The Church Season of Trinity
The
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland,
MI (August 19, 2012)
Readings: Psalm 50:7-23
Genesis 4:1-15
Ephesians 2:1-10
Luke 18:9-14
+++INI+++
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from
the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen
The text for
today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 18th chapter of
St. Luke, especially the following verse:
[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in
themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the
temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 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. 12 I fast twice a week; I
give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 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!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather
than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one
who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The parable of the Pharisee and the
Tax Collector. This parable is told about a snapshot of time, in fact a single
moment in time, and a parable is fiction. Jesus makes the characters so that a
clear example is given. The Pharisee is bold and egotistical and proud. The Tax
Collector is excruciatingly humble and repentant. And this parable is a
snapshot of when both are near to each other. There were a lot differences
between the two men, but we want to look at the important difference, the one
that separated the two of them as they stood before God.
One man appeared to be well off,
well-blessed, and the other, not so much. One man was religious, and the other,
not so much. One man felt good about himself, and the other man did not. One
man behaved the right way, day in and day out, and the other was doing
something despicable in the eyes of his community. Both men were confident, but
in different ways.
And Jesus gives the difference away
in the introduction, "And [Jesus] also told this parable to
certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed
others with contempt". The important difference was in the
attitude of the men. One man was proud of himself, and the other was ashamed.
One man thought that surely he was the kind of guy that God would find
appealing, and the other man was just hoping, without a lot of hope, that God
would forgive him and be merciful. To sum it up in one word, the difference was
humility. One man had it, and the other did not.
Jesus said, "I tell you, this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts
himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted."
Note what Jesus does not say, He does not say that the life-choices of the Tax
collector were right, or decent, or pleasing to God, nor that the obedience to
the Law of Moses by the Pharisee was somehow displeasing to God. In fact, Jesus
didn’t refer to the behaviors and life-records of either man. He spoke only
about their attitude, how they approached God, and how they stood before God as
a result of that. This is important for those people who think that they are
going to be "good" and "holy", and that by being
well-behaved they will please God and win blessings or salvation. Walking the
walk is not in-and-of-itself God pleasing.
But humility and repentance is God pleasing.
People who come to God in humility are repentant because they know that they
have sinned and that they don’t deserve any good thing from God. They don't
come bragging and they don't come demanding. God is handing out forgiveness to
people who don’t deserve it.
Contrast that to the Pharisee who
says he’s not like other people, and believes he is something special. He knows
everything and who all the sinners are. In
other words he states, “Look there God at all those horrible people, aren’t you
glad you don’t have to use up any of that forgiveness stuff on me?”
But thank God we wouldn’t talk about
other people like that. Thank God we have
never expressed it the way that Pharisee did.
Have you ever seen those people
fleeing their homes on TV? You know the ones, running from the disaster, the
typhoon, or the flood, or the fires, or the civil war in their country? When
you see that, do you ever ask, "Why did this happen? Why did it happen to
them?" and then said, “Oh dear God, why didn’t this happen to me?”
Well, of course not! When it happens
to other people, we don't need a reason. But when it happens to us, it must
have some cosmic meaning, which really means that we consider ourselves
something extraordinary. Thank God we’re not like other people! Bad things
should not happen to us!
Do you remember the question that’s
always asked when some big disaster or calamity happens? The one that goes, “Why do bad things happen
to good people?” But in reality they
should say why do good things happen to bad people, that is sinners, that means
all of us? We think we don’t deserve
anything bad to happens to us, but we have all sinned against God, and man, and
deserve to be punished.
It really isn't fair, but what it
is, is grace. We don't get what we deserve. Instead of God’s wrath we get
forgiveness of sins, because Jesus died for us. We get blessings because it
suits God to give them.
Do we always give thanks for all we
get? Not really. When you read a news story about someone enduring heartache or
trouble, you should be moved to give thanks for your continued blessing and
good. And you should be moved to pray also for those who suffer such troubles.
We come before God as beggars. We
are sinful, and ungrateful for the good that we receive. We might be thankful
for some new good, something we have long-desired, or never had before, but we
often forget about those good things we enjoy every day. We take them for
granted - and then complain bitterly if they should be gone, even temporarily.
But we don't deserve them. They are gifts and blessings, not court-ordered
support payments!
Part of the
humility is repentance. We have so much to repent of, including our
thanklessness.
We can take, take, take, and forget
to give thanks. We hold others to standards we cannot hope to achieve - or
maintain, if we do achieve them. We do things just to please ourselves without
thinking about how it affects others. In short, we sin - by attitude, by word,
and by action. When we come to understand that we are very much similar to the
Publican in character and not as much like the Pharisee as we would like to
think, we need then to be more like the Publican in how we come before God and
less like the Pharisee. We need to be humble and repentant.
If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
No, we are sinners. But if we confess
our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sins and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. That means that if we humble ourselves and
repent, we, too will hear the judgment of Jesus, "this man went down to his house justified".
Unlike the parable, your life is not
a snapshot. It is more a moving picture! You can be humble today and proud
tomorrow - or vice-versa. This humility and repentance is not supposed to be
merely a momentary thing. It is to be your life-style, an on-going attitude
with which you approach things and people and situations. That is why, for
example, Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice
always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will
for you in Christ Jesus.” This is to be an on-going state of being,
not just a momentary thing that happens in you.
No one can do this perfectly. No one
except Jesus, which is why He did it for you and then died for your failure to
do so. Your sins are forgiven. Your blessings are all gift. Your life is His
gift to you, and His creation to use for His holy purposes. So, rejoice, and
give thanks, and remember who you are, and who is God in this picture called
"life". Do not let the good things and blessings and fun stuff
confuse you or make you think you are something that you are not.
It is by God's gift and God's will,
because Jesus paid for your sins and mine. If you do well, or righteously, know
that Jesus is working good things through you. If you do sin, repent, and hear
the words of forgiveness and grace that Jesus speaks to you in the absolution,
and, indeed, in every word of the Gospel.
Your humility does not earn your
salvation, but it does show a right understanding of where salvation comes from
and why. Salvation comes from God it is
because He so loved you He sent His Son to die for you. Your humbleness shows that your faith is
properly seated in God’s grace. That, my friends is the important difference for you.
Amen.
+++SDG+++
