The Pharisee valued fasting and giving tithes, but could not find value in his fellow sinner.
“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)
I’m sure the Pharisee was very pleased to see the tax collector at the temple that day. This is perfect. The Pharisee can now not only tell God how much he loves pious activities, but when God looks down, he has someone to directly compare him with. And just in case God doesn’t notice, the Pharisee will be sure to point it out.
There is a new marketing strategy out there targeting “good people” like you and me. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. It goes something like this: Buy this product, watch this film, eat this snack because it (or the company) aligns with your values. Is this product better? Not necessarily. Is it more expensive? Almost certainly. But forget all that. This product is how you own your political and cultural enemies. It’s destroying them with virtue. Are you someone with good values, or aren’t you? Someone in a marketing department has stumbled upon the good news of value alignment. Now, this is mostly just a pet peeve, but the reason this sort of messaging works is that it follows the same line of reasoning as that of the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable: you are morally superior to at least half of your neighbors, and it’s a good thing to show this.
The Old Adam in all of us seeks an opportunity to look at others with contempt.
There is nothing wrong with having values. I have them. Values are good and important. But like many good things, they are also dangerous. The sinful heart is always looking for something to trust in other than the promises of God. It is also always looking for ways to place you above others. This is why that sort of marketing works. While targeting something good (values), it appeals to something terrible (moral superiority). The Old Adam in all of us seeks an opportunity to look at others with contempt. And sometimes, when we are feeling especially superior, we even bring it up to God. This is the position of the Pharisee in Luke 18.
One of the things God hates about self-righteousness is how it makes us treat other people. It makes us proud and haughty, and causes us to constantly point out the sins of others in order to feel ever better about who we are, how we live, and what we value.
It is also clear in the parable that God is not impressed when we try to give him some of the credit for how good we are compared to others. The point of Christianity is not to make you better than your neighbor but rather to declare you righteous before God and then turn you loose to love and serve your neighbor. The Pharisee valued fasting and giving tithes, but could not find value in his fellow sinner. The tax collector was only useful to him as a comparative metric. And because of this, God valued none of the Pharisees’ fasting and tithing.
Fortunately, the gospel is good news for both Pharisees and tax collectors. Both can go home justified.
In Isaiah 58, the people ask why God hasn’t responded to their fasting, and God’s response is basically that he would rather they fast from being terrible neighbors than from lunch. When Lent is done right, it reminds us that we are all sinners. That we could never do enough to earn the favor of God. We could never give up enough to become righteous. And we could never value the right things enough to distinguish ourselves from our neighbors, whoever they may be. Christ crucified for you. Christ crucified for me. Christ crucified for the world. This is our only hope. As Lent draws to a close, I hope that is the conclusion we all come to.
Perhaps you are fasting this Lent. Nothing wrong with that. Perhaps you have given something else up during this season. You are certainly free in Christ to do so. I think I am going to permanently give up having my values commercialized and sold back to me for profit. I think it’s making me a worse neighbor; one with values, perhaps, but one who can’t seem to find value in those around me.
