As we gather in worship and remember together the promises of God, and we RECEIVE together the gift of love and life, we are free to share that love with those who are different than us in some way. We aren’t trying to prove that we are right or better. Instead, we admit that all of us are sinners and in need of God’s mercy.
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C–Reformation Sunday (Luke 18:9-14)
Do you remember what it felt like to get a report card?
I can remember a report card in kindergarten reporting on whether my behaviour and learning were ‘satisfactory’ or ‘unsatisfactory.’ Later, these report cards became more detailed, with feedback about any number of categories.
I suppose I understand that in the context of learning, objective evaluation can be helpful. It’s good to know where we stand so that we can address weaknesses, identify strengths and set goals for the future. That’s basically what I try to do when I lead workshops with congregational leaders. But is there a shadow side of so many layers of grading, reporting and evaluation? Did anyone else develop a conscious or subconscious fixation with meeting expectations and getting good grades, to the point where you measured your inherent value by how you compared to others?
On some level, this tendency we have to create ways to compare and evaluate ourselves against others is something that Jesus is regularly trying to challenge. In his day, which is not so different than in ours, it was very common to categorize people—ethnically, religiously, geographically, economically, and all the other ways. And what Jesus noticed is that a lot of times these categories, which may have been intended for the sake of good order, became attached to value. Rather than saying that category A was simply different than category B, people began to say that category A was BETTER than category B…and of course whichever category was better was the category that the person who was evaluating was IN. This led to all sorts of segregation and imbalance of power and access to resources: sick people were worse than healthy people and so had to live elsewhere. Jews were better than Samaritans so had more blessings from God. Men were better than women and children so were allowed to sit in front in the temple. Those with money were better than those without money so were going to sit closer to God in heaven.
Do you see how this becomes a problem? Do you see how attaching a ‘better than’ or ‘worse than’ evaluation to differences leads to significant systemic injustices? What might start out as a way to inspire or motivate people easily becomes justification for judgment and criticism. Especially when it comes to our spiritual standing before God, it becomes easy to assume that there is something that we can do or say to improve our spiritual grade…and draw conclusions about those who we think get a worse grade than us.
So that being said, in our gospel reading today Jesus tells a story to address the spiritual grading scale that some people around him were using to evaluate themselves and others. The tricky thing about this story that Jesus tells is that as soon as we try to draw conclusions about who is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the story, we do exactly what Jesus is trying to say not to do…which is to think we can definitively decide who is ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ And as soon as we commend ourselves for not doing that, we do exactly that.
So let me just say up front that whatever conclusion I draw about this story is almost definitely incomplete. But thank God I’m not like other preachers, who go into all sorts of detail about the original languages, the meanings, and the applications of scripture, and who think that the way they read the Bible is better than everybody else’s. And thank God that the way I read the Bible, which stays open to nuance and allows for everyone to find what they want out of it, is so much more loving and accepting than THOSE people who have it all wrong.
Do you see how tricky it is? Do you see how quickly we get caught in the trap of thinking that we are right, which inevitably means that others are wrong?
That, I think, is Jesus’ point. It doesn’t matter whether the characters in his story are pharisees or tax collectors, or that the pharisee thinks he’s right and the tax collector acknowledges he’s not. Jesus uses those characters in the story because there were common stereotypes about both. To some extent, both were correct: the pharisees were religiously devout leaders who dedicated their lives to being faithful to their beliefs. The tax collectors were notorious for cheating people out of their money and upholding an unjust economic system. So what the pharisee was saying was accurate—he wasn’t like the tax collector. He did fast. He might not have stolen from others. He gave some of his money to the church. Those things may have been accurate. And the tax collector was also correct—he was a sinner. On a spiritual report card, the pharisee might well have gotten “exceeds expectations” in all categories, while the tax collector would have a lot of “unsatisfactory” or “needs improvement.”
So what was Jesus’ point? I think Jesus’ point is that it is not for us to give ourselves or others spiritual grades. It is not for us to give out spiritual grades. That is God’s job. And that means the grades we give ourselves as well! The pharisee in Jesus’ story thought he could give himself a good grade. The tax collector acknowledged that he didn’t deserve a good grade and threw himself at the mercy of God. Jesus says that the tax collector was justified—he was made right. Jesus’ point is that salvation is God’s work to do, not ours.[1]
This is one of the reasons why this reading is appropriate for Reformation Sunday. Today is a day that we in the Lutheran church remember the core concepts we inherited from Martin Luther. This is one of them: salvation is God’s work, not ours. In my own spiritual journey, choosing that truth has been transformational. I would have been—and let’s be honest, sometimes still am—the character of the pharisee in this story. Growing up it was easy to pat myself on the back for all the ways I was ‘doing it right.’ I would get stuck between giving myself the best spiritual grade and feeling deep shame for not being able to get an even BETTER grade. But when I was in university, a Lutheran pastor invited me to read Luther’s small catechism with him. And in Luther’s explanation of the 10 commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the sacraments, I was invited to stop doing what only God could do—stop trying to save myself.
So where does that leave us? If we are off the mark as soon as we are too arrogant or too humble, how DO we locate ourselves in relationship to God?
When I was working in a congregation in Florida, the material I used for teaching kids about communion included this ridiculous video about a guy who asks what he needs to do at communion. His friend tells him, “all you have to do is RECEIVE.” The guy has a hard time comprehending what his friend means, and hilarity ensues as he tries to be the best at receiving. But the phrase from that video has stuck with me: “RECEIVE.” That’s what we get to do in response to God’s work in our lives and in the world. We don’t earn or work for it. We receive it. The tax collector in Jesus’ story acknowledged that all he could do was receive God’s mercy. When we focus first on what God has done, we become more open to receive all that God has for us. When we focus on receiving and responding to what God has already done, we release ourselves from having to prove—to ourselves, to God, or to anyone else—that we deserve either a good or a bad grade. As we gather in worship and remember together the promises of God, and we RECEIVE together the gift of love and life, we are free to share that love with those who are different than us in some way. We aren’t trying to prove that we are right or better. Instead, we admit that all of us are sinners and in need of God’s mercy.
Friends, our world is filled with opportunities to take sides and draw conclusions that deepen divisions and make ourselves look better than others. Our world is filled with messaging that we deserve to give ourselves the best grade in the class. Jesus invites us to tell a different story. Jesus invites us to let go of the expectation that we can do what actually only God can do. Our story is that we cannot save ourselves or others. Our story is that we cannot justify ourselves or others. Our story is that God’s gifts of love, forgiveness and renewal are for everyone…no matter what. We don’t have to condemn ourselves or others. We get to receive the love and mercy that God has already given us and to live into who we already are: beloved children of God. So what is it that we’re going to remember on this Reformation Sunday? There is no spiritual report card! Salvation is God’s work to do, not ours! Amen.
[1] (https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/2019/10/22/the-humility-trap-salts-lectionary-commentary-for-twentieth-week-after-pentecost)