How is God calling us to meaningful community?

     After hearing a parable about a widow who persistently goes to the unjust judge, we hear a parable about two people praying at the temple in Luke 18.9-14.  These parables are told sequentially, and they are both about prayer...or are they?  There are two characters in this week's parable: a Pharisee and a tax collector.  To help you get the picture that Jesus' hearers would have had I want you to think of the someone you look up to as a Christian (Pharisee) and someone you most despise from the money scandals we've been having (tax collector).  For me, I think of my mom when it comes to the picture of what it means to be a disciple - she is disciplined in her study of scriptures, prayer, and her relationship with God in Christ is one of the strongest I know.  And perhaps for the scandals...Bernie Madoff.  (I am torn on this one first because there are so many names and second because I'm not sure how I feel about Christian organizations investing billions of dollars.)  Anyway, here's the kicker: Jesus says that Bernie Madoff is the one who goes home justified and my mom isn't.  WHAT??  I'm sorry Jesus, but are you sure? 
     People would have been shocked to hear Jesus tell this parable.  Now my own examples are no commentary on my mom's prayer life, because I know she doesn't pray as the Pharisee did, it was just to help us enter the shocking nature of the parable.  So, what is Jesus getting at here?
     Think of a time when you have really not wanted to go to worship on a Sunday morning.  Maybe you were tired and just wanted rest.  Maybe you had a busy Sunday and it was just one more thing.  But maybe it was something bigger.  You had just had some testing done and didn't want to talk about it.  Something had happened in your life and you were worried about what people would say or think about you.  The tax collector knew what people thought of him.  I think that is why he was "standing far off" because he didn't want to face other people.
     Now, think of the people whom you haven't seen in worship for a while.  You may look around on Sunday morning and think, "I haven't seen ________ for a few weeks," and the thought flits away.  I'm wondering how this text is calling us to get over ourselves, to get over our need for church to be nice, neat, and tidy.  All to often we do come to worship, sit in the pew, and keep all of our troubles to ourselves because we are afraid of what people will think if we admit we don't have it all together.  But it is precisely in this not having it together that God meets us and begins to transform us.
     What would it look like if a community of believers was able to be honest and open?  What if we shared our struggles, triumphs, sorrows, and joys?  God is calling us to meaningful community centered in Christ, a place where people are welcome and feel safe enough to share real life.  What if the Pharisee in the parable went far off to pray along side the tax collector?  How is God calling us to be meaningful community?