Sunday Homily, October 28, 2007, 30th in Ordinary Time
Readings: Sirach 35,12-18; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4, 6-18; Luke 18, 9-14.
Sirach: Again we take up one of the books of the Apocrypha, the 12 books written in Greek and not originally considered part of the Bible. This book is basically a collection of Jewish wisdom statements and teachings.
Our selection in chapter 35 talks about the nature of god and what happens to the person who serves god. It sets up Luke’s parable about the pharisee & the tax collector in the temple.
I am Better than Whom?
In our neighborhood there is an elderly couple. Their yard is full of weeds and they tend to mow only a few times a summer. They have a couple of dead cars in the driveway, and drive an old, partially rusted pickup.
Once while I was sitting at my desk in the living room I saw the lady come by our house in her truck, take a left away from me on the corner, stop the truck, and get out. Next I saw our neighbor lady running across our yard going in the direction of the truck. Her black lab had gotten out. Guess who finally caught the dog. Yes, the lady from the pickup. I was impressed and a bit embarrassed at my judgmental attitude.
I was doubly embarrassed a few weeks later in the spring when I was working in the yard. The pickup pulled up to the curb and from the driver’s side window the lady says to me, "You really have a nice yard." We chatted, I found out her name, and now we wave at each other whenever she drives by.
I am the pharisee in the parable about these two guys going into the temple to pray. Let me make a few comments about the tax collector, the pharisee, and the setting.
The setting first.
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Prayer time was 9:00 or 3:00
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Others were probably present
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Prayer of soliloquy was normal
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The parable is directly addressed to the rule keepers and especially the judgmental rule keepers. Are these people fear based, following whatever they were programmed to believe as children?
The pharisee.
- Goes to the temple to pray. Normal. Considered a model citizen & temple member.
- Utters a prayer of gratitude. Normal. A great prayer form.
- Fasts twice a week and pays tithes on his whole income. Above normal. An outstanding temple member. A paragon of virtue and worthy of all Yahweh’s blessings.
- But. The prayer of gratitude is based upon a judgmental attitude. He thinks he is better than. Superior to.
The tax collector.
- Shock! A tax man going into the temple. Going to pray.
- Tax collectors were considered ritually impure, because of their job. They collected money from their neighbors to hand over to the hated Roman government.
- The tax collector could have been stoned for entering the temple.
- He does not confess his weakness, does not promise to repent, says nothing about restitution. In fact, he could not give up his job. Or would not?
- Begs for mercy. Nothing more. His only hope is to be accepted by Yahweh.
The result: Escatalogical Reversal. Big description for what takes place. A flip. Just the contrary to what the Jewish people listening would expect. The Tax collector "went home justified." God’s inconceivable love accepts someone who does not follow the rules? See why they crucified him?
Who are three people you dislike? And why?
AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-10-28.mp3