Jesus' parables are all about spiritual issues, but in Luke's gospel hey often have a social or economic edge, too. That was very clear in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, on which Carol preached so well a few weeks ago. There you remember Jesus set up a strong contrast between the man who was privileged on earth but condemned in the hereafter for his greed and the beggar Lazarus, whose reward for misery in life was to spend eternity in the loving care of Abraham.

Lazarus and the rich man was unique to Luke, as is today's parable. Here, although Jesus set up the same kind of contrast between the Pharisee and the tax collector, the effect is lost on us. Centuries of living with Jesus' stories have taught us that nothing good will come from a Pharisee. But Jesus' first-century audience would have respected the Pharisee and despised the tax collector on principal. The story, which ends by justifying the tax collector, would have challenged them to think way beyond their preconceptions.

Translating the social edge of this story into today's categories is tough. No problem for the tax collector: we have our outcasts--criminals, deadbeats, the poor, HIV-AIDS sufferers. But we have questioned authority for so long that we don't have categories of people whom we automatically admire. Well--today I guess it could be a New York firefighter. The closest parallel to the Pharisee is actually people like us—folks, who are respectable, who go to church, who give, and who participate. If that makes you uncomfortable, as it does me, we have to remember that Jesus set up these situations that defied expectations to make people like us uncomfortable, to make people like us squirm, to force people like us to examine our assumptions about ourselves and others. If we don't, then we aren't getting the point. Jesus knew human nature inside out. He knew that a feeling of righteous entitlement was the dark side of piety and prominence in the church. Moral superiority was then and still is a dangerous trap for the faithful--though I'm sure that no one here has ever fallen into that trap, least of all me!

I blush to tell this story, and forgive me if you've already heard it. When I first became a Christian I decided I ought to look again at the Ten Commandments. I was so naive that when I read through them I actually thought to myself "Piece of cake!" I didn't have a clue what idolatry was!

Neither, apparently, did the Pharisee in today's parable. His self-righteousness separated him from God, which is the very definition of sin. It was idolatry because he was playing God, saying that he knew what God considers righteous behavior to be or not to be. Judging others--as the Pharisee did the tax collector--is also idolatry, putting himself in the place of God. In this story Jesus tells us that only God can judge because only God knows the secrets of each human heart.

The Pharisee's sin was also of Pride, of self-sufficiency. He believed that his relationship to God was his own doing, his own credit. He stood in the Temple and proclaimed his own virtue and entitlement. In contrast, the tax collector was the image of humility. His prayer appealing for God's mercy showed that he was in right relationship to God. He knew that his eventual salvation would come through the grace of God alone.

Jesus doesn't invite us to pity the Pharisee, but I think that we might consider it. The Pharisee's self-satisfaction and sufficiency is an offense against God. God will survive it just fine. But the Pharisee won’t unless he repents, changes his ways. Jesus makes that clear.. With pride he insulates himself from any sense of dependency on God. That deprives him of life's greatest treasures: God's love, God's forgiveness, God's comfort.

This terrible penalty of pride was driven home to me night before last when I saw again one of my all-time favorite films: the 1930s classic, The Philadelphia Story. Those of you who know it remember that the heroine Tracy Lord, played by Kathryn Hepburn, seems to have it all: beauty, wit, wealth, breeding, and education. Her flaw is pride in her own moral virtue and condemnation of the moral shortcomings of others. That pride stands in the way of her heart's desire: to be loved, cherished, and cared for. Only when she admits her own frailty, vulnerability, and need can the man who loves her reach out to help and love her.

It's the same with God and us. God loves each of us--unconditionally. God is waiting like the most dedicated lover to embrace us, to forgive us, to comfort us, to care for us. But we must put aside our pride. We must ask. We must be open. We must come before God in our need, in our frailty, in our vulnerability.

We Americans are a proud people. It is our great strength, but it can be a terrible trap. It can make us believe and trust in our self-sufficiency. It can make us forget that our only true security lies with God.

I am reminded of this every day as friends and families share their anxiety about the war against terrorism. Many feel powerless against their own fears, but do not know how to turn to God. As the Greatest Generation learned in World War II, we are learning that war is the ultimate leveler, obliterating distinctions among us. The ongoing threats to our security and peace of mind affect us all. They defy all geographic and social boundaries.

The war is one reality. The Gospel gives us another reality that transcends the preoccupation’s of the present. Christians are blessed with the reality of hope, of faith, of God's peace. We know that what happens here is just the beginning of the soul's journey. We believe the promise and dwell in the hope of eternal life with God. That belief is also our spiritual refuge--our salvation--here and now. The media orgy on anthrax and other biological threats can engulf our consciousness, drown our sense of security at home. When that begins to happen we can and must return to prayer, to songs of praise, to scripture, and to worship with our church community. We can and must re-establish our center in our certitude of God's mercy, and our knowledge of God's peace, which truly does pass all understanding. If and when we need to react to a threat, that peace will empower and enable us to do so.

Like God's love, God's peace is ours, but we need to seek it. In this time of uncertainty, I urge you to join me day by day in keeping our hearts and our hopes focused on God.