In my message Sunday morning, I started off by telling a bad joke, so I'll spare you that this time. Instead I want to start with a question. When we reach out to others, to help them in some way, what makes what we do as Christians different from what other people do?
For me this is an important question. One of the things that we know from modern society is that lots of people can help others, so what makes what we do different? We are different because we do this in Jesus name, but even that requires some explanation, and observation about what Jesus would do.
One of the reasons that I chose this parable as the scripture reading for this morning is that Jesus is giving us a lesson in what makes him different. One the one hand you have a Pharisee that is very proud of how he is different from everyone else around him. He is literally telling everyone how good he is, and how he doesn't do so many things wrong.
The Pharisee is contrasted with the Tax Collector who nearly goes to extremes to not be noticed and is overcome what he has done. He is confessing how much of a sinner he is. He isn't doing it to be noticed, but doing it because it needs to be done. Jesus makes a great response to what these two men were doing.
Jesus is telling us what he is looking for when he reaches out to others. He is looking at the real person, not the person that someone believes themselves to be, or the person that others thing they are, but the real person.
The comparison is between two men, one who believes himself to be superior to others in every way, but without any credible reason for it, and the other man who is despised by many (possibly for very good reason) and has figured out that he has been wrong, and is now starting to make amends. One, the Pharisee uses his position to cut others down and demean them, and take away their value. The Tax Collector is in the midst of finding a new path, but first it has brought him to a low place where he sees no value in himself.
Jesus, in seeing these men as real people, first takes the wind out of the sales of the Pharisee to bring him down to a more reasonable footing, and lifts up the Tax Collector because his is someone of value, even if he doesn't see it in the moment.
This is something we see Jesus do on a regular basis. Looking back through some of the stories that are told about Jesus, or that he tells himself, we see this.
To fishermen that were looked down on, Jesus called them to be his disciples. To the widow who gave everything she had, even though it wasn't much, Jesus commended her faith. To the Pharisees, or Sadducees, or other religious leaders, Jesus brought them back down to a stable place and helped them to find better footing that didn't rely on taking others down. To the unclean, who were unclean in many different ways, Jesus reached out and healed and touched and forgave them, which was not anything they expected. Even to the children that Jesus told others to let them come to him, he treated them as people.
When Jesus reaches out, this is what he does. This is what separates him from others. There is a big difference between. Anyone can help other people. Anyone can do something to or for others. Jesus asks us to do things with others. This is the difference we see in what Jesus does.
When he reaches out to others, he know what he needs to do in order to help them. We don't have that kind of knowledge about others, so we go about it in a different way. We first approach others, as we reach out, by being humble and listening. Then, together, we figure out what to do.
When we listen to others what we find is that some have the solution to what they're facing, but not the resources. Others have the resources but don't know what to do with them. Still others, don't need anything "done" to them. What they need is to know that someone is listening, and cares for them. That will give them the strength they need to go forward.
My challenge to us, is to go out through this week and begin to get to know someone that maybe we haven't known before. Most importantly, to listen to their story, and in listening to their story we listen for God's voice calling to us to reach out to them. However it happens, know that God goes with you, and with them. Go and do this in Jesus name.
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