Humility Over Pride: The Foundation of Orthodox Life

Welcome to Hill Country Homilies. Weekly homilies from Holy Annunciation

Orthodox Church in Liberty Hill, Texas. Holy Annunciation is an

old calendar Orthodox Church sharing the faith of the Apostles

and the love of Christ with all who seek His truth. Now,

let's listen to this week's homily.

And then the fathers on the Holy Spirit word in

Jesus Christ. Well, I don't ever like to do a

homily without any notes, but I don't know where they've gone.

So we'll see what we can do for the Sunday

of the public and the fairs.

You know, the time.

That we now enter into in the church is what

we call the Triodean period, and the Triodean period is

a time of preparation, is preparing us to enter into

great Land. When we say Triodian and what we're referring

to is actually the service book that we use from

now right up until a pasta up until the point

where we hit Holy Week, every service that we're going

to be doing we take out of the Triodian and

that includes the services of enduring Great Lent. So it's

a little odd that we sometimes refer to the Triodean

as that time period before the actual beginning of Great Lent.

So this is what we've entered into. We're not to

great Lent. We have four Sundays that are this Triodean preparation.

The first Sunday is always the Sunday of the publican

and the Pharisee, and that, of course is the gospel

reading that we heard today.

The Lord tells the parable.

Two men go up to the temple to pray, one

a pharisee and one a publican. The pharisee stands and

lifts his head up to God and he prays, We're total.

He prays with himself, God, I thank you.

I'm not like other men, adulterers, cheaters, the unjust, even

this Pharisee. And the Pharisee, who can't even bring himself

to look up towards Heaven, just cast his eye down,

beats on his chest and says, Lord, have mercy on me,

a sinner. And the parable ends with Christ toning his disciples.

One of these men went home justified, and that it

was the publican.

Not the Pharisee.

Now, in understanding this parable, we have to understand a

little bit about the positions of the publicans and the

Pharisees at the time of Christ and the position of

publican or tax collector was an absolutely despised profession, and

it was despised when you understand how the Romans governed

their empire as they moved out further and further out

from Rome. When they would conquer a new territory, what

they would do is they would appoint some of the

locals to act as their tax collectors, people who knew

the local population.

Those people would.

Then be given a quota for the amount of taxes

that they had to send back to Rome.

That they were responsible for.

And the way that publicans or tax collectors made their

living was they would extract as much as they could

from everybody that was in their jurisdiction, and they would

send back their quota or to Rome, and.

What they collected above that they could keep.

And so the incentive on the tax collectors was always

to extract as much and much as much as they

could from the people, whether as owed or not owed.

Last Sunday we didn't actually.

Have it because of the weather, but Zychias Sunday precedes

the Triodians. Zechius, of course, as a tax collector who

had cheated everyone and gotten greatly enriched until he had

his great repentance. So the tax collector was absolutely the

most despised occupation that there was. They were considered collaborators

with the occupiers. There were traitors to their people because

they were the ones that were going to enrich themselves

off of the locals and send it to their occupiers.

Well, they stayed very rich.

And the Pharisees, of course, on the other hand, you know,

nowadays when we talk about Pharisees, we think of that

as a negative of being pharisyical, you know, being focused

on the law. But in the time of Christ, remember

the Pharisees were still the religious authority. They were considered

at the top. They were highly respected, their advice was sought.

You know, we even know from scriptures they had the

high places at the banquet, and so they were a

hugely respected.

Part of the Jewish society. They were the governors of

the church.

They were involved also with the civil administration. But Christ

tells us one of them goes home justified, that's the publican,

and the other the pharisee, does not. And what is

the difference between the publican and the pharisee was pride

versus humility.

You know. The pharisee, you know, makes a big show

of himself. He puts himself in the center.

And he brags about all the good things he's done. Oh,

I've fast twice a week, I give my ties. Thank God,

I'm not like these sinners. He makes himself a great show.

Whereas the Pharisee knows his unworthiness, or the Republican knows

his unworthiness, he knows that his only hope is mercy,

where is the pharisee seems to think he's got it

made because of his position who he is. And our goal,

of course, is to have that same justification that the

public can receive. And there's much in this parable to

work with. But one thing that I think we have

to consider very strongly is the lesson from the Pharisee

is not just about his pride. That's certainly the overwhelming

problem that he has, but there's a message for us

in there as well, because when the Pharisee prays, what

does he pray?

I keep the fast?

I tie to The Pharisee is basically saying, I am

following all the rules. Look at me, I'm following all

the rules. I am your example but all of that

led only to his abasement. Because no matter how strictly

we follow the rules, if our heart isn't there, strict

rule following can't save us.

Sometimes rules can anchor us.

When we don't know what to do, when the storms

of life are beating down on us. Rules and practices,

things that are given to us. They can be a

foundation or an anchor for us. Is keep us fixed.

If I don't know what to do, say my evening prayers.

If I don't know what to do, I'll say that

Jesus prayer make a prostration. These are things that we

can cling to, but if they ever become our justification,

then we've crossed from faith into pride. You know, when

the fast upon us, it can be very, very tempting

to count those days that we are keeping a fast

to mourn.

A little bit.

Oh we miss the dairy, we miss the meat. And

every time we do that, what are we doing. We're

drawing attention to ourselves like the Pharisee. And what are

we saying? I've kept the fast. I've kept the fast.

Look at me, I've kept the fast. But that won't

save anyone without the heart of the publican without the

humility of the publican. And as we prepare to enter

into great length, this is the first lesson that the

Church chooses to give to us. That pride can abase us,

where's humility can bring us to justification.

And it's such a temptation, I think.

In this world we live in, you know where where

if somebody disagrees with us, we have to you know,

roast them, We have to just you know, really get

you know, tell them how wrong they are. And we

react out of anger. And that's all pride. You know,

Anger is pride. Frustration is pride. It's everybody saying, you know,

I'm not getting what I deserve, or how can this

person possibly not agree with me? That's pride.

And so we have to fight against them.

And when I say well, I mean me, I mean

every last one of us have to fight against that

temptation to give into that pride the Pharisee and turn

instead to the example of the humility of the publican.

Because if we.

Can find humility, that's the foundation of the entire Orthodox fronum,

of the entire way of bringing the Church into our

daily life is through that humility, through that trust. Because

when the when the publican cries with his downcast eyes,

have mercy on me, a sinner. Those are not tears

of despair. Those are not tears of despair. There are

tears of hope, because he has that faith that God

can save him regardless of his myriad sin. The Pharisee

stands assured in his own position. But the publican, with

humble hope in Christ, will find himself justified. And as

we approach into this time of great lent, may we

too be given the humility of the publican, such that

we may find ourselves justified. And may we, as we

sang in the kentackn flee from the pride of the Pharisee,

and instead let us cling to the humility and the

tears of the public and the name of the Father

and Son of the Holy Spirit.

Amada.

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