October 27, 2013 at Calvary
Evangelical Lutheran Church – Mechanicsburg, PA
“Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and treated others with contempt: ‘Two men went up into the
temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.’”
It’s interesting to overhear
conversations. People don’t hide their feelings or beliefs when they don’t
think that others can hear. You can glean all sorts of thoughts when sitting at
a restaurant, as the people in the next booth ramble on and on with no filter. There
are other times when the people actually want those around them to hear their
conversation. It’s meant to seem like you are unintentionally overhearing them,
but it’s actually not an accident or a coincidence of acoustics. No, they
desire to have every word from their mouths reach your ears. They want you to
receive their message and think about them.
That’s the case with the
Pharisee in Jesus’ parable. You were given the opportunity to overhear his
prayer. It was a public praying meant for you and all around him to hear. Jesus
talks about what this Pharisee said in his prayers: “The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank You that
I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this
tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’”
The Pharisee’s prayer is couched
in terms of thanksgiving. It’s designed to sound like an expression of
gratitude offered to the Lord for
what he has received. But when you listen to his words, there actually isn’t any
gratitude. The focus isn’t on what the Lord
has bestowed to him. No, the Pharisee is thankful for what he has done, for the
special status that he has carved out for himself. Thanksgiving is basically
offered to himself: “I’m thankful that I’m not like those other people who
openly break the Lord’s Law. The
stark difference between them and me is based in what I do—my acts that show
just how unique my piety and devotion are.”
These words are meant to accent
the better status that the Pharisee believes that he possesses. But the words
also have a more sinister character. All those around him are meant to hear
that. He desires that they see him standing apart from them, separated and
distinguished by his godliness. And as they see him segregated from them, they
are meant to hear how lousy they are in comparison—particularly that tax
collector standing over in the corner of the temple courts. The Pharisee in the
parable epitomizes the audience that Jesus wants to hear His story: “some who trusted in themselves that they
were righteous and treated others with contempt.”
The problem with the Pharisee’s
prayer is that it contradicts reality. What he says is not really the case. Not
that the Pharisee was lying about his twice-weekly fasting and his tithing of
all income; that was very much true. But the reality is that the Pharisee is
like the other men in the temple court: he is like the extortioners, the
unjust, the adulterers, and the tax collector. There is no difference between
them when it comes to the demands of the Lord’s
Law. It is the truth expressed in the Epistle Reading for Reformation Day that
will be read this afternoon: “all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
But the Pharisee completely
misses this truth about himself. For that reason his prayer is not regarded by
the Lord. It is rejected, just as
the Lord had no regard for Cain
and his offering. This is why Jesus says that the Pharisee does not go home
from the Temple justified. No, he returns back to his house without receiving
what the Lord desires to give:
forgiveness, life, and salvation. He goes home empty-handed, as Jesus declares:
“For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled.”
Self-exalting is not the case
for the tax collector. He knows the truth about himself in light of the Lord’s Law: he is a sinner. He takes no
pride in that reality. And he doesn’t try to create a fiction that will
overlook what is true. You heard how he prayed: “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his
eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”
The ugliness of the situation is put forward before the Lord’s face. It is not hidden. The tax collector does not
plead ignorance about what he had done to anger the Lord like Cain did when confronted by it. No, the tax
collector speaks the plain truth about himself, even though he is nearly too
ashamed to say it.
But note what else is present in
the tax collector’s prayer: he believes that God has the remedy to his guilt.
The tax collector acknowledges his sin. He faces that truth head on, not
concealing any of it. He believes what God has disclosed about his offenses.
But he also knows the truth about God. He believes what God had disclosed about
divine mercy and compassion. The tax collector is relying on the statements
that the Lord had spoken
concerning Himself, about the forgiveness, life, and salvation that He wishes
to bestow on sinners. So the tax collector places himself completely in the Lord’s hands. In essence, he says to the
Lord: “Do with me as You please.
But I know what You have said is pleasing to You: to show mercy and steadfast
love.” And what does Jesus say about this tax collector: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified…. The one who humbles
himself will be exalted.”
That is what Jesus wants you to
know. His parable is a warning against any thoughts that you may have to rank
yourself better than others. His parable is also a direct shot against belief
that you have established a right relationship with God. Such thinking is not
reality; it is a delusional fiction. You have broken the Lord’s Law. You have been extortioners,
unjust, adulterers. If those haven’t been your particular sins, pick another of
the commandments and evaluate whether you have actually kept them. Will you
dare to place before the Lord’s
presence a statement that you have never misused His name, never neglected His
Word, never felt contempt toward His representatives, never harmed anyone
physically, or never spoken uncharitably about another person? If that is the
case, Jesus has a message for you: “You will not return home from here justified.
Your self-exalting will bring you a divine humbling, especially when I appear at
the Last Day.” It is a warning rooted in what was prayed from the Psalter: “The boastful shall not stand before Your
eyes; You hate all evildoers.”
Jesus’ parable also warns against
making such thinking part of your behavior toward other individuals. Not only
is such self-aggrandizing not to be brought before the Lord’s presence, it is also not to be shoved in the face of
others. Remember that the Pharisee’s prayer was not only uttered for the Lord to hear, he also desired that those
around him could listen in. Such boasting is not to be found among the prayers
or conversations of the Lord’s
people.
But this need not be the case
for you. Each time you have sinned, the Lord’s
Law has challenged you. It is a confrontation like the Lord had with Cain: “What
have you done?” That divine question is meant to elicit the truth of the
matter: “I have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed. I have sinned by
what I have done and by what I have left undone.” And the truth about the Lord is to be declared: “You are not a God who delights in
wickedness; evil may not dwell with You.”
Yet, you have a prayer to utter.
That prayer is rooted in the truth about yourself and the truth about the Lord: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” The tax collector’s words shall
be your own. Those words acknowledge that you are in the Lord’s presence now because of His
favor. You stand before Him because He has not considered you according to your
faults and failures. He actually views you in light of what Jesus has done for
your benefit—the great expression of divine steadfast love shown in His
propitiating sacrifice offered for you. That is at the heart of your prayer, as
you can say with the Psalmist: “Through
the abundance of Your steadfast love, I will enter Your house. I will bow down
toward Your holy temple in the fear of You.”
So your prayer for divine mercy
is spoken. So is your confession of faith in what the Lord has done for you, so that you can stand in His
presence. Those are words that can be spoken aloud for all to hear. You can
kneel with all the others in this room and say: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” You can stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with your fellow believers and pray the Creed that
confesses the truth about the Lord’s
identity and work. What Paul wrote to Timothy can become your words that you
can openly say: “There is laid up for me
the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to
me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing….
The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His
heavenly kingdom.”
Such words do not boast in what you
have done, but in what the Lord
has done and will do for you. They are words that do not exalt yourselves. No,
they are words that express helplessness and dependence, but that also state
trust in where your remedy and support is found. And to those prayers, the Lord has but one response for you: “You
will go home justified. You have humbled yourselves, but I will lift you up
forever.”
+ In the Name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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