I. Introduction What is Lent? March 13, 2011 Luke 18:9-14 Since last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday the first day of Lent it seemed appropriate to take a break from Matthew and talk about Lent this morning. If you have spent much time in liturgical churches you know more about Lent than those who have spent their time in non-liturgical churches like Baptist churches. You see, following the Reformation in the 16 th Century, many of the Protestant churches wanted nothing to do with the practices of the Catholic Church and, for that reason, made a conscience effort to NOT do anything that they did. This included NOT observing Advent or Lent or many other church calendar celebrations. Over the years though, some churches have decided that, to use an old idiom, they had thrown out the baby with the bathwater. In other words, it would do our hearts and minds good to prepare for the birth of our Lord and Savior and celebrate Advent. And if it is good to prepare for Christ s advent, it would seem to be even better to prepare for the central event of our Christian lives Jesus death and resurrection. This is the purpose of the Lenten Season: to focus on the suffering, the death, and the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and what it means to us. Because Jesus died and paid for our sins, we can have eternal life. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we too will rise and enjoy heaven forever. The word lent means lengthen and stands for that time in spring when the days grow longer. The original period of Lent was 40 hours. It was spent fasting and meditating to commemorate the suffering of Christ and the 40 hours He spent in the tomb. In the 3 rd Century, Lent was lengthened to 6 days. And about 800 AD Lent was changed to 40 days to correspond with Christ s 40 days in the wilderness. Since Sundays were already days set aside to remember Christ s sacrifice and love, they were not part of the 40 days of Lent. Now for many, Lent is a time for penitence and discipline, a time for special prayer, spiritual renewal and growth. So what should we do about Lent? How should we celebrate it? Should we even mention it? What is it really all about? We can find the answers in this parable that Jesus told about two opposite people one who said, There s nothing wrong with me, and one who said, There s everything wrong with me. As we consider these two people, we will learn what Lent really is and what it means to us today. So let s look at the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. II. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector A. First, we see the two who prayed. Jesus told this story to people who thought they were better than others and who looked down on everyone else people that were full of pride. Jesus said, Two 1
men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Remember, much as we may malign them, the Pharisees were the people who lived good, clean lives. They were the upstanding, religious people of the day. People looked up to them because of all they did and didn t do as they practiced their religion. On the other hand, the tax collectors were people who swindled and intimidated others out of their money. They were the lackeys for the hated Romans and, for that reason, they were hated by everyone. But God loves all sinners, so both the Pharisee and the tax collector came to the temple to the church to pray. Jesus then tells us the 2 prayers. B. The two prayers 1. The Pharisee s prayer - First, we see the Pharisee s prayer. Jesus said, The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men robbers, evildoers, adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. Basically he prayed, I thank you, God, that there s nothing wrong with me. Maybe he was right. He was a good citizen. He obeyed the law. He lived a moral and upright life. He even did the religious things you re supposed to do and more. From his income and anything else that came to him, he gave 10% to the church. Although it was only required once a year, he even fasted twice a week. In his eyes and those around him, there wasn t much wrong with him. 2. The Tax Collector s prayer - Jesus then turned to the tax collector. He had been stealing money from people his whole life ruining the lives of others so that he could live it up. He knew that his whole life had been filled with sin and that he deserved to go to hell when he died. Jesus said that the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn t even walk up to the front of the temple. He was so ashamed of his sins that he would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. His prayer was the opposite of the Pharisee s prayer. Basically he prayed, God there s everything wrong with me. Help me. C. The Results - After reporting the prayers, Jesus then tells us the results. He said, This man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Jesus said that the sinful tax collector was the one that was forgiven by God and not the perfect Pharisee. Peter put it this way in 1 Peter 5:6, Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. The Pharisee was proud; he looked down on others and exalted himself. He felt that he had nothing to be sorry for. But the tax collector was humble, sorry for his sins and because of this, he was forgiven. Is Jesus saying that you earn the forgiveness of sins by being humble? Or putting it another way, is Jesus saying that the tax collector deserved to be forgiven because he was so humble? 2
Of course not! If that is why God forgives you, then your salvation would be completely dependent on you and your level of humility. Then you could never be sure if you ve been forgiven by God or not, because you would never know if you have been humble enough for God to forgive you. In reality, neither the Pharisee not the tax collector deserved God s forgiveness. The Pharisee didn t because he was conceited and self-righteous. He thought he was better than everybody else. In his pride he thought he was perfect. The tax collector didn t deserve God s forgiveness because of the terrible life he led. Neither one deserved to be forgiven by God. As Romans 3:23 says, All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Nothing a person can do can compel God to forgive him; God forgives people out of His love and His mercy for them. Romans 5:8 says, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God forgives people because Jesus Christ has taken away the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). Because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, God offers forgiveness to all. As Romans 6:23 says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. In this parable, God offered forgiveness to both the Pharisee and the tax collector. But only the tax collector received God s forgiveness. In His mercy, God chooses to forgive only those who humble themselves before Him those who stand before God and say, There s everything wrong with me. Lord, have mercy on me. I am a sinner. Those humble people who recognize their sin and recognize their need for God s help are the people who receive God s forgiveness. Not because they re earning it by groveling but because God shows undeserved love to all who are humble and sorry for their sins. III. What is Lent? So what is Lent? The humble tax collector is a picture of Lent. The proud Pharisee is the opposite of Lent. For many people and many churches, the Lenten season Lent is a time of selfdenial, a time for penitence and discipline. Many people approach Lent this way: Maybe I will give up something for Lent. Maybe I won t watch my favorite TV show during Lent. Or maybe I won t eat chocolate during Lent. Or maybe I ll give up my favorite CD for Lent. Or, this year s most common choice, maybe I ll give up Facebook for Lent. Like the Pharisee they just are saying, Look at how religious I am. God will be extra happy with me as I refrain from watching TV or eating chocolates or listening to a favorite CD or using Facebook. This isn t what Lent is A. Lent is a time to consciously examine your own heart. Please turn to 2 Corinthians 13:5-6. In 1 Corinthians 11:28 Paul writes that A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. Self examination is important. Self-denial is important. But Jesus isn t concerned 3
with TV or chocolates or CD s or Facebook. He s concerned about what is going on in your heart. Like the quiet time during our celebration of the Lord s Table, Lent is a special time to consciously make this examination. It is a time to uncover those things that are sins in your life sins that you see through honest self-examination. But Lent isn t just a time to look for sin in your life B. Lent is a time to give up sin. It is a time to give up the sin of hypocrisy acting like a Christian on the outside, but being proud and self-centered on the inside. It is the time to give up the sin of deception acting like a Christian on Sundays, but acting like an unbeliever the rest of the week. It is the time to give up the sin of being lethargic saying something like: Someday I ll get my act together spiritually. Right now, though, I m just too busy focusing on everything except God. What is Lent? Lent is the man who stood in the back of the temple and looked down at the ground and prayed, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner. Listen to these familiar words from Romans, beginning at Romans 11:33 and reading through Romans 12:2. Today I am reading from the New Living Translation. Lent is a time for us to be like the tax collector. It is a time to give up our sinful habits our sinful attitudes. It is the time to stand before God and, humbly, ask Him to forgive us, to wash our sins away, and to give us the strength to turn away from our sinful past and to live new lives that are dedicated to God as a living, holy sacrifice. C. Lent is a time to give up guilty feelings. After we have confessed our sins to God and, with His strength, turned away from them, Lent is also a time to give up our guilty feelings. In 1 John 1:9 the Apostle John wrote, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. In Psalm 103:12 we are told that as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. God doesn t just forgive just 1 or 2 sins, but He forgives all sins! As John wrote earlier in 1 John 1:7, The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. Just like the tax collector who walked home justified before God, you can walk away knowing that you have been totally forgiven. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. D. Lent is an attitude. What is Lent? It is an attitude of honesty and humility as you honestly examine yourself and confess your sins to God. It is also an attitude of relief and joy. Your sins have been forgiven; not through anything you have done, but through the blood of Jesus Christ that was given in love for you. E. Lent is to remind us to tell others. There is one more purpose of Lent to remind us that we must tell others about the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). Turn to Romans 10:13-14. You know about the love of God. You know what Jesus did on the cross. You know that, as Romans 10:9 says, if a person doesn t make Jesus his Lord and Savior, he will spend eternity in hell. So now it s up to you to go and tell the world. You are an ambassador for Christ. 4
IV. Conclusion If people want to temporarily give up certain things for Lent as a sign of love for their Savior, that s fine. But what is really important what Christ is really concerned about is what s in your heart. As God told Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7, The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. As we have been studying the Book of Matthew especially chapters 26 & 27 we have seen how serious and terrible our sins are. They led to the death of the sinless Son of God on a cross in our place. But at the same time we have seen the depth of Jesus love for us in what He went through for our sakes. But Jesus life didn t end at the cross and in a tomb. The tomb is empty. Jesus rose from the dead to prove that all of your sins can be forgiven. These next 6 weeks Lent is a time for you to look deep into your heart, to think about your life and how you ve lived it. What sins are you going to give up for Lent and for the rest of your life? Jesus will forgive those sins and wash them away at the cross. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God said that if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. It s up to you. The ball s in your court. What is Lent going to be for you? How are you showing Jesus that you love Him? 5