Sermon: Trinity 11 - 2019

1 September 2019

Text: Luke 18:9-14

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Some of our Lord’s parables are a little hard to understand.  This one isn’t.  This is a straightforward comparison of two ways of life, two approaches to faith, two different worldviews.  The first one is the obvious one.  It makes the most sense.  But to hear Jesus tell the story, it sounds awful.  And it is.

The second approach is not what we would consider to be the most natural approach to faith and life – but Jesus explains it in such a way that we can make sense of it.

The first approach to Christianity, and to religion in general, is the belief that salvation is based on good works.  And there is some underlying truth to this.  For if you live a perfect life, without sin, and you rack up a lot of good works, you will have salvation by virtue of being perfect.  And of course, since we aren’t perfect, we have to make a case.  We have to convince ourselves.  We have to create a network of loopholes.  And then we have to somehow convince God.

But it just never really works.  Why?  Because we are broken and sinful even from our conception.  We have inherited our mortal, sinful state.  And we are not capable of living a perfect life no matter what.  So the best we can do is to fake it.

Here we see the example of the Pharisee in our Lord’s story.  Now just so you know, Pharisees were very religious people.  They always went to temple.  They followed the rules.  They went way above and beyond what was expected.  They were the type of people who became pastors and elders and members of committees.  They gave generously, and were always seen at worship and other expected functions.  But, as Jesus said, they “trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.”

So one day, a Pharisee “went up to the temple to pray.”  And, “standing by himself,” he prayed: “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.”  Amen.

That’s the Pharisee’s prayer.  It sounds more like a resume or a job interview.  It sounds like he is making a case for God to open the gates of glory to him.  And it sounds like he is doing God a favor to allow him to increase the property values in heaven.  Why, God should practically be begging this great and noble man to join him for eternity.

But as Jesus said, his trust is in himself, in his own righteousness.  There is a lot of detail about himself that he is not putting on his resume.  His contempt for other people (demonstrated in his “thanking” of God for making him ‘better’ than the tax collector), his wicked thoughts, his overlooked evil deeds, and the original sin that he has inherited.

There is no confession of sin, because our Pharisee thinks that he has no sin to confess.  He is actually better at confessing the sins of others.  And yes, I hear confessions like that.

And when you look at him through this lens, suddenly our bright shining star kind of looks like a dud.

“But the tax collector,” says Jesus, is different.  He represents a radically different approach to how we human beings relate to God.  And just so that you know, tax collectors were really, really hated in first century Jewish culture.  They were shunned.  They were seen as traitors and thieves – and often they were.  

But listen to our tax collector’s prayer, offered while he was “standing far off.”  He “would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”

Our tax collector also shows up at the interview with a resume.  He does not boast of tithing or fasting or comparing himself to others to look good.  Instead, he “beats his breast” (which is a gesture of humility) and he offers his sinfulness – but he offers something else: his desire to be forgiven.  He prays to God to be “merciful.”

So, dear brothers and sisters, which character is authentic?  Which one is telling the truth?  Which one actually asks for something of God in his prayer?  Which one should we emulate?  Which one is pleasing to God?  Which one “went down to his house justified?” is the question our Lord asks.

For remember, the Pharisee sought to justify himself.  Did he succeed?  Can you ever justify yourself?  Do your good works even begin to cover for your sins?  

Our Lord asks his listeners – which includes us – which man went home justified?  Which one of the two had the heavens opened to him?  Jesus tells us that it is “this man,” the tax collector.  Any person who is honest with himself already knows the answer.  And just in case you need a hint, our merciful Lord even provides one:

“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

So what does this humbling and exalting look like for us in our world?  

If you look down on other people who don’t attend church as much as you, or who don’t serve on boards, or who don’t work around the church, or don’t give as much money as you, or don’t participate in the activities of the church as much as you do, and if you think you are more righteous before God for any of these reasons – congratulations, you are the Pharisee in the story.

If you think that God would never send you, your friends, or your family to hell because you’re a good person, or your kids are good kids, or your friends are morally upright; if you judge yourself to be a good person because you have never killed anyone or robbed a bank – you are also the Pharisee in the story.

If you think you’re good to skip few church services because you’ve already got a good number in, or if you think you don’t need to go to Bible class because you “get enough religion already,” and if you think God is impressed by this – you are also the Pharisee.

If you think even for a moment that God is so lucky and must be thrilled to have you on His side, in His church, doing His work – well, you know exactly what this means.

But, dear friends, even though we all have an inner Pharisee begging for attention, we also have the Ten Commandments that smack us right back into reality.  We have sinned against God in thought, word, and deed.  We are “poor miserable sinners.”  Our prayer is not “Hey God, check out my resume!” but rather, “O dear God, look at my resume, and be merciful to me, a sinner.”

We began this Divine Service by confessing together, each one of us, that we are poor miserable sinners.  In the nighttime service known as Compline (LSB page 253), we pray, “I have sinned in thought, word, and deed, by my fault, by my own fault, by my own most grievous fault,” and it is customary to touch your fist to your heart three times.

Who does this sound like, dear friends?  

In our humility and brokenness, the Lord exalts us and makes us whole.  In our emptiness, we are filled.  In our sickness and mortality, we are healed and given everlasting life.  That is why the tax collector prays, “be merciful,” and that is why we pray, “Lord, have mercy.”

And so when we come to our Lord in His Divine Service, where He is present to forgive our sins, and we do so with a contrite and humble heart, begging for mercy, who goes to his home justified?  We do, dear friends.  For we are justified by His mercy alone.  Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.