It is so easy to list the sins of everyone around us. The prayer of the Pharisee was focused on the sins of others rather than his own sins. It was the prayer of the Publican who understood his need for God’s mercy. Being preoccupied with following the rules of the Church for the sake of pride and ‘following all the rules’ is not going to be a blessing to us. In the Gospel of Luke 18.10-14, Christ uses the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee to teach us to live the life of the Church without pride. The life of the Church is meant to transform our hearts, not meant for us to keep score with each other.
Transcript:
My brothers and sisters, this morning’s gospel is a simple lesson with a very difficult message. The simple part of the message is that we have these two people who go to church just like all of us are here today, they were in church praying. The difference was the Pharisee who knew all the rules, who followed all the rules as we say, to the letter, he goes into the church, thank you God that I’m not like all those other sinners behind me. I fast twice a week, I give my tithe to the church. Thank you, God. I’m not even like that horrible IRS collection agent in the back of the church. The tax collector, and he goes on to list all the sins of the other people.
Now, I will tell you, in my experience… We may not like to hear what I’m about to say, but in my experience, most of us, all of us at least one time or another, live like the Pharisee. Father, can you believe what so-and-so did last week? People even come to confession and I hear more about the sins of the other people than the person coming to Holy Confession. We are consumed with comparing ourselves to other people. We are consumed with making ourselves out to be the angel and the other to be the devil. We are just like the Pharisee. We know the rules and when we choose to follow them, because we don’t always follow them, we have to admit that. But when we choose to follow them, we are very proud to let everyone know.
“No, I’m sorry, today is Wednesday, I cannot eat that.” I’m going to offer you an opportunity to change your language. Instead of saying, “I can’t eat that.” I want you to say, “I can eat that, but I choose not to.” There’s a big difference because it’s not just about following the rules for the sake of the rules. This was the mistake that the Pharisees made. The Pharisees were preoccupied with following every instance of the law, but they had totally forgotten that the law was meant to change their hearts.
The law was meant to change the inside, not the outside. And so I hear this excuse all the time. Father, it’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles the man, but that which comes out. This is true. It is not a sin to eat. I’ve said that before. However, when we fast with the proper understanding, then it is a blessing to us. But we cannot be like the Pharisee. It’s not up to us to keep score against each other. How many days I fast versus another person or how many this, it’s not about comparison. It is about our hearts.
And so the sinful tax collector was in church. He was so filled with grief and shame for his sins, it says he couldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he said, “Lord, have mercy on me.” Remember, this is the comparison that God wants us to understand. He would prefer that we have the humility and repentance of the tax collector. At the same time, he would prefer us to have the zeal of life of the Pharisee. He wants us to live the life but not be so stinking proud of it.
That’s the key. And so this week, my brothers and sisters, the first week of our Triodion period now, we are 10 weeks away from Pascha. The church wanting us to understand that it isn’t about following the rules, the church forbids fasting from this week. It doesn’t just say, “You don’t have to.” It says, “You should not fast.” And there’s going to be some of you who struggle with that. But the canons say I should fast every Wednesday and Friday, the canons say, the canons this, the canons that, we’re not in the army. We don’t have cannons that shoot bullets.
And that’s a big problem in our church today, not just here, but throughout Orthodoxy. We are so easily consumed with following the rules that we lose sight. As I said in the bulletin, we lose the trees through the forest. And so my brothers and sisters, the challenge and the offer for us is to embrace the life of the church, to transform us, to change our hearts, and not to be so proud that we follow the rules so much better than somebody else. Because in that moment, every fast will have become useless to us.
Every rule that we follow is to our condemnation when we compare ourselves to other people. So this year for our 10-week journey, let’s embrace the tools of the church, the life of the church, so that when we are celebrating Pascha in 10 weeks, our hearts have changed. Our hearts have opened up to God’s mercy and to his grace. And I’ll tell you what, it wouldn’t hurt if we showed a little grace to each other. And instead of keeping score against each other, let’s have mercy on each other and love for each other. And let’s just stop the competition because all of us need God’s mercy. None of us is without sin. And so there isn’t a single one of us who can stand in the center of this church and pray the prayer that the Pharisee prayed. Instead, we should all pray the prayer of the Publican. Lord, have mercy on me, Glory to God for all things.
