Pre-Sermon Thoughts

So I just finished my sermon for tomorrow on Luke 18.9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, and I am just wondering how it will go.  It's an interesting parable, and it is one that is misunderstood by many.  I think most people think that this is a parable about the right ways to pray before God, but I don't think that's the case.  There's something more there and I think it has to do with who's in and who's out.  One of the things that Luke has done in "his" section (all from 15-18 is only in Luke) is draw out the way that those who think they are in are in danger of being out.  In this parable, Jesus seems to be saying that if we think that we are impressive on our own, we've got another thing coming.  If we think that we are "in" because of who we are or what we do, we will not be justified by God in the end.  It is only the one who authentically realizes that it's about God and not us that will be justified.  It's the ones whom we don't expect.  

It's frightening, really, to think that if we who call ourselves "in" could be out if we somehow begin to believe that it is about us.