genuine hubris

Luke 18:9-14 (for the lectionary on October 27)

So much of the Gospel messages of Jesus - the Good News for God's children - is how NOT to participate in empire, how to resist empire's values, norms and ideologies.  Empire divides, disenfranchises, marginalizes and destroys the lives of many for the sake of the very few.  God's Kingdom values lift up everyone, equally and unites people in Shalom community.  The Good News for children of God is that they can RESIST participation and thus hasten the end of empire systems that are not sustainable for the good of all.

Here, a Pharisee, one of the Temple Cult Leaders who benefitted from collusion with Rome, came to value hubris over humility because empire values status.  Being all about appearances in his position, he had to go to the Temple to give lip service to God and had to appear to be "righteous".  Always seeking to be seen as "better than" someone else, this promoter of empire values gave thanks for being "superior" to a tax collector who was hated by the masses for representing Rome and empire through dishonest practices in collecting taxes.  The Pharisee touted his legalistic and pietistic practices and contrasted himself with others less "righteous" in attempt to make himself appear to be superior.  His status depended on it.

Re-defining morality and "righteousness" is necessary for people who give lip service to God but give their true devotion to empire.  Purity and holiness, strict pietistic practices and spectacular displays of faith practice are offered in the place of true devotion to God.  Pointing out the sins of others, particularly sexual sins, in order to obscure one's own greed, lust for power and desire for personal status help toward the justification of unconscionable practices that hurt others and help establish immorality as the new norm of acceptable behavior.  It was quite effective then, and is quite effective now.  Prosperity preachers, church growth leaders and personal salvation purveyors have re-defined faithfulness so as to benefit from the perks of empire in the last thirty-eight years or more.  Shaming folk over purity and holiness, and lifting up the values of worship and praise with tithes over building community in justice has effectively re-defined "Christianity" in America.

On the other hand, Jesus lifted up the tax collector who stood in the margins and humbly acknowledged his sin of collusion with Rome and empire.  The tax collector recognized the damage of it and asked for mercy.  Jesus recognized him as the faithful one, the justified one.  In this genuine expression of repentance regarding empire, the tax collector rejected the value of personal status, gave up his abusive power over others and certainly gave up ill-gotten wealth gained at their expense.  This Jesus lifted up as faithfulness.  It would restore the tax collector to equal standing in the community and thus restore the tax collector to a genuine, loving relationship with God.

Those who embrace the empire values of more wealth, more power and more status than others, thus exalting themselves over others, shall be humbled, says Jesus.  Hubris is an empire value.  Humility is a Kingdom one.  Those who reject empire values for humble and equal, loving relationship with others in community shall be exalted in the Kingdom of God, because it builds Shalom for all.

Pastor Jamie