Luke 18: 9-14 (The Message)
Jesus told this story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’ “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’” Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
Billy Graham is said to have had a huge influence on the revival of Christian faith in this country, including a generation of ministers. Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, said that whenever Billy Graham visited the country, there would be a sharp increase in vocations for ministry. Whatever the case, Billy Graham could tell a good story. Here is an example:
“A donkey carried Jesus down the Mount of Olives while the crowds cheered and laid palm branches in the road. Later that day, another donkey asked him, ‘I’ve been down that road many times, and no one ever gave me that kind of welcome. How did you get it?’ The young donkey puffed up his chest with pride and said, ‘I always knew I was special and that I would be famous someday. You see, some of us donkeys shave it and some of us don’t!'”
Billy Graham ends this story by saying that just like the donkey, our accomplishments often have little to do with our own greatness. The praise we receive is meant for the One we are carrying. The spiritual writer and Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton, once wrote:
“Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a False Self. We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves.”
The point of much of Jesus’s teaching was to break the illusions of his listeners, and to allow the Light of the Truth that lay within them to break free – the True Self. A contemporary spiritual writer, Richard Rohr, distinguishes the False Self as the Ego, a social construct of pride, roles, and titles, which is easily offended and a source of division. In contrast, the True Self is our deepest, eternal identity in God, centred on love, and belonging to a larger reality beyond the ego. Our spiritual journey, for Rohr, involves “dying to the false self” to reveal and live life for the True Self. I believe Jesus used parables to help us catch a glimpse of our True Selves. Through Parables, Jesus wants us to listen, to let go for a few moments, and engage with our True Self. Like many stories, in parables, every character is us.
We are like the Pharisee sometimes. Trapped in delusions of grandeur. Too busy judging others to be of any good to them. Lost in egotistical fantasies. Staring into a mirror made by our own hands, we recognize only ourselves – with faith in nothing but ourselves. However, what we see is only the False Self.
We are also sometimes like the Tax Collector. We cannot forever endure this charade we try to pull off, and we become sick at heart. So, one day, in the dark somewhere, behind a pillar of a Temple, we confess, “Lord, have mercy.” Then that mirror made by the Ego breaks, and we see behind it another mirror. And in that mirror is a face, the face of God. It is our True Self created in God’s image and likeness. This is the dawning of faith – Eternal Life, in this world, not just the next.
Billy Graham’s story about the donkeys hints at this. The cry of the crowds. “Hosanna” is a Hebrew exclamation that means, “Save us!”. In both Jewish and Christian traditions, it evolved into a liturgical word that expresses both a plea for help and praise to God. Plea and Praise, both implements that work together to shatter our false mirrors. Now, imagine you are the donkey in Billy Graham’s story. Are you looking around, congratulating yourself on how special you are compared to all the other donkeys? Or are you a donkey whose mirror has been shattered? But in that brokenness, you have also received a precious gift. The sight to see the One you have always been carrying.
Hosanna!
