Luke 18:9-14
Lead in: The Message Translation of the Bible tells us that Jesus told the story of the tax man and the Pharisee to those who thought they were morally superior to the common person and looked down on them. Hence, the expression, “Walk around with your nose in the air and you end up flat on your face.”
Prompt: Can you think of a time when, like the Pharisee, you fell flat on your face because you were thinking that you were better than the other person and you’d grown a little too full of yourself?
Lead in: ‘Just be yourself and you’ll become more than yourself’, is an expression that could be said to describe the tax man in Luke 18.
Prompt: Can you think of a time when, like the tax man, you responded to a challenge just by being yourself and, to your surprise, things turned out better than you thought they would?
Lead in: In the Gospel, we hear stories about people, like Peter, who knew they were sinners. “Leave Lord, I am a sinful man,” Peter told Jesus. And then there are those who didn’t sin thinking they were perfect (the Pharisee in Luke 18), “I thank God I am not like the rest of humanity, greedy, dishonest and adulterous.” That was the smugness that blinded them to their spiritual arrogance.
Prompt: If there were an area of your life that you may be spiritually blind to, where might that be?
Lead in: In the parable in Luke 18, the Pharisee prayed, “Oh Lord, I thank you that I am not like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and pay tithes on my whole income.” Meanwhile, the tax collector stood off at a distance and prayed, “Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner.” The contrast in the way they pray reminds us of the saying, “It’s not that humble people think less of themselves. It’s that humble people think of themselves less.”
Prompt: How does that saying apply to your life?
Lead in: In the second reading from 2 Timothy 4, as his time is drawing near, Paul reflects on his life, “I have competed well. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
Prompt: If you were to think of your life as a race which you competed, what highlights come to mind for you?
Lead in: In 2 Timothy 4, Paul speaks of a situation where most everyone has abandoned him.
Prompt: Was there ever a time that you felt abandoned or left high and dry and not sure which way to turn?