Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
October 26, 2025
Luke 18:9-14

My grandfather, in many ways, was a hero of mine. A track and field star at New York University. A veteran of World War II. A priest in the Episcopal Church. A scratch golfer. In many ways, growing up, I wanted to be like him and he wanted me to be like him. Except, for one thing. He was, shall we say, not a tall man. And, no joke, he prayed, fervently, that I would hit at least six feet. Here I am, thanks to the power of prayer.

And I’ll admit, height has its advantages. But, but, every blessing has its curse. I have to get clergy shirts custom made for my gangly long arms. I can see the top of my refrigerator, and let me tell you, I should clean it more often than I do. But the worst, the worst is one particular passageway in our home, where the ceiling is just a little too low for comfort. And even though I know I can make it, I duck every single time, just to make sure I don’t smack myself in the head. 

Or, as one old Christian put it, the door into the Kingdom of God is so low, that the only way in is on your knees.

That, that is what the tax collector gets in this parable. He is not a righteous man. He is a self-avowed sinner. And he’s honest about himself – tax collectors in the ancient world were not good people. They stole money for themselves. They ripped people off. They were working for the oppressive power of the Roman Empire. And yet, he knows it. And when he prays to God, he looks down, he beats his breast, and he speaks the honest truth – “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). And it is that man, the tax collector, the self-avowed sinner that goes home justified before God. Because the door into the Kingdom of God is so low, the only way in is on your knees.

That’s what sets him apart from the other man. The self-avowed righteous man. He stands tall before God and the door into the kingdom smacks him in the head. “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adultery, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income” (18:11-12). That man, that righteous man is not justified before God. Because he has no need of God. He believes himself to be justified by his own efforts. Though he’s doing the right thing, his intentions are misplaced. 

See, the first thing going on is that when the self-righteous prays, he’s not looking up to God. He’s looking at other people; he’s looking over at the tax collector, and his prayers are words of comparison. His eyes are not fixed on God, his eyes are not fixed on his own failings; he’s got a side eye on the sinner, reassuring himself that at least he’s not like that guy. This is odious to the Lord God. The Almighty demands that prayers are addressed to the Lord God alone. I mean, that’s the first commandment: “You shall no other gods before me.” This man, in his pride, in his ego, standing tall in his own spiritual conceit, prays to God not because he wishes to pray, but because he seeks his own self-validation. That’s why he’s not justified before God.

Take this for the lesson that it is. When you pray, when you come before God, quit looking around at other people. Let God take care of them. When you pray, as I expect each of you do, simply present yourself before God. God already knows what you do and don’t do; God already knows what everybody else is doing and not doing. Because when you come to church, when you say your prayers at home, the Lord God wants your heart. Your soul. Your mind, your strength. The Lord God Almighty loves you, but we’re going to miss that love if we’re looking at everyone else. You’re not going through the door into the Kingdom of God by looking around, you’re going to miss it. So, humble yourself, keep your eyes on God, and then, then you will be made just before the Almighty. That’s what Jesus is getting at – “for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted” (18:14).

There’s another thing going on this parable. The Pharisee, the self-righteous man, is telling God all the things he doesn’t do. He’s practicing a negative form of religion. He says, “I’m not taking all the money I could.” He says, “I’m not eating all that I’m entitled to eat.” He says, “I’m not like those other people.” But you know, that doesn’t necessarily make you good. This is the problem with negative laws. They don’t inspire us to holiness, they just tell us not to do the worst things. I mean, you could spend your life and never once lie, cheat, or steal and still be a really miserable person. Just imagine how different Christianity would be if Jesus had said –  “Acknowledge God and put up with your neighbor as best you can.” That would be a pretty miserable religion.

What makes Jesus so radical, and what makes Christianity so amazing, is that Jesus says, “Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Do the positive, right thing. The self-avowed righteous man is avoiding bad things, but his heart is not changed. The tax collector, the self-avowed sinner, does the good thing; he acknowledges his sin, and through that he is transformed by the Holy Spirit into righteousness. He’s entered into the Kingdom of God on his knees.

One last thing. God loves both of these men equally; as God loves all people equally. The self-avowed sinner does not earn God’s love by confessing his sins; the self-avowed saint does not lose God’s love by being so pompous. God has mercy and pity upon all people. But the lesson, the lesson is that the tax collector, the man who confesses, he realizes how much God loves him. That man breaks his heart open before God, and in that brokenness, in that openness, all his defenses come down and the love of God can come pouring in; he comes to accept the grace of God in his own life that always, always, always been there. The other man, the self-righteous man, well, God loves him, too. But he’s standing so tall, so proud, that he doesn’t duck, and the low door way hits him in the head. This is a parable, both of warning and of grace. A warning to us who stand tall, not physically but spiritually; a warning to us who love to recite our spiritual resumes to God. And a word of grace; to those who bend the knees of their hearts and come to know, to accept, to revel in the grace of God. 

So come before God, the Almighty, set your soul before the Lord. Fix your eyes on God and God alone. And the Lord will have mercy on you, and you will know the grace of life with Christ, and you will walk away justified by the love of God.