A Sermon on the Landmark Distinction of "Looking Good"

Sermon for 22 Pentecost Year C
Christ and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
October 28th 2007
The Rev. Conor M Alexander
Luke 18:9-14

What is the meaning of life? What is life all about? The great 20th Century Philosophers of Monty Python put it this way. “It’s nothing very special really. Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations (The Meaning of Life).”

Since you came to Church this morning, you may have some other ideas. You might quote the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Or maybe the summary of the law, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.” Perhaps I’m a bit too cynical, but I would say that life is about looking good. Life is about looking good and avoiding looking bad – and that’s what drives almost all of human behavior. Just look at our Gospel reading for today. A Pharisee and a tax collector came to the temple to pray. The Pharisee thanked God that he wasn’t like other people – rogues, bandits, adulterers, or even THAT tax collector. Boy was he avoiding looking bad. Then he started looking good. I fast twice a week; I tithe 1/10 of everything I have. Thank you God that I look so good.

At this point some of you may be saying I’m being unfair. Life’s not like that, and besides, I’m nothing like that Pharisee. But just think, if you follow that line of thinking, the next prayer you’ll have to offer is, “Thank you God for not making me like THAT Pharisee.” And we find ourselves in the very same trap – we’re avoiding looking bad. That’s the problem with sin – it’s like a Chinese finger trap so that the more you try and get out of it, the more you get stuck.

I’ve often found that it’s a useful exercise to see myself in the Gospel characters. Because the reality is that we are both the Pharisee and the tax collector. And like the Pharisee, we all like to look good, and avoid looking bad. That has certainly been the case with me. When I graduated from college, I had so much going for me. I had a degree from Cornell. I had a good job making medical devices. I was driving a fancy car, and boy did I look good. But I was miserable. I spent so much energy looking good and yet it wasn’t enough. So I did some more things. I traveled and had all these cultural experiences. I started reading men’s magazines so I would know what the right clothes were and the best way to shave was. I was sure on a roll and it still wasn’t enough. In the mean time I was dying inside. So much of my energy was spent on looking good and avoiding looking bad that there was very little left of me. You see that’s the cost of looking good, you have to sacrifice living fully, because living fully might not look good. Don’t you dare speak up for what you believe, because someone might not like it. Don’t take responsibility for your actions, because someone might think your actions look bad. Just crawl into a shell, hide up in the stands, and avoid actually playing the game.

I see Fr. Hoffman, the rector emeritus over at St. Bride’s for spiritual direction. He’s very fond of the story of Adam and Eve, because it’s the story of all of us. God put them in the Garden of Eden, and in the garden there were two trees – the tree of life, and the tree of good and evil. They could eat from one, but not the other. So what did they do – they ate from the tree of good and evil. And from that point on they were never the same. Previously they didn’t have any clothes, and they felt no shame. I like to think of a three year old who decides they don’t like their clothes anymore, so they take them off and walk around naked. So there was Adam and Eve, they ate from the tree, and immediately saw what was wrong with each other. One pointed at the other and said, “You’re naked!” The other responded and said, “No your naked!” So they made some clothes out of leaves and covered themselves up. But even that wasn’t enough so they hid in the bushes. Then God came walking through the garden saying, “Where are you?” Adam and Eve were told that if they ate that fruit, they would die – and they might as well have. They hid from God and avoided living, simply because they were afraid to look bad.

Fortunately the Gospel doesn’t leave us there. One of my favorite quotes is in the Gospel of John. Jesus said that he came so that we could have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10).

We don’t have to avoid living with Christ. In our Gospel story for today it says that the tax collector, the one who beat his breast and prayed that God would have mercy on him, he went home justified. Now justified doesn’t mean a simple pardon. Rather it means being open to, and receiving God’s mercies that he so desperately wants to give to us. In Eucharistic Prayer C we pray that we’re sorry for coming to the table for pardon only and not renewal, for solace and not for strength.

When the tax collector beat and breast and prayed for mercy, he wasn’t concerned with looking good. He was probably looking bad but he wasn’t concerned with that either. This tax collector was being open, honest, and authentic before God, and he went home justified. This story obviously would have brought to mind other tax collectors that encountered Jesus, and afterwards their lives were never the same.

There was Zacheus, who was a very short man, and stole from the people he collected taxes from. When Jesus came to town he had to climb a tree just so he could see Him. Jesus looked up and said, “Zacheus, let’s you and me have dinner together tonight. Afterwards Zacheus was transformed. He said that everything he had stolen, every time he cheated people, he was going to pay back – 3 times over.

There was another tax collector named Levi. Levi collected taxes on the highway, and probably took a little extra for himself. When Jesus saw him, He said, “Levi, follow me.” Levi left his post right there and followed Jesus. His life was changed so much that he was given a new name, and became the apostle Matthew.

In a few moments we’re going to continue with our service. First we’ll have the creed, then the prayers of the people, and then the confession. During the confession I invite you to be as honest, and authentic as the tax collector in our story. Have mercy on me, a sinner. Then encounter Christ in the Eucharist, and go home justified.