Looking down on others

Sermon by Pr. Craig Mueller on Reformation Sunday - Sunday, October 26, 2025.

There is an old Jewish story with many variations. Two old men were sitting in their synagogue for a Sabbath service. They overheard the loud lament of another worshiper near them: “God, be merciful to be a nobody! God, forgive me, a nobody! God, help me, though I’m a nobody!” One of the men looked at the other, raises his eyebrows, and asked: “Who’s this who thinks he is such a nobody!”

Nobody’s immune. I don’t know if the birds do it. I don’t know if the bees do it. But we sure do. We look down on others. We pass judgment. We sneer. We gossip. We find fault. We spruce up our resumes. We curate ourselves on social media.

All to puff up our fragile egos. And to look better than other people.

Who do you identify with in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector? If you’ve heard it many, many times, you are going to boo and hiss at the Pharisee and cheer for the underdog, the tax collector, even if he is usually looked down upon.

It’s obvious. The Pharisee is the self-righteous, conceited, judgmental one. He so full of himself that he recites one of the ultimate “look down on others” phrases in the entire Bible.

His prayer: “Oh God, I’m so glad I’m not like other people. The lowlife. The deplorables. The real sinners. Like this reviled tax collector who’s is in collusion with the Romans and who cheats ordinary people.” And then he ticks off a list of the reasons he should win the Best Pharisee of the Year award. “I pray fervently in the temple. I scrupulously follow the law. I tithe ten percent of my income. I fast twice a week. I’m as good as they get!” And of course, we’re thinking:  and you’re holier-than-thou, too.

Before we get all puffed up with false humility, we could do well to emulate those things the Pharisee does. Being more faithful in worship and prayer. Being more generous. Curbing our excess and overconsumption.

Whatever! We know we don’t want to be like the Pharisee. Pharisees are among the most looked-down-upon characters in the Bible! And that’s not too far from looking down on Jews. Hold on! One writer says that the Pharisee movement and the Jesus movement were not so far from each other. More like kissing cousins than polar opposites.

Fine, it’s not Pharisees we literally look down upon. It’s fundamentalists. Religious zealots. Christian nationalists. I’m open-minded, we may think. Progressive. I follow Jesus and not church laws. I interpret scripture in a more contextual way. In fact, I’d rather be spiritual because religious people are the problem. Not like the people in churches who don’t ordain women or gays or don’t accept trans people. We are welcoming of all. I’m so glad I’m not like them. Oh no, I just fell into the hypocrisy trap!

In fact, one brand of Christian is so glad it’s not like another brand of Christian
that there are over 45,000 denominations around the world. That’s our track record as Christians. Yikes is all I can say.

We are decked in red this Reformation Sunday. Lutherans are the only ones who celebrate this festival. In the past, Lutherans were so glad they weren’t like Roman Catholics. Luther was also just as critical of other reformers who didn’t have the right understanding of communion and other doctrines. And of course, we have grace. We’re so glad we aren’t like other religions who don’t have grace. Not again! I fell into the hypocrisy trap!

Thankfully, times have changed. Our denomination is known for its commitment to ecumenism and social justice.

I haven’t even mentioned the tax collector yet. We want to identify with him, don’t we? He’s humble and the hero of the parable, right! Of course, he grovels and that’s the last thing we would want to do. And he calls himself a sinner, and that word makes some people kind of nervous. 

The tax collector isn’t looking down on others. He is looking down. Not daring to raise his eyes to heaven, not standing upright, the posture of prayer in that time. The tax collector is looking down, beating his breast. His prayer: “God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

And Jesus praises his humility. And declares that he is the one justified. Made right.

Justified. Such a Lutheran word. Justification by grace through faith. Made right with God, not by our own effort. Only through God’s grace and mercy. The heart of Lutheranism. We can’t stop looking down on others. We can’t save ourselves. We can’t get out of the self-righteous trap on our own. That’s the point. We can’t do it on our own.

Are you the Pharisee or the tax collector? If you’ve been here long enough. If you’ve been a Lutheran long enough. You know the answer is always: both. They both live inside of us.

I’m worried, though, that we left the Pharisee in the temple, judged and shunned. Peek under his self-righteousness and we may find insecurity. What if we extended him some grace? What if we believed he could change, that his heart could be softened? What if we looked on him with compassion, with the same mercy with which God looks on you and indeed, on everyone 

This parable is haunting, isn’t it? On this Reformation Sunday hear the good news of grace. In Christ you are set free from the trap of hypocrisy. When you feel insecure and when you are self-righteous, God looks on you with mercy. And loves you just as you are. And then calls you to be more than you could ever imagine. And dares you to look with compassion even on those you detest in these fearful, troubling times. Challenging you to condemn unjust actions without condemning people created in the divine image.

One dad writes a blog to his daughters, hoping as they grow older, they will glean something from his writing. One piece is called: “When You Catch Yourself Looking Down, Look Up.” The dad writes:

The perverse little burst of pleasure we get from passing judgment on each other is no match for the transcendent joy we unleash by touching each other’s souls—by building friendships, creating connections, cultivating compassion and understanding. Instead of a self-congratulatory burst of dopamine, it gives us back a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold in the darkness, a friend to celebrate with when life goes right. It has the power to replace rivals with allies, competitors with partners, enemies with companions for the hardships ahead.

The life lesson here is simple: Whenever we’re tempted to look down [on others], we also have the choice to look up; to try to see eye-to-eye and perhaps find something higher and better for us all. ¹

None of this will be possible without grace. Without Jesus. Without one another. But that’s why we are here, aren’t we?

SOURCES

¹ https://truthsandwonders.com/2020/09/26/looking-down-versus-looking-up/

The Humility Trap, Salt lectionary bog