After scouring the internet for sermon and worship helps this afternoon, here are links and excerpts from some of the best resources I found. Click on the links to read more. Also, check out the following sites for further materials for your use:
Sermons and Liturgies - Richard J. Fairchild
Laughing Bird Liturgical Resources
The Texts
Lectionary readings at Vanderbilt Divinity Library.
The Roman Catholic Lectionary for Sunday
RCL Texts at Preaching Peace
Images
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector from woodcut illustrations by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld (Black and White)
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector - stained glass window at St Mary’s Church Banbury
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector by Martin Luther at Pitts Theology Library, Digital Image Gallery (Black and White)
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector - another image by Martin Luther at Pitts Theology Library, Digital Image Gallery (Black and White)
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector - religious icon
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector at the Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú (Black and White)
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector - Powerpoint Background at Sunday Graphx
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector - Bulletin Cover at Sunday Graphx (Black and White)
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector from Hermanoleon
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector from Hermanoleon (Black and White)
Sermon Preparation
From Anthropological Reading at Preaching Peace
Oh boy, time to have fun. Time to slam the religious, the pious, the well-intended, the legalistic, the conservative. How fun. To lay on some kind of criticism from Feuerbach or Nietzsche or Carl Sagan or Karl Marx. How fun. To castigate the hypocrites that fill the pews of the churches, that pretend to be Christians but are not. How fun to lay on them the criticism that they are narrow minded, parochial simpletons in their silly naivete. Oh boy, how much fun we could have today.
And we would miss the point, for while it is tempting to criticize those further to the right or left than we are, we would only be engaged in scapegoating. We, no matter how we slice or dice it, must first be the Pharisee before we can be the publican. Our interpretive strategy suggests that we must first identify how our religious expression is like that of the Pharisee. We Christians can do no other. We are part of the in group now. We are saved. Just as the Pharisee thought of himself.
and from "So What" from Preaching Peace
Religion does not save. The Christian religion does not save. Being a Christian does not save you. What then effects our salvation? Trust in the merciful God whom we believe has been revealed in the person of Jesus. It is this trust that God is not violent, retributive or retaliatory. It is faith that the One who has created treats us with a justice that is higher than any human justice we may conceive. In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul opens to us this way of justice; it is justice for all! All are brought under judgement, all are forgiven.
From "The Word Engaged" at The Center for Liturgy at St. Louis University
The self-righteous do not need the righteousness of God. They do not need God’s love. They need not ask for mercy. They want nothing from God. Perhaps they want nothing of God.
What is more, their lives are spent in comparison. Who is better, who is worse, who is first? And those who do not measure up to their canons of success are deemed unworthy. It was to such people, “who believed in their own self-righteousness, while holding everyone else in contempt,” that Jesus spoke his parable.
From Dylan’s Lectionary Blog on sarahlaughed.net
Here’s one test of whether we’re reading one of Jesus’ parables correctly: if it doesn’t surprise, shock, and challenge us, then we should probably go back to the drawing board. If our reading of this parable mostly says to us, "I thank God that I’m not like that awful Pharisee," we’re in trouble.
So, what to do?
It might be helpful to start with trying to understand where the Pharisee is coming from. We’re so accustomed to Pharisees being used as stock villains without any redeeming qualities that the shock of the parable is lost to us. Of course Pharisees are awful people who are zealous about superficial rituals but don’t love God, and certainly don’t love their neighbors.
This reputation has got to go — not only because it’s insulting to today’s Jews, who trace their spiritual heritage to the Pharisees (there’s a reason that Jewish campus ministries are called "Hillel"!), but also because it’s inaccurate.
"God, Am I Good!" at America: The National Catholic Weekly
Only those who can acknowledge their own human weaknesses feel the need to turn to God in prayer with sentiments of humility. They know that any goodness they might exhibit is itself a gift from God. But those who stand before God and others with the attitude “Look what I have made of myself” will hardly realize the need to ask for God’s help in doing good. They will presume that they can manage it by themselves.
The Pharisee in today’s Gospel very likely did live a life devoid of greed, dishonesty and adultery. He probably did fast and tithe. But he did not realize that it was the goodness of God that lifted him up so that he could act in this righteous manner. He believed instead that it was his own goodness that lifted him up above others. On the other hand, in order to gain a livelihood, the tax collector probably extorted mony from taxpayers. He was a sinner, and he knew it. But he also knew that only God could lift him up. It was his humble demeanor that earned God’s praise.
Brian P. Stoffregen Exegetical Notes at Crossmarks on Luke 18:9-14
The Pharisees were not villains. They were dedicated to observing the law — and our pray-er actually exceeds the laws demands. Fasting twice a week rather than once a week. Tithing on all he gets rather than just the foods and animals for which it is required. According to temple standards, Pharisees are the "good guys" — the "righteous" — and this Pharisees does even more "good" stuff than the ordinary Pharisee.
Tax collectors were not heroes. They were considered traitors and religiously unclean. According to temple standards, they are the "bad guys" — the "unrighteous".
We have records of ancient prayers similar to the Pharisee’s and such prayers were not considered self-righteous boasting. The following prayer of thanksgiving from the Talmud was prayed by the rabbis on leaving (and perhaps entering) the house of study.
I give thanks to Thee, O Lord my God, that Thou has set my portion with those who sit in the Beth ha-Midrash [the house of study] and Thou has not set my portion with those who sit in [street] corners for I rise early and they rise early, but I rise early for words of Torah and they rise early for frivolous talk; I labor and they labor, but I labor and receive a reward and they labor and do not receive a reward; I run and they run, but I run to the life of the future world and they run to the pit of destruction. [b. Ber. 28b (Soncino 1: 172), quoted in Hear Then the Parables by Bernard Brandon Scott]
A similar ancient prayer is quoted by Scott from Eta Linnemann in Jesus of the Parables — (I am certain that most of my readers will find something offense in this prayer):
R. Judah said: One must utter three praises everyday: Praised (be the Lord) that He did not make me a heathen, for all the heathen are as nothing before Him (Is 40:17); praised be He, that He did not make me a woman, for woman is not under obligation to fulfill the law; praised by He that He did not make me … an uneducated man, for the uneducated man is not cautious to avoid sins. [t. Ber. 7.18] [p. 59]
The Jesus Prayer - A Short Meditation on Luke 8:9-14 at The Kedge
The other man knew who he was and didn’t try to hide it in God’s presence. He knew he was scum but he couldn’t get another job so he took this one. He knew he worked for the wrong people but they were the ones that allowed him to pay his bills and feed his family. He knew he didn’t do all the rituals that were required to earn him eternal life. So he had only one hope, one prayer: “Mercy!” He knew from his limited knowledge of Scripture that God is merciful. But he also is a God of justice. He had only one play to make… admit who he was and beg for mercy. So he blows on the dice for good luck and sends them off into the dark with this simple prayer hoping against hope. And even though he doesn’t know it yet, it worked… “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Full Sermons
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector by Robert Capon at 30 Good Minutes
What this parable is about is not, as it seems to say at the end, the virtue of humility. The Pharisee’s problem is not that he is showing off. It is that he really believes that his stack of good deeds is enough to save the world. And he believes it is enough if only everyone else would do what he does — that is enough to save the whole world.
What God really says in Christ is that human goodness isn’t good enough to do this trick. Human goodness cannot reconcile the world. Basically if the world could have been reconciled by good advice from God, to which human goodness would respond, the world’s problems would have been solved ten minutes after Moses got down to the bottom of the mountain with the commandments. Everyone would have read the commandments and said, "Oh, yes, of course," and the problem would have been over. The trouble with the commandments is the commandments are fine, but no one has ever paid much attention to them.
Clearing the Minefields to Get to the Goal by Hubert F. Beck at Goettinger Predigten im Internet
We are all in the same minefield and we must be cautious about our judgments . . . and about our slowness to offer grace lest we not recognize grace when it is offered to us! Up to now we have discovered what one writer called "the full insidiousness of sin as it seeks to use even our most pious thoughts in the corrupting service of self-interest." Sin surrounds us and grips us by the throat. It plants mines in the church, in our deepest inmost thoughts and feelings, in and among our friends and neighbors, in our pious acts and in our best intentions as well as in the taverns and worldly places within which we live.
Once we recognize all the mines that fill this field over which we must travel, we discover that we are precisely alongside that tax collector just as he is presented in the parable, saying, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." There is nothing left for us to say but that. All our self-made securities are smashed. All our self-sufficiencies are destroyed. There is nothing left to say and we find ourselves fully at the disposal of God on the far side of that mine field.
Amazing Grace by William Willimon at the Duke Chapel Sermon Archives
You come to church, not knowing whether or not you ought to be here. After all, you have secrets. You’ve done things you should not have done. Some Sundays everyone else looks so righteous, so close to God, so near to getting it right. As for you, you’re feeling far from God. Distant. When it comes time for prayer, you don’t know which words to use. You’re down. Humble. And the good news is, that’s when God meets us, blesses us.
Worship Helps
Words of Welcome and Call to Worship (based on Psalm 34:1-2,17-22) from Richard J. Fairchild
L The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
P And also with you.
L I will bless the Lord at all times.
God’s praise shall continually be in my mouth.
P Our souls make their boast in the Lord.
Let the humble hear and be glad.
L When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears them
and rescues them from all their troubles.
P The Lord is near to those who are brokenhearted.
L Our God saves those who are crushed in Spirit.
P Praise be to God, now and forever and ever. Amen
Collect from the United Church of Australia from Starters for Sunday (Sunday, 28 October 2007) from the Church of Scotland (doc, rtf and txt files)
Lord God of justice
you know no favourites and show no partiality
but you have given us assurance
that the prayers of the lowly pierce the clouds
their petitions reach the heavens.
Look upon us who come before you
as did the penitent tax-collector,
and grant that we may open ourselves
with confidence in your mercy
and be justified by your grace.
We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ
Amen.
Prayer for Children from Bruce D. Prewer at Resources for Common Lectionary
When We Become Proud
Loving God,
if some days we become proud
and puffed up like a balloon
with our own importance,
please prick our pride
and deflate us.Then when we are empty,
and feeling flat,
please fill us with the saving love
and that happiness of Jesus.
Amen!
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