Into Which Vision Will We Walk?

 Luke 18:9-14

Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in
themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

I tell you, this man when down to his home justified, rather than the other.  RATHER THAN the other.  RATHER THAN. It’s more than just a couple of words.  It’s a mind set, a philosophy… a theology… a vision for the way the world should work.  RATHER THAN.  It’s a loud theology… a proud theology… the present day’s crowd theology.  Rich rather than poor.  Men rather than women.  Americans rather than foreigners.  Straight rather than gay.  Guns rather than kids.  Rolling coal rather than a healthy planet.  Us rather than them.  RATHER THAN is a vision of a world plagued with scarcity.  Not enough food, safety, wealth, health care, housing, freedom… not enough of everything.

But, RATHER THAN… Really?  Rather than?  But there it is!  Right there in the text!  But it feels… it feels like a popcorn kernel stuck in your mind… like a splinter in your heart.  It feels so completely wrong!  The opposite of Jesus healing ten lepers without regard to their thankfulness or national origin.  It goes completely against the grain of a judge that has completely given up on judging.  But it’s in the text!  RATHER THAN!  IT'S… RIGHT… THERE! … Or is it?  

“Rather than” is what the translators chose to use here for the Greek word, “Para”… you know “para”… parallel, paralegal, paramedic, even parable.  It’s not a “wrong” translation.  A case can be made, for example, for a parasol to be a devise that gives you shade, “rather than” sun, but an equally strong case can be made for a parasol as a devise that puts you “beside” the effects of the sun.  With parasol, the difference doesn’t really matter… particularly since we all just use umbrellas!  BUT IN THIS PARABLE, the choice of how we translate “Para” makes ALL the difference.  Hear that verse again… and maybe also, hear it for the very first time… 

I tell you, this man when down to his home justified, beside the other.  He went down to his home justified, BESIDE the other.  BESIDE.  It’s more than just a word.  It’s a mind set, a philosophy… a theology… a vision for the way the world should work.  BESIDE.  It is a not a loud theology… not a proud theology… not at all the present day crowd's theology.  Rich beside poor.  Men beside women.  Americans beside foreigners.  Straight beside gay.  Us beside them.  BESIDE is the vision of a world of plenty.  More than enough food, safety, wealth, health care, jobs, and freedom… to share with everyone.  A BESIDE vision of the world revels in generosity, builds up the other, walks together with our neighbors.

There is a choice to be made in how this word is translated and infinitely more important than that, there is a choice to be made as to the vision of the world we walk into each day.  I know you.  You know me.  We are BESIDE people.  This church has a BESIDE vision for our world and that BESIDE vision allows us to see things and imagine possibilities that RATHER THAN people will sadly find impossible to see.   People of the BESIDE vision of the world can imagine a tax collector and a pharisee... two of the most opposite leaning folks… being given a way to walk down that aisle, out to get coffee together, arms around one another’s shoulders.  Somehow, by the gift of God’s grace we are able to see a vision of even those two transformed from RATHER THAN people into BESIDE people.  It’s a beautiful vision.  Incredibly beautiful.

You and I… we continue to be called to walk a path together illuminated by that BESIDE vision for our world.  In this week to come, look deeply into that BESIDE vision for our world.  Look as far down that path as you possibly can and also look at the piece of the path which lies right at the tip of your shoe.  Really notice what you see!  I'm not just saying this!  This is homework!  And your assignment is to come back and tell one another what you saw down that BESIDE path at next week’s coffee hour!  And if sometime this week you look down that path and find yourself shaking your head and rubbing your eyes in disbelief of what you see… if you find what you are looking at to be too hopeful, too delusional, too impossible to be real…  remember… it was inside that very same vision of BESIDE that a tax collector and a Pharisee were given a way by God as a gift, to leave the Temple together arm in arm beside one another, and if THAT can happen inside that vision, absolutely nothing you see down that path is truly impossible.  Amen.