Date: October 24, 2010
Scripture Lesson: Luke 18:9-14
Sermon: Beating the Competition
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
So two men went for a hike in the mountains and they had planned to be gone for the day. As they were going along they hadn’t seen a person in hours, no buildings near by, no signs of civilization. It was just what they wanted, out in the wilderness. And then they glanced across the meadow and saw a bear. The bear started lumbering toward them. It stopped and sniffed in their direction. And then started coming faster. The two guys turned tail and started to run. One guy said to the other guy, “You think we can outrun the bear?” The friend said, “Outrun the bear? I’m worrying about outrunning you!”
We can be masters at self defense and self preservation, can’t we? Pretty much as long as we know that there is someone else in a worse position than we are, in our view, then we don’t feel so badly.
The teacher gives a test and we get a bad grade. We defend ourselves and justify ourselves, saying, “Well, nobody got an A and most people did worse than I did.” So, that is supposed to make our grade o.k.
We do this as individuals and as a society. We compare and contrast and measure ourselves against others to justify ourselves. If there is someone worse, in our estimation, then we can’t be so bad.
Of course, this kind of attitude always puts us in a position not only of judging other people, but also of making sure there is someone below us. So we may be looking for the worst in others, so that we can have someone to look down on, so that we can feel more self satisfied. To have someone below you all the time, you have to put others down. You have to constantly be in a judging mode. If you justify yourself based on your view of others, to lift yourself up, you have to put someone else down.
It takes a lot of energy and attention to live like that. To always be looking for how others are worse than you are, in behavior, or character, or looks, or whatever is important to you. It takes time and focus to put others down and keep them down. It’s a lot of work maintaining a position of superiority: Keeping your mistakes and failures
hidden. Trying to appear good and successful and upright and in control.
And you end up being a master of deceit. Dishonest with yourself and with others. Because you protect and hide your precious imperfect humanity to falsely fortify your self image and self worth.
We see this in the character of the Pharisee in the parable that we heard this morning from the gospel of Luke. The Pharisee begins his prayer thanking God that he is better than other people. And then he lists really disreputable people in his society. He compares himself to the bottom so that he can come off looking good. Then we hear how he makes a show of his piety to make sure that he justified himself. He has exceeded what is required by religious law. So he really knows that he has secured good favor with God. He has justified himself. He has compared himself to the dregs of society and come out looking good. And he has compared himself to the average standard of acceptability and, again, he has come out ahead. He has the competition beat. He has used competition and comparison to justify himself and he has come out looking pretty good.
We can use this approach to falsely justify ourselves whatever our position. The tax collector could have prayed, “Thank God I am not like that self-righteous, prideful Pharisee.” He could have compared himself with the Pharisee, seen the self centered, self righteous Pharisee as his competition, and made a case for himself by putting the Pharisee down.
We can also use the idea of comparing and competing with others to measure our sense of self deprecation. There’s a story told about a priest and a deacon who during the week go into the church to pray. They go to the front of the church and then kneel down on the kneelers facing the altar. They both pray, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Then they hear someone quietly come into the back of the church and they look back. And kneeling in the back pew is the janitor, also praying, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” As the two guys, the priest and the deacon, kneel at the front, the one pokes the other one and says, “Would you look who thinks he’s a sinner!” [Adapted from The Relentless Widow: The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers and Teachers, John Shea, p. 297]
So, wherever we are in the mix of life, we can use this idea of comparing ourselves to others to make ourselves look good. Shoring ourselves up by putting the other guy down. Justifying ourselves, lifting ourselves up, by making sure there is someone under us. The problem is that makes us judgmental. We have to be constantly competing with others, and making them look worse than we are. We have to always feel that we are beating others, ahead of them in some way. This makes everyone our potential adversary. This separates us from other people. It creates a rift. It undermines the empathy that connects us to others. It requires that we view ourselves in a falsely constructed light. We don’t see ourselves honestly. Our motives are tainted. Like the Pharisee, we may do good, but it is not out of a genuine desire to help others, but it is done to make us look good. All of this alienates us from our true selves, from others, and from God.
We don’t have a clear good guy/bad guy in this story. Like other parables, the story is meant to draw out multiple meanings and perspectives and insights. The Pharisee at first glance looks so low. But when we only see this view, aren’t we being just like the Pharisee? Good, there’s someone worse than we are! But as we look more thoughtfully, we see that he is an upstanding character. Hardworking. Devout. Going above and beyond the call of duty. But he feels the need to compare himself to a character who is unrighteous, dishonest, greedy and a cheat, to justify himself. This Pharisee can be seen as prideful and arrogant, but he can also be seen as sad and pathetic. It’s like a pastor of a large church with a thriving ministry comparing himself to a drug dealer or a purveyor of child pornography. It’s pitiable. Feeling so little self worth, he’s got to compete with the bottom to make himself look good. We are led to wonder how it is that the Pharisee has such low self esteem, that he is so beaten down inside, that he thinks so little of himself? And that he is working so hard to justify himself, to make himself look good, to make himself appear good so that he will feel valued. It’s sad. The Pharisee also seems pathetic, lonely, isolated, and desperate. He makes the tax collector look good, simply for his more honest self appraisal and self awareness. The tax collector is betraying his religion and his country, and cheating others to boot, and he knows it. But he has a sincerity that is redeeming.
While the story shows us two characters with whom we may have much sympathy, neither are really admirable models of discipleship. Puff yourself up with false pride is not a positive, life giving way to be in this world. This involves the deep pain of constantly judging others and separating yourself from others. Seeing them as your competition. The other example in the story involves being bad, immoral, disreputable, dishonest, and admitting it. That is not a positive, life giving way to be in this world either.
In Jesus, we see another way. The way of humility. Jesus goes through life engaging with others, but never making others victims. He doesn’t put people down, and certainly not to lift himself up. He shows us that we don’t need someone under us to lift us up and justify ourselves.
Wouldn’t you like to see an election season where all of the ads and flyers and debates and speeches focussed on the candidate – the person’s life, accomplishments, values, motivation for seeking public office, ideas for addressing society’s problems. AND NOT A WORD BADMOUTHING THE OTHER CANDIDATE? I even felt this way in the last presidential campaign. I felt like telling Obama, “Stop telling me what’s wrong with Bush and the Republicans. Tell me about what matters to you, your values and commitments, your ideas for solving today’s problems.” Instead, the candidates puff themselves up by putting the competition down. And we all suffer for it.
In the way of humility modeled by Jesus, we are given another alternative. In the empathy, mercy, and nonjudgmentalism of Jesus, we see that we don’t have to be afraid of being honest about who we are. He shows us we are loved, not regardless of who we are, but because of who we are, whatever our situation. Human failure and imperfection are expected because that is part of the innate composition of our species. They give us openings to learn about ourselves and others. To experience forgiveness and reconciliation. To connect with others in understanding and empathy.
We are embroiled in this war in Afghanistan. Columnist Nicholas Kristof has observed that, “For the cost of just one soldier in Afghanistan for one year, we could start about 20 schools there.” [Quoted in Christian Century 8/24/10, p. 9] Why not just admit this war was a mistake and start building schools, instead of continuing to justify the war with odious comparisons: Not that many people have died compared with other wars. It is not as bad as Viet Nam. At least we don’t have the draft. It’s good for the economy. Well, schools, healthcare, job training and retooling for green jobs and industry, are also good for the economy and for society and they don’t involve killing and destruction!
We don’t have to pick between self justification through false pride and groveling sinful depravity. We can choose the path of humility. We can exert our power and agency not to falsely fortify ourselves, but to genuinely lift others up. To make life better for others, for our communities, and for the world. We can invest ourselves in the good of others and the common good. This brings us closer to others. It creates connections. We don’t have to hide behind false fronts and maintain our distance to protect our propped up image. We can be genuine, real, and sincere without fear. We can affirm our self worth, and God’s presence in our lives and in our world by being honest and forgiving of ourselves and others.
Humility can only be chosen. It cannot be imposed. It is not weak. It does not come from being a victim. True humility that is life giving, as we see it modeled in the life of Jesus, is a conscious choice. It involves intentionally choosing to affirm, support, and lift others.
Humility links us to our deepest selves, to others and to God, because it eliminates false pretensions and excuses. We become partners with others, not competitors for some scarce source of love and grace. We don’t have to compare and compete to make a case for our superiority. We can celebrate the accomplishments and joys of others without comparing our situation and making false claims. Instead our value and dignity comes from choosing to put others first and being engaged with others in ways that are honest and real. We never have to be afraid of choosing to use our power to put others first, to lift up others, because then we truly, honestly, honor the sacredness within us. We embody divine, unconditional love and grace. And so discover the best that is within us and others. In our giving, serving, and vulnerability.
Competition has its place. Particularly in sports and perhaps in economics. But in terms of the the spiritual life, human relations and a just society, humility is our hope. Humility will save the day. Amen.
A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.
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