This Sunday St. Luke brings us back to the theme of prayer with the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14). Last week we heard about the importance of persistence in prayer. Today he directs us to consider our attitude towards ourselves, towards other people and towards God as we pray. St. Luke tells us that Jesus addressed this parable to people who are convinced of their own righteousness and despise everyone else – people with bad attitudes.
The Pharisee, a confident man, enters the temple, positions himself carefully and then prays “to himself.” He clearly does not need God. He just needs to remind God about how good he is. The Pharisee’s prayer reminds me of something a child would put in a letter to Santa Claus just before Christmas. The tax collector, on the other hand, barely enters the temple, “stands off at a distance” and cries out “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” And Jesus tells us that this man “went home justified.”
The Orthodox Saint John of Kronstadt taught “All prayers assume the great poverty and misery of our fallen nature; they also assume that the Lord is the ever flowing source of every perfection, every blessing; that He is our inexhaustible treasury. Truly, we must have poverty of spirit during prayer and at all times.” True poverty of spirit comes not by comparing ourselves to others but by comparing ourselves to Jesus Christ and asking how we measure up. If we are honest, we know that we are far from perfect and that we fall short of any ideal Jesus set for us. And it is from this humble stance that we should begin our prayers.
Merciful God,
you assure us that the prayer
of the humble pierces the clouds.
Look upon us who come before you,
humble and repentant like the tax collector,
and grant that, as we open our hearts
we may trust in your steadfast love and mercy.
We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns
with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
AMEN.
