This morning I feel like the tax collector. I have driven far, slept moderately, am exhausted: my ability to be sarcastic is greater than usual (and it is never small) and I am more than aware of my faults.
And I feel that blogging the lectionary is a waste of time, for I see no good in me. But the text for today is about this. Our trust is not in ourselves, it is in Christ.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
(Luke 18:9-14 ESV)
The big worry is not guilt. Guilt leads to analysis. You think of how you got into that trap and try not to do it again. You consider what to say next time: how to handle this situation. And if you fail, again, you beg forgiveness, and mercy: Christ knows we are frail.
And we do struggle. What is a greater trouble is if we delete our conscience.
all those organizations and groups listed seem to be in some kind of a closed circle of bureacro-babble emitting currently fashionable contentless wordings. Safe, comfortable, protect, please report….the orgs talk to the other orgs and say they are ‘working on…’ Nothing ever gets down to ordinary people. This could be an interesting study. The hiring of babbling poseurs to babble to other poseurs. God it’s such a mental sinkhole.
But life is not about the babbling poseurs. Living righteously is more akin to walking down a rough trail. You have a great chance of falling, and the higher you get the longer the drop. You have to at times pull out a rope and find secure anchorage.
For you are not strong enough.
And on those days, the tax collector is our comrade.
