Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.00 at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Beauty for Brokenness"
Today's Gospel
Luke 18: 9 -14 The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt:
"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, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.'
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 exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."
Reflection
Reading today’s parable, I was reminded about a TV comedy sketch from the 1966 satirical programme the Frost Report – it starred John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett and parodied the social class system of the era.
John Cleese was an upper class city gentleman, Ronnie Barker a middle class, management worker and Ronnie Corbett a working class labourer. The sketch is about relative superiority and inferiority of the socio economic status of the three people and is reinforced visually, by the difference in physical height of the 3 actors and the clothes they are dressed in. It shows the absurdity of how people of different standing either look down on people or look up to each other depending on wealth and upbringing. (If you’ve never seen it, I’ve included a link at the end of the reflection).
In today’s parable, Jesus similarly juxtaposes two extreme examples to make his point about how we see ourselves and how we should approach God in prayer.
If we look at the pompous, self-centred Pharisee, we see a person who is pretentious and self-important. A person who thinks he is better than most and looks down his nose at other people. Even in the Temple whilst praying he feels the need to ‘grandstand’ and show off how much better he thinks he is. We picture him standing by himself at the front in prominent sight of everyone else – it’s almost like he’s trying to get to front of the queue. Does he mistakenly think that God will see and hear him ahead of everyone else?
He is trying to impress everyone and show that he is more important than he actually is.
We see his arrogance compounded when we look at his words of prayer. He starts by trying to prove to God and those around him how much more righteous he is than other people, especially the tax collector. (Tax collectors were despised by most people as cheats and collaborators with the Roman Empire.) He is trying to shift the focus to others and at the same time totally ignoring his own sins. His sins of greed, and selfishness, the ways the Pharisees invented new laws to make life harder for people, and the way they also took money off the poor. Instead he is shining the spotlight on everyone else in the mistaken belief that his sins are not as bad. But all sins are wrong and we need to own up to them and repent. By not asking for forgiveness he is missing the opportunity to ask for God’s grace.
In his arrogance he fails to see the need to ask God for what he really needs - He does not recognise that his sins are taking him away from God.
In contrast, the tax collector is acutely aware of his shortcomings. Even the manner in which he approaches God with humility and deference says much about his demeanour and his respect for God. He is addressing God in a humble manner – When we pray we should remember that ‘The Lord lifts up the humble’. [Psalm 147:6].
The tax collector focusses his prayers on what he needs and is asking for what is truly important in his life – God’s mercy. He says a version of what is now known by many as the Jesus prayer - `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' [Luke 18:13].
He does not try to judge or blame others or pretend that he is better than he is. He tells God about the burden of shame he is bearing because of his sins. We do not know why he was a tax collector, maybe it was the only way that he could support his family – but he is clearly troubled and sorry about his ways and he knows that he needs to turn to God and ask for His grace. His conversation with God is full of genuine contrition, sorrow and repentance.
We too need to have that same approach – we may do lots of good things in our lives but we are also sinners. It’s no good trying to pull the wool over His eyes, because God knows what is truly on our mind and more importantly what is in our hearts. So when we pray, we should do so with a contrite heart and humility, and not be afraid to admit where we have let ourselves and God down. We should recognise that we need to ask God for the greatest gift he has for us – His mercy. Paul
Guide us by your Spirit, to examine our deeds and thoughts and admit our failings.
Give us a humble and contrite heart,
That we may come to you in humility,
And ask for your mercy.
Amen
Today's final hymn is "Thou Whose Almighty Word"
Notices
Everyone is most welcome to join us for our service for All Souls next week. If there is anyone you would like us to pray for by name, please let us know.
