A man owned an axe, which one day came up missing, and he suspected his neighbor's son. After all, the boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like thief. "I know he's taken it," he said to himself, "but how can I prove it? I have no evidence." Sometime later, however, while digging in a remote part of his field, he found his axe, and the next time he saw his neighbor's son, he walked, looked and spoke like any other child.

You have heard it said: Image is everything. While we might try to project a certain image by the things we wear, the vehicles we drive, where we shop, go to school or university, or where we dine, it remains true that much of the particular image we might wish to project actually depends on something entirely out of our control.

While "Image is everything" sounds good and desirable (and sells a lot of cameras, among other things) it seems to me more truthful to say that "Perception is everything," for only if someone perceives what we wish to project does "the image" possibly have a chance to impress. In the story, did you notice how the young man changed from a thief into an ordinary child, simply because his neighbor's perception changed with finding the axe? Not only did he turn out to be an ordinary child, but he was also always an innocent child-innocent of stealing his neighbor's axe, at least. A change in facts produced a change in perception. And this idea rests at the heart of today's Gospel lesson.

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people-thieves, rouges, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.'"

By now in Luke's gospel, we already know what's going to happen. Since the first chapter, in Mary's Song of Praise recited to Elizabeth, we have seen the outcome of those who would place themselves first in this world.

"My soul magnifies the greatness of the Lord,
and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior…
He has scattered the proud in
the thoughts of their hearts."

Here, in the Magnificat, Luke paints a vivid picture of promise and fulfillment.

Returning to today's Gospel, "But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner.' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other, for all who exalted themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Of all the parables in Luke, this one often suffers badly at the hands of people because its meaning seems all too obvious-"It's the good guy versus the bad guy, dummy, a real no-brainer." Really?So tell me: Who's the good guy? Who's the bad guy? And more importantly, how do we decide? Let's check the background facts of these two characters, and see what we come up with.

First, the Pharisee: Let's see, he begins by praying right out of the scriptures, nearly identical with the Psalmist: "Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering… I do not sit with the worthless, nor do I consort with hypocrites; I hate the company of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked," opens the twenty-sixth Psalm. The Pharisee is not as eloquent, perhaps, but he's certainly in the ballpark.

About fasting twice a week; fasting was required only on the Day of Atonement, so a twice a week fast is far more devotion than the Law required. And giving a tenth of all one's income certainly fulfills what was expected by the scriptures; so, basically, this Pharisee serves as a model of one who has exceeded in fulfilling the Law, in doing what was expected for righteousness.

Now, let's look at the tax collector. Well, tax collectors generally were considered unclean because they consorted with those Gentile Romans, which violated the law regarding the Temple and observance of purity. They also basically robbed from their fellow Judeans in order to pay taxes due the Romans, keeping whatever extra they could shakedown. So tax collectors made their living by a form of legalized theft. That would break one or more of the ten commandments, still in effect, for sure.

Now, to our surprise, perhaps, the tax collector also prays much like the Psalmist: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out all my transgressions," says Psalm fifty-one; so they each get points for knowing where to turn for prayers.

One other item: actually, being a rogue, thief, or adulterer was most likely not a real temptation for the Pharisee; he probably lived and walked with a pretty straight crowd. But all those things most likely were real temptations-if not a lifestyle-for the tax collector. So why in the world does Jesus declare that the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, went down to his home justified in God's sight? Surely Jesus' listeners thought he got it backwards. Well, as we have said, "Perception is everything."

At first glance, we might perceive that this parable merely deals the righteousness of two men, but it is actually about God and the prayers of two men at temple, who happen to be praying at the same time-a crucial detail to the story. In their prayers, both men tell God about themselves. "God, I thank you that I am not like… I fast… I give… I, I, I, I" says the Pharisee. But the tax collector, not even looking up to heaven, says, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." All that the Pharisee can come up with is a list of credits; all the tax collector can offer is knowledge of his debts. One has nothing to pay; the other can never repay. Knowing this, the tax collector can only hope and put his trust in the mercy and compassion of God.

The parable doesn't turn on this admission by the tax collector; we don't know his heart, we don't know if he quits sinning. We presume he can never be justified with his neighbor, for the law would require him pay back everything he had ever stolen from someone-which for a tax collector could seem impossible to even remember, let alone do. And we know nothing else about the tax collector that would magically turn him into "a good guy." All we do know is that Jesus tells us God answered his prayer and forgave him-justified him. He called on God, and God had mercy on him, just as he hoped and prayed God would.

The parable turns on perception-the perception that Jesus had about some who were there listening to him. Hear again what Luke tells us: "Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt."

The parable turns on the perception that the Pharisee had of God and others. "God, I thank you that I am not like other people: rogues, thieves, adulterers, or even like this tax collector." It just so happened at that moment in the story that the tax collector stood nearby, within sight. Close enough to be considered… a neighbor, perhaps. In almost an after thought, a throw away line, if you will, the Pharisee uses God to judge his neighbor, and uses his neighbor to define himself to God. For Jesus, that disregard for neighbor, that contempt for neighbor, will always leave a very right acting person unjustified, and in a miserable and broken relationship with God.

At first glance, its so easy for us tax collectors to read this parable and say to ourselves, "I thank God that I am not like this Pharisee; he's so stuck on himself, self-righteous, and pretentious. He looks like a Pharisee, he walks like a Pharisee, and speaks like a Pharisee. He thinks he knows it all-God, he makes me sick!" And the very second that we do that, we become the Pharisee! We become that which we abhor in others! And we, too, go home unjustified, in a miserable and broken relationship with God, whether we know it or not. Self-perception is everything.

The tax collector perceived rightly; in his prayer, he defined himself, honestly, directly: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." No excuses, "I did this, yes-but look what he does; Yes, I did that-but look at what she's doing!" That's still defining self through others, and their actions. And who's to say that our perception about others is the right one, the correct one? Only God correctly perceives the hearts of others, not us. Not even close. Which is why the Pharisee doesn't even see the mess he has made for himself.

Whenever, however, we might use others to define ourselves, we fall out of right relationship with God, and with our neighbor. At that point, according to Luke's gospel, it would not matter what else we did that was right, good, or holy-we blew it on the one thing that mattered most to Jesus: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.

The parable turns on perception, and the perception of the Gospel of Luke is that God justifies the ungodly, whether know it, or like it or not. This amounts to bad news to those who trust in "themselves that they are righteous and regard other sinners with contempt." But for those who recognize that, like our brother the tax collector, we are not righteous, then the prayer he teaches us is profoundly good news.

It seems to me that if all we ever did was daily, honest, unflinching self-examination of conscience and motives, and then prayed the tax collector's prayer, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner," we just might discover a new and simple way to love God and love our neighbor. Making no claim against another, holding no one in contempt for any reason whatsoever, we daily define ourselves to God, and accept the fact, the reality, that God has forgiven us and blessed us. I said it might be simple, not easy.

Walking the way of Jesus is never easy; but time and again in the gospels he tries to simplify it for us. Jesus knows that human perception governs thoughts, actions, and reactions, but it also can govern reflection, repentance, and reconciliation. For in the Incarnation event God redeems human perception and fashions it into health and salvation.

And one day, in God's good time, and by God's unconditional grace, all of us Pharisees and tax collectors alike, will walk, and look, and speak just like any other justified child of God.

The Rev'd Timothy M. Dombek
ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH
301 Piney Mountain Road
Greenville, SC 29609-3035
(864) 244-6358
stjamesrector@mindspring.com

Copyright © 2001 Timothy M. Dombek All Rights Reserved.