THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR

It is fair to say that I have read this parable dozens if not hundreds of times. I’ve been “in church” since my birth and this was a Sunday School story for me. However, it is only recently that I have really thought through the story, and realised that it contains a trap into which our very nature causes us to fall, all too often.

Best summarised, that trap is this: "Lord, I thank you that am not like this Tax collector!”

In this Gospel (Luke 18:9-14), we see two ways of praying. One is arrogant, proud and contemptuous of others. As the Pharisee “prays”, it is telling that the text virtually says he is “praying to himself”. It is as if God is somehow meant to feel grateful that there are at least a few people as observant of the rules as he is. This is in comparison with the sinful and despicable outsider symbolised by the tax collector behind him. Yet his “prayer” is not accepted. It is not really a prayer at all but a speech of praise to himself.As Christians or as regular churchgoers, we can sometimes feel superior to others. The line of demarcation may vary: we may feel superior to those who have dropped out, backslidden, those who have no faith at all or perhaps those who lead what we regard as “immoral” lives or follow a completely different set of rules.  When we read this story, we must be careful not to scapegoat the Pharisee by committing exactly the same mistake ourselves.The tax collector is certainly a sinner; he has done wrong, that is not denied in the story or by himself. The key thing is that he knows and acknowledges his sinfulness. He is deeply repentant and he puts himself totally at the mercy of God. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” 
(1)God accepts the prayer of the second one because he acknowledges two things
(2) God is not only his judge but his Lord and Saviour. His sins are not just against others, but against God    just as David confesses in Psalm 51:4).
(3) It is no comfort to compare himself with anyone else. He does not judge anyone else; only himself.We must be careful not to fall into a similar trap – "O Lord I thank you that I am not like this Tax collector". The issues he has, the faults he falls into are common to man – the idea of being superior because of a tribe we belong to, a label we carry, and the pernicious idea of “being in” whilst others are “out”, and the great temptation to judge others in order to make ourselves feel better about ourselves.
It is so easy to subconsciously feel bad and guilty about our own lives, but we project this onto others, in an insecure attempt not so much to judge them per se, but primarily to make ourselves feel better. When we do it, it points to a lack of peace and assurance in ourselves, about God’s love for us. God has freed us from slavery and saved us from sin – has asks only that we confess and repent. He does not ask that we outperform anyone else, and he expressly forbids us to stand in a place of a judge. So this is not just a story of warning and admonition but it is also a story of great reassurance. 
The real underlying point of the story is justification before God is unrelated to our works and virtues. That means that any of us, whatever we have done or not done, or however bad we feel about ourselves, can approach a merciful and loving Father in penitence and faith and go away right with God.Our prayer must always be an expression of our total dependence on God. There is nothing that we can give him which He has not given us first. All we can do is to make an effort to return a fraction of the love that He showers constantly on us. We are and always will be in his debt.

Stay Inspired
Uhanan Mimi