So, today’s Gospel, from the standard Lectionary, was Luke 18:9-14:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
And then we have this guy ranting about God’s wrath on the folks he considers ungodly.
They shook their fists at God and said, “We don’t care what God says, we will issue our legal brief to support gay marriage in San Diego!” Then Mayor Jerry Sanders mocked the Christian vote and signed off on this rebellious legal document to support same-sex marriage. And then the streets of La Jolla under the Mt. Soledad Cross began to cave in.
They shook their fists at God and said, “We don’t care what the Bible says, We want the California school children indoctrinated into homosexuality!” And then Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law the heinous SB777 which bans the use of “mom” and “dad” in the text books and promotes homosexuality to all school children in California.
And then the wildfires of Southern California engulfed the land like a raging judgment against the radicalized anti-christian California rebels.
Hmmm. Let’s see — the Gospel talks in unfavorable terms about those who condemn others, who declare themselves holy because they are not like those, and who rest comfortable in assurance that they are saved, while others dwell in darkness and condemnation, who spend more time pointing out the flaws in others seemingly to build up their own self-apparent righteousness.
And here in this post (and in the comments, and the biographical sidebar) we have someone condemning others, making it clear how he is not like those, resting comfortable it seems in an assurance of being saved, with all those others dwelling in darkness and condemnation, and who spends more time pointing out the flaws in others than in being concerned about their own shortcomings (including tooting his own horn in the sidebar, demonstrating how .
Though, of course, I suppose this post could qualify as doing the same myself.
(via DOF)
I have noticed that many folks think there’s a 13th commandment – “Thou shalt cherry-pick which biblical rules to follow and which to ignore.” The word of God according to me, how convenient.
One reason why Jesus was portrayed as being so “anti-rule,” I suspect. It’s hard to weasel around “love your neighbor as yourself” or “love God.”