1 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,160 Friends, our teaching scripture this morning comes from Luke 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:19,840 chapter 18 verses 9 to 14. It says he also told this 3 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,080 parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were 4 00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:28,160 righteous and regarded others with contempt. 2 men went up to 5 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,840 the temple to pray. 1A Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 6 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:35,800 The Pharisee standing by himself was praying. 7 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:41,240 Thus, God, I thank you that I am not like other people, thieves, 8 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,800 rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 9 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,400 I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all my income. 10 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:53,720 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up 11 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,120 his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, God, 12 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:02,720 be merciful to me, a Sinner, I tell you, this man went down to 13 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:04,840 his home justified rather than the other. 14 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:08,440 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who 15 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,000 humble themselves will be exalted. 16 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:17,160 This is the word of the Lord. It is good to see all of you 17 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,480 today. We were gone for a few weeks, 18 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:26,920 but it's good to be back. So I want to begin today by 19 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,680 talking about the 2006 Pixar film Cars. 20 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:36,640 I'm channeling Parker here, but with a less highbrow movie. 21 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,680 It chronicles the story of hotshot racer Lightning McQueen. 22 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,960 He's at the top of his career in the final for the coveted Piston 23 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:48,800 Cup. And the thing that I want to 24 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,360 point out is that he had real skill and real virtue. 25 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:56,520 He was very good at racing, but there was something about the 26 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,040 way in which he was good at racing that came at a cost. 27 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,880 So throughout the movie, you come to see that Lightning 28 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:08,199 McQueen is carrying a profound loneliness, a disconnection 29 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,160 where he can't really be seen and known by others because it's 30 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,720 competition that defines his life. 31 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,480 He had so indexed his identity to being better than everyone 32 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,560 else that he couldn't see the gift of others. 33 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,600 When he arrives in the town of Radiator Springs, it would never 34 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,520 cross his mind that there could be sources of life and growth 35 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,560 and good in this out of the way place. 36 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,480 His vision of the people of the town is so broken that he 37 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,000 doesn't even recognize that one of the most famous race cars in 38 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:43,440 the world is the judge of the town. 39 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,840 Lightning McQueen is so caught up in the passion of pride that 40 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,200 he can't see the reality of the life of those around him. 41 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:57,640 And the result is loneliness and disconnection and 42 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:01,320 purposelessness. Now, I'll set Lightning McQueen 43 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,240 to the side, but we'll return to Radiator Springs by the end of 44 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,320 the sermon. So we've been in a sermon series 45 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:09,360 over the past eight weeks. Hopefully you've been here for 46 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,320 some of them, but I do want to commend our podcast online if 47 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,240 you have not been here for them. There's been some really great 48 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,480 teachings, but over the last eight weeks we've been looking 49 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,040 at the passions. If you haven't been with us, or 50 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,960 if this is your first time, or if you just want to confess you 51 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,920 haven't been paying attention for the last two months, I don't 52 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:33,120 want to talk about the passions are the space in which God has 53 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,720 placed this energy in us, this outward movement towards the 54 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,520 world. They're this Nexus of emotions 55 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,680 and thoughts and energy. And it's really easy for us to 56 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,560 become in that space, overly attached to things of this 57 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,480 world. And our passions can become 58 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,400 disordered and take up this really big space in our lives. 59 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,280 And we find our lives. They are just going a little bit 60 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,040 off track. And so we've talked about some 61 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,200 things that maybe not everyone wants to talk about in church 62 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:03,680 every week. We've talked about lust and 63 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,320 gluttony and greed. We've introduced acedia and 64 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,960 despondency and anger. And last week, Parker talked to 65 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,200 us about Vainglory. And I think that part of why 66 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,160 revisiting some of these things is so helpful is that these 67 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,200 passions aren't parts of our life that are like 1 and done. 68 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,240 We don't wake up 1 morning and say, like, I've been completely 69 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,240 healed of greed. That's not a problem for me 70 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:28,200 anymore. I'm just going to go about my 71 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,560 life. No, these are places where we 72 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:35,040 come together to find ourselves over and over again in the 73 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,800 healing love of God. The healing of our passions 74 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:44,160 takes our whole lifetimes, but the good news and that taking 75 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,680 this time to just look at some of these ways in which our soul 76 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:53,400 is misaligned, is that God isn't surprised or disgusted by any of 77 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,920 it. God continues to view us with 78 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,880 compassion and care, and God never stops pouring out God's 79 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,520 love on us. And I think that's always has to 80 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,520 be our starting point for thinking about the passions. 81 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:13,080 We have to think about God's gracious love and care because 82 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,920 The thing is like, honestly looking at what's true about our 83 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:20,200 lives takes a lot of courage, and that courage is itself a 84 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,280 gift from God. And so this morning I'll be 85 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:26,680 wrapping up our series, but I hope that this isn't the end of 86 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:30,560 the work that God is doing, healing our hearts each and 87 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,440 every day. I'm going to continue conclude 88 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,080 the series by looking at the Passion of Pride. 89 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,320 So pride is something both the Bible and the spiritual 90 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:42,880 formation tradition have a lot to say about. 91 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:46,400 The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams says 92 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,440 that most analysis of the passions and the destructive 93 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,720 impulses of the soul take pride as the root of everything that 94 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,120 goes wrong, which is why pride often comes either at the 95 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:00,920 beginning or the end of the lists. 96 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,080 So for our sermon series, we placed pride at the end. 97 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:09,160 It's a way of seeing that the passion of pride, you get tied 98 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:13,040 up in so many of the other passions replacing at the end 99 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:16,640 because it can be insidious, because pride can keep keep us 100 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,880 from actually looking at our lives in a way that we can 101 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,160 actually see what's going on with all of these other 102 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,200 passions. So to begin opening up our 103 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,920 thinking and our imagination about what pride might be for 104 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,160 us, I want to look at that parable from the Gospel of Luke 105 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:37,400 that Parker just read. Luke is the storyteller of the 106 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,840 gospel, gospel writers, and he captures these parables of 107 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:43,320 Jesus. Parables are just stories that 108 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,600 Jesus tells that help capture the imagination of his 109 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,480 listeners. When Jesus taught, it often 110 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,000 wasn't through direct statements, do this, don't do 111 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,040 this. But it's about these stories in 112 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:58,040 which the listener finds that the story itself is reading 113 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,800 their life. And so this parable is 114 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,200 introduced with the words. He also told this parable to 115 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,200 some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and 116 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:11,280 they regarded others with contempt. 117 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,760 So from right off the bat, Luke tells us what this parable is 118 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,480 for. It's for people who trusted in 119 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,760 themselves that they were righteous and regarded others 120 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,960 with contempt. So in the monastic tradition, 121 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:29,040 those two moves are the foundations of pride, trusting 122 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,800 in yourself and regarding others with contempt. 123 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,840 So throughout this series on the passions, we've talked about the 124 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,680 ways in which the passions are about a lack of vision. 125 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,160 When we're enthralled by a passion, we become unable to 126 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,640 truthfully see ourselves and to truthfully see others. 127 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,280 We get so caught up in these strong emotions and these 128 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:54,680 attachments that we lose our ability to embrace and see 129 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,640 reality. That's part of why, as I said is 130 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,280 so much ago a few minutes ago, that the tradition. 131 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:06,000 So pride is the passion that pervades all the others because 132 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,800 at its very base it's about a lack of vision. 133 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,280 It's the inability to see yourself rightly. 134 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:16,240 And as you don't see yourself rightly, you also become unable 135 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,520 to see others, which prevents you from being able to love. 136 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,920 So when we get stagged by pride, we become like Lightning 137 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,600 McQueen, unable to see the goodness that is surrounding us. 138 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,559 And we have not had the possibility to have these 139 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:37,280 connections in love with others. But at least part of the good 140 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,400 news I want you to hear this morning is that Jesus doesn't 141 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,559 abandoned those people who are caught up in pride, just like 142 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:47,120 Jesus doesn't abandoned us anytime we start to get a little 143 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,200 bit off track. Jesus wouldn't have been telling 144 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,720 this parable if there was for the people, if there wasn't an 145 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:57,720 ability to hear it rightly and to come to follow Jesus more 146 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,000 closely. There's good news in hearing 147 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,240 kind of a hard parable that shows ourselves to us. 148 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,400 So let's see what it's saying about pride this morning. 149 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,880 So two men went up to the temple to pray. 1A Pharisee and the 150 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:19,640 other a tax collector. The two men in this parable 151 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,040 aren't always the people you would have thought of as just 152 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,200 the epitome of pride. They're people who are honestly 153 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,880 trying to follow the ways of the Lord. 154 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,040 They're both in the temple praying, they're doing what they 155 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,600 should be doing, but they're not a pair that's likely to have 156 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,480 been together. So Pharisees believe in this 157 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,920 really strict observance of the law, a separation from the world 158 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:45,000 that they were afraid would pollute them. 159 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:48,520 And I think sometimes we see that a little negatively because 160 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,120 we're used to reading the New Testament. 161 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,120 But the Pharisees were really trying to swallow God 162 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:55,600 faithfully. They were trying to make sure 163 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,000 that they could keep the law, which they saw as a gift from 164 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,960 God. They were reform movement from a 165 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,560 temple that they believed had been captured by dreams of 166 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:09,000 nationalist power and collaboration with the Herodian 167 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,800 governors. They would have regularly gone 168 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,320 up to the temple to pray, earnestly seeking God. 169 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:21,320 Meanwhile, a tax collector would be a person who, rather than 170 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:24,040 resisting this collaboration with the Romans, had completely 171 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,080 given into it. In fact, this tax collector was 172 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:30,520 probably benefiting from the imperial occupation. 173 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:34,240 He derived his wealth and position from the ways in which 174 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,600 he would work to oppress his own people. 175 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:40,560 And we can easily look down on that too. 176 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,640 But I would also note that throughout the Gospels, the tax 177 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:48,000 collectors are some of the people who most often respond to 178 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,960 the call of Jesus. And this tax collector in 179 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,480 particular does seem to be moving towards God. 180 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,360 He is coming to the temple to pray. 181 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,400 So by starting a story with two men went up to the temple to 182 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,480 pray. 1A Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 183 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,640 Jesus is almost like giving us the opening of a joke. 184 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:12,280 It's like if a Pharisee and a tax collector walked into a bar. 185 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,280 What's going to happen? What will transpire? 186 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,280 Will it be humorous? Will it turn violent? 187 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:22,160 The original hearers likely weren't sure of what the outcome 188 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:26,120 would be. But then we arrive at the prayer 189 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:30,200 of the two people, which is really the heart of the parable. 190 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,000 We'll start by looking at the prayer of the Pharisee kind of 191 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,400 in depth, and then we'll turn back to the prayer of the tax 192 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:41,320 collector. It says the Pharisee, standing 193 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:46,200 by himself, was praying thus. God, I thank you that I am not 194 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:52,560 like other people, thieves, rogues, adulterers or even like 195 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,880 this tax collector. I fast twice a week. 196 00:11:55,880 --> 00:12:00,520 I give a tenth of all my income. So this is the part of the 197 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,760 parable where I really start to see the outworking of pride. 198 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,240 When the Pharisee comes before the temple to pray, where does 199 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,120 he begin? He doesn't look towards God, he 200 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,840 doesn't look towards himself and the work that God is doing in 201 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,640 his heart. He instead starts to look at all 202 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:22,680 the people around him. We see that pride has consumed 203 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:26,160 the Pharisee to such an extent that when he comes to pray, he 204 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,000 can't even talk about himself. When this Pharisee talks to God, 205 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,080 he begins in the logic of comparison. 206 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:38,240 He says, I thank you that I am not like other people, the 207 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,720 people that he isn't like. He starts with these kind of 208 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,200 theoretical imagine people. I'm not like the thieves and the 209 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:49,480 rogues and the adulterers. He begins with the people that 210 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,920 pretty much everyone in his society, and maybe even in our 211 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,720 society, would say are bad. Of course, we shouldn't be 212 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,960 thieves or rogues or adulterers. Those are social sins that are 213 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:02,680 ripping apart the fabric of society. 214 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,520 And from so here, right at the beginning, we see that this 215 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,440 Pharisee thinks that he is preserving the right function of 216 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,720 the world. He's not like those people. 217 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:18,280 And I wonder this morning how we might participate in the same 218 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,240 kind of fiction. We think of ourselves. 219 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,120 We might begin by saying, well, of course we aren't like those 220 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,520 other people. We aren't like those people who 221 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:30,880 don't welcome immigrants, those people who seek selfish gain 222 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,560 rather than openness to the other, or those people who have 223 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:38,000 lost all of their moral compass and the pursuit of power. 224 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:42,480 I want to be really clear. Those are not things we should 225 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,840 do. The virtues are a gift from God 226 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,480 and we should celebrate whenever we find them in our hearts. 227 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:55,280 Dorotheus of Gaza, an early monastic Abbot in the desert, 228 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:58,400 when talking about this passage, says that when the Pharisees go 229 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:02,240 on to say when he says I fast twice weekly and I give away 230 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,320 1/10 of my income, that he was rightly seeing those as good 231 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:08,920 things. He's doing these good things and 232 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:13,040 he's pursuing God, but he's not stopping to give God credit for 233 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,360 those things. They are the things that he is 234 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:20,320 doing. And yet there is this one thing 235 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,600 that makes him not perfect, and that is at the beginning of his 236 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:29,040 prayer, even though he gives a 10th of his income and even 237 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:33,680 though he prays regularly, he starts by saying, God, I thank 238 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,080 you that I am not like other people. 239 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,800 This looking down on others is the pride that keeps the 240 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:47,320 Pharisee from a life of connection and relationship and 241 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,520 love. Because although he begins with 242 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,520 these theoretical people that he's not like, he's not like the 243 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,880 thieves and the rogues and the adulterers, he finally comes 244 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:01,720 home to rest in this very specific person, this tax 245 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,560 collector who's standing right beside him. 246 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:09,280 So the problem with pride is that it prevents us from the 247 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:14,280 love of others and our desire to stand on our own, under our own 248 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,480 power. The Pharisee can't love the 249 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,960 neighbor, this tax collector, right in front of him, because 250 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:25,240 pride has bloomed into being unable to see the image of God 251 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:29,360 in this tax collector who is here at the temple praying 252 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,320 alongside with him. So where does that show up for 253 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,000 us? Maybe at our pride at holding 254 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,640 the right political views. We find ourselves discounting 255 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:42,920 the relative who would rather not love. 256 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:48,560 Maybe out of our pride at having our lives together and not 257 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,680 needing help from others, We find ourselves discounting and 258 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,360 judging that person who we think makes unwise financial 259 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,920 decisions. So maybe out of our pride at our 260 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:04,080 theological positions and rightness, we find ourselves 261 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:08,440 unable to see the Spirit moving among those of our Christian 262 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,920 brothers and sisters with whom we disagree. 263 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,120 You know, I've spent probably too much of my emotional time 264 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,680 and energy there. And I think that's where pride 265 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,200 usually starts. We begin by seeing our own 266 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,120 goodness. We see something that God has 267 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,640 given us that is good and right and a gift. 268 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,560 But then when we see our goodness, we immediately start 269 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,800 comparing it to others. We start with comparing it to 270 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,400 these theoretical people that we know we're not like. 271 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:41,320 But in the end, it always comes down to our inability to love 272 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,520 the person who's right there in front of us. 273 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,440 When we hold ourselves on this moral high ground, we end up 274 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,680 without relationships and without connection. 275 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:58,200 We end up lonely because no one else can measure up to the 276 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,280 standards that we have set, and so we end up like the Pharisee 277 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,359 that the passage says is standing by himself. 278 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:10,760 We are justified in our own eyes, but we're utterly devoid 279 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:15,280 of connection and love. We're like Lightning McQueen 280 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:19,599 sitting alone in his trailer, A success, but with no one to 281 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:24,880 call. But also, I just want to give a 282 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,359 little word of caution because I think that this dynamic of pride 283 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,560 can start to reproduce itself sometimes. 284 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,400 We of course know that we would never show up at church and say, 285 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,320 God, I thank you that I'm not like this tax collector. 286 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:43,360 But then maybe we can also end up in a place where we say, God, 287 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:46,520 I thank you that I'm not like this Pharisee because that's 288 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:48,440 what we do, right? We're not about judging. 289 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,400 We don't identify with the Pharisee because we know we 290 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,840 aren't justified by our own actions and we still got caught 291 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,000 up in pride at being self-righteous. 292 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,920 So maybe we're saying, God, I thank you that I am not like 293 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:05,000 those people who think they're not like the Pharisee and so on 294 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,040 and so on and so on. Because the problem isn't about 295 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,640 who the other person is that we're not like. 296 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,440 It's about the dynamic of pride, about the looking down and 297 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,880 judgement on the other. And I know that probably just 298 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,480 seems like what it's like to be human. 299 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,200 How can we not end up in this competitive rat race, always 300 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,800 keeping in this internal ranking of where we stand? 301 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:31,720 As long as we're not at the bottom, we're OK. 302 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:36,840 As long as we're not like the other, whoever we imagine that 303 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:41,680 other to be. It's exhausting and it's lonely 304 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,000 and at times it feels like there's no way off this hamster 305 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,960 wheel of comparison. What hope is there for us? 306 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:55,800 Well, I think this parable also shows us what it begins to be, 307 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,360 to be healed of the passion of pride. 308 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:03,280 In contrast to the Pharisee, we find the tax collector. 309 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:09,000 But the tax collector standing far off would not even look up 310 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:13,880 to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, God be 311 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:20,520 merciful to me, a Sinner. This is the picture of the 312 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,480 healing of pride. And it comes in this really 313 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,080 unlikely place, this tax collector. 314 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,520 And that's so often the picture that we find in the Gospels. 315 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:36,560 The Kingdom of God seems to be really present and closely and 316 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,560 just unexpectedly there in the lives of those where we don't 317 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:45,920 expect it to be those who are standing in need because that's 318 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,320 what this prayer of the tax collector is about. 319 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:50,960 It's about acknowledging his need. 320 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:55,280 I think sometimes when we read this passage with our 21st 321 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,600 century years, we have trouble with this prayer of the tax 322 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,200 collector. We don't want to take our advice 323 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,920 on our inner life from someone who beats his breast and doesn't 324 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:06,720 even want to look up towards heaven. 325 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,840 We worry that what he is feeling is shame, not humility. 326 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:14,240 And that's something to rightly be worried about. 327 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:18,360 Shame is destructive of our sense of connection too. 328 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,280 But I don't think that's what Jesus is encouraging in this 329 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:25,040 parable. The tax collector isn't just 330 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,200 trapped in this space of shame where he thinks that he's just 331 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,800 bad at his core, no matter what he has done. 332 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,320 I think that's what shame is. It seems to me that what's going 333 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,360 on for this tax collector is that he is seeing his life 334 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,520 rightly. He knows that he has done wrong. 335 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,440 As a tax collector, he was complicit in the oppression of 336 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,680 his people. It would have been almost 337 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:52,560 impossible to be morally right in the system when which he 338 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,080 worked. I wonder how many of us work in 339 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,960 systems like that too. But what's amazing about this 340 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:04,080 passage, and what makes me think that it's not shame, is that 341 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:08,800 even in the midst of this brokenness, in the sinfulness of 342 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,880 his life, the tax collector doesn't retreat into himself, 343 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,000 away from others, standing all alone. 344 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:21,080 Rather, he comes before God, taking what he knows to be true 345 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:24,800 about his life. And I think that takes deep and 346 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:29,120 real courage, which is a gift from God, not like shame. 347 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,640 So what is the difference between this Pharisee and this 348 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:38,000 tax collector? The tax collector knows that he 349 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,800 is dependent upon the mercy of God. 350 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:47,000 I think that reveals to us some of these deep inner workings of 351 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,080 pride. Rowan Williams argues that the 352 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:54,840 root of pride is a refusal to accept the truth of our own 353 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,760 dependence. Pride is a refusal to accept 354 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:03,600 that everything we are depends upon the mercy of God and God's 355 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,240 ongoing work of creating and sustaining and renewing us in 356 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:14,080 love at each and every moment. Pride really gets going when we 357 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:16,480 imagine ourselves at the beginning of the passage when it 358 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,720 talks about trusting in ourselves that we're righteous. 359 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:23,840 The trusting in ourselves tries to believe that we are 360 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:28,040 self-sufficient for everything we need under our own power. 361 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:34,040 Pride is about the myth of the self-sufficient man, and I use 362 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,640 man there deliberately because the tradition of this heresy of 363 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:41,080 self-sufficiency has always looked down on women because of 364 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,120 their association with the dependence of children. 365 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:49,160 It's really easy for us to believe that we have to have all 366 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,680 of our stuff together. But the trouble there. 367 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,440 So we find we don't actually have very much room left for God 368 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,960 then, which is why the monastic tradition and really just the 369 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:05,360 whole of Christian theology is so worried and nervous about 370 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:09,120 pride. When we imagine that we can put 371 00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:12,720 ourselves in the right, when we ignore the truth of our 372 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,960 dependence, we find that we don't actually really need God. 373 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,080 We miss the truth that it is indeed good and right and 374 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,840 flourishing to need God's help. It is good and right and 375 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:31,880 flourishing to have a need and to share that need with others, 376 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,800 to not be able to do everything on our own. 377 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,960 Because the myth of the self-sufficient man doesn't only 378 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:44,320 disconnect us from God, it disconnects us from others too. 379 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,480 Because relationships need some level of dependence and 380 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,760 vulnerability to work. If we have everything we need, 381 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,200 we don't actually have space for others. 382 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:57,960 Maybe we can make business partnerships. 383 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,640 We're probably not making friendships or falling in love. 384 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,000 But part of what is so challenging about this myth of 385 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,440 self-sufficiency? Our Rage Against our dependence, 386 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,760 what I'm calling our pride is that it's so rewarded by our 387 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:19,040 society. It's really good if you don't 388 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,880 need help from others, is what we are told even when we're 389 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:27,000 little children. But I want to say it's not only 390 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,880 about our society. Who's rewarded in this ancient 391 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,080 society as well, or Jesus wouldn't have even been telling 392 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:37,360 this parable. So the beginning of recognizing 393 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:41,880 the passion of pride is to begin to lean into and to live into 394 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:46,480 the truth of our dependence. And that's really hard. 395 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,280 It's hard to acknowledge that you don't have it all together 396 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,520 and that maybe you're in the same boat as some of those 397 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:56,160 people that you don't want to be like. 398 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:02,960 Because pride, pride can't bear to see or to live in the reality 399 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,440 of need. The beginning of Lightning 400 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:11,040 Mcqueen's healing and reintegration into society from 401 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,240 the wilderness of Radiator Springs. 402 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,000 By acknowledging that he needs help. 403 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,120 He doesn't know how to turn right, to go left. 404 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:25,320 He needs someone to show him. So we use pride to prop 405 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,400 ourselves up by taking comfort and what is actually good about 406 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:31,840 our lives. And rather than celebrating 407 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,520 that, we use it to put down the good that is in others. 408 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,920 But we start to overcome this pride by recognizing that all of 409 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:47,080 us, each and every one of us, are in such need of the mercy of 410 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,600 God. And that's what the tax 411 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:52,600 collector in this parable realizes. 412 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:57,240 He is acutely aware when he turns to God that he humbly asks 413 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,880 for mercy. So Jesus concludes the parable 414 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:06,480 with, I tell you, this man went down to his home, justified 415 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:12,200 rather than the other. This conclusion of the parable 416 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:16,320 sums up the great reversal of the Gospel of Luke, that those 417 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:20,880 who are seen as far from God are actually close and beloved by 418 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,800 Him, and that those who think they are close are really the 419 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:28,080 ones who are far away. This is how we come to 420 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:32,000 experience healing from pride. It's not about trying really 421 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,680 hard to be humble. It's not about taking this 422 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,520 really objective and scientific view of our lives. 423 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,400 We have like a survey where we can tell what's actually true. 424 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:45,000 It's not about inflating the reality of others or deflating 425 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:49,000 what they are like. We come to heal pride by 426 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:53,720 standing before God and saying, this is what's true about me. 427 00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:00,600 I'm not hiding who I am, either through an inflation of my own 428 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:09,000 ego or by putting down others. I am here in my brokenness, in 429 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:14,280 my uncertainty, in my sinfulness, even when I want to 430 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,840 do it. And as we stand here in that 431 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:23,480 way, I think we might be able to begin to find the healing of 432 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,120 God. Because as the parable says, 433 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,920 those who humble themselves will be exalted. 434 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,200 God isn't trying to love some ideal version of yourself where 435 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,680 you have it all put together. He's trying to love who you 436 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:46,800 really are, even the you that is so consumed by pride. 437 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:50,720 I think that this story shows us what it looks like. 438 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,360 It's an important one. So there's a story that just 439 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:55,440 follows this parable immediately. 440 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,000 Parker didn't read it, so you have to listen to me. 441 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,320 Luke goes into the story without any transition from this story 442 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,280 about this parable. It says people were bringing 443 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,000 even infants to him, that he might touch them. 444 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,840 When the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do 445 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,440 it. But Jesus called to them and 446 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:19,800 said, let the little children come to me and do not stop them. 447 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:24,360 For it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs. 448 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,080 So I think this story, we actually really struggle to hear 449 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:31,800 it rightly in the modern world because our primary image of 450 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:35,920 children is 1 of innocence and great value and care. 451 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,080 But that wasn't the story in Jesus world about children. 452 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,360 Rather in the ancient world children didn't have any value 453 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:47,040 really. They were expendable and not 454 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,440 really all that important. Who's morally acceptable to 455 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:55,480 abandon unwanted children? So I think what Jesus is getting 456 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:59,360 at here in this story is the image not of the infant as 457 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:04,480 innocent and valued, but as one who is deeply in need. 458 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,040 Someone who isn't valued by society. 459 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,840 Someone who isn't seen as important, but someone who just 460 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:16,560 really needs help. The Kingdom of God belongs to 461 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,960 those who come, not because of what they have done, not because 462 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,760 of their pride, not because of their goodness, because of God's 463 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:28,760 unmerited favour and love. And that's when we come to the 464 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,440 end of pride. When we acknowledge that we 465 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:36,600 stand before God and before others in need of help. 466 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:42,320 Maybe we can start to think of ourselves as infants, the 467 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,200 infant. What the infant does to receive 468 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:48,520 care is actually very small. At most it's a cry. 469 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:53,120 And that's what we're looking for as we turn towards God this 470 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,920 morning. Maybe through our series you've 471 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,840 noticed something that is in need of healing. 472 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,120 Or maybe today you've recognized that your pride has made it 473 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,600 actually really difficult to see where you need that healing. 474 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:10,800 The good news is that God is the one who's doing the healing 475 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,880 here. All we have to do is like a 476 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:19,760 child or like an infant, just raise our hands and open 477 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:24,960 ourselves to be loved by God. Amen. 478 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:28,840 So I think we're going to do the liturgy we've been doing each 479 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:30,280 week. So if you all would stand and 480 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,600 say that with me, I'm the first person. 481 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:39,920 So let's all say this together. So I am infinitely loved by God, 482 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,840 and God's infinite love is in the process of healing 483 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,760 everything in me that clings to false things. 484 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:54,720 The invitation of God is to allow God to be the divine 485 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:58,880 physician. The medicine of God is God's own 486 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:03,280 love poured out into my heart through the Holy Spirit. 487 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,200 So now we're going to turn towards some ministry time. 488 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:09,320 The worship team want to start to make their way up. 489 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:13,920 We're going to have people to pray for you on the sides, like 490 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,800 Parker has something. There's a couple things that 491 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,360 were kind of coming to my mind listening to Thomas. 492 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:23,600 The first one is just that thing about I almost had this image of 493 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,240 someone trying to sort of steer their life in a particular 494 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:27,960 direction. Like you're gripping the wheel, 495 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,520 you're trying to sort of force an outcome, whether it's maybe 496 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:34,080 in your work or in your parenting or some other thing. 497 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,120 But for you that that image of trying to steer your life in a 498 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,720 particular direction is like vivid and resonates. 499 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,360 And so I would love to to pray for you. 500 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,680 And the other thing is just, I'm aware of a few people that I've 501 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,480 talked to even already this morning who have pain in their 502 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,040 body. It's just like a nagging pain, 503 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,280 like a little bit of, you know, whatever, like elbow pain or 504 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:59,120 arthritis or whatever it is. And I think I think God would 505 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:00,720 maybe want to heal some people this morning. 506 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:03,920 So I would love to also pray for you, the team would love to pray 507 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:06,120 for you if you're just experiencing some some little 508 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:07,080 pains in your body.