For many of us, the goal of life is to be self-sufficient. We don’t like to be dependent on others; we equate independence with maturity. That’s why we struggle at times to value the helpless like babies and the infirm or disabled and why the gospel is so counter-cultural.
In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus told a parable about a man who felt self-sufficient even in prayer, a Pharisee who prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.‘ (Luke 18:11-12) In his own eyes, despite his attachment to religious practices, he didn’t really need anyone else. He was righteous in his own eyes and felt good about it. Others looked up to him.
The tax collector, on the other hand, was well aware of his inadquacies and failings. ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ (Luke 18:13) He knew that he couldn’t make it through life on his own, that he was in need of God’s mercy. He was not independent; he needed God’s help.
Our emptiness and brokenness are not barriers to maturity or to spiritual growth. They are, perhaps, the indispensable factors in both. When we come to God with empty hands, He can fill us and then instead of offering the world our self-sufficiency, we can offer His. God’s grace is sufficient for us and for the world. It’s grace that we need to receive and to give.
