Hey everybody this is Steve and being good is about a lot more than being right.
This Sunday is the beginning of the Triodion period, which starts with the Sunday of the
Publican and the Pharisee and runs all the way through to the Midnight Service on Holy Saturday,
right before we celebrate Pascha and the Lord’s Resurrection.
The Triodion period is a time of preparation: preparation to receive, live, and spread
the Light of the Resurrection. Preparation is a process. So we actually go
through a few stages on our way to Pascha. Great and Holy Week is the final stage of
preparation before Pascha, and we prepare for Holy Week through the forty days of Great Lent.
But even before those forty days, we prepare for Lent itself by gradually intensifying the fast
over a period of three weeks. And each of those weeks is marked by the reading of a different
parable during the Sunday Liturgy. We’re going to spend the next few episodes
examining these parables. Because they teach us something incredibly important
about our relationship with God. I mean, we read them together, as the Church,
right before Lent for a reason. This Sunday, we begin the Triodion by
reading a story that might be familiar to you: the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.
The trouble with familiar stories is that we may think we already know what’s going on.
So we don’t take the time to think deeply about how the story applies to our lives today.
So let’s look at this parable with the eyes of a bee to make sure
we haven’t left behind any nectar. Because we don’t want to miss the important truth
this story is trying to teach us. You might hear this week’s parable
and feel some relief. Relief that you’re not like the Pharisee. Because
you don’t do what the Pharisee did. I mean, we all know that the Pharisee is
the bad guy in the story. But let’s be clear: what exactly did the Pharisee do that was wrong?
As we read in Luke chapter 18, the Pharisee says: '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.' (Luke 18:11-12) The Pharisee said this as he was praying in the
Temple. In God’s house. Which we probably don’t visit as much as we should.
And based on what he said, he doesn’t fall into any big sins. Which we can’t
always say about ourselves, right? Plus, the Pharisee fasts twice a week.
Every week. And he gives money to the poor. If that sounds familiar, that’s because
you’ve probably heard us talk about this in past episodes of “Be the Bee.”
Fasting, praying, giving to the poor: that’s all stuff that we should be doing as Christians.
So if the Pharisee is doing all the right things, things that even we should be doing,
what exactly is he doing wrong? Parables are stories that Jesus
told people for a reason. And Saint Luke tells us the reason for this one very clearly.
“He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and
regarded others with contempt…” (Luke 18:9) Jesus wants to say something to people who
trust in themselves, rather than God, and their own perceived righteousness.
To people who, in their pride, judge others; who treat others with contempt because
they think so highly of themselves. We see that pride when the Pharisee walks
into the Temple, into God’s own house, but doesn’t actually speak to God. Instead, he spends his time
talking to himself about how great he is.[a] He spends his time patting himself on the back
for all of his great and virtuous deeds, while insulting the Tax
Collector off in the corner. But the Publican, the Tax Collector,
did something very different. “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!'” (Luke 18:13) The Tax Collector was humble. He was
repentant. He wasn’t looking to justify himself or congratulate himself for his good deeds.
He sought forgiveness for his bad deeds. The Tax Collector didn’t even try to make
excuses for himself, for the many sins that were weighing him down: for
stealing from, and betraying, his own people. He didn’t see righteousness in himself. He was
looking outside of himself, to the One who is righteous, and asking Him for His mercy.
The Tax Collector was measuring himself against God’s goodness. And that’s what
led him to humility rather than pride. God is the source of all goodness. But the
Pharisee thought that he was the source. So he looked at his life with arrogance rather
than humility. And he used his life as a way to separate himself from his neighbor.
He was measuring himself against the goodness of those around him. And this caused the Pharisee to
be prideful: confident that he was following the Law and had nothing to worry about.
So if you started this video congratulating yourself for not being as judgmental as the
Pharisee, for not looking down on others like he does...well...guess what?
You’re the Pharisee. We’re all the Pharisee.
That’s the reason we find this reading right at the start of the Triodion period. Because
we’re going to spend the next several weeks doing exactly what the Pharisee was doing:
fasting more, praying more, giving alms more, and attending more divine services.
And when we’re actively trying to live the life God calls us to, like the Pharisee was,
we can easily fall into the temptation of comparing ourselves to our neighbors,
seeing how many boxes we check, and judging ourselves to be righteous.
This reading helps us make sure we check ourselves before we wreck ourselves.
Because this is a period of preparation, not condemnation. The Church gives us these spiritual
practices to help us open our lives to Christ, not turn us inward so that we’re just praying
to ourselves like the Pharisee. So how do we avoid this mistake? How
do we continue to approach God with the humility of the Tax Collector,
even when we begin to live a life that is more intentionally (and intensely) Christian?
We can find the answer in the Epistle that we read alongside the parable of
the Publican and the Pharisee. That reading is from St Paul’s letter
to Timothy. And in it Paul, the great Apostle, is giving advice to Timothy, his spiritual son.
Timothy was a young man. Though he was also the bishop of Ephesus
and leader of his community. In his letter, Paul tells Timothy
to continue looking to him, as his father in Christ, and to imitate his way of life.
Timothy has already observed Paul’s teaching, his conduct, his aim in life, his faith,
his patience, his love, his steadfastness, his persecutions, his sufferings,
and Paul wants to remind Timothy that this is the way they are both called to live.[b]
Paul isn’t being like the Pharisee here. He isn’t speaking to himself about himself,
saying he’s better than others, trying to seem righteous for his own glory. And he isn’t
relying on his own righteousness, or pridefully boasting of his own virtue or goodness.
No, Paul wants Timothy to look to him because his own life is an image of Jesus’ life.
As Paul writes in another of his epistles, “Be imitators of me,
as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) And Paul certainly imitated Jesus: not
superficially, and not simply when it was easy, but in the most difficult ways. He was imprisoned
like Jesus; he was beaten like Jesus. And not too long after writing this letter,
he was even killed like Jesus. Unlike the Pharisee, Paul doesn’t claim
credit for enduring all those trials and struggles. He gives thanks to God.
“Yet from them all the Lord rescued me.” (2 Timothy 3:11)
So in telling Timothy to look to him, Paul is actually directing Timothy towards Christ.
Paul encourages Timothy to look to him for guidance so that Timothy will remain
humble and avoid the self-deception that others, like the Pharisee, have fallen into.
In getting Timothy to look to himself as his spiritual guide and standard,
Paul is turning Timothy away from the delusion of false teachers who move from bad to worse,
sinking deeper into their prideful and self-important fantasies.
From the delusion of the Pharisee, who trusted in his own righteousness when he stood
praying to himself. When he focused on his own gifts and forgot the Gift-Giver.
Self-deception happens when we turn inward, trusting in ourselves and our own abilities
to evaluate our own righteousness, especially against the perceived lack of righteousness
(or even just rightness) in others. And the antidote to this self-deception is
to turn to someone outside of us who can redirect our hearts and minds toward the One who Is. Not
a false teacher, but a true teacher. For St Timothy, that person is St Paul.
St Paul tells Timothy to return to the Scripture which he has been reading from a young age.
To ground himself and his life in “the sacred writings which are able
to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)
But he’s not telling Timothy to trust in the Bible alone. Because to trust merely in a book
and our own understanding of its meaning would be another form of isolation, overconfidence
in ourselves, and self-delusion. We talked about how to read the Bible
back in Episode 128. And that’s important to remember here because, when Paul tells Timothy
to read the Scriptures, he isn’t pointing Timothy just to Scripture, just to a book.
He’s pointing Timothy to the Church. He tells Timothy to continue in what he has
learned and believed, and to be confident because he learned it from faithful people
who were pointing him, not to their own glory, but to God.[c]
Timothy was raised in a pious Jewish home, where prayer and the reading
of Scripture were incredibly important. And Timothy wasn’t simply blessed with pious
parents: he also had an incredible spiritual father in St Paul. A wise and faithful teacher
who was called directly by Christ. A mentor who could help form Timothy’s heart to accept
Jesus and prepare him to serve the Church. So here, at the beginning of the Triodion Period,
with Great Lent just around the corner, we see what we need to do to prepare ourselves
to rejoice in the Resurrection. We need to examine ourselves and the
ways we’ve fulfilled or failed to fulfill the Christian way of life, and come to the temple
in order to reconnect with God and receive the strength to grow even closer to Him.
But to do that, we need to open our hearts to the possibility of repentance, so we can turn to the
Lord in humility and ask Him for His mercy. And like the Pharisee demonstrates in this week’s
parable, that’s hard to do when we make ourselves our own judges and spiritual guides.
Because we often fail to see ourselves clearly. Or we get so caught up in how
we compare to the person next to us that we lose interest in actually approaching God.
The solution to all of this is to open our hearts to holy people who can guide us in
the faith. People who can point us to Christ because they know where to find Him.
These guides can come from all areas of our lives. They can be parents and godparents. They can be
grandparents and mentors. They can be the leaders of the Church. These are the people to whom we
can open our hearts and trust their guidance. And this is probably important now more than ever
because the internet has made it that much easier for false teachers
to spread their unhealthy ideas. We need to find people who urge us to
imitate them because they imitate Christ. People who love us and can help us remain
spiritually grounded and healthy. People who can help shape us into the
faithful Christians God is calling us to be, just like Paul helped form Timothy.
When we follow in the footsteps of Timothy, we open ourselves up to the gentle guidance
and correction that keeps us grounded in the humble mindset of the Tax Collector,
rather than completely locked within the deluded echo chamber of our own
self-congratulation like the Pharisee. And this is why we open up the Triodion period,
the period of preparation for the Resurrection, with the Parable
of the Publican and the Pharisee. Because the most important thing to have
when preparing for Pascha is humility. Without humility, we become like the Pharisee.
We pray to ourselves instead of God. We trap ourselves in an
internal cycle of praise that closes us off from receiving the light of the Resurrection.
The light that grants us eternal life. So let's Be the Bee, and stay humble
with the help of others. Be the bee and live Orthodoxy.
Remember to like and subscribe. And share. I'll see you all, next week.
It’s a new year, and a new opportunity to lead more effective ministry in your home or parish.
Join the almost 700 students who have taken our “Effective Christian Ministry” course
and are transforming the way they lead people to Christ.
Click the link on the screen to learn more, or go directly
to effectivechristianministry.org. [a]“The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself…” (Luke 18:11) [b]"But you have carefully followed my doctrine,
manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions,
which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured."
(2 Timothy 3:10-11) [c]"But you must continue
in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you
have learned them..." (2 Timothy 3:14)