There are a few places in our Holy Bible where I find myself asking, who are you talking about? And today this question is directed right at Jesus. Jesus, who are you talking about? Who exactly who are you labeling as the exalted? By now we are used to our Jesus who seems to turn most of our assumptions upside down and here he does it again, telling us that the ones who we assume will be the most honored in God’s eyes might not necessarily be. It is not unusual for Jesus to do this. It seems that more often than not, Jesus shocks us with proclamations that in God’s Realm and in God’s eyes, things are quite a bit different. Children will lead us. The last shall be first. The Kingdom of Heaven is not described in grandiose fashion rather with mustard seeds and yeast. In fact most of what Jesus says, seems to run in direct contrast from what we experience in the world. And today again Jesus is flipping things, telling us that “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” It is one of those parables that is, beautiful, fascinating and brilliant- a marvelous image, a spectacularly Holy way of uplifting the one who would have been vulnerable in Jesus’ time. It is simply wonderful……that is until I begin to ask which one am I?
Maybe it’s just me- my analytical mind and my longing to know if God deems me worthy of this calling and this extraordinary profession, but I suspect I am not alone. It seems in some ways to be the elephant in the sanctuary. Especially when Jesus gets bold and says things like, “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Perhaps most of us silently wonder, will I be exalted?
It seems to me that most of Jesus’ preaching and teaching was aimed at reversing our expectations and speaking for those who had no voice, but when I long to hear Jesus’ words in this time, I wonder how we know when Jesus is talking to us? The Gospel of Luke is my favorite gospel as its entire focus is aimed at uplifting those who were marginalized and left out in First Century Palestine. The authors are not shy about letting the readers know whom God favors. Luke is the place where we read that Jesus came “to bring good news to the poor,” “to proclaim release to the captives,” and “to let the oppressed go free.” It is this Gospel that seems to be focused on offering hope to the marginalized. And our text for today very much fits into this category as well. The author happily points a finger at “some” who are simply not cutting it. We read that there is a group who trusted in themselves, who believed in their own righteousness and regarded others with contempt. Jesus doesn’t name any names here. He loves to do that. It seems to be one of his best tactics. But like a kid throwing a tantrum I want specifics. I want to know whom exactly he is talking about. I want to ask, are you talking to me? What do we have to do to be exalted?
Much of the established commentary on this text assumes that Jesus was directing this parable at both this Pharisee in particular and the Pharisees in general, seeking to condemn them for what he deemed as failing to uphold the Law. Tragically, theologians and Christians throughout history have read this as a condemnation of Jews in general. But, this I believe is not the case. In fact, Stan Wilson asserts that instead of condemning all Pharisees Jesus was pointing to the one in this story as an “example of virtue not yet transformed by the love of God.” But this leads us again to the question of exactly what Jesus means.
Throughout much of the Gospel stories, it is clear who the authors want the readers to label as sinners. And at first glance, we might fall into the trap of making such clear distinctions here between those who need to be humbled and those who are honored in God’s eyes. The Pharisee and the tax collector are presented as polar opposites. The Pharisee by virtue of his position and calling, prayed often, most likely fasted regularly, was financially generous and was diligent and rigorous about keeping the Law. By all accounts he was faithful. And we know that the tax collector, by nature of his profession, was basically a sneak and one who extorted money on behalf of the Roman Empire. By all accounts he was violating the vulnerability of human existence and being unfaithful to Jewish Law. But it seems to me that Jesus’ proclamation in and of itself challenges what we might first assume. He purposely doesn’t name names and his assessment is just as much an invitation as it is a proclamation.
We look at the list of accomplishments of both the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee with a beautiful array of daily tasks that seem to add up to faithful life and the tax collector whose life seems to add up to very little at all and yet Jesus does not condemn. Instead he invites and I am left wondering if Jesus’ words are more about what could be than what is. Jesus seems to be saying, being honored in God’s eyes has less to do with what we have to do to be exalted…and more to do with who we have to be. Perhaps being honorable in God’s eyes has little to do with our “to do” list.
This may not be all that surprising to you, of course we would all say that God loves us just as we are, even all the while calling us to be more open to God. But since most of you New Englanders don’t offer “amens” or even nods, I will assume that you are nodding inside. We might claim that it is of no surprise to us that being honorable in God’s eyes has little to do with our to do list. But friends, if you are anything like me knowing this intellectually is much easier than incorporating this learning into our daily living as Christians. Living as if our “to do” list is not our way to God’s honor is no easy task. I have fallen into the trap of seeking God’s honor with my faith-filled to do list- but here Jesus is saying that this is no way to be exalted. Instead Jesus offers an open-ended invitation…And unlike Jesus, who fails to condemn, the Pharisee takes this upon himself. Dan Clendenin contends that the Pharisee and perhaps many of us make two mistakes- the first is about ourselves and the second is about other people. The Pharisee stood on high- making assessments about someone whose story he did not know, whose life he had not experienced, whose heart he had not glimpsed. He prayed, he tithed and sought God but none of that mattered to Jesus- what mattered, what made all the difference was that the Pharisee assumed that the tax collector was less able to be open to God’s faithful and loving lure than he was. Such assessments, Jesus says, are never for us to make, such assessments should be left up to God. Because the truth is we can never know the heart of another. And this kind of openness to another, this kind of orientation with our hearts makes me think of some of the words we shared at my installation last week. Martin and Chris, my colleagues in Wellesley, urged us to always assume the best of one another, to be in the business of open-ended invitations instead of condemnations and we heard again and again the words from Ephesians: I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Bearing with one another in love with all humility and gentleness is always starting with the assumption that our hearts are sincere and remembering that we simply cannot know the depths of another soul as God can. And so maybe being honored in God’s eyes, being exalted is about the state of our hearts and maybe we are to be steeped in the act of inviting of extending openness and grace. And perhaps this is just another tenet of Christian living that simply cannot be measured in worldly terms. Maybe being exalted is more like a state of moving through the world. None of us are exempt from Jesus’ invitation, it applies to all of us….we are all sinners, each and every one of us, with shadowy spots and tender spots, with wounded-ness and openness…but Jesus’ words invite us to be more, invite us to seek God instead of making judgments on others. He seems to be saying that wherever we are, there is room for us to humble ourselves before God. He never names names instead he gives chances to start fresh and begin again. It is only our God who we know in Jesus Christ who could look at the canyons of our souls and know what is there. “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted” an invitation for all of us and invitation only for God to offer. Amen.
Inspired by http://www.theolog.org/blog/2007/10/blogging-towa-3.html by Stan Wilson