Today we come to the end of the readings from Paul’s letters to Timothy which we have listened to over the past few weeks. We hear someone who knows that the end of his life on earth is near, but he is OK with that. Paul is on the one hand a perfect example of the sort of perseverance we discussed last week, but also an illustration of someone who knows where the limits of his own activities lie. He understands when he must act and when to leave things in God’s hands.
The Pharisee that Jesus describes today is a very different character. His mistake is not that he behaves badly, quite the opposite. I’m sure he does do all the good and worthy things he lists: he is honest, faithful, diligent, generous. He is a good man. But it’s all about him. He is so full of himself that there is no space for God. The tax collector knows he is a nothing in God’s eyes, which gives God the space to operate.
The examples Jesus uses are intentionally extreme. They illustrate the spectrum of awareness of God’s actions – from none (it’s all about me), to everything (it’s all about God). If you’re going to be at one end or the other then Jesus points out you’re better off being at the worthless end! But most of us lie somewhere in the middle.
Despite all of his activity and efforts Paul also stayed in the middle of this spectrum, recognizing both that he was called to action, but also that it was God acting through him and in him: “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” and also “the Lord stood by me and gave me strength”.
We may not easily recognize our similarity to Paul but we are closer to him than to the Pharisee or the Tax Collector. We are probably not tempted to brag about how good we are. Maybe we even tend towards the Tax Collector’s perspective of feeling useless or worthless. But that would also be an error. We are among those that Paul refers to when he says: “the crown of righteousness awaits me, … and not only me, but all who have longed for his appearance”.
On the other hand, the area in which we may tend more towards the Pharisee is not believing that we behave better than others (although we hope that this may be true), but that we know better than them. As a Church we have certainly often fallen into the trap of thinking that we know best about everything, and that lack of humility has done great damage. Leaving space for God requires that we acknowledge that we may not always be right.
This is not to say we shouldn’t have opinions, beliefs, even strong opinions and beliefs – and act on them. Paul clearly did, as did many other great saints who similarly give us examples of leadership. St Ignatius, St Teresa of Avila, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta come to mind. Maintaining the firmness of our beliefs alongside the humility of our inadequacy is perhaps the most challenging aspect of our Christian life. We are righteousness, at least we try to be, and we shouldn’t somehow hide, disguise, or be afraid of that. We may also be critical of others (Paul certainly was!). But, as Jesus clearly tells us, we must also avoid despising others, in either their actions or their beliefs. If God is alive in us then that is something to be thankful for (“To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.”), but it is no reason for us to feel superior to others (“the one who humbles himself will be exalted”).