Prayers that reach the Lord, a reflection on Sirach 35:14-20

In case your Bible does not include the Apocrypha, here's today's lectionary passage:

Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it; and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice; for the Lord is the judge, and with him there is no partiality. He will not show partiality to the poor; but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged. He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan, or the widow when she pours out her complaint.

Do not the tears of the widow run down her cheek as she cries out against the one who causes the to fall? The one whose service is pleasing to the Lord will be accepted, and his prayer will reach to the clouds.

[Note: Because the Hebrew text of Sirach was lost until the 19th century and other fragments of it were found in the 1960's, scholars have been presented with some differences in content and in the numbering of chapters and verses. The numbering I am used is based on the choice of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. The same verses in NEB and the REB would be numbered Sirach 35:12-17]

In this week's passage from Luke, two people pray--one a patently righteous person; the other, a sinner. But, how they pray is a bigger difference. One is grateful for his superiority; the other, contrite and asking for mercy. Jesus said, "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

In the passage from Sirach, we read that the Lord will hear the prayers of the one whose service is pleasing to the Lord. So, it's not doing right that is wrong. The Pharisee should have been doing all those things he was bragging about, but he shouldn't have been bragging.

In Jesus' time, the tax collector would have been seen by the faithful as a collaborator with Rome, thus an undesirable person to be around. In the time of Sirach and of Luke, widows and orphans and poor, would not have had much social status. Their well-being would have been dependent on the charity of those around them. God will pay attention to these outsiders, will listen to their prayers.

Now that we know who God is listening to, we might consider who gets our attention.