Meditation: Trinity 11 – 2023

20 Aug 2023

Text: Luke 18:9-14 (Gen 4:1-15, 1 Cor 15:1-10)

Note: This was read by the Deacon

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Cain killed Abel out of jealousy.  They had both made offerings to the Lord, and “the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard.”  Cain became enraged in his envy, and so he murdered his brother. 

God accepted Abel’s offering because it was offered “by faith,” as the author of Hebrews tells us.  We see this play out again in today’s Gospel, in which our Lord tells us the story of two other men: one a tax collector, and one a Pharisee.  They both make an offering of their prayers to God from the temple.

And it is important to understand that the Pharisees were looked up to, and the tax collectors were hated.  The Pharisees were devout and religious, and the tax collectors were thieves.  The Pharisees were respected men of the nation, and the tax collectors were seen as traitors.

The Pharisee in the story stands “by himself,” and he prays a prayer giving praise to himself: “I thank you that I am not like other men.”  He mentions the tax collector nearby, and points him out to God as an example of someone he is not like.  For unlike most people, the Pharisee fasts twice as often as usual, and gives massive donations of money to the temple.  And that’s it.  That is his prayer.

On the other hand, the tax collector stands far off, too humble and ashamed of his behavior to “even lift up his eyes to heaven.”  He does not praise himself, but rather asks for God’s mercy, calling himself “a sinner.” 

“I tell you,” says Jesus, “this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.”  So like Cain and Abel, we see two men, two sacrifices, one accepted, one rejected.  And the one who was accepted and declared righteous by God was the sinner – not the guy who fasts and gives money.  The one who was rejected was the Pharisee.  And why this was, we can figure out from St. Luke’s introduction: “[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.”

And it was the Pharisees – in cooperation with other groups – who murdered  Jesus out of jealousy, men whose sacrifice was not accepted: men who trusted in their works and looked down on others.

But Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by the Lord.  And His sacrifice covers the sins of the real tax collectors who repented, as well as the sins of the entire world.  And God applies this sacrifice to us, dear friends, when we receive this gift of grace by faith, when we believe that this sacrifice applies to us.  And when we realize that we are saved by the blood of the Lamb, there is no place for us to boast – like the Pharisee.  We are unworthy recipients of a gift – like the tax collector. 

This is the Good News that we heard from St. Paul, “by which [we] are  being saved.”  And like St. Paul, we confess: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.”  For “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.”  And  what is important is that Christ’s sacrifice has been accepted, and that God has regard for us.  Thank be to God!  Amen.

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