The Publican, the Pharisee, and the struggle for humility

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

The Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee confronts us with a stark contrast between religious pride and self-righteousness on the one hand, and heartfelt humility and repentance on the other hand. The pharisee, of course, is the one who manifests pride, and it is the publican who manifests humility.

The Lord closes this short parable by declaring the Pharisee “condemned” and the publican “justified.” This is a genuine “reversal of fortune,” upending our preconceived notions of piety and righteousness as forcefully as it must have struck those who initially heard the parable as delivered by the Lord. Yet, that reversal of fortune should not obscure other notable factors also working within this parable.  Being a relatively short parable, perhaps we should include the text here for reference:

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. 

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get. 

But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even life his eyes to heaven, but beat 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 who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.  (LK. 18:10-14)

Christ is not condemning the actions of the pharisee. The Lord is not telling us through this parable that the pharisee – or anyone else, and that includes us – is wasting both time and energy by going up to the temple to pray, by fasting and by tithing. These are not being condemned as empty practices, consigning all such practitioners to the barren realm of hypocrisy and religious formalism. 

We, as contemporary Christians, are encouraged to enter the church with regularity and offer our prayer to God, to practice the self restraint and discipline of fasting, and to share our financial resources with the generosity implied by the biblical tithe. We could add other practices to that. In fact, we would do well to imitate the outward actions of the pharisee in practicing our Faith!

Yet, on a deeper and far more significant level, the pharisee got it all wrong. He was consumed by a self-satisfied and self-righteous interior attitude that left no room for God to transform him by divine grace. 

The Pharisee’s prayer was seemingly directed to God, but in reality it was an exercise in self-congratulations (for not being like other sinful men). Here was a man who did not suffer over low self-esteem! 

The pharisee was self-centered, but not God-centered. Something went wrong, and the self replaced God as the center of his energy and passion. The exterior forms of piety that he practiced were disconnected from the interior realm of the heart, where God is meant to dwell and, again, transform the human person from within, so that each person becomes less self-centered and more God-centered with time and patience.

Based on our knowledge of the role of the publican in first century Israel, we can be assured that Christ was not “justifying” the particular “lifestyle” that made the publicans such notorious and despised figures of that world. In fact, they were always included with “harlots” when reference was being made to the marginalized, if not ostracized, members of first century Judaism. 

Rather, the publican was declared “justified” for the very fact that he recognized and was profoundly struck by just how sinful he had become in cheating and defrauding his neighbor as a hated tax-collector working for the occupying Roman authority. He had the experience of true contrition of heart.  He realized that he stood self-condemned before the Lord, yet he did not despair but cried out plaintively,  “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” 

Human persons are not saved as sinners, but as sinners who in humility repent before God and then offer the fruits of repentance.

 

The hymnography for the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee exhorts us to flee from pride and to embrace humility. 

We live in a culture obsessed with the self and thus not only susceptible to, but openly promoting, both pride and vainglory. “In your face” is widely seen as a “heroic” gesture of self-defiance and legitimate self-promotion. Humility is treated as weakness and ineffectual for “getting ahead” or for fulfilling one’s desires. 

We hear the voice of the Lord and we hear the voice of the world. It is our choice as to which voice we will listen to. And that choice will be determined to a great extent by just what the desires that move us to action are actually for. 

“For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

Seeking and Saving the Lost

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost."  (LK. 19:10)

At the conclusion of the story of the conversion of Zacchaeus the Jewish tax-collector, Jesus made a solemn pronouncement concerning Himself as the Son of Man who has come to seek and save the lost - the words quoted above from the Gospel. 

Jesus is, of course, the Son of Man - that mysterious and transcendent figure found primarily in the Book of Daniel (7:13-14).  This is one of His many messianic titles, and one of the more exalted ones.  Under the image of the Good Shepherd Jesus also spoke of seeking and caring for the sheep of His flock, those who bear His name and recognize Him.  His ministry is always in response to human need.  But the image of the Son of Man takes on even greater solemnity, for this figure "comes down" from heaven to seek and to save. 

Who are those who are "lost?"  In a sweeping manner, we could say anyone who is disconnected from God, the source of authentic life and spiritual well-being.  

To be blind to the reality of God as the Creator and Sustainer of our existence is to be lost.  To make one's way through life as an autonomous being, unresponsive to God's presence and "desire" to save us, is to be lost. To lack the type of humility that allows a person to acknowledge the corrosive power of sin in our lives, is to be lost.  And to be a self-satisfied Christian, filled with various prejudices and a tendency to judge "others" in a condescending manner, is to be lost.  

To be lost is to be outside of the grace of God in something of a twilight zone of inauthentic existence of sheer randomness where we depend upon our survival skills and a good deal of "luck." 

Thus, Zacchaeus, as the hated tax-collector working for the equally-hated Roman authorities and working to defraud others while he becomes a "rich man" at the expense of others, was lost.  And the "crowd" that murmured against Jesus for going to the home of a sinner, was also lost.  The Son of Man came to save both Zacchaeus and the self-satisfied crowd. According to the story, apparently only Zacchaeus "got it."

To respond to the gracious gift of Christ is to be transferred from the "lost" to the "saved."  It is to be overwhelmed by the love of God that extends to every living creature and to make a pledge of "giving back" to the world and to others in the spirit of Zacchaeus.  

However, the "saved" is not a static category that once entered seals a kind of guarantee from God that it is automatically permanent.  Salvation is a process.  As Archbishop Kallistos Ware put it:  "I have been saved; I am being saved; I will be saved."  He consciously avoided saying "I am saved" in some kind of definitive manner. Salvation is a process — not a state. 

Whenever we revert to the conditions of the pre-conversion Zacchaeus; or to the complacency of the crowd, then we need to repent. 

Perhaps that is why we hear the story of Zacchaeus only five Sundays before Great Lent begins. It is a wonderful story of conversion/repentance and of the power, authority and love of the Son of Man who "came to seek and to save that which was lost."

* * *

Earlier in the week - I believe on Monday and Wednesday - I sent out a couple of meditations (one new and one old) about the story of Zacchaeus. I received a couple of very interesting responses that I have included as further "fragments" for this Friday.  There are some excellent questions and insights to be found in both of these, so I hope that you will read what others in the parish have in mind when hearing and reading about Zacchaeus.

_____


Dear Fr. Steven,

I've been thinking about the Zacchaeus story and trying to meditate on its meaning. When you get a chance, can you please take a look at my notes and help me to dive deeper into this story, so that I can understand what it means for me personally.

Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus - is the climbing representative of our journey through Great Lent to encounter Jesus and see - to experience His light? Technically, I should be experiencing Zacchaeus moments each week and not just at Great Lent. However, something Fr. Hopko said in a podcast about Great Lent has stuck with me - "it's a time for normal Christian activity & behavior...how we should be all year and not some sort of heightened spiritual experience." However, it does seem like it is heightened because of the increase in services, the fasting, the prayers, even the monasteries increase their prayers ... it's hard to wrap my mind around exactly what Fr. Thomas meant. Perhaps he meant not a one and done until next Lent (such as only praying during Lent or only attending extra services during Lent)?

Jesus goes to Zacchaeus' home because of his zeal to see him - does the home mean our hearts?

I noticed that it wasn't until after Jesus goes into Zacchaeus' home that Zacchaeus realizes his need to repent - to change his mind about his previous lifestyle. When he climbed the tree, he didn't know that he needed to change?

And finally, when Jesus said that He came to seek and save the lost - this would mean in whatever way we are lost? perhaps we don't know where (or how) we are lost until Christ enters our home/our heart, but it requires zeal/desire to encounter Christ by climbing/stretching, and then perhaps it would be revealed to us?

All help is greatly appreciated. I realize you're quite swamped, so when you have time. I suppose assurance with meditation comes with time and age?

In Christ,


_____


Dear Father Steven,

In our pride and sinfulness, it appears that everyone has a tendency to look at the Scriptures with the Pharisaical mindset. We look at it objectively, as many do with all aspects of life.

You point out a fatal flaw in Western Christianity's method of exegesis, which I believe you have referred to as scholasticism:  "if we reduce the Gospels to this historical, social and religious context; or rely so heavily on that, then this very 'objectivity' can obscure the deeper meaning of a given passage." This makes the exegete a philosopher, not a Christian saint.

To quote St. Nikolai Velimirovich, ". . . The enormous difference is clearly seen between a pagan philosopher and a Christian saint. The one (the philosopher) looses himself in abstractions, in cleverly twisted words, in logical provocations and in thoughtful sport while the other (the saint) directed his whole mind on the Living God and on the salvation of his soul. The one is abstract and dead, while the other is practical and alive.”

The reading of the Scriptures, if I am understanding all of this correctly, is to develop the Phronema (Mind) of and within the Christian.

Thank you,

Meeting the Lord in the Temple

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

This wonderful Feast of The Meeting of our Our Lord in the Temple commemorates the event recorded in the Gospel According to St. Luke (2:22-40). This occurs forty days after the Nativity of Christ. Hence, this particular Feast brings to a close an entire cycle that began eighty days earlier with the onset of the Nativity Fast on November 15. The Circumcision of Christ that occurred eight days after His birth falls between the Feasts of the Nativity and the Meeting. 

One of the hymns for the Meeting nicely brings out this sequence of events, placing them in the context of fulfilling the Scriptures:

Search the Scriptures, as Christ our God said in the Gospels. For in them we find Him born as a child and bound in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger and fed upon milk, receiving circumcision and carried by Simeon: not in fancy nor in imagination but in very truth has He appeared unto the world. To Him let us cry aloud: Glory to Thee, O pre-eternal God. (Great Vespers, Litiya)

It is interesting to note how this hymn stresses the true humanity of the Lord by such expressions as "not in fancy nor in imagination but in very truth." Our Lord did not seem to be human, but He was truly human, otherwise He could not have saved us.  For, as St. Gregory the Theologian famously said: "What is not assumed is not healed."

Christ is brought to the Temple in Jerusalem by His mother and Joseph in fulfillment of the Law (LEV. 12). Unable to afford an unblemished lamb, they offer a pair of turtledoves. Yet, the Mother of God is carrying the unblemished Lamb of God in her arms and then offers Him to the righteous Simeon. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Simeon prophecies to the Virgin Mary: "and a sword will pierce through your own soul also" (LK 2:35). This has always been understood as pointing to the maternal suffering of the Mother of God who will behold her Son dying on the Cross.

In a wonderful homily, Fr. Sergius Bulgakov (+1944), revealed the humility of the Lord as the beginning of the path that would lead to His ultimate sacrifice:

The Infant was born on earth - the eternal God in a humble manger, but there was a place for Him in the Temple, for the Temple was built for Him. And He was brought into His Temple, where it pleased His Name to dwell (I Kings 8:29). But He came there not to receive veneration, but to serve many, in the form of a servant, veiling the radiance of His Divinity with the abject humility of the flesh. 

He came there as a son under the law, obedient to the law which He Himself had given to Moses, manifesting Himself as the model of obedience; for He came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it. 

His Mother came to dedicate Her firstborn Son to God, to give God the Son to God the Father, and to offer the redemptive and purifying sacrifice. In giving birth to the Infant, She did not know sin; but just as He, sinless, came to receive from John the baptism of repentance, so She too, in Her immaculate birth, came to offer a sacrifice for sin, having in Her arms the One who truly was the Sacrifice for the sins of the entire world... 

It is not for glory but for the offering of sacrifice that the Lord is brought into His house, which had to receive and encompass the One who cannot be encompassed. 

(Churchly Joy, p. 59-60)

If we search carefully, we discover that all of the Feasts commemorating the events in the early life of the Lord also point forward to the sacrifice of the Cross and the life-giving death of Christ. Bound in swaddling cloths and lying in a cave at His Nativity anticipates His later entombment when bound in burial cloths. The blood shed at His circumcision anticipates His blood shed upon the Cross. And being offered as a lamb in the Temple anticipates His sacrificial death as the Lamb of God.

In a very wide context, we realize that the Old Testament "meets" the New Testament when the Messiah is brought to the Temple, the dwelling-place of God. Jesus Christ is now the place of the divine presence, for His flesh is the "temple" of His divinity. The representatives of the Chosen People for this meeting are the righteous elder Simeon and the prophetess Anna. The elder Simeon received Christ into his arms and blessed God in the process.  The Old Testament (Symeon) meets the New Testament (Christ). We are all quite familiar with the magnificent hymn of St. Simeon, known as the Nunc Dimittis, chanted at every Vespers service:

Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel. (LK 2:32)

If we, too, could depart from this life with those words on our lips and in our hearts, that departure would be glorious!

Sadly, the prophetess Anna would probably be seen as a "fanatic" today because "She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day" (2:37) for the greater part of eighty-four years! Both Simeon and Anna realized that this meeting was of the deepest significance possible, for the young Child promised to be "the redemption of Jerusalem" (2:38). For this reason, the prophtess Anna "gave thanks to God" (2:38).

Participation in the liturgical cycle of the Feasts is a major component of the "battle of the calendars."  This is especially true when "competing" with entertainment or sports events.

Considering the depth of the great Feasts of the Church's liturgical cycle, expressed in a kind of theological poetry that amplifies what is found in Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church; revealed in beautiful iconography; and further enhanced in our communal liturgical gatherings; it seems only natural for Orthodox Christians to avail themselves of the opportunity to come together in worship whenever possible.

Lacking in "fun," but filled with divine grace, the Feasts make present the events being commemorated by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Actually, nothing is lacking - except perhaps "instant replay." But this is more than made up for by the fact that there are no interminable "commercial breaks" that would break the flow of the service. Expert pre- and post-Feast "analysis" is provided by the writings of the Holy Fathers and contemporary Orthodox theologians who offer insightful commentaries on the deepest levels of meaning of the Feast.

There is no final score, but "those who keep my words to the end" are all considered to be "conquerors" promises the Lord (REV. 2:26).

Fr. Steven

The Conversion of Zacchaeus and our desire for Encountering Christ

Dear Parish Faithful,

The Sunday of Zacchaeus signals the approach of Great Lent in four weeks. This year, the beginning of Great Lent will be Monday, February 27.  Thus, Pascha will be celebrated on April 16 this year.  My goal is to write a short meditation or two this week so that we can further reflect on this marvelous passage from St. Luke's Gospel (19:1-10). 

At the moment, I would simply like to address the issue of our familiarity with a given Gospel text, and how that (supposed) familiarity can lead to the tempting thought that we know a given passage thoroughly.

I am not concerned with how well we may know the words of a  given passage - perhaps we know them practically "by heart!" -  or even the over-all story-line.  I am referring to the deep inner meaning of a given passage.  We may not distinguish between the two, and thus be convinced that since we know the words and events of a given passage so thoroughly that there may not be much more to learn about it.   

I am convinced that this is a temptation. 

There is a saying, something like "familiarity breeds contempt." Obviously, no one will feel "contempt" for any passage of the Gospel regardless of how well it is known!  But, familiarity could breed indifference or neglect, leading to a certain lack of vigilance in approaching a given passage. Such an attitude can also make the passage somewhat stale or stagnant in our minds, even unintentionally.

I would first say that "subjectively" we hardly ever approach a given text - any text - from the exact same perspective. (We could, of course, say the same thing about looking at a work of art or listening to a piece of music). And I believe that this is even more significant of a factor when approaching the Gospels. That is because we are always changing and because we bring such a complex set of life-circumstances to any given text of the Gospel that we carefully read. 

As human persons we are ever-changing beings, and not simply static or unchanging. If life is going well for us, we read a text in a certain light; yet if life is not going so well, we will read that same text quite differently.  Those two factors could change the level of urgency with which we approach any given text of the Gospels.

This recognition of never approaching the same text from an identical perspective is made clear by our aging process. Surely, how we read a given passage at twenty years of age, will not be the same as the decades of our lives unfold.  I am quite certain that hearing the story of Zacchaeus while now over sixty years of age is quite different from I first became a priest when I was around thirty years old. In fact, it must surely change from year-to-year!

This process of maturity through the aging process will hopefully lead to an ever-expanding and ever-deepening appreciation for any given passage, and a sure realization that the Gospels are inexhaustible in their meaning.

It is good to study the Gospels from an "objective" point of view, though that can only go so far.  What I mean is that it is very important to understand the historical, social and religious background of the Gospels, what we today call "context."  Certainly, this makes the text so much more alive for us and it yields a good deal of helpful interpretation.

That Zacchaeus was a publican/tax-collector, and that he was most probably despised for that reason, is a very significant part of his story. It brings that much more "drama" to his eventual conversion; even a genuine poignancy.

The conflict between how Jesus was reading and interpreting the Law and how that differed from the reading/interpretation of the Pharisees, as an example, is also a very significant factor. This underlying difference also plays a role in the account of Zacchaeus and how the "crowd" saw him and how Jesus saw him.

Yet, for all of its importance, if we reduce the Gospels to this historical, social and religious context; or rely so heavily on that, then this very "objectivity" can obscure the deeper meaning of a given passage.

We must somehow always realize that the Gospels are speaking to each and every one of us directly.  If we do not, or cannot, see or feel that, then we cannot boast of knowing the Gospels well - or at all.  We cannot know a given passage unless or until we realize that it is saying something to us today. Or better, is challenging us today in our attitudes, in our self-centeredness; in our complacency or even defensive self-justification for our sins; of how we refuse to change.

Thus, the story of the conversion of Zacchaeus speaks to us today about our level of desire for God, for conversion; as well as reveal to us how compassionate and merciful Christ is and how the grace of God that He offers us is so potentially life-transforming. Thus, it is a living text that cannot be reduced to its meaning in the past.  

I would simply add that our veneration of the Gospels as the Word of God should always fill our minds and hearts with not only a deep respect for the Gospels; but with a deep and abiding love for the Lord - the eternal Word of God - who is revealed to us in any given text and a desire to know Him as deeply as possible. 

Approaching the Gospels with a prayerful mind and heart is also of great importance. We could use the Prayer before the Gospel from the Liturgy before reading, or offer inwardly a short form of that prayer.

We are encountering Christ - or being encountered by Christ - when we sit down and open up the Gospels, in the hope of being nourished with the "words of eternal Life" (JN. 6:68) 

Remaining in Faithful Continuity with the Apostolic Fathers

Dear Parish Faithful,

Yesterday, January 29, we commemorated St. Ignatius of Antioch, one of the earliest and most important of the Apostolic Fathers. I spoke briefly about this great saint during the post-Liturgy discussion. His great contribution to the life and early literature of the Church were his Seven Epistles that are read and studied to this day with great attention, as they reveal to us so much precious information about the life and beliefs of the early Church. I mentioned the three great themes of these Epistles:

• The hierarchical structure of the Church and the three-fold ordained ministry of the episcopos (bishop), the presvyteros (presbyters/priests), and the diakonos (the deacon);

• The struggle against the heresy of docetism, a false teaching that claimed that Jesus Christ only "seemed/appeared" to be human, though he was not actually human according to this heresy;

• The inner meaning of martyrdom as an "imitation of the passion of my God."

I have appended a short document that I put together of key excerpts from the Seven Epistles that illustrates his teaching on each of these three themes. You may want to scroll down to look at that.

I have also attached a link to a wonderful collection of early Christian writings - the writing of the so-called Apostolic Fathers - that would make a great addition to anyone's Orthodox library. 

This inexpensive edition has as its editor, the brilliant contemporary Orthodox theologian, Fr. Andrew Louth. The Seven Epistles of St. Ignatius are included and I believe that these writings are "must reading" for anyone interested in the early Church and how we faithfully remain in continuity with the early Apostolic Fathers in terms of faith and practice.

Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers, by Andrew Louth

Texts from The Epistles of

St. Ignatius of Antioch (†c. 110)

On the Hierarchy of the Church

See that you all follow the bishop – even as Jesus Christ followed the Father – and the presbytery as you would follow the apostles, and reverence the deacons as the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the church without the bishop. Only a Eucharist that is [administered] either by the bishop or by one the bishop entrusts should be deemed a proper Eucharist. Wherever the bishop appears let the multitude [of the people] be also, for wherever Jesus Christ is, there also is the catholic church. It is not lawful either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast without the bishop; whatever a bishop approves is pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.

— Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, ch. viii.

On the Heresy of Docetism

Turn a deaf ear to any speaker who avoids mention of Jesus Christ who was of David’s line, born of Mary, who was truly born, ate and drank; was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, truly crucified and died while those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth beheld it; who also was truly raised from the dead, the Father having raised him, who in like manner will raise us also who believe in him – his Father, I say, will raise us in Christ Jesus, apart from whom we have not true life

— Epistle to the Trallians, ch. ix.

On His Impending Martyrdom

… My birth pangs are at hand. Bear with me, my brothers. Do not hinder me from living: do not wish for my death. Do not make the world a present of one who wishes to be God’s. Do not coax him with material things. Allow me to receive the pure light; when I arrive there I shall be a real man. Permit me to be an imitator of the Passion of my God …

— Epistle to the Romans, ch. vi.