Help Me, Help Me, Help Me, and Thank You

20 Pentecost Proper 25C

23 Oct 2022

“Thank you God that I am not like that egotistic Pharisee over there who thinks he is just the cat’s pajamas because he follows all the rules. And thank you God that I am not like that tax collector in the back who wouldn’t know an honest dollar if it hit him in the face.”

If you are a fan of late summer, when the nights are often cooler and the dew heavy in the morning, you know there are spiders out there. Lots of spiders. Lots and lots of spiders. They come in an incredible array of sizes, shapes, and preferred locations. The same is true for their webs. I suspect there are spiders that do not make webs, but most are like Charlotte, Wilber’s spider friend in the EB White classic, Charlotte’s Web. They make big, elaborate, and frankly beautiful, webs. When the sun is coming up and the dew clings to their delicate strands, they are like works of art. But, as any of us who have ever had the misfortune of walking face first into a web know, they are sticky and they are meant to kill anything that is trapped therein. Luckily I have never run across a web big enough to entrap me and I really don’t want to every meet a spider that big. But they are a mess to clean off of yourselves. Trust me.

Jesus might as well be saying, “Beware the spiders; do not allow yourselves to be caught in their webs!”

The Pharisee (let us not forget many of Jesus’ followers were Pharisees) allowed himself to be lured into the spider web of false righteousness. As we read the line, we easily fall into the trap of being thankful we are not like the Pharisee. But we are all Pharisees and all of us has given thanks to God for either being something good (thank you that I am a doctor and a healer) or NOT being something bad (thank you that I am not a serial killer.)

Then we have the tax collector. Maybe we could update it and call him a subprime mortgage broker. He focuses too much on his humility, emphasis on “his”. He is still focused on himself. In a way he is bragging as much as the Pharisee, bragging on his own humility. For both the Pharisee, let’s call him the preacher, and the mortgage broker, the emphasis is still on the “I” and where it really needs to be is on God

Is there no winning in this game? I think it has to do with, as it is phrased in 12 Step programs, letting go and letting God. If you keep reading beyond the lectionary verses for today, you will find a surprising answer to the conundrum. Jesus says, “Allow the children to come to me.” For unless you welcome God’s kingdom like a child…

What is it that young children have that adults don’t? They know how to play. When children know they have the love and trust of the adults around them, they are free to be who they are. They are climbing the corporate ladder, they are not trying to earn their parent’s love. Free to be wild and crazy and make mistakes, but FREE. It is the world that e.e. cummings created in a poem I first heard perhaps in grade school, but knew intrinsically, without needing words to explain, that it was about the freedom to be.

in Just- spring when the world is mud- luscious the little lame balloonman whistles far and wee and eddieandbill come running from marbles and piracies and it's spring when the world is puddle-wonderful the queer old balloonman whistles far and wee and bettyandisbel come dancing from hop-scotch and jump-rope and it's spring and the goat-footed balloonMan whistles far and wee

This is the freedom that God gives to us. The freedom to rejoice and to play. So when you pray, be like Eddie and Bill and Betty and Isbel and come running and dancing to God as a child would, with no pretense, giving thanks to God. You can probably just stop after the word “thanks” because God knows what is coming. Grace isn’t something to be earned (Luther was quite right about that) but it should inspire us to commit ourselves to live lives filled with justice and mercy. It is quite clear that Jesus taught that our lives are to be lived for one another and in the love of God. The plan is simple; it is the execution that is difficult.

When you pray as an individual, thank God, but don’t follow it with a subordinate clause. In other words, don’t say, “Thank you, God, that I am not like that tax collector” Just say thank you. Anne Lamott has the best advise about prayer when she says:

“Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having a better past” and “The difference between you and God is that God does not think He’s you.”

Please do not take this to mean that I don’t think we shouldn’t pray for forgiveness or healing or that we shouldn’t pray for one another and the world. We should and we should do so constantly. What we want to avoid is self-glorification on one hand, i.e. the Pharisee and self-deprecation on the other hand, i.e. the tax collector. Neither is helpful. God wants us to pray, and pray without ceasing, but doesn’t need a list of demands so much as knowing we acknowledge the gifts we receive, and the love we have for others and for God.

Once again I turn to Anne Lamott, who taught me one of the best prayers ever:

Here are the two best prayers I know: 'Help me, help me, help me' and 'Thank you, thank you, thank you. Anne Lamott

Amen.