I woke up
yesterday morning thinking about the parable of the two men praying in Luke 18.
We all know what transpired between a Pharisee and a tax collector. Both were
standing when they were praying. The tax collector was standing at a distance, in
the background, convicted by an acute sense of unworthiness. But the Pharisee
was standing by himself, in the foreground, presumably trying by human effort
to close the gap between himself and God. The irony here is that the word “Pharisee” actually comes from the word
that means “to separate”. And by standing by himself, away from the people, the Pharisee remained true to form and tradition.
Then comes the prayer. This is the part that irked Jesus most. If we take the declaration
of John the Baptist as a guide here, that is, when he said these words
concerning the Messiah, “He must
increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30), then the Pharisee’s prayer is a
prayer of self-increment. With complete lack of self-awareness, here is his
opening salvo, “God, I thank you that I
am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this
tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
At this
juncture, it is interesting to note that the first thing listed in Proverbs
6:16-19 that the Lord hates or detests is “haughty
eyes.” Yet the Pharisee did not single that out in his prayer. A convenient slip of the mind or an
insidious blindside? I guess nothing blinds us more than pride and the
pursuit of self-significance. Theologian R.C. Sproul once said that, “We yearn to believe that in some ways we are
important. This inner drive is as intense as our need for water and oxygen.”
And in the same way that a fish is the last to discover water, so it is with a
man obsessed with his own importance (to admit to the same).
In fact, Luke
has this to say, “To some who were
confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus
told this parable.” (Luke 18:9) In the book, Perilous Pursuits written by the President of the Moody Bible
Institute, Joseph M. Stowell, the author made this incisive observation, “Significance seekers are unable to serve
others unless there is an advantage to be gained, unable to sacrifice to
advance a cause that is not their own, unwilling to suffer if necessary for
another’s sake, and unable to surrender to any agenda – corporate, family, or
church – that impedes the progress of their pursuit of significance.”
But of
course, just as fashion and tastes change with time, our pursuit for self-significance
has unfortunately taken a more intolerant strain. I guess a modern-day
Pharisee’s prayer would go something along these lines:-
“God, I thank you that I am not like other
people – homosexuals, lesbians, atheists, secularists, humanists, agnostics,
libertarians, godless human-rights advocates, theistic evolutionists, heathen
feminists, liberal progressives, fornicators, club-goers, homeless drunks, compulsive
masturbators, promiscuous teenagers, worldly artists, harry potter lovers,
pagan-holidays celebrants, porno addicts, mindless young groupies, tattooists, indolent
beach bums, backsliders, the Thomases, organized-religion haters, the faithless
and the disillusioned, militant religious fundamentalists, the jihadists, the
rock-music worship-leaders, bing-bling charismatic preachers, end-time cuckoos – or even like that megachurch pastor just
across the street who is twisting your word to milk the congregation. I fast
twice a week and give a tenth of all I get…(and if I may so cheekily add)…I
live my life in strict obedience and uncompromising compliance - without controversy.”
Here, let me
share 1 John 1:8 with you, “If we claim
to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” The
way I see this scripture is this, the issue is not about our claim that we are
without sin. There is no deception or self-deception there. No right-minded
person in this day and age would dare make such sanctimonious claim. Imagine a
preacher standing behind the pulpit and proclaiming with fists pumping in the
air: “My beloved, I am officially
sinless. Praise God!” (Of course, I
wouldn't be surprised if the reception to that is a standing ovation …sadly nothing
actually surprises me anymore).
No way hosea, that would be too blatant, even
shameless. It is now more about proclaiming that by grace (or by faith or by
unconditional love…pick your poison),
one is above sin. Isn’t that much more
digestible, even profoundly enchanting? If everything in this modern age is about
projecting an image (putting form before substance), then that proclamation is
both mysterious and mystical at the same time. And everybody loves a holy
mystic in a Sabbath suit.
There is of
course a distinction between claiming that we are without sin and that
we are above sin (in essence, however, they are largely the same). The former will invite immediate scorn for obvious reasons
while the latter will naturally invite awe and wonders, and god forbid,
religious adulation. And this deception no doubt means that the truth is not in
us as the scripture so admonishes, but that doesn’t prevent the deluded from
peddling the truth so as to deepen the self-deception and perpetuate the mass
delusion. Imagine the same preacher standing behind the pulpit and shouting in victory, “Dear beloved, I have
overcome. I am now above sin. Amen! God
is good!” Short of saying that he is perfect, the congregants will go wild
with applause. The scary thing is that I can imagine the Pharisee thinking the exact
same thing.
Now, the tax
collector on the other hand prayed in complete self-desolation, almost to the
degree of self-immolation. His fists pounding his ribcage as he cried out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This
was the same heartbroken admission of unworthiness that Peter, the first and
original fisher of men, cried out
when he saw Jesus.
Somehow,
Jesus has this phenomenal social effect on the people he meets. No one who has
been touched by him can still place any value in their own strength and worldly
accomplishments. It is just an irresistible and instinctive response when we
have a personal encounter with Jesus. We fall flat on our face, strip ourselves
of everything we count worthy in the eyes of this world, and stand naked before
the one who was once made to be nothing at Calvary for our sake.
More
importantly, like the tax collector, we humbly keep our distance from the
throne of mercy as we beg for mercy. And our life thereafter, and for as long
as we live, demonstrates this inward transformation as we boast about what
Jesus has done at Calvary and nothing of ourselves and our deeds. This enduring
change in us is in fact infectious and people will be drawn to God for the right reason
because of how we live our life. And when they confront their own trials of
faith, they will be reminded and empowered by how we live in humility and
servitude and will draw strength from the source of it all, that is, a willing and
loving Savior who gave everything up in order to gain everything that truly matters for us.
Let me thus
end with this pilgrim song of a life truly transformed:-
Living for Jesus a life that is true,
Strive to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.
Cheerz.
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