Luke 18:9-14 (NRSV Updated Edition)
He also 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 lift up his eyes 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.”
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"The Law, which should have served to teach us that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ ([Rom. 3:]23), frequently serves as a way of our dividing the world into good and bad, of our separating it into those who follow the Law and those who do not. The person who, owing to his observance of the Law, is in a position to judge others as bad (that is, considers himself made righteous by the Law) reveals that the Law does not get to the heart of man. Such a person has his identity, his ‘me,’ still constituted on the basis of victimizing, of expelling, of separation. Being convinced of the right-ness (and righteousness) of his position, it is very much more difficult for him to receive the dependence on what is other than him of the constitution of his ‘me,’ and thus have his ‘me’ transformed, have it healed from its dependence on persecution."
- James Alison, from “Justification and the Constitution of Consciousness: A New Look at Romans and Galatians,” in New Blackfriars, Vol. 71 No. 834 (Jan 1990), pp 17-27
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"This Pharisee has God wrong. God is not about who is better than, smarter than, prettier than, richer than, holier than. God does not discriminate, God does not compare us with one another. The Pharisee was bound by his dedication to the Torah, and that would be a beautiful thing but his hermeneutic suffered. He had God wrong. The God who blesses the religious person is a God who can be manipulated. A God who recognizes the selfish perceptions of our zeal would have to be a god of wrath and violence and justice and judgement. In short, if God is like the Pharisee thinks God is, most of us are in some deep doo-doo, as we fall far short of this one's righteousness. [...]
"The prayer of the publican is well known, he seeks forgiveness. This is the God who answers, this is the One revealed in the character of Jesus. The publican is not expressing some poor old “woe is me” syndrome; he simply and honestly acknowledges himself for how he acts. He sins, therefore he is a sinner in need of mercy and healing."
- Michael Hardin (source no longer available online)
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"[L]et's go back to the first verse of our Gospel for the day, which is the most difficult verse, [...] “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.”
"Because how much of Christianity today is exactly this, it's self-justification by faith on the Evangelical side and self-justification by Church on the Catholic side. Because I am right, because I have been saved by Jesus I can judge all the other people because the Bible gives me permission to do so. Or, because I am right, because I'm a Catholic and I [am] on the inside of the church, I can judge all the people whom the church disapproves of.
"And please remember, there is no such thing as these two being separated. If you trust in yourself, that you are righteous, then automatically you're defining yourself over against others with contempt. You may not realize it but that's how we get a fake identity. How do we get a fake identity? Over against others.
"Once you start to realize that you are like others then you lose that fake goodness and you find yourself coming awfully close to the position whereby you realize, “Oh my God, I am a sinner, have mercy on me.” And it's one, and I know this is no longer popular because pop psychology keeps on telling people to forget about sin and so on so forth, it's one of the reasons why the term sinner is such a good thing. To be able to say, genuinely - not out of, you know, formulating - “I am a sinner,” and for that to be a sign of having been relaxed into not having to define yourself over against others, that is an extraordinary blessing and is the sign indeed of being made right with God.
"God is forgiving us by revealing to us that we are sinners, and that's okay. Being a sinner is not the problem. Fake virtue is far more terrifying than sin, people who consider themselves righteous and simultaneously regard others with contempt.
"What must it look like in our midst for us to encourage a return of Christianity that understands this, that being able to dwell in shame tenderly and so know ourselves as sinners and therefore find ourselves being realigned to God is the norm, rather than creating a structure of security for ourselves which depends on wicked others whom we can despise."
- James Alison from video Homily for Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2022 C (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhqElGzx1VA)
[Source of quotes from Michael Hardin and James Alison's Blackfriars essay, and for analysis and discussion on all the lectionary texts for this Sunday: https://girardianlectionary.net/reflections/year-c/proper25c/]
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