What costume do you wear?
Tony E Hansen
Sermon based upon Luke 18: 9-14, 2 Timothy 4
Opening prayer
Halloween is just around the corner so let us consider what costume you would wear.
We continue our journey through the parables of Jesus in Luke. Last week we read about the widow and unjust judge that reminded us to be willing to offer grace, forgiveness, and justice to folks not just because they pester us but because God has already done that for you and me.
Here, we find Jesus talking to “some” people likely wearing expensive clothing and Jesus told a parable about these curious examples of “so-called” righteousness vs someone who might humble themselves.
They are curious because first we hear about the Pharisee who does all the right things by fasting, giving money and praying.
The Pharisee prays thankfulness to God, however it is not for all the gifts that God has given. It feels more like a half-hearted thanks (if you can call it that.) This prayer casts judgement upon wide swaths of people.
This is the kind of prayer people pray when they think they have it all figured out because they do all the right things. They go to church, and they sing great hymns. They give money (thank you for helping to keep the lights on!)
They hear the words of wisdom spoken and discussed. They pray often. They love church even and they love religion.
Somehow, they miss the point of the journey. That loving God and loving neighbor means more than doing the dutiful bits that pronounce our faith. For that is a faith that is only skin deep, if even that much. It is prideful, boasting and lacking substance because I am not one of “those people.”
Great!
They do all these bits for church and then get up from the pew with head held high and a decent swagger as they walk out the door. It is a presentation and a show.
The person sitting right next to them could use something besides a show. The person sitting right next to them might just be one of “those people” that they have taken pride in not being.
God calls us to love and love means to be there for people and to do something besides a presentation. We are called to do and to be the church in heart, mind, attitude and how we conduct ourselves and how we interact with our neighbors that are sitting right next to us and those we don’t even know.
No show is needed for that and no judgment called for; just a willingness to roll up sleeves and do what God has called of us.
Then there is this tax collector who can’t even look up with some serious remorse weighing on him.
Tax collectors were viewed as corrupt and greedy. They represented the injustice of broken political systems because they often profit from the system.
We know plenty of people like this today. Could be a politician, but also a mechanic, plumber, computer engineer, athlete or clergy even. They manipulate, distort, evade accountability, and ultimately hurt people. Sometimes, they reward themselves and colleagues for doing it.
Yet there has to be a limit. A point of recognition that all of that has a negative price that is not valued in dollars and cents or stock portfolios.
So on the face, two very opposite people here. A dutiful religious person that does all the right things Jesus would like and a conniving greedy person that enriches themselves, quite likely at the expense of others.
Do you recognize either or both of these people? Or are they wearing costumes?
The representative image of these people are wide apart, and what they do is equally different.
The religious person is only thinking about themselves and their conduct as righteous. They are not “those people.” Contrarily, the tax collector is grieving, recognizing and coming to terms with a lifestyle that has not been abundantly generous or righteous. Of that recognition, he declares himself to be a sinner and humbles himself.
Do we want to be either of these people, these costumes?
I would think not and the good thing is that we don’t have to be either of them. In fact, I submit we might take parts from both of them.
While we don’t need to live a life that hurts people or extorts or demeans people, we should live a life that is generous and dutiful. We should goto church and hear the good news, but we should not use those words as a shield from doing the necessary good.
The Bible should not used as a weapon against people but for people. It should not be a barrier to being what God wants us to be but instead is an invitation to do the necessary.
For otherwise, that is just as hurtful as someone who is actively extorting and manipulating. For “show" is manipulation in a different way.
It is a disguise and costume we put on because we leave the good meaning of the words and the commands in the pews.
We should be willing to recognize where we fall short, and that we don’t live the life we should. We should recognize that we are sinners, but also have the courage to repent, make amends when we can, and to live the way God wants for us.
Thus, when we pray, we do with humble heart and then get up and face God and our neighbors not with judgment, but embrace how we live together in community, whether we agree, have same hair styles, skin color, belief system, nationality, orientation or ancestry.
Beloved, God wants us to live in that community, to build that church together, and to be there for each other. Further God wants us to leave the judgment to God, instead of ourselves.
Then you too can say you “have fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith.”
That is Thanks Be to God
