuous of others, comparing him to a tax collector who has absolutely no confidence in his righteousness. And Jesus lifts up this tax collector as the one who will be justified before God. So the message must be that we are not to be arrogant, but humble. And it is not a shocking teaching, right? The Pharisees are often used as foils in the gospels. They are portrayed as hypocrites, arrogant and self-righteous. Who would want to be like them?
But the message would have been shocking to those listening to Jesus in those days. The Pharisees weren’t the religious elite – that would have been the Sadducees. In a way, they were reformers of the faith, just like those who sparked the Protestant Reformation. They thought everyone should know and seek to follow the law that would bring them salvation. And the tax collector? Well, most people would be contemptuous of any tax collector. They worked for the Roman occupiers, collecting taxes for them and tacking on their own fees as they wished. Maybe a modern day equivalent of this story would have Jesus comparing Joel Osteen with a loan-shark enforcer, lifting up the loan-shark enforcer as the one to emulate, the one who will go home justified. In that comparison, would you be shocked? Wouldn’t you want to be more like Joel Osteen than a loan-shark enforcer?
I would suggest that whenever the gospel message seems obvious, or easy to take, we probably ought to dig a little deeper, because Jesus’ message continues to be radical, continues to challenge everything we think we know about God and what God wants from and for us. The Pharisees were pretty sure they knew what God wanted – which was for people to keep the laws God gave them. Why would God have given them the law if not to keep it? Obvious, right? And yet here was Jesus saying that there was something else that God wanted more than law-keeping. What do you think that was? …. Humility? Why would God want us to be humble? Does God want us all going around on our knees beating our breasts and crying out about what sinners we are? Does God need us down low in order to see how great God is?
Let’s talk about the differences in attitude between the characters in Jesus’ story. Would you agree that the Pharisee was confident? Would you say his confidence is in God, or in himself? What is the mindset of one who is confident in himself, in his or her own knowledge, skills, behavior? Is it more likely to be open or closed? I think of it as more “I got this!” The Pharisee seems to be saying, “I got this, God. I am nailing this law-keeping thing!” And he is right. He is nailing that law-keeping thing. He is righteous unto the law. To his way of thinking, he has earned God’s approval. His salvation is his own doing.
In contrast, we have the tax collector. No confidence there, certainly not in himself. He has what the 12-step groups call “the gift of desperation.” What brings someone to that point? Has their life been going really well? Has their own thinking and strategies brought them what they want? No. Usually they have hit a bottom and can see no way out. Does this tax collector have confidence in God? Not sure I would call it confidence, but certainly he has hope. He believes that his salvation depends on the actions of God. And that is what justification means as a theological term – an understanding that it is God’s work that saves us, not our own. And by “saves us” I don’t necessarily mean that it gives us a spot in heaven. More that it brings the kindom of heaven here to us in this life, in this world. And I suggest that that is what Jesus is lifting up, an attitude of reliance on God and God’s work.
Some respond to the Pharisee’s confidence, or arrogance, by asserting that we are all sinners, so none of us have the right to be arrogant. That may be so, but I don’t think that’s what Jesus was trying to say. I think he was trying to say that whether we are sinners or not, none of us ought to be too confident in our own ideas of what God wants from us or for us. And so I make my assertions with humility. But my own studies and prayer have led me to believe that what God wants most for and from us is right relationship – with God, with ourselves and with others. Exactly what that looks like I am not sure, but from today’s reading, I would say that right relationship with God involves more humility and openness to guidance than an attitude of “I got this.” It seems that right relationship with others is not about holding yourself superior to them. If there are some ways that others struggle that you don’t, rather than being smug about it maybe you offer help, or at least prayers and compassion. In terms of right relationship with yourself, maybe this passage is saying that we are better formed and shaped by looking inward than by comparing ourselves to others. Maybe it is fine for the Pharisee to be pleased that he fasts twice a week and tithes, like I am pleased with myself on the days I do yoga, or stick to my eating goals, or preach a good sermon. Why ruin it by comparing and putting down others?
I spend a lot of time thinking about what God wants from me, both personally and professionally. I think about what God wants from this church, “where God is calling us” – as the church renewal movement keeps asking. But I wonder if I / we ought to spend more time wondering about what God wants for us. Our reading from Joel tells us something about that. God wants to rain down blessings for us. Bounty – all we need to eat and drink. God wants to save us from shame, wants to help us shine God’s glory. God wants to pour out the holy spirit upon us, inspiring dreams and visions and prophecies. And the truth is we can’t really stop God from working in our lives – in our hearts, in our church, in our relationships. But with certain attitudes, we can slow it down, we can fight the flow instead of going with the flow of God. We can put up our umbrella of self-confidence, self-righteousness, separation from or even contempt for others. We can try to divert these blessings being poured down. But still our feet will get wet. Or we can close up the umbrella and let ourselves get soaked. What dreams and visions might come to us about this church and what God wants for it if we can but let go of what we think we know; let go of our ideas of what it should be based on what it used to be. It may be uncomfortable to close up that umbrella. We may get soaked to the bone and really shaken up. But we will blossom by doing so. In that, I have confidence. May it be so.
