Superiority Complex

This is the message given at the Gettysburg midweek Lent service Wednesday, March 6.  The Bible verses used are Luke 8:9-14.

This is one of my favorite of Jesus' parables. It's short. It's only six verses. Still, there's a lot to this parable. There are a lot of ways we can look at it.

One of them is just for the humor of it. I mean, think about it. Put it today's terms. Suppose I'm the Pharisee. I walk in here tonight and I start praying. I say, “God, I thank you that I'm better than all these other people here. I pray, I read the Bible every day, I tithe. You know, I'm just about as good as it gets. So God, I thank you that you've made me so much better than everybody else. Amen.”

Now, that's a funny thing to think about. But the thing is, of course, that while Jesus had a sense of humor, he did not just tell jokes, at least not that we know of. When Jesus told a story, he told it to make a point. He made a point with this story, too. In fact, he made a couple of points, depending on our point of view.

If we take the point of view of the tax collector, we like this story. It makes us feel better. We feel like, no matter how low we might be, God will understand. God will have mercy on us. God will forgive us.

We take that point of view sometimes. And that's okay. It's a position we're all in sometimes. We have times when we feel bad. We have times when we feel low. We have times when we feel, frankly, pretty worthless. And when we do, it's good to know that God understands. It's good to know God has mercy on us. It's good to know God forgives us.

If we take the point of view of the Pharisee, though, we don't like this story quite so much. It makes us pretty uncomfortable. The Pharisee comes off looking pretty bad. The Pharisee thinks he does not need God's understanding, God's mercy, or God's forgiveness. He thinks he's got it all together already. He certainly thinks he has it together better than the tax collector does. He does not think he needs to ask God for forgiveness and mercy, and because he does not ask for forgiveness and mercy from God, he does not receive them.

In these Wednesday night services, we've been talking about the things we need to give up, not just for Lent, but for all of our lives. We've talked about giving up control of our lives and giving up our expectations. Tonight, we're going to talk about giving up something else. We're going to talk about giving up our feelings of superiority.

Now, I don't think that any of us feel superior to others to the extent the Pharisee did in Jesus' story. I don't think any of us would stand up here tonight and thank God for making us better than everyone else.

On the other hand, if we're honest with ourselves, there are times when we feel superior to people. Think about it. I'll bet we all have times when we look at someone and think, “Boy, that person really messed up his life. I'm sure glad I'm not like that.” It might be someone we know, it might be someone we've seen on the news, it could happen in a lot of ways. But if we're honest, we can think of times when we do that. We think, “I am sure glad I'm not like her. I'm sure glad I did not get myself into the situation he did.”

It's a human thing to do. I've done it. Probably most of us have done it. Maybe all of us have. But it's not a loving thing to do. It's not an understanding thing to do. And really, it's not a very Christian thing to do. When we do it, we're saying that we think we're better than that other person. We're feeling superior to them.

God does not see us as superior. God does not see us as inferior, either. God sees each of us as a sinner. God sees each of us as someone who needs understanding, and mercy, and forgiveness. God does not see us as better or worse than other people. In fact, God does not even compare us to other people. God does not look at us that way. God sees us all as equal. Equally sinful, and equally in need of forgiveness.

When God looks at us, God knows things that we don't know. God knows all the things that made us into the way we are. God knows all the things that make us think the way we do. God knows all the things that make us feel the way we do. God knows all the things that have made us who we are.

We don't know those things. So, when we feel superior to someone, we don't take those things into account. We assume that we're better off than someone else because we're somehow inherently better than they are.

There are a lot of things that go into who we are. Part of the reason I am who I am is because of where I grew up, in rural South Dakota. If I'd grown up in New York City, or in Africa, or in Iran, I might be different in a lot of ways. That's not to say I'd be better or worse, but I'd be different. Part of the reason I am who I am is because I grew up in a family with loving parents and loving brothers. If I'd grown up with parents who did not get along or who were not even in the picture, if I'd grown up with siblings who were always arguing or mistreating each other or me, I might be different in a lot of ways. Again, that's not to say I'd be better or worse, but I'd be different. If I'd grown up in a family with different values, with different beliefs, I might be different in a lot of ways. Once more, that's not to say I'd be better or worse, but I'd be different. And each one of us here could say something similar.

All these things help shape us. Our surroundings shape us. Our families shape us. Our friends shape us. Our culture shapes us. We could go on and on.

Don't get me wrong here. I am not saying that we are prisoners of these things. I am not saying we are innocent bystanders in our lives. Each of us is ultimately responsible for who we are. What I am saying is that a lot of things go into making us who we are. A lot of things go into making other people who they are. 

We don't know all those things. We may not know any of them. But God does. God knows them. God understands them. Because of that knowledge and understanding, God does not see any of us as inherently better or worse than anyone else. Instead, God sees each of us as a sinner in need of understanding, mercy, and forgiveness. And because God loves us, God gives us those things. God gives understanding, and mercy, and forgiveness.

The Pharisee thought he was superior to the tax collector. Because he thought he was so superior, he did not bother to ask God for understanding. He did not bother to ask God for mercy. He did not bother to ask God for forgiveness. He did not think he needed those things. He thought he was doing just fine the way he was. So, because he did not ask for God's understanding, or God's mercy, or God's forgiveness, he did not get them.

This story is funny when we look at it from the tax collector's point of view. It makes us feel good from that point of view. But when we look at it from the Pharisee's point of view, it's a very sad story. It's the story of someone who was so certain that he was superior to others that he could not see himself for who he was. 

The Pharisee needed God's forgiveness but did not know it. Because he did not know he needed it, he did not ask for it. Because he did not ask for it, he did not get it. God would have been willing to give him forgiveness, but he kept himself from getting it. He thought he was the one who was in the catbird seat, when in fact, he was the one who missed out.

God does not see any of us as superior. When we compare ourselves to God, we're all inferior. And yet, because God loves us, God understands our inferiority. God understands it, and God forgives it. God gives us forgiveness and mercy, and by giving us that, God takes us inferior humans and makes us superior. Not superior to each other. Superior to who we used to be. That's the only kind of superiority that really matters.

For Lent, and for all our lives, let's give up our ideas of superiority. Let's stop thinking we're better than anyone else. Instead, let's do what Jesus told us to do. Let's love each other enough to give other people understanding, and forgiveness, and mercy. When we do, we can help them be superior to who they used to be, too. We can do for them what God does for us. Then we can all move forward together as the people God wants us to be.