In Jesus’ day, people literally went up to the Temple. Perched at Jerusalem’s highest point, the Temple drew worshippers who walked uphill – sometimes for miles – to reach it. Worship was not a casual stop between errands but a pilgrimage of body and soul. We may drive to church now instead of climbing steep hills, but we still exert effort to show up. Yet Jesus hints that showing up is only the beginning. Worship, he suggests in Luke 18: 9-14, requires more than physical effort; it calls for spiritual effort — an open heart, a humble stance. We can move our bodies to the pew, but if our hearts are barricaded, our minds distracted, or our spirits armored, what will we gain by being here? And what will God gain from our presence? In Luke 18: 9-14, Jesus places two characters before us. The first, a Pharisee, prays standing apart. His prayer begins with gratitude but slides into comparison: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people.” It’s a sidelong-glance prayer — one eye on heaven, one eye on his neighbors. Life is a competition in which he names himself the winner. Yet this Pharisee is devout, disciplined, generous. He fasts twice a week, gives a tenth of his income, and shows gratitude to God. By any religious metric he’s exemplary — except for the subtle line he crosses between gratitude and elitism. We cross that line, too, when our prayers shift from “thank you” to “thank you that I’m better.” Speaking for Luther Seminary's "In the Company of Preachers" audio series, New Testament scholar Mary Hinkle Shore describes skipping communion because she was deeply irritated by a fellow congregant. “Hard to believe, I know,” she writes, “but occasionally this happens.” She knew she couldn’t stand in Jesus’ presence while so full of ill will and righteous indignation; Jesus might ask something of her she wasn’t ready to give. That honesty resonates with this parable. The Pharisee, so full of himself, is unavailable for God’s transforming grace. His self-congratulation blocks his blessing. ... Read the rest of the commentary at pres-outlook.org. | 
