This is Thanksgiving week in the United States, and I am sure you who are Americans are already prepared for this Thursday. Most of us will gather with friends and loved ones for a Thanksgiving meal. Many will reflect on the things we are thankful for in our life.
It is my favorite holiday of the year.
So let me take this opportunity to share something we should NOT be thankful for by considering the story of a man who was thankful for the wrong reason. I will call him Elias. Elias was a Pharisee who was proud of his righteous perfection; he kept all the religious rules and looked down on those who did not—most of them didn’t even try. Certainly God was displeased with them but very pleased with Elias.
Now not all Pharisees thought like this, but Elias did. Then one day Elias went to the Temple, as was his habit, and he saw a lowly commoner, who had no chance of gaining God’s favor, praying futilely at the Temple. It was apparent from his big belly that he didn’t fast regularly, and he didn’t even have tassels on his robe!
It was then that Elias expressed his thanksgiving.
Jesus Tells the Story
I did not create this story. It is a story Jesus tells in Luke 18:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone 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 by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
It is always good to be thankful, but Elias was thankful for the wrong reason. He was thankful that he was better than other people and, because he did all the right rituals, he had access to God that others did not have and likely never would. Elias was a religious snob.
“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.’
This man felt differently than Elias. He knew he fell short (Elias would undoubtedly agree with that and perhaps would like to see him banned from the Temple). The commoner knew he fell short and did not live the righteous standard that Pharisees like Elias required. But he also wanted to be on good terms with God, even though his station in life with its demands and stresses prevented any possibility that he could ever live like the Pharisees.
So, with humility, he called on God’s mercy. Had Elias heard him say that he would probably smirk or even become irritated. But Jesus finishes the story by saying:
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
What did Jesus conclude in his story? Elias was correct that only one of the two men were justified before God—but he was mistaken about which one it was. It wasn’t Elias!
How could this be!
Aren’t We Glad We Have No People Like Elias in the Church Today?
Well let’s see. Do we have believers who think they know exactly what God wants and they are the ones who measure up to it? Do we know any ‘righteous’ believers who feel they are more pleasing to God than other people are? Do we have believers who look down on people who are not as good as they are?
Hmmm…perhaps Elias is still with us after all. Elias was a legalist who felt free to judge other people—especially those who obviously didn’t live up to the standard. I must say…I know some of those people; I grew up with those people.
When I was a child, there was a man in the church who was very much like Elias: his righteousness was unquestionable; he was God’s own favorite because he was better than anyone else (even better than others in the same church); and he judged others freely, constantly, and with considerable condescension and superiority. I admired him and wanted to be like him. He was my hero until I finally realized what he was. Since then I have met many other believers much like him and Elias.
I have no need to judge people who are like Elias, but I will not be like them. I will not consider myself one of God’s most favored above others. I will not look down on those who do not live by church standards, including robbers, evildoers, adulterers, and even tax collectors. And I will always remember that these are the very people God loves and accepts, so I will love and accept them too.
I did not learn these attitudes in the churches where I was raised; Jesus taught me this. Jesus taught me not to be like Elias. So let us be thankful this Thanksgiving, but let us not be thankful for the wrong reason like Elias was.
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This is a great article. I thank God that I’m not like this Pharisee Elias….just kidding, and therein lies another layer of the trap! I’m not a Pharisee but I’m no better either. Having said that, where you wrote, ” I will not consider myself one of God’s most favored people” – I know what your’e saying, but God has the capacity to treat us all as His favourites. That’s part of the boasting in knowing Him – that I’m God’s favourite – but not to the exclusion of others also being able to claim that. God’s big enough for everyone to be His favourite!
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Thanks Tony, you make an excellent point: “God has the capacity to treat us all as His favourites…but not to the exclusion of others…God’s big enough for everyone to be His favourite!” And you are right that there is a trap in thinking, “I thank God that I’m not like this Pharisee Elias.”
In fact, in response to your comment I have modified the statement. It now reads: ‘I will not consider myself one of God’s most favored above others.’
Thanks again.
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I enjoyed this article! Thanks! And I enjoyed Tony’s response to it because the traps of self-righteousness are soooo easy for us to fall into. Thanks for that also. Happy Thanksgiving (one of my favorite holidays too)!
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Thank you for a Thanksgiving message that’s worth remembering throughout the year. I love Jesus’s parables because by paying attention to the point of the message we discover the wondrously counter-intuitive structure of the Mind of God. For way too long in my life I have been the Elias in this scenario because my ego screams to be put first in the world and to be seated in the place of honor at the table of mankind. In parables such as this one, Jesus reminds us that the despised of the world are the ones He values most… what a shock it will be to many to see harlots and tax collectors at the head of the line.
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“what a shock it will be to many to see harlots and tax collectors at the head of the line.”
I agree, Anthony!
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Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in America and thanks again for your bible studies
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A happy day to you as well, Ruth. And I am glad you like the studies.
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Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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Thanks for the RB, Vincent!
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You’re very welcome my friend 😊
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Happy Thanksgiving to y’all.
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And also to you, Charlotte!
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A traditional Jewish prayer which dates to antiquity states, “I thank God I was not born a woman, I thank God I was not born a Gentile, and I thank God I was not born uneducated.” Or, “get your sexism, racism, and classism all in one place.” I sometimes wonder if Christ also had this one in the back of his mind.
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Excellent point!
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Fiddlrts, I like your rephrase: “get your sexism, racism, and classism all in one place.” And perhaps Jesus did have this Jewish saying in mind as he told this parable.
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We all should strive to be humble, recognizing our own faults. This is an excellent post for Thanksgiving, Tim. Have a blessed holiday.
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“We all should strive to be humble, recognizing our own faults.” I very much agree, Sheila! Thanks for the kind words about the post and you have a blessed holiday as well.
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Happy and blessed Thanksgiving to all! ♥
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And to you, Debi!
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Happy Thankssgiving, all!
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And to you, Hoju!
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