1 Proper 25C Christ Church Andover October 24, 2010 Rev. Adam Shoemaker 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18: 9-14 On the Occasion of Christ Church s 175 Anniversary 70 and Up Sunday Celebration To those of us who are not accustomed to the words, the style, and the format of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, from which our service this morning is taken, worship today may feel a little off putting. The language is far more formal than what is now used in our normal Sunday liturgy and the structure of the service itself seems all mixed up with some things left out, other things added in, and even a different order to certain parts of the service. But what strikes me most about this service that was the normative way for Episcopalians to worship for decades, is that the tone is so very penitential. In just a little while, in fact, just prior to the distribution of Communion Jeff will recite on our behalf what is known as the Prayer of Humble Access (a prayer that I know some here today know by heart) which begins with these words: We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold
2 and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy. The images invoked for me in these words and in other prayers that we ll say today are images that place a strong emphasis upon our utter inability as human beings to make it on our own and these images also remind us, again and again, of our constant need for God s grace and mercy. Now, one of the many reasons that this 28 prayer book was reformed, after much debate, into the 1979 book that we use today, was to very intentionally try and change the tone and to move away from this emphasis upon our fallen nature and towards something more redeeming. But today s Gospel challenges us, I think, to reconsider the value of the 28 prayer book s tone that calls us as Christians to always strive to remember our absolute dependence upon God and God s mercy On the face of it, this parable that Jesus tells us seems pretty straight forward so much so that it could be easy to miss the message. We re told, at the very beginning, in fact, that Jesus is telling this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. And then, we re presented with two diametrically opposed prayers one from a Pharisee, whom most us would immediately assume to be the villain in the story and one from a publican or tax-collector, who would have
3 normally been looked upon with contempt by faithful Jews of the time. Now, the Pharisee s prayer is so over-top that it seems as if Jesus is trying to beat us over the head with his message this morning! The Pharisee looks up to heaven and prays, God, I thank you that I am not like other people: like thieves and adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I [even tithe: I ve] given a tenth of my income [away]. In other words, the Pharisee s prayer is really just an opportunity to pat himself on the back to give thanks to God that he is such a wonderful person and so much better than others around him because he has done all the things that he thinks a wonderful person should be about the business of doing. But the tax collector, we are told, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner! We are then told a moral for this story that seems to follow quite well from what we ve heard said, that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Seems simple enough. But if we re not careful, those of us sitting in church today, could be quickly inclined to pick sides in the hearing of this story to point our fingers disapprovingly at the Pharisee and applaud the tax collector and perhaps even to say a little prayer of thanksgiving to ourselves that, at least we re not anything like that awful Pharisee or maybe even
4 to say, thank you Lord that we come to church and have learned that we are always to be humble. The moment we make this move, of course, we begin to miss Jesus whole point and are, in fact, guilty of doing just what this parable is warning against! According to one biblical commentator David Lose, In order to avoid the kind of self-congratulatory reading of this parable that the parable itself would seem to condemn, [we must understand the true contrast in this story]. One makes a claim to righteousness based upon his own accomplishments, while the other relies entirely upon the Lord's benevolence. Rather than be grateful for his blessings, the Pharisee (who has, admittedly, done many wonderful things!) appears smug to the point of despising others. In his mind there are two kinds of people: the righteous and the immoral, and he is grateful that he has placed himself among the righteous. The tax collector, on the other hand, isn't so much humble as desperate. He is too overwhelmed by his plight to take time to divide humanity into sides. All he recognizes is his own great need. He therefore stakes his hopes and claims not on anything he has done or deserved but entirely on the mercy of God and in so doing, returns home transformed. This parable, therefore, is not so much about selfrighteousness versus humility as it is a parable about God.
5 This is a parable about a God who is always good and gracious and who never divides us one against the other. This is a parable about a God who justifies us not because of anything we have done but because we have come with an open and contrite heart and come genuinely seeking God s mercy. This is a parable that reminds us that we need not try to earn our way to God we simply need to try and come as we are wherever we are on our faith journey It is, in this sense, that I a child of the 1979 prayer book can embrace the more penitential tone of this 1928 prayer book service that we use this morning. Not for the sake of being reminded of our fallen nature but for the sake of being reminded of the loving God who always confounds the divisions that we human beings often make and always seeks to embrace us, again and again, when we come seeking God s mercy so that we can, as David Lose puts it, return to our homes in mercy, grace and gratitude. AMEN.