Proper 25 C
Faith in ?
St. Luke 18:9-17
23 October 2016 – Redeemer
“When the son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” That’s the question that Jesus asks right before the text. By the way He asks it you almost think the answer will be, “No, he won’t.” Things are going so bad for Jesus that He won’t find faith when He returns. Jesus answers His own question with the parable of the text. Yes, the Son of Man will find faith, but not where you would expect.
If you were standing in the Temple the day Jesus describes in that parable you would be quite certain who had faith. There stood the Pharisee – the very word Pharisee means someone who has set himself apart and the Pharisees certainly set themselves apart. They dressed differently – fine robes, everything in its place. You could tell this Pharisee didn’t buy his clothes off the rack at Target. He acted differently. He had his own set of rules, but they were good rules. Every week he put 10% of his gross income into the offering plate – not the leftovers, not $5 because he spent his last twenty on beer for the Vikings game, not half of what his last meal out cost him, 10% of everything he made. He worked hard, watched his language, made it to the Temple every week, and regularly practiced saying “no” to himself through fasting. Anyone looking at a Pharisee wished more people were like the Pharisees. You would love to live next door to Pharisee. A Pharisee would make a great president.
Jesus tells us the Pharisee “stood by himself” – that likely means he stood where everyone could see him, and certainly where everyone could hear his prayer. In the temple of Jesus’ day there weren’t silent prayers – people prayed out loud. So he prayed loudly and clearly, “God, I thank you.” So far so good. It is good, right, and salutary that we should give thanks to God. “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 had faith alright. He had great faith. His prayer was a confession of that faith – whatever a man believes in his heart, he confesses with his lips. What did the Pharisee confess? In whom was his faith? All you have to do is count the words – what word appears most in his prayer? “I” – five times. The subject of his faith was himself, his works, his deeds, his life compared to the lives of others. The other way to test the substance of a person’s faith is to ask the question, “Who’s doing the work in your faith?” Here again the Pharisee’s prayer leaves no doubt. He is doing the work. He does not sin like other men. He is content with what he has. He deals fairly with his neighbors. He hasn’t cheated on his wife. And He doesn’t work for the government.
Probably at the opposite end of the temple, you would see another man whom you would doubt has any faith at all. You might even wonder, ‘What the ____ is he doing here?” He too stands apart, but for a different reason. He “stood far off” because he didn’t want to be seen. He knew what everyone thought of him – He worked for the government, and not just any government, but the Roman government, the oppressors of God’s people. He contracted with them to collect taxes. As long as he filled his quota with Rome they didn’t care how much he collected. So the tax collectors were notorious cheats and thieves. They made the IRS look like a charitable institution. Everyone thought the worst of him, except no one thought worse of him than he did.
He too prayed out loud, but probably not too loud. He didn’t need everyone to hear his prayer. He only needed the Lord to hear, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” The word “be merciful” that the tax collector used is a rich word. It is a word tied to sacrifice and payment. It literally means “propitiate” me – pay the price for me Lord. Atone for my sins, O God. Who was the subject of this man’s faith? God Himself. Who was doing the work in this tax collector’s faith? It certainly wasn’t the tax collector – he was a sinner. He looked to God for mercy. For he knew in his sins against his neighbors he had sinned against God Himself.
So which man had faith? Well, they both had faith. Everyone in the world has faith in something or someone. The surprise comes in Jesus’ revelation of the parable – I tell you, [the tax collector] went down to his house justified, rather than the [Pharisee]. The tax collector goes home right with God, forgiven, absolved, propitiated. The debt of his sins was cancelled.
How can this be? A good man is not good in God’s eyes and a crooked IRS agent goes home righteous? How can this be? The difference between these two men is Jesus. Jesus is the only way that God has given to be righteous, to be forgiven. That’s good news for you because you cannot do it. You aren’t as good as that Pharisee. When you look down your pew could you honestly say, “God I thank you that I’m not like the other people sitting here?” That Pharisee was better than most – but better doesn’t save. Good doesn’t save. Jesus saves because our sin is not simply a few shortcomings here and there.
Our sin has corrupted our very nature and person. Look at how bad it went for Adam and Eve’s boys – Cain killed his brother Abel. Sin is so severe and so deep, that God alone could make it right and thanks be to God! He accomplished righteousness, our justification in Jesus. God the Son took on human flesh, took on our nature, assumed a human body and soul, and then He made things right. He never sinned. Jesus wasn’t better by comparison to other sinners. He was perfect when compared to the Commandments. He fulfilled the Law completely. Then bearing our sin – Jesus paid the price of death for us at the cross. The writer of Hebrews says it like this, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17) Jesus is the answer to the tax collectors prayer. He was propitiated, mercied, declared right with God by the death of Jesus Christ on that cross outside Jerusalem.
That’s why little children serve as Jesus’ own illustration of faith. People brought infants to Jesus to have him touch them. What were those parents thinking? They were thinking that their babies couldn’t really do anything. That’s sort of the nature of being a baby – helpless, dependent, needing to be carried, fed. Babies are really good at receiving. What were those parents thinking? They believed that Jesus by His touch could bless their children. Their children couldn’t do anything, but Jesus could. Jesus, all by Himself, could touch, bless, and bestow His gifts. “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” So it is for you – that’s the faith that will send you home today justified, the faith that delivers all of Christ’s gifts – the faith that forgives all your sins, grants you life everlasting, that guarantees the resurrection of your body when the Son of Man returns. It’s not faith in you. It’s not faith in me. It’s the faith that confesses, trusts, and clings to the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
22 October 2016 anno Domini