Luke 18:9-14 - Bad Social Distancing, Part Three

Social distancing these days intends to keep people separated from germs. But it's kept people physically separated as well. How many stories have you heard about grandparents finally being able to hug their grandkids, maybe for the first time? (If you know me, you already know about my first two grandkids being born during the pandemic!)

Sometimes, distancing ourselves from evil is appropriate. (Eg., Romans 12:9; 1 Corinthians 5:11.) But we find Jesus frequently confronting the evil of people "spiritually distancing" themselves from those they deem spiritual inferior. Invariably, they distanced themselves physically, too. (Luke 10:31-32)

Confronting such hypocrisy, Jesus told the parable of "The Pharisee and the Tax Collector."
Pharisees were known for being experts in the Bible. Tax Collectors were known for extortion and embezzling. So think of these two people as
"The Sunday School Teacher and the Embezzler."

9 ...Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else:  10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector.  11 The Pharisee stood by himself  [“spiritual distancing” at work!]  and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector!  12  I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

The Pharisee had a Mathematical Holiness Formula:
- Subtract all the bad things I haven't done.
+ Add all the good things I have done.
= Voilà! I  can thank God how good I've been.
....God is not impressed.

13  “But the tax collector stood at a distance
[He didn't presume to fit in with the "holy crowd." Jesus continued...]

He dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed.
Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’

14  I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
(Luke 18:9-14, New Living Translation)

The "Sunday School Teacher" had distanced himself from God.
The "Embezzler" was the one who drew near to God. (James 4:6-8)

Sometimes the best prayers are the simplest:
‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ Amen.