The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

As we approach this text, I want to begin by describing two pictures. The First is a picture of order and neatness. Imagine a neighborhood in which the houses are all freshly painted, the landscapes are professionally designed and planted, and the lawns are all finely manicured. Each street has been freshly paved. There is no trash lying in the roads, nor are there weeds growing in the streets.

It’s a middle to upper class neighborhood with some houses having boats on the side of the house. Other houses have basketball hoops in their driveway. Still others have swimming pools in their backyard. It is springtime and the flowers are in full blossom. As one drives down the street, you can smell the fragrance of numerous plants and trees in the subtle breeze.

The other is a neighborhood that recently saw the devastation of disaster; such as Katrina, Haiti, Iraq, 9/11. Cars are stacked one upon another. Most of the houses have been condemned. Mud is everywhere. The whole neighborhood has been blocked off by yellow caution-tape prohibiting trespassers.

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