I Didn't Even Recognize You!

Today, at SAMmy's, I taught on The Pharisee and the Tax Collector. It's a story in Luke 18:9-14 about two men praying in the temple. One's a Pharisee (a religious leader) and one's a tax collector. Tax collectors used to raise people's taxes so they could line their pockets with the excess of what they collected. They weren't very honest, and they weren't very popular with the townsfolk, either!
In our story, the Pharisee is praying, telling God how he is so happy that he is not like other men - not like this tax collector. The pharisee reminds God that he fasts twice a week (when Jewish law required once a year) and tithed on everything he made (instead of just crops). Surely that made him really holy - a "golden boy" of holiness, wouldn't God agree? He oozes pride and is oblivious to his conceit.
And then we look at the tax collector, who is remorseful about his sin. He can't even look up to heaven, because he is ashamed over his sin. He beats his breast in sorrow, cries out for God's mercy and asks for forgiveness. The text says that the tax collector went home justified before God and that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
I began my lesson by telling the audience that last month, at my Dad's visitation - prior to his funeral, I saw my Aunt Bebs come into the church. I hadn't seen her in years! I used to spend several days each summer at her house in upper Michigan while my family vacationed in a cabin nearby in Wisconsin. This was always a fun time for me, and I have many fond memories. She began to ask how I was doing and when she asked where I lived, the conversation began to get confusing. After a while, she made a remark about how she thought I lived out West and it was only then that I realized that she did not recognize me...she thought I was my sister Lori.
Have you ever done that? Met somebody and thought you recognized them, but didn't get it right? Did you ever meet somebody you should know, but did not recognize them at all, until much later?
Well, that's how this parable reads. Let me make myself clear. We are the Pharisee! We are the bad guy in this parable! Luke 18:9 says, "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everbody else, Jesus told this parable:" And then, He goes on to tell the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. It's written to us. Did you miss that? Did you recognize yourself in that people group? Did you ever hear a new Christian give some nugget of Christian wisdom and dismiss it because they were only a Christian for a short time? Have you ever discounted somebody's relationship with God because of their unique way of dressing, make-up, hair, social class, speech, etc.? I can't speak for you, but I am guilty.
The GREAT news is that Jesus is all about grace. We can all be like the tax collector - but he was a shifty character, too. If we're honest with ourselves, we have to come to the conclusion that no matter where we stand, we are shifty characters also. Our sin is ugly and icky and we struggle with it daily - because we have this sin nature that demands worship of self. We try to cover up sin so we look good; we don't let on that we're imperfect so that we are praised; we protect our secrets so we can continue to sin; we sweep our sins under the carpet so we don't have to reveal them or deal with them. Yuck!
And, to think, the first time I read through this parable, I really identified with the "good guy" - I didn't recognize myself in the Pharisee at all! But, to be honest, I've met the Pharisee in me...have you?