Luke 18:9-14
Once again a passage that is fairly well-known to me is read anew. I've heard this parable many times and each time I've heard it it's been as a lesson in humility. In just about every sermon, bible discussion group, or passing conversation on this parable it's been generally accepted that one should not shout at the top of one's lungs in order to bring attention to one's self. Instead, we are to simply admit we are sinners and pray that God forgives us.
It wasn't until the past few years I've been directed to note that the Pharisee is pointing fingers at people who are "not like" him. Sinners such as thieves and adulterers are lumped together as people who the Pharisee is thankful to not be like. The Pharisee even says he's happy to not be like the tax collector with which he is being compared.
The tax-collector, on the other hand, simply admits to his sins and asks for forgiveness. I don't know about you, but I like the example of the tax collector better.
The first sentence in this passage spoke out to me today. Jesus tells this parable to "some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt." I practically stopped reading the passage once those words settled in as I asked myself what I think of myself and others.
There was a time in my life when my faith taught me that we need to be better than those who sin. Boys who go to the movies with girls were sinners. Girls who danced with boys were sinners. Only sinners questioned the authoritativeness of God's word as it pertained to exactly who sinners were. And, believe it or not, it was possible to not be a sinner as long as you rebuked every idea outside of the ones the "official" church of Jesus taught.
We were taught to not be like "them" and instead we should stand on the mountain top and thank God we are not sinners - as long as we were humble about it.
In the years that followed, I discovered I was indeed a sinner and no matter how hard I tried I would always be one. However, I also discovered that being a sinner isn't the end all I was taught it was. In fact, knowing I am, and will always be, a sinner was just the beginning. That realization gave me permission to let go of the hate I had for myself and my sinning-ness, Instead I found that I now had permission to let God work in and through me as a sinner to let others know God is at our side, walking with us on our path, no matter what.
There is no race to win, there is no love to be earned, there is no reason to doubt myself because God has always been and will always be with me. It is in this realization I have grown past looking at others with contempt. It is in this understanding of God's love, as taught to me through my relationship with Christ, that I am now able to accept God's love for me.
This passage asks us to take an honest look at how we regard others as much as how we regard our self. As Christians we are being taught that we are all sinners, and through God's love we will be justified, or set as equals, to those around us.
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