Pharisee or Tax Collector?
Luke 18:9-14
August 11, 2024 anno Domini
God, I thank you that I am not like that Republican over there, or that Democrat, that Somalian, or those drivers in Saint Cloud who don’t use acceleration lanes and haven’t figured out roundabouts. I thank you God that I’m on the right side of politics, that I’ve never cut anyone off in traffic or never looked at my cell phone while driving. I thank you God that I was born in this country. I thank you God that I’m not like other people.
You thought you were the tax collector. You thought the sermon would rail on all those Pharisees over there. You could have gone home satisfied with yourself, “God I thank you that I’m not like all those terrible people Pastor Timm preached about in his sermon.”
Your greatest desire in life can be summed up by two words in the text:“righteous” and “justified.” There’s something telling in those words – both of them require other people. You desire the approval of others. You want someone’s affirmation that you’re doing the right thing, that your actions are justified. When you are not who you want to be, when you do what you know is ungodly, what do you do? You justify your actions, your behavior, even your sins, before others and before God. You want others to acknowledge you’re right, your justified.
Learn from Cain and Abel. Their respective offerings stand in contrast. Cain brings “an” offering, nothing specific about the offering, just an offering of fruit from the ground. Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. Cain brought some tomatoes that were too ripe for the Farmer’s Market. Abel brought the choicest lamb that would have fetched the best price. Abel trusted God to provide. Cain did not. God had regard for Abel’s offering, but not for Cain’s. Cain was angry with God and with his brother. He should have been angry at himself. He’s the one who cheaped out on his offering, but he wants to be right. He wants to justify his selfishness.
What must you do to justify yourself? To appear righteous when you are not? You must put others down. Don’t repent. Destroy. Don’t confess. Condemn. Cain even tries to justify himself before God. Where is your brother Cain? “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” It’s not my fault he got murdered. He should look out for himself. God, if you would have accepted my offering, I would not have gotten angry and murdered my brother. I can’t help myself. It’s God’s fault. It’s Abel’s fault.
Learn that self-justification will leave you very much alone. Cain was left to wander the earth. He had no permanent home. He killed his brother and was separated from his mother and father. The son in whom Eve put so much hope and for whom she gave thanks to the Lord was lost.
Learn from the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Like Cain and Abel they also brought completely different offerings to the Lord. The Pharisee brought himself, his own righteousness. He stood by himself because he couldn’t stand other people. Five times in his offering of thanks he offers himself. I thank you that I am not like other men… like this tax collector, I fast, I give tithes of all I get. Can you imagine someone who is healthy taking comfort in those who are sick? Or a soldier who survived battle boasting that he is better than his brothers are died? Finding worth in yourself because others are less or worse than you? You can, because you’ve done it.
The Tax Collector offered his sins. That is the highest worship you can ever give to God – to seek His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. The tax collector stood afar off. He had no right to be in God’s house, no right to walk boldly into God’s presence. Jews typically prayed looking up to heaven. I’m sure the Pharisee looked right into God’s eye as he said all those “I”s. The tax collector was ashamed. He couldn’t look up. He beat his breast. He and he alone had sinned, and he knew he had no place in the temple. He had no place before God, and no place before men. He was a thief and a traitor to his people, but somewhere, from someone he had heard that God is compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. The God of the Bible is not like other gods. He’s not from around here.
The tax collector brought his sins and sought forgiveness, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” There’s something you cannot see in the tax collector’s prayer. He doesn’t use the common word for mercy, like the rich man calling to Father Abraham or the Lepers calling to Jesus. That word you might know from the liturgy, eleison – Kyrie (Lord), eleison (have mercy.) The Word the tax collector used is tied to the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. In front of that mercy seat the High Priest sprinkled blood to atone for sin. This Word is so rich that there is debate on the best word for translation – atone me, expiate me, propitiate me. In some sense the tax collector is saying, “God, shed blood for my sins.” God, my only hope is that you offer some other life for mine, because my sins demand my death. Shed blood that my sins might be taken away. Shed blood that my shame and guilt might be covered. The tax collector is praying for Jesus to die on the cross, although he probably doesn’t know it.
You have two options when you come to worship. You can either be god or you can ask God to be your God. You can either exalt yourself by putting down everyone else, or you can humble yourself and trust that God will be the God He says He is – the God who forgives sins. You can either justify yourself which won’t fool God, and you can be justified by Him by the folly of Christ and Him crucified.
If you choose to be god you will live alone. You will make your own laws, define your own words, and put down anyone who disagrees with you. You will be full of pride and pride doesn’t make friends. It makes enemies and co-conspirators.
So, resign from being God, instead be human. Come like the tax collector, dependent on God, insisting that God be Who He promised to be. Depend on the sprinkled blood of Jesus to wash away your sins. Depend on the blood of Christ to cover you with a righteousness not your own, but the righteousness of Him who died and rose again. Let God exalt you in Christ and seat you at His table and send you home justified. Let Him take you from death to life, from loneliness to the communion of saints. Let Him cure you of pride so that you can hear His Word, love what He commands, and show mercy to others who sin.
Peter was all alone after the death of Jesus. On the night Jesus was betrayed he had boasted and put himself ahead of all his brothers. “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” (Mark 14:29) Yet fall away he did. God brought down the mighty Peter from his throne. Three times he denied he knew Jesus even calling down curses upon himself. God humbled him and then God exalted him. When Jesus rose from the dead he appeared first to Cephas, that is Peter.
That’s the God we worship. The God who would not leave you alone, the God who would not leave you in sin. The God who will humble you in your pride so He can lift you up with His forgiveness. The God who will shed His own blood so your life can be spared. The God who settles the solitary, the selfish, you, in a home – His humble and glorious home. In the name of Jesus. Amen.