Reforming with Humility

Luke 18:9-14

Pentecost 20/Reformation Sunday, October 26, 2025

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“Reforming with Humility”

Today is celebrated in Anglican and Lutheran traditions as Reformation Sunday.  But this is not just the commemoration of events that happened over 1400 years ago, when concerned Christians in many countries protested against the corruptions of the Church and began what is called the Protestant Reformation. It is first and foremost a timely reminder to all of us that we are all part of a community that keeps seeking to conform to the image of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.  We can never trust in ourselves to be righteous, or regard others with contempt, for our hope lies in faith that God is merciful.  The gospel reading from Luke chapter 18 speaks powerfully today to recent events in the Anglican Communion which are straining the bonds of affection we share. 

In a pastoral letter to all dioceses worldwide, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Anthony Poggo, offers encouragement:

“The one Church is ever reforming, which means that no institution, meeting, network or association of Christians is static. Our life of faithfulness is based in prayer, daily self-renunciation, repentance, and conversion, so that we may receive the mind of Christ and his Spirit, in accordance with holy Scripture. By this pattern of dependence on God and mutual submission to one another, God raises up a faithful, humble, obedient people for his praise, a people capable of taking counsel, making decisions, and sharing the Good News with the world.”  (Pastoral Letter October 17, 2025).

Our understanding of righteousness is grounded in Scripture and tradition as being God’s work, not human effort.  In the XI Article of Religion, “of the justification of man (sic)”, we affirm that “we are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings: Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort”.  Yet time and time again in the history of the Church, differing groups have assumed that they know the mind of God, while others are contemptible sinners and are obviously going to hell.  On occasion, those in authority have helped them on their way, by re-educating, banishing, torturing, imprisoning, or killing dissenters.  The deadly consequence of thinking we are right and others are wrong is justification for the punishment or condemnation of brothers and sisters.

Jesus tells the story of a religious leader who was certain he was right with God.  The Pharisee who goes up to the temple begins by telling God how righteous he is.  He is literally “praying to himself”, not asking for wisdom or forgiveness.  He checks off the moral boxes: not a thief, not a rogue, not an adulterer, and certainly not like a tax collector.  He fasts twice a week and gives a tenth of his income.  Surely God is happy with all he is doing and will reward him accordingly.  While he boosts his self-esteem by comparing himself to the others around him, what he fails to do is to make space for God to reform and shape his life. 

In stark contrast is the behaviour of the second person Jesus introduces.  A tax collector also comes to the Temple to pray.  Tax collectors were despised by good Jews: they worked for the Roman occupiers to squeeze money out of the people for the empire and their own pockets.  Some may have only charged a small commission, but most took advantage by increasing interest on the amount owed, like a first century Money-Mart.  The Pharisee publicly and loudly points out the difference between them.  The tax collector, however, is focussed not on those around him, but on his relationship to his Creator.  His posture is humble and his words implore God to be merciful to him, a sinner.  He recognizes that he cannot get right with God by what he does and so he needs God’s help to find a way forward.  Jesus says that this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified.  Nowhere does it say that he stops being a tax collector.  But his attitude and his reliance on God’s righteousness rather than his own makes the difference. 

In this parable our expectations are overturned.  The person who follows the rules of the covenant but fails to show love and compassion is not justified before God.  The person who has not got everything right but recognizes it in humility finds the path of righteousness again.  The meaning behind the rules is what Jesus proclaimed in his ministry: to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself.  If you condemn your neighbour and only believe those who are like you to be righteous, something is missing from faith.  The Pharisee may have been waiting for the tax collector to show repentance, but he never thought that maybe he ought to repent too. Humility and mercy are gospel values we need in the world today.

In the last week, one of the Anglican bishops affiliated with GAFCON declared that they are no longer in communion with the See of Canterbury.  We are not sure how reflective this statement is of other members of the group or what consequences this will have.  Sadly, this condemnation of others is not the first time the Church has stumbled and been divided.  The English Church has been complicit in colonial expansionism, and brought both cultural prejudices and practices to the churches in countries to which it spread. The damages inflicted on indigenous peoples in particular now call for reform, reconciliation, and justice-making for healing. Resistance to changing understandings, especially regarding sexuality and gender, have also created difficulties in relationships amongst different parts of the Church.  We have lived through troubles in our own diocese, and borne some of the pain that comes with struggles to accept and honour different expressions of being made in God’s image.  And we have witnessed how the Church has often failed the most vulnerable members of society which it has been called to serve, especially children and women.  Safeguarding scandals, when seemingly righteous individuals have been discovered to have abused those in their pastoral care, are heart-breaking human sins.  We have none of us been righteous in the way God wants us to be.  We all need God’s mercy.  And we all need humility to listen and struggle with one another in relationship and faith.  The decision of GAFCON bishops to break the bonds of affection that provide room for dialogue is sad for all of us. 

Yet, as a reforming Church, there is room for hope.  God is merciful, and God is not finished with us yet.  Can we, as a community, continue to show each other love without condemnation, even while we disagree.  I am heartened by the words of our new Primate Shane Parker and the four archbishops of the Anglican Church of Canada.  With them, let us affirm that:

• WE declare this Church to be, and desire that it shall continue, in full communion with the Church of England throughout the world, as an integral portion of the One Body of Christ composed of Churches which, united under the One Divine Head and in the fellowship of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, hold the One Faith revealed in Holy Writ, and defined in the Creeds. (BCP 1959/1962, viii)
• We reaffirm the four Instruments of Communion: the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Primates’ Meeting, and the primatial See of Canterbury with its people, clergy, and itsArchbishop.
• We reaffirm the historic Anglican appeal to Scripture, Reason, and Tradition.

Our Primate goes on to say, “The practical and theological question before us is this: Can communion with the Risen Christ contain conflict, so that conflict and disagreement lose their power to divide? We believe the answer to this question is a resounding “YES” because this has been borne out many times in Anglican experience and intuition from the Reformation to the present time.” (A Pastoral Statement, October 17, 2025).  I agree.

I had the privilege of meeting yesterday the Dean of Canterbury, David Monteith, when he visited our diocese.  Both of these church leaders show grace under fire, and a gentleness of spirit that signals that they are listening to God rather than telling him what to do! 

Despite the distance between parts of the Anglican Communion at present, this parable of Jesus gives us a way forward.  Let us be more like the tax collector in asking mercy than the Pharisee who presumed he was right.  For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, burt all who humble themselves will be exalted.  Amen.