Service Notes
In this engaging and insightful sermon, the Very Rev. Tom Purdy uses aclassic George Carlin observation about driving—“everyone slower than you is anidiot and everyone faster than you is a maniac”—to open up Jesus’ parable ofthe Pharisee and the tax collector. From the comfort of our “bubble” behind thewheel to the silent assumptions we make about others, Fr. Tom names how easy itis to believe we are “better” than the people around us.
Instead of inviting us to admire the tax collector’s profession, Jesusinvites us to share the tax collector’s posture before God: honest,humble, and deeply aware of our need for mercy. While the Pharisee lists hisreligious achievements, the tax collector simply prays, “God, be merciful tome, a sinner”—and he is the one who goes home justified.
Along the way, Fr. Tom reflects on:
- How quickly our judgments turn fellow drivers (and neighbors) into “idiots” and “maniacs”
- Those surprising moments of “highway friendship” when we travel together in grace instead of judgment
- The Jesus Prayer—“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”—as a way of remembering God’s endless mercy as the truest thing about our lives
This sermon invites us to step out of comparison, lay downself-righteousness, and join the tax collector in a simple, honest prayer: “Lord,have mercy on me… and on all the other idiots and maniacs, too.”
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