Today we commemorate All Soul's, or as we Anglican's call it, All Faithful Departed.
Traditionally, All Souls is held on November 2, which would be next Friday.
The celebration of All Souls began in the 10th century to set aside the day after All Saints, in which to remember the faithful departed who might be known to God alone -
- in other words, our friends and family who have died, most of whom have not been canonized as saints;
most were not famous,
many were not influential in the world's system of things,
but all those who are remembered on All Souls were influential in other ways, to those who choose to remember them.

And for each of those people we remember today, we acknowledge the crown of Righeousness which the Lord gives out on that great day, for those who long for Christ's appearing….

And who are those who long for Christ's appearing?
Who are those who receive the Crown of righteousness?
Perhaps we find answers to that question in today's gospel reading - the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
Two men, held in contrast in the most black and white way, in order to illustrate a point that Jesus is trying to make about our own tendency to self-justification, and indeed, our own true need of God's justification.

Two men go to the temple to pray - a Pharisee - a good man. Don't think that this man was not a good man.
He was the cream of the Crop,
as Paul himself had been before he met Christ on the road to Damascus.
This Pharisee was a good man,
who faithfully gave ten percent of all he had,
who fasted twice a week, and who, in the tradition of his time, began his prayer by raising his hands to God,
and giving thanks for what he had.
He gave thanks that he wasn't a thief or a rogue, or an adulterer. Does that seem so odd to you?
Many of us might raise the same prayer - God, I thank you that I have led an upright life - I have gone to church faithfully all my life. I have given to the poor.
I give my time talent and treasure as needed….
All of us, if we look deeply enough, can find a bit of the Pharisee in us - a good man, doing good things…
…but unfortunately also justifying himself by comparing himself with another person, a tax collector, who prayed in the temple at the same time.
The tax collector was not so much a good man.
He was basically an extortioner.
He collected taxes for the Roman government,
and depending on his own level in the tax-collecting hierarchy, he was most likely making extra money off his fellow Jews, working with an oppressive government against his native people. He was, in many respects, a traitor.
How many of us would have prayed like the Pharisee, then? "Thank you, God, that I am not a criminal, a traitor, like he is….

And yet, there was something in the bad man's prayer that Jesus wanted his listeners to focus on -
- The tax collector/traitor stood far off in what was perhaps a darkened corner,
- and rather than raising his hands and eyes to heaven,
- he beat his breast - a symbol of breaking the heart, recognition of his condition as a sinful person.
And all he could say was "God be merciful to me, a sinner…."

It was this man, this "bad man," if you will,
that left the temple justified.
In other words,
if those crowns of righteousness that Paul spoke of had been given out that day,
it would have been this bad man that received it, not the good man.
Does that make sense to you? Does that seem fair?
That the good go away empty, and the bad are saved?
No it is not fair, and therein lies the bliss of it
- For no matter how good we are, no matter how many good deeds we do, or don't do, it is God that justifies.
We are justified before God, able to attain that crown of righteousness, through faith alone.
Like the bad man, the tax collector, we have the right to stand before God with a broken heart, and echo that same prayer,
"God, be merciful to me, a sinner…."

The beloved hymn "Amazing Grace" was penned by a "bad man" by the name of John Newton.
A bad man who discovered the power of God's forgiveness in the midst of his successful life.
He was a slave trader, and became wealthy from the peddling of human flesh.
He, like many at that time, was no doubt a good Anglican, attending church, having his children baptized, giving of his income…

But one day his eyes were opened - the work of God's grace in his life - and he saw himself for what he was - a wealthy, but wretched man, a sinner.

And amid a bitter and cleansing flood of repentance, he saw the truth - that grace alone can save the truly wretched human soul…
..that it is not what we do in this life that matters,
in comparison with the grace and love God holds for the good and bad in all of us.
For we are all a mixture of the good and bad man, not black and white, but shades of grey,
filled with compassion and good works, and yet harboring our own brokenness.
Both good and bad are in need of God's infinite love and mercy. And to obtain it, all we must do is humble ourselves, and ask.

As we read the names of the faithful departed that are remembered today,
let us ponder our own lives before God - and make it our goal,
as did St. Paul,
as did John Newton, to recognize that it is only in God's undeserved love and mercy for us that we can receive the crown of Righteousness.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me -
I once was lost, but now I'm found….was blind, but now, I see…