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On the
Sunday that just passed the Church entered the Period known as the
Triodion. For those of you who have never heard of this word before it
is basically the service Book used by the Church from the fourth Sunday
before the onset of Great Lent and throughout Great Lent until the last
service on Holy and Great Saturday night just before the Resurrection
service. The Triodion is therefore the Book of Great Lent but begins
with a preparation period with themes to help us prepare ourselves for
that spiritual journey that will lead us to Pascha. For each of the four
Sundays before Lent, the liturgical themes are based on the Gospel
readings of that Sunday. Last Sunday, being the first Sunday, began with
the Gospel reading of the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee which
teaches us to beware of the Pharisee’s pride and self assurance, and
rather that we should embrace the humility of the Publican. The Parable
is part of the middle group of Parables known as the behaviour parables
of which we have recently been looking at.
We have seen
the interpretation of this Parable many times before and most of you
should by now know what it teaches. Nevertheless, it would not be right
to give it a miss this year just because we have heard it all before.
Certainly we know the Gospel stories, but do we implement them into our
lives? Most of us are spiritually weak and often get caught up in our
worldly affairs. We need constant reminders to help us get back on the
spiritual trail. We need help to replenish our spiritual strength which
has weakened and impoverished due to a relaxation in our spiritual
efforts. The Church understands our human weakness and our need to
slowly prepare for the great effort Great Lent will demand of us. The
preparation period is therefore designed to help remind us that the long
and difficult journey to Pascha and our salvation cannot be reached
unless we first attain the four basic spiritual elements of humility,
repentance, love and forgiveness. These are the themes for the four
Sundays before Lent. The Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee begins
this preparation by teaching us two of these elements: Repentance which
is the first step on the road to salvation and humility in prayer which
we must have if we want God to respond to our prayers.
When we
speak of repentance we do not mean a temporary regret for having done
something for which we feel guilt. It means a complete change in our way
of life, a new beginning living a way of life according to the Gospels
and the will of God. It is the message John the Baptist preached in
preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah: “Repent for the
Kingdom of God is at hand”. When Christ came he preached the same
message and through his teaching he continually pounded the message of
repentance showing us how necessary it is for our salvation. This
message of repentance has never stopped and now as we prepare to meet
the Resurrected Christ the Church reminds us again of the importance of
repentance.
Along with the Parable of the Publican and Pharisee, today we will look
as two more parables from the same group that teach us how to pray. So
let's then hear the first Parable of the Publican and Pharisee.
“The Lord said this parable: Two men went up into
the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I
am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I
possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much
as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon 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 every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
(Luke 18:10-14)
The parable
is about two completely different men from completely different
backgrounds who went up to the temple to pray with completely different
attitudes.
The Pharisee was a member of a religious group who, as puritans of the
Jewish faith, zealously kept the letter of the Law. He believes that he
is an exemplary example to others of what a good Jew must be and because
he was such a perfect Jew who had never made a mistake he never felt the
need for repentance. He goes to the temple to pray, but his prayer is
not a thanksgiving but a proclamation of his righteousness. He is so
self-assured and proud of himself that he is perfect that he justifies
himself before God that he is righteous, and not like other men who are
extortioners, unjust and adulterers and seeing the Publican who was
standing at a distance, he adds “and especially not like that Publican”
whom he considered as the worst kind of person – the scum of the earth.
In general most upright and law-abiding citizens despised Publicans
because they were tax collectors who bought from the Romans, the rights
to collect the taxes from the people, but instead of collecting the
proper taxes that the Romans asked for, they extorted from the people
double or triple the amount.
The Pharisee
cannot see his own wretched condition; he cannot see his own sins, but
only the sins of other men. He is an egocentric man, arrogant,
self-asserted, cruel and inhumane especially with sinners like the
Publican whom he would certainly have nothing to do with lest he became
contaminated. He is proud and boastful that he had knowledge of the Law
yet he disregarded the Giver of the Law. Except for his self-love he
didn’t know the meaning of love. He disregarded the fact that love is
the fulfilment of the Law of which he considered he was a teacher and
interpreter; and this was all due to the fact that he didn’t have even a
vague relationship with God who is love.
He keeps to
the letter of the law by fasting twice a week and contributes to the
temple according to what the law tells him to contribute. Thus because
he externally fulfils what the Law requires of him, he believes that
this is all that God requires of him. According to how he understands
the Law, he is righteous so why would he need to change, why even would
he need to ask for God’s mercy, only sinners ask for God to be merciful,
but he is not a sinner so in effect he doesn’t even need God. The only
reason he went up to the temple to pray was to be seen by other men. The
whole purpose of the Pharisee’s life is to be recognized by others as
good, great, wise and a teacher of virtue. Whatever good he does he does
it to be seen by other people and attract their praise and glory. He
suffers from egocentricity and self-satisfaction. He never presents
himself as he actually is so that he doesn’t diminish his reputation,
his image and authority among the people. His vainglory has no limits.
He pretends to be pious and creates a false image for himself and
others. How can such a man repent when repentance presupposes an act of
self denial? How can he crucify his ego and place it below everyone else
when he strives to always be above everyone else? He will never taste
the heights to which humility can take him. He goes up to the temple
with the Publican to pray and to meet God, but he can’t imagine that God
can only be found on the road of humility.
In the
parable Christ says: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself”.
The fathers say that the “Pharisee stood” is interpreted as meaning his
high and mighty arrogance, his high-mindedness and his unrepentant
attitude. He certainly doesn’t pray to God for as Christ said: he prayed
to himself. He thanks God not for his beneficence, but because he is
different from everyone else. All other people are extortioners, unjust
and adulterers. He judges, insults and humiliates everyone except
himself.
In contrast
to the Pharisee, the Publican, who recognized that he was a sinner and
felt his unworthiness before God, stood afar off and couldn’t even lift
his eyes up to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner. The Publican is an example of true repentance
and the first sign from which repentance begins is for the person to
feel his inadequacy and weakness without God. From all the money that he
extorted with the heavy taxes that he imposed on people the Publican is
wealthy, yet his wealth does not make him feel self-sufficient. His
wealth is not in a position to take the place of God’s grace and gift of
love. That is why he decides to repent, to put to death the self-ruling
egocentric life without God and to make for himself a new life with God.
The death of his old life will be very costly, not in terms of his
worldly wealth, but internally. He will have to put to death the will of
the flesh, but the Publican is willing to give blood to gain the Spirit.
It is a death that will bring life and happiness, because it puts to
death the self-love and sinful desires. All his efforts, the desires and
strength of his soul and body to acquire the vast fortune he gained now
have to be put to death or rather transformed into a struggle to acquire
the spiritual and heavenly gains.
He goes up
to the temple with the Pharisee to pray. Unlike the Pharisee, the going
up does not necessarily mean that the temple was situated in a high
place. It refers to the inner rising of his soul. He goes up and rises
to the divine life, because he decided to put to death his old life. He
rises because his soul has advanced in virtue and in this case the
virtue of humility. With humility his old life according to the flesh,
which thirsted for wealth and the praises of men, is now vanished and he
rises to a life according to God – a life of love and communion with God
and his neighbour. Humility is the beginning, the middle and the end of
repentance. It is the garment with which Christ clothed himself when he
became man and now clothed with the same garment of humility the
Publican begins his relationship with Christ. The fathers say that
whoever clothes himself with the garment of humility clothes himself
with Christ.
The Publican
does not act or pretend to be good so that he can gain the respect and
admiration of the people. To act and pretend is false whereas the
Publican is a truthful person, as truthful as the saints who believed
and spoke of their wretchedness and this is what the Publican believed.
He presents himself as unjust, a money shark who extorts the people of
their living, someone with an unclean and polluted soul. He doesn’t
pretend to be pious, because he isn’t. He says the truth no matter how
bitter that truth is. With such feelings not only does he humble
himself, but breaks down before God and with total remorse for his
sinful life, he yearns for Christ’s forgiveness and for a new beginning
and inner relationship with him.
Entering the
temple, he stands afar off, in other words he avoids every prominent
position unlike the Pharisee who probably stood in the centre to be seen
by all. The Publican doesn’t want to place himself in the public eye; he
has no desire for public recognition: he stood afar off because he felt
unclean and unworthy of entering further into the temple. He prays with
a contrite heart, with tears and groanings, he beats his breast and asks
for the greatest of all things, for God’s mercy. His continual prayer is
“God be merciful to me a sinner.” His passion for wealth has been
transformed into passion for God’s mercy and this is repentance. Is it
possible for God who loves mankind to refuse his mercy with such a
prayer that comes forth from a broken and contrite heart? Does not the
psalm say “a broken and a contrite heart, O God thou wilt not despise”?
The Pharisee
judges him in public, he humiliates him and ridicules him and the
Publican accepts this and isn’t enraged to recompense insult with
insult, because he believes that he is a lot worse that what he has been
accused. He accepts the humiliation and the dishonour, because with
these God will justify him and raise and exalt him. He has no more any
desire for worldly praise and admiration, he has erased himself from the
world and has become as St. Paul says a “fool for Christ”.
With the
loss of a person’s ego and by nailing the reproach and pains of the
sinful man upon the Cross, he joins himself to Christ and becomes a
follower and partaker of Christ’s own reproach and mockery that he
suffered at Golgotha. He becomes a new person according to the example
of Christ. This new life is what Christ is referring to when he said
that the Publican went down to his house justified, because he that
humbles himself will be exalted. The Publican’s repentance is revealed
as a resurrection from the dead. He has changed and returned to the true
life, his first love for wealth and human glory has been transformed
into love for God and his kingdom. What the Publican felt in his heart
and soul – the joy of being resurrected from the reproaches of men, the
sweetness that came after the bitterness of the insults and humiliation,
the peace after the suffering – these cannot be put into words or truly
understood by us who have never had the experience of true repentance.
The central
message of the Parable is repentance, but it is interwoven which
warnings to beware of the sin of pride. The parables are not just
stories involving characters unrelated to us. In the majority of them
Christ is telling us to look carefully at these characters and try to
identify ourselves in them. In the Parable of the Publican and Pharisee
we see a character who is hypocritical and cruel and another who was
cruel, but repented of his old self and decided to change and follow a
path near to God. Which then of the two do we identify ourselves with?
Most of us would prefer to identify ourselves with the Publican but have
we repented to the same level with signs of his humility and tears? For
most of us the answer is no: that is the desired state which we must
reach with the help Great Lent will offer us. The only other character
in the story is the cruel and hypocritical Pharisee so we must ask
ourselves "do we bear him a resemblance?" We may not like him and
certainly we can’t imagine ourselves resembling him even the slightest,
but if we look deep and truly examine ourselves there are elements of
his pride in all of us. Pride is a devious sin and has a way of
concealing itself in righteousness. Good is not always good. We judge
what is good by our fallen human nature, yet this good might be
completely different to what the Gospel teaches and if it is different
then it is not really good, but evil dressed up as good.
This can sound
confusing and even a paradox, but that is because we don’t properly
understand how our fallen human nature is mixed with evil. The good
taught by Christ always involves humility and if our good thoughts and
actions are not the result of humility then they are not really good
because somewhere in all the good that we do we will also find pride and
a feeling of self-satisfaction that we have done good. When we do
something good do we not want recognition for what we have done, if we
help someone do we not want at least a thank you, when we fast do we not
let others know that we are doing our duty as good Christians? Let’s us
not forget that the Pharisee was a good Jew; he observed all the
requirements of the Law. For us also, if we fulfil the requirements of
the Church will we not also consider ourselves as good Christians? When
we talk with others who have no idea about religious matters do we not
take pride that we have a certain amount of knowledge and can enlighten
them. Somewhere in all that we do pride is always lurking and hiding and
ready to pop up its ugly head. If we assume that we are spiritually
strong enough to overcome pride then this is also a form of pride. No
matter how virtuous we have become, if there is still a little pride in
the background then our virtues have no value. Pride is the hardest vice
to overcome. It is the mother of all vices and the original sin. It was
pride that brought down Lucifer and his angelic order. It was pride that
brought about Adam’s exile from Paradise. That was why Christ clothed
himself with humility to reopen the gates of Paradise.
Humility is
the only thing that can overcome pride. That is why the Parable gives us
the two extremes – the Pharisee’s pride and the Publican’s humility. By
placing this Parable as the beginning of the Triodion the Church wants
to teach us that the first step on our journey to meet Christ is to
learn humility. This is easier said than done. Humility is the most
difficult of all virtues because in society the general understanding is
that humility is a sign of weakness. Could we honestly say that if
someone was to insult us in public as did the Pharisee to the Publican,
that we would not be offended, that we would not be angered, that we
would not verbally retaliate and give as good as we got? Would we have
feelings of sincere love for that person, would we pray for that person
and would we say in our hearts: “God forgive him for he knows not what
he does?”
Humility is
a martyrdom, it is the way of the Cross and as followers of Christ we
are asked to follow in his footsteps as Christ said ‘Learn from me for I
am meek and humble in heart’. Humility means to become like Christ and
to accept as Christ did before his life-saving sacrifice on the Cross
the spittings, the scourging, the buffetings, the curses, the mocking,
the crucifixion and death. As true followers of Christ we must always be
ready to suffer ridicule and humiliation. Christ said that
“The servant is not greater than his lord. If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;” but he also
said: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely,
for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in
heaven.”
The next two
Parables we will hear is again on prayer and more especially on our
persistence in Prayer. Let's hear the first of these – The Parable of
the Friend in need.
"And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a
friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend,
lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me,
and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer
and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with
me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will
not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his
importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say
unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a
father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a
fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a
scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask him?" (St Luke 11:5-13)
The friend
is to be compared with God. We would not go knocking at a friend's door
at midnight to ask him to lend us three loaves or anything else.
Midnight is an inappropriate time to go seeking help from friend's and
neighbours, but with God no time is inappropriate for him to hear our
requests and give us what we ask for. It is impossible for us to disturb
him through our impertinent and untimely and persistent calling on him
to hear our petitions. A human friend would indeed be disturbed if we
went knocking at his door in the middle of the night when all the
household was asleep. More so the friend in the parable who probably had
a one room house as most people had in Palestine at that time. The room
was the living room, the kitchen, the dining room and the bedroom. At
night the area would be cleared and mattresses would be laid down
covering most of the flooring. The children slept in the same room as
the parents and sometimes grandparents and other relatives. It was
therefore almost impossible for the man of the house to get up during
the middle of the night to open the door without causing a disturbance
to the rest of the household. The friend in the parable says "I cannot
rise and give thee" not as a refusal, but to stress the special
difficulty that his neighbour has put him in. In fact he does get up and
gives him what he needs not because he is a friend and neighbour, but
because of the man's boldness and persistence.
The Parable
therefore is telling us that if a friend will get up in the middle of
the night to fulfil another man's petition and put an end to his
persistent harassment, will not God, who never sleeps and cannot be
disturbed or harassed by our constant and persistent petitions at
whatever time of day or night, also grant us our requests. The Parable
also teaches us that we must pray to God with courage and boldness and
trust, that we must approach God as we would a neighbour and friend who
knows us and loves us and is ready at any time to help us. We must pray
to God for everything we have need of and we must pray not only for
ourselves but also for others. The man in the parable asked for bread
not for himself but for his friend.
Christ
continues: "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall
be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you."
Ask seek and knock. Here we have three verbs having a similar meaning
obviously taken from the parable. If you want something ask for it, if
you want the answer to something seek it, if you want the door to open
you must knock. In other words persistence and boldness in prayer will
get results.
"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that
seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
God knows what we need, but that doesn't mean that we should wait around
hoping he will give it to us. We must ask for the things that are
beneficial for our spiritual welfare. To not ask, to not seek and to not
knock are signs of slothfulness and indifference.
Christ then
tells us that we should trust God to give us what we ask for by
comparing our relationship as parents to our children. If our son were
to ask a stranger for something there is no guaranteed that he would
receive exactly what he asked for, but if a child of ours was to ask us
for bread would we instead give him a stone? If he asks for a fish would
we give him a serpent and if he were to ask for an egg would we give him
a scorpion?
The example
of food is used because nourishment is what our children need from us
and our petitions to God should be similar: they should be petitions
beneficial for our spiritual nourishment. The three types of food are
not coincidental. Bread, boiled eggs and dried preserved fish were the
supplies a traveller would take with him on long journeys. The stone,
serpent and scorpion do not necessarily mean that they resemble the
bread, fish and egg and could therefore easily be mistaken by a child. A
stone I suppose can look like the flat breads used in the east and there
are sea serpents that look like fish and I have read that a scorpion at
rest and all curled up has a remarkable resemblance to an egg, but I
think what Christ is simply saying is that we would not give our
children things that are pointless and harmful for them. If then we who
are evil, meaning not perfect, know how to give good things to our
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask him? When we have the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we need
nothing more to be content and happy: Because the Holy Spirit is he who
works in us the spiritual life and is the means for our future and
eternal life. The gift of the Holy Spirit is what each of us should
desire and with persistence ask to be given.
The next
Parable of the Persistent Widow is again about persistence in prayer.
"And he spake a parable unto them to this end,
that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a
city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was
a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine
adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within
himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow
troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary
me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not
God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he
bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the
earth?" (Luke 18:1-8)
With this
parable the Lord teaches us to be steadfast and persistent in our
prayers when we ask for his mercy either for ourselves or for his
church. To be persistent in prayer when we ask for strength to overcome
our spiritual enemies and the desires and passions of the flesh. The
main point of the parable is to teach us to pray with fervency,
frequency, steadfastness, boldness, and persistency. Christians must
neither waver in prayer nor become despondent, for the Lord defends
those faithful to Him. The expression, "though he bear long with them
who cry unto Him day and night," that is, who intensely and insistently
pray to Him, confirms that God fulfils prayers in accordance with His
plans and purposes, at the time He sets. But he does hear all sincere
prayer.
The parable
begins with a judge who has no fear of God or man. Most people will
either fear one or the other. If they are Godless they would still fear
the power of their enemies or regard what people think about them, but
this judge has neither fear of eternal judgement nor considers the
opinions of others about him. The other character of the parable is a
widow because widows were easy targets exposed to many who would do them
injustice. They were alone with no way of defending themselves. This
widow would regularly go to the judge pleading with him to help her and
protect her from someone who probably took her land or other property by
force. She is not asking for revenge and punishment, but only that he
offers her protection against him. Every time her case came up before
him he would cast it out but through her persistence he finally gave in
and decided to help her. By her constant coming and going and pleading
the judge was so irritated with her presence that he decided to heed her
request just so that he wouldn't have to listen to her any more. Sounds
like most husbands.
So the Lord
said that if the unjust judge would avenge a widow who troubled him
constantly and heeded her request to get rid of her, will not God also
avenge his elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long
with them? Who are God's elect? Those who God loves and who love him in
return. His elect face many dangers and obstacles in this life and many
spiritual enemies. Thus his elect have need of his protection to ward
off the attacks of these enemies. But the elect must not waver in their
prayers, they must cry from the depths of their hearts with fervency,
untiring and persistently like the widow and trust and believe that God
hears their cries unto him and will one day fulfil their petitions. If
the widow was heard by the unjust judge much more will God avenge his
elect.
The widow
was a stranger to the judge, but the people praying to God are his elect
who God knows and loves. The widow was one but his elect are many and
when all our voices are joined in prayer the sound is thunderous and
cannot be ignored. The widow had no lawyer to help her with her case,
but we have as our advocate before God the Father his Son who gave his
life on the Cross to help us. The widow didn't have a promise from the
judge that one day he would hear her case but we have been promised that
if we ask, we shall be given it; if we seek, we shall find; if we knock,
the kingdom of heaven will be opened to us. The widow could only
approach the judge at a certain time of the day, but we can call upon
the Lord at whatever time of the day or night. The judge was annoyed and
irritated by the widow's persistence, but God is well pleased with the
persistent prayers of his children.
Sometimes
God does not fulfil our prayer swiftly, and we begin to lose faith. If
the widow had given up after being turned away a few times, she would
never have enjoyed the judge's protection, but her persistence brought
about a result. Thus Christ is telling us to never give up hope. Never
cease to ask until you receive even though a month will pass, a year or
three years or a greater number of years; do not give up, but ask with
faith, constantly and persistently. God will eventually answer our
prayers, but sometimes our faith needs to be tested. God will answer not
according to the time we want and expect, but according to the time his
divine wisdom knows will be most beneficial for us. Boldness and
persistence in prayer is a sign of faith. Christ therefore asks: when he
comes again will he find faith on earth? Elsewhere he tells us of the
last times that there will be wars, nation shall rise against nation and
kingdom against kingdom, great earthquakes, famines, pestilences,
fearful sights and great signs from heaven. Christians will be
persecuted and delivered into prisons, they will be betrayed both by
parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some will be put
to death. They will be hated of all men for his name's sake. And there
shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon
the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear. (Luke 21: 9-26)
When these
times come will Christians remain steadfast in their faith or will they
waver and lose hope believing that God has abandoned them? Will we join
our voices with the unbelievers saying where is God with all his
promises of salvation? What Christ is saying therefore is not that he
will not find faith when he comes, but that many difficult times will
come, but we should not lose hope or become despondent. Continue with
boldness of faith because He will come as promised at the appointed time
and put all things right. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye
may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to
pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:36)
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