RBWords

     The contrast between the two "pray-ers" and the two prayers could not be more stark, but good story-telling requires that kind of difference to get the point across!   The "pray-ers" are a Pharisee and a tax collector!  The Pharisee would not have been alone in his despisal of the tax collector!  However, if we remember the story of Zaccheus, tax collectors were open to Jesus' message when the Pharisees were rejecting it!  [Luke 19:1-10]

 

     The "prayers" are also very different!  The Pharisee offers the incredibly arrogant prayer of thanking God that he, the Pharisee, is "not like the rest of humanity!"  He then goes on to boast of what he does as a matter of faith.  Notice that those are very public things, which Jesus criticized in the Sermon on the Mount.  The tax collector simply utters one sentence which says everything!  "O God, be merciful to me a sinner."  Jesus praises the tax collector!

 

     In our culture, where "self-esteem" seems to be the most important psychological element in life, this parable will seem "counter-productive."  Why shouldn't the Pharisee be proud of his accomplishments?  Why should the tax collector, even if he is unpopular, be "beating up himself" in prayer?  I think the response is that the tax collector is the one who has a better self-esteem because his is more realistic.  He knows he needs God's mercy always.  The Pharisee is having none of that.  He is "perfect," thank you very much!  Oh my!  We know the end of this story, and if we're honest we know who we should talk to about praying!   AMEN