He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’I've always enjoyed the imagery in this passage. The vision I have of someone with authority, standing on a soapbox in a corner, praising himself for not being like the "others" and the vision of the tax-collector kneeling, pounding his chest and pleading with God for forgiveness is almost enough to get a chuckle. Of course the passage doesn't describe it exactly that way, but I did say it's how I vision it.
Today, however, I'm drawn to the opening verse of this parable; "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt". There really are some people, maybe even more than some, who think that they have everything they need and all is perfect in their world. So perfect, in fact, that they place themselves above everyone else and look to those whom they consider "less" than them with disregard, or worse yet disrespect.
It's to these people Jesus speaks a reminder to be humble. Biblical humility is not what we expect. Today's most accepted definition of that word is to lower yourself to be less than others. In the bible humility is to not make yourself better or worse than another. The message of humility Jesus is hoping we understand is that of equality and how we should live a life in the belief that we are all equal in the eyes of God; therefore we should all be equal in the eyes, and hearts, of one another.
This type of humility is not as difficult as we think. Jesus says it all in this parable; in the kingdom of God the exalted will be humbled and the humbled exalted. In other words we'll all be, and are equal. The thought for today is this: do you see yourself as an equal to, less than, or better than those around you?
Be humble. Not as we're asked to be in today's culture but as we're asked to be by God.
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