Humility
Luke 18:9-14

When Father Zossima died he was buried in the normal fashion of monks and hermits. His body was laid in a coffin and placed in a large room. In this room monks conducted prayers and Bible readings around the clock. People could visit and view the body. Judging by the large crowds who came to pay their respects, the people of the town had accepted Fr. Zossima as a great saint. However, by the third day signs of decomposition set in. The body of Fr. Zossima started to assault the nostrils. This was a bad sign to monks who had been taught that the bodies of saints are free from decay, and give off a pleasant odor. The news about the rottenness emanating from Fr. Zossima's cadaver reached the ears of the fierce old monk, Fr. Ferapont. He had long been a rival of Fr. Zossima in the Russian monastery. Farapont was a tall, barefoot, bearded ascetic of great age. For the last seven years Fr. Ferapont had lived in a solitary cell in the back of the monastery. Dostoyevsky sketches the old man's set up: "It was simply a peasant's hut, though it looked like a chapel, for it contained an extraordinary number of icons with candles perpetually burning before them. Fr. Ferapont had been appointed to look after the icons and keep the lamps burning. It was said that he ate only two pounds of bread in three days. Visitors who came to do him homage saw him sometimes kneeling all day long at prayer without looking round. If he addressed them, he was brief, abrupt, strange, and almost always rude. He rarely attended Mass, so sacramental bread was brought to him on Sunday evenings."

On the third day, trailed by his loyal monks, Fr. Farapont made his way to the large room where the vigil was taking place. The door was flung open. Standing in the doorway, Fr. Ferapont raised his arms, and suddenly roared: "Casting out I cast out!" and, turning in all directions, he began at once making the sign of the cross at each of the four walls and four corners of the cell in succession. All who accompanied Father Ferapont immediately understood his action. For they knew he always did this wherever he went, and that he would not sit down or say a word, till he had driven out the evil spirits."

Approaching the casket, Fr. Ferapont pronounced a curse on the dead Zossima: "He did not keep the fasts according to the rule and therefore the sign has come. [Referring to the stench.] That is clear and it's a sin to hide it." The fanatic, carried away by a zeal that outstripped his reason, would not be quieted. "He was seduced by sweetmeats, ladies brought them to him in their pockets, he sipped tea, he worshipped his belly, filling it with sweet things and his mind with haughty thoughts And for this he is put to shame" [ The Brothers Karamozov ] In The Brothers Karamazov Dostoyevsky paints a fascinating contrast between the two monastery leaders.

Fr. Ferapont exhibits a spiritual pride similar to the Pharisee in our parable for today. Jesus spoke a parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." We read about it Luke 18:10-14. [Read them.]

The Pharisee comes off as a disgustingly haughty person. While on the contrary, we admire the humility of the publican. It would be easy to assume that the pride of the Pharisee is something rare, perhaps restricted to grumpy old cranks like Fr. Ferapont. This is not the case. The humble prayer of the publican is a wonderful action, yet humility is difficult to sustain. The publican can easily slip into self-satisfaction, and turn into the Pharisee. How is that possible? Spiritual pride is the subtlest of sins. We are all tempted by it and sometimes fall into it. More about this later. On this 11th Sunday after Trinity the Church calls us to ponder the dangers of pride, and the excellence of humility. Let's review the parable of our Lord and see what it teaches us.

Jesus, in telling this parable, purposely chose the two extremes of first-century Judea, the Pharisee and the tax collector. You do not read about the Pharisees in the Old Testament. How did they originate? They appear on the historical scene only a century or two before Christ. They were the ones who revolted against the tyranny of the Syrian kings. The chosen nation had come under the political dominion of the kings of Syria, who were cruel to the Jews and their religion. For example, Antiochus Epiphanes, a ruler, defiled the temple by bringing in pigs and sacrificing them on the altar. These Syrian kings utilized threats, violence, and anything at their disposal to root out the Hebrew laws and ceremonies, and abolish the true faith. Some of the weaker Jews had succumbed. Then there arose the party called the Pharisees. They stood up to the Syrian kings. They resisted the attacks on the Torah by upholding the law of Moses, and expanding it.

In what ways did they inflate the law? The Law of God prescribed only one fast day a year, the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29-31). The Pharisees fasted in addition every Monday and Thursday. This was considered a mark of super-piety. Monday and Thursday were singled out because it was held that on a Thursday Moses went up Mount Sinai to meet God, and he returned on a Monday. The Reformers teach us that works that go beyond what is required are often unwise (Mark 7:7). This is an important theological contribution of the Reformation. The requirements for tithing, too, the Pharisee quadrupled. The Pharisees tithed garden herbs, and everything imaginable, whereas the Law merely demanded 10% of grain, wine, oil, cattle and sheep (Lev. 27:30-32). Standing to pray in the Temple, the Pharisee reminds God that he is a model Israelite. He congratulates himself while not uttering a word about his sins and wrongdoings. His righteousness is too marvelous to need forgiveness.

How about the publican? The publican was a tax collector in the Roman Empire. Many of you know that the Romans found it easier to collect taxes from Judea by hiring natives to do it. These Jews who agreed to tax their co-religionists often resorted to graft and fraud in order to pad their pockets. They were naturally detested. The entire class was looked on as suspect, even though some publicans were quite honest. Furthermore, their collusion with the Roman government was regarded as contaminating. Close and continual contact with the Gentiles rendered the publicans ceremonially unclean.

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God I thank You that I am not like other men ­ extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.'" The Pharisee is not attempting a precise classification; he merely wishes to exalt his superiority. He deems the tax collector little better than a cockroach.

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" Beating the breast is actually meant as a beating of the heart; a sign of repentance. Lou Tarsitano explains it this way, "In the Bible, the heart is the organ responsible for making choices, so that beating the breast (or heart) is a sign of our admission that our hearts' choices have been faulty" [An Outline of an Anglican Life. p. 124.] The publican prays, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" His prayer starts out just like Psalm 51, the penitential Psalm. In deep repentance he implores God's mercy. He is contrite and sincerely sorry for having transgressed God's commandments.

Two men went to the Temple to pray that day. How did it wind up? Jesus gives the verdict in verse 14. "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." The publican was justified. He had sinned grievously, but his sins were forgiven; he was declared righteous. The Pharisee is rebuffed. God disapproves of his attitude. The Pharisee despises others, and is too confident of his own righteousness. That is not the fruit of the Gospel.

The words "have mercy on me" and the Bible's teaching about justification and atonement are hinted at in this parable. The doctrine of justification is explained most fully by St. Paul (Romans 3-5). The Publican's prayer combined with Jesus' declaration that the man left justified offers a glimpse of the Gospel. The publican prayed, "be merciful to me." The verb is hilastheti, which refers to the Mercy Seat, the Mercy Seat located on the Ark of the Covenant. The phrase could just as well be translated, "God, be Mercy-Seated toward me."

What does the Mercy Seat have to do with justification? Some of you know that the Ark of the Covenant was an ornate box about a yard long, plated with gold, and containing the stone tables of the Law. The lid of that box was the Mercy Seat. Over it two angels hovered. Between the outstretched wings of the angels dwelled the Glory-Cloud presence of Jehovah. The Ark also pictured how sin was atoned for. The ark contained the Law of God. In and of itself the Law produces dread in the worshiper. We have all transgressed God's law and deserve the judgment of the Lord. What does God see as He looks down from between the wings of the angels? He sees the Law of Moses that we have broken. He sees that He must act toward us as a Judge.

Yet here is where the Mercy Seat helps out, and here is why it is merciful. What did the High Priest sprinkle on the Mercy Seat once a year on the Day of Atonement? He sprinkled blood from an animal that had been killed moments before in the courtyard of the Temple. That sheep was a substitute. It was an innocent victim slain in the place of sinners. Once the blood is sprinkled on the Mercy-Seat, God looks down from between the wings of the angels, and what does he see? He beholds, not the Law that has been broken, but the blood of the innocent victim. The blood covers the law and thus satisfies the penalty for sin. God's wrath against sin is thus propitiated, assuaged, or mollified. That is what propitiation means. The guilt and evildoing are atoned. The sinner is justified. He is placed on a new standing with the Holy Almighty. He or she is declared righteous; and God accepts him as perfectly righteous and forgiven. The love of the Lord goes out in mercy to save those who come to Him through faith in that sacrifice. Of course, this Old Testament ritual foreshadowed Christ, the Lamb of God, who by His supreme sacrifice, by shedding His blood on the Cross, would take away the sin of the world. Are you resting in what Jesus accomplished on the Cross for you salvation? Or are you relying on your own righteousness? The Publican prayed a simple prayer: "God, be Mercy-Seated to me," and Jesus declares, "this man went down to his house justified." The parable thus illustrates the wonderful doctrine of substitutionary atonement.

It also tells us several things about pride and humility. Why did the Pharisee fail to achieve justification? He was unteachable. He had no awareness that he needed to be changed. It was this mood that Jesus encountered over and again in the Pharisaic group. The person who knows everything and has arrived at the top of the mountain has nowhere else to go, or anything more to learn. My brother has a construction business in Arizona. He tells me that one of the most frustrating things is training new guys who won't learn. He tells them how to apply caulking or roll on a thick layer of waterproofing and they tell him, "I know." "I can do it." "Don't tell me." In reality they don't know and they need to listen in order to learn. Modern-day Pharisees are thus hard to work with and have little chance at improvement.

Another thing. The Pharisee's love for God never developed into love of neighbor. Righteousness drove him away from others. It built no bonds of friendship. It produced no compassion. It failed to reach out to the lost and needy. If you have been saved by God's grace you are thankful. You are greatly blessed. But you are also responsible to love others and serve them in their needs. If grace does not lead to grace, it turns out not to have been grace at all.

Moreover, the complacency of the Pharisee can overtake the clergy, and seep into the hearts of the laity. The self-righteousness of the Pharisee and of Fr. Ferapont is clearly obnoxious. Self-satisfaction however is normally much more subtle. We don't notice its command over us. None of us are exempt from spiritual pride. In the blink of an eye, the publican can turn into the Pharisee. Fasting, tithing, church attendance, or saying "God, be merciful to me a sinner" are splendid things. Yet they have the potential to puff up a person. Spiritual pride is especially rampant among people involved in big revivals. Think of the man who performs an exorcism, or the woman who pulls off a mighty miracle, or the Church-goer who experiences an ecstatic high in worship. Elation? A blessing? Yes indeed! Yet beware! Beware of the pride that follows good works and emotional transport. The tide comes in and we are flooded with joy and blessing. But then the tide ebbs, the crabs of self-satisfaction emerge, and we begin to feel superior and see others as inferior; our compassion dries up, and our humility disappears. We are soon ruined. What is the solution? We must constantly guard against pride and self-righteousness, and maintain a day-by-day life of humble prayer-contact with God.

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