Why Church?

Sermon by Rev. Mary Alice Mulligan, Ph.D.

Scripture: Luke 18:9-14

Please read Luke 18:9-14.

Now, here’s the confusion. Parables are supposed to blow up our understanding of the world. But this parable? Where’s the big deal? The self-righteous person gets nothing; the repentant person gets justified. Seems simple. How does this blow the mind of either the first century listeners or us? And what does this have to do with why people are being church?

Let’s think it through. Pharisees were good Jews. In the first century, Pharisees were the best Jews. Their lives were completely focused on pleasing God in their actions, their thoughts, and their prayers. A very common morning prayer, said by Pharisees and many other Jewish men for centuries, thanks God for making them who they are. They first prayed: “Thank you God that I was not born a woman,” because they were grateful (as men) that they had the right to study torah. Women could not study scripture. Some were also able to pray a thanksgiving to God that they were not born enslaved or tied to a common laborer’s life, so they had freedom to take time to draw closer to Yahweh every day. Pharisees were the Mother Teresas of the community. Of course the Pharisee in the parable thanked God for his blessings.

We do the same thing. Weren’t we taught to thank God for blessing us with a loving family, our treasured church home, not to mention surviving a storm? We know it is important to be grateful. “Thank you God for making me who I am” – is a common prayer of gratitude for good Christians today. In the first century, it was the proper prayer of good Jews to thank God for the specifics of their lives. Pharisees were good Jews.

But the tax collector was not a good Jew. Tax collectors might be considered “Jews” by birth, but not actually worthy of being called “Jewish.” We listen to his prayer and think he is repentant: “God be merciful to me a sinner, ” but scholar Fred Craddock points out that although he prays a good prayer (he articulates an appropriate idea), “his life is offensive.” The tax collector’s behavior is grotesque. “Publican” was the old translation. A first class, slimy guy. Tax collectors were not just cheats at the toll booth. He was more like a crime boss, the ones who have lackeys all over town who shake down shop owners for protection money, and if they don’t pay, terrible “accidents” can happen. So we have to raise our eyebrows when he approaches the Temple to pray for mercy.

We might think of the scene from The Godfather movie. Watch Michael Corleone standing up as godfather at a baptism. Meanwhile, the scene cuts back and forth, (spoiler alert) as his lackeys kill all the other crime bosses in town. What if Jesus said, “the Godfather goes home justified”? We’d be appalled. That can’t possibly be what Jesus means.

Ahh! There it is. It’s appalling, because there is no hint that the tax collector won’t go right back to continue his slimy control of the underworld tomorrow. The tax collector is not a righteous man, not a good Jew at all. This is the blowing up part. Jesus tells a parable indicating the one who seems to deserve justification, the good religious Pharisee, isn’t the star. Instead, the one who doesn’t deserve any kindness, any mercy, and certainly not divine justification, is the one who gets set right with God. The tax collector does nothing good, yet God considers him completely justified. The one who absolutely does not deserve forgiveness, gets completely forgiven, which makes us all say, “Yuck.” But it’s actually fortunate, because the truth is, no one deserves it. “Justification” means getting in right relationship with God. And getting right with God is not something anyone can earn. Our best behavior doesn’t win it, and our worst behavior doesn’t lose it. We only get right with God by God’s unconditional favor. It’s mind blowing.

So then, we have to face the question: Why bother having church? If participating in St. Andrew doesn’t get us any more forgiven than not participating, Why Church?

Number one for me is because God is worthy of worship. When we gather amidst glorious music, stunning architecture, and the beauty of scripture, we are lifted to the holy, and we experience the worthiness of God to receive our worship. However, I am aware that many people are not drawn to church because of the worthiness of God.

But there are other reasons we do church. An important reason is because worship does not change God. Worship changes us. Here we learn to be more like how God intends us to be. We see people in scripture as models; we hear about modern situations in sermons, around the coffee pot after worship, in conversations in church meetings. Gathering as church actually shapes us. We hear examples of sacrificial generosity and we catch a vision which acts on us. For instance, we may become slower to anger; more compassionate.

In the early 20th century, a man was made fun of at work when he told his friends he had been converted. One of them said, “You mean you believe all that ‘water into wine’ stuff?” And the man said, “I don’t know about the water into wine stuff, but I know that at my house, Jesus turned beer into furniture.” We do church because we can become better people.

But we also do church because communities of faith change the world for the better. Most of us probably know 106 of the first 108 colleges in this country were started by church organizations. And how many hospitals in towns everywhere? But we can think of just our little denomination. The United Church of Christ responds immediately to crises happening all over the world. Money from a special offering has already started going to Pakistan, for people who lost everything in monsoon floods. And people are still giving. Offerings also began pouring in as soon as Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, although funds had already been started for Puerto Rico and elsewhere in response to Fiona and as Ian made his way toward the mainland. These hurricane response funds are already making a difference in Florida. Our over-and-above monthly mission for October, Neighbors in Need, is an ongoing fund providing assistance year after year. We don’t know what the total will be this month, but last year we collected over $600 for Neighbors in Need. And of course, it isn’t only money. St. Andrew collected about 275 pairs of socks for Resurrection House last month. And a few months ago, a whole shopping cart of diapers and personal items for Family Promise/Francis House. And soon, the Angel Tree will appear in the Gathering Area which means we will be providing Christmas gifts for Sarasota seniors as well as for children whose parents are in the prison system. Get it? Our community of faith changes the world.

We get to worship God, then Church changes us and changes the world. That’s why church.