How Do We Approach God? October 16, 2016 Luke 8:9-14 Matt Rawlings

1 How Do We Approach God? October 16, 2016 Luke 8:9-14 Matt Rawlings Thank those who care for and instruct our children. We are grateful that our children are not only kept safe but that they are taught about God. Our kids are our future and it is critical that we instruct them about who God is and who they are if we hope for them to know God, to love God and to serve God as adults. My most desperate prayer is that my children would know and love God with all that they are and I am grateful for all the GraceKids teachers and helpers who come alongside us as parents and help point my children to their need for God and to the mercy and grace of God. Turn in your Bibles to Luke 18, but before we read the Scripture, I want to share something with you. Over the past few years, there has been a lot more press coverage on issues related to the devastating crime of human trafficking. It has also come to light that hundreds, if not thousands of children in our own country are victims of human trafficking as well. The people who traffic them use threats, intimidation, gross manipulation, and extreme violence, to control and force children to do their bidding. It is a life of sheer torment for children and I can t think of someone much worse than a person who deals in this modern slave trade. We are rightly disgusted and outraged at such a crime against humanity, especially against those who are the most defenseless in our midst. But imagine if a clearly documented, admitted and convicted child trafficker were to appear before a judge in our county and the judge let them go free. How would you feel if a child trafficker were to go free, simply because they have experienced conviction, because they know what they have done that how they have lived is wrong and because they sincerely commit to put their old ways behind themselves and they ask the judge for mercy? How would you feel, if only a few hours later, in the same courtroom, before the same judge, a fine, upstanding citizen, who was a model of morality, civility and service, and who gave generously to charity, was thrown in jail for a seemingly minor offense? We would and should struggle with both of these scenarios, because we rightly believe in the concept of justice. That is the kind of struggle, the kind of tension, the kind of shock, the kind of thought that the parable that Jesus told in Luke 18:9-14 was meant to induce in its hearers. Luke 18:9-14 9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." [Pray] What kind of person is it that is justified before God? What does it take to be commendable before God? How can a person be accepted by God and approach His presence? Is it social status, moral purity, the keeping of the law, or even religious duties that make a person acceptable to God? What about if we lack morals or any inherent value in ourselves completely? 1

2 Is there any hope for us to be made right, to be made clean? Is there any hope for us to not receive what we do deserve? What if we believe we have received God s merciful gift of salvation but we have messed up since then? What if we find that we continually fail and fall short of the standards that God has set for us? Shouldn t we be a little nervous about our salvation? Should we despair? Should we be worried that maybe we will go home to be with God and find there is no home for us after all? These are precisely the kinds of questions that this parable addresses and answers and it applies to each and every one of us here today not just to those engaged in some ancient professions and classified as Pharisees and tax collectors. In this parable, Jesus essentially lays out two ways that people can try to approach God s presence, as represented by two different men. The first type of person, the one who trusts in their themselves, is represented by the Pharisee. And the second type of person, the one who only trusts in God s mercy, is represented by the tax collector. Most Christians are familiar with this parable to some degree. Now, we can see that the Pharisee is the obviously flawed individual and the tax collector is the obviously good character, but that wasn t the case with the first-century hearer. Because we know now that the Pharisee was the bad guy and the tax collector was the good guy, if we are not careful, we can fail to be affected by this parable and personally apply it to our lives. But the lesson in this parable is as relevant to us today as it was to the first century hearer. 1. We can try to approach God based on our own merit. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Jesus describes two men who go up, into the temple to pray at the same time. Praying in the temple was prescribed for at least two different times during the day and these times of prayer were often joined with making offering sacrifices as well. Often, prayers in the temple would be public, but private prayers were offered as well. On this occasion, Jesus describes two very different kinds of prayers from two very different kinds of people. The first character on stage is a Pharisee. Now, for us today, we often look down on the Pharisees automatically and we can assume that this was the case in the time of Jesus. But the truth is, that not all Pharisees were bad people. We tend to think of all Pharisees as hypocrites and legalists, but that wasn t the case across the board. In fact, Pharisees were well-respected in that culture generally at least prior to Jesus. So, when Jesus begins the parable speaking about a Pharisee, he would not have immediately been seen as the villain in the story. This well-respected religious leader then, goes and stands to pray, like people then normally did when they prayed: 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. Interestingly enough, he is standing by himself, most likely near the altar. He begins to pray to God boldly too. And, at first, his prayer seems like it might be a good one. In some ways, it almost seems like one of the praise psalms in the Old Testament. He begins with what looks like gratitude, by thanking God. He thanks God that he isn t a sinner and we can pray this way too sometimes can t we? God, thank you that I am no longer living an immoral lifestyle. God, thank you that I am not like I used to be. He is grateful that he isn t like other men and he thanks God for this. He isn t like an extortioner, or maybe in today s terms, a loan shark. He thanks God that he isn t unjust in the way that he treats other 2

3 people. He is grateful that he isn t an adulterer as well, which is a very good thing. But then he adds, or even like this tax collector. After all, tax collectors were considered the worst of the worst in that society The Pharisee is recounting in his prayer how righteous he is compared to other people. Not only does the Pharisee mention that he is more righteous than the people that he mentioned though, he also does a lot of godly things. He doesn t just put off bad works, he puts on good works too: 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get. The law required that the Jews fast once a year on the day of atonement, but this Pharisee went above and beyond, and he honored God by fasting twice a week. He didn t just give 10% of what the law required, he gave 10% of everything that he got. So, he didn t just tithe of his income, he tithed of the vegetables that grew in his garden or the milk that his livestock produced. He was rigorous about making sure he gave to God from any area of his life that he received in whether it was a gift for his birthday or a free coffee at the local Jewish deli. This man was righteous and he gave back to God. He is a pretty good guy, even if he is a little full of himself. He is a model citizen. In contrast, we see a very different picture in the tax collector. What Jesus is showing us in him is really a second way that we can approach God, which is on the basis of his mercy. 2. We can approach God based on His mercy alone. 13 But the tax collector Jesus then introduces the hearer to the next main character in the story a tax collector. Even if the listener then saw that the Pharisee was a little pious and full of himself, they would not have expected the tax collector to be the hero. There was no way they would have thought of him as the potential good guy in the story. They weren t like the tax collectors today, who most people don t appreciate but most agree that people who work for the IRS are generally ok people and they are just doing their job. There is nothing inherently immoral or lowly about working for the IRS any more than any other job working for any other company. But, in the Jewish culture, their profession was synonymous with the worst kind of sinners. In fact, when the religious leaders of Jesus s day accused Jesus, they complained that he associated with sinners AND tax collectors Luke 5:30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" They accused Jesus of being guilty by association because he was seen as, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! The occupying Roman troops and government were provided for through the taxes that were collected in each province. They would employ Jews in every city and village, who knew everyone in town and knew how much people made, and what their property was worth, so that they could collect as much as possible from the people. Tax collectors were seen as terrible Jews, because they didn t have to do what they did, but they willingly chose to work for the enemy Roman government. They were traitors against their own people, who enabled the Roman government to stay in power and so they sustained and at least indirectly supported the oppression of their own people. Tax collectors were also notorious because how they became rich was by collecting as much as they could from their own people after the Roman quota was met. So, most of them were dishonest and lied 3

4 about how much was owed, in order to line their own pockets. They also tended to lie not only to their own people but they walked the tightrope of also lying to the Romans about how much they kept. It was nearly impossible for people to refuse to pay the tax collector too, because they would have the Roman army come and make sure they got paid, often because they were bribing them and giving them a cut of the profits as well. They were seen as leeches a combination of the worst traits, as intentional liars, traitors, deceivers, unjust, thieves taking from everyone else for their own benefit, regardless of the cost and effect on those they took from. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' This tax collector seemed to be experiencing a great deal of conviction and understands just how bad he was though. He didn t stand near the altar, instead, he stood far off. He approached God from a distance, a sign that he didn t deem himself worthy to draw near to God. Unlike now, when we commonly bow our heads in prayer, in that day, it would have been more normal to look up to heaven when praying, because that is where God dwells. But this man feels so unworthy and undeserving on his own, that he won t even look up to heaven in prayer. Instead, he publicly displays that he is deeply distraught by beating his own chest. Typically, in that day, this action was seen to be something that only weak people, like women would do and no selfrespecting man would act so lowly in public. He was an embarrassing sight he was making a fool of himself. His prayer didn t seem very impressive either. It wasn t full of flowery language and he wasn t claiming his right to come before God. Instead, his prayer was one of simple humility. He was aware that he needed mercy from God, because he deserved God s punishment and wrath. His prayer could literally read, God, be propitiated for me. God, let your anger be removed from me. This word for mercy is along the same lines of what Paul uses to refer to the atoning sacrifice of Christ. His plea for mercy was not based on his performance though, in fact, it was the opposite. His prayer is very much like that of king David, in Psalm 51, after he had committed the most heinous crimes, of adultery and murder. There, David was forgiven, not because he was the king, but because he asked for God s mercy. So, this tax collector asks for mercy because he is not a sinner, but more literally translated, because he views himself as the sinner. He knows he is in a class of his own in a bad sense what my Canadian friends would call a dirty rotter and he can only throw himself on God s mercy. Now, the people listening to the story might be thinking I hope he gets what he deserves. After all, he chose to be a tax collector. He chose his own sinful lifestyle and he should suffer the consequences. Surely God will reject such a terrible person, who willingly and deliberately chose to be a tax collector. They probably even said to themselves, Let him get what he deserves. He doesn t deserve mercy he hasn t even repaid all those he stole from yet. He hasn t proven that he has really repented yet. But, Jesus shocks everyone. Remarkably, this dirty rotter, who hasn t done anything good, apart from acknowledging his sinfulness and humbly asking for mercy is justified. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. Jesus said that this tax collector was counted as just or righteous before God. He was acquitted of all of his sins. This is the same kind of legal language that the apostle Paul uses to refer to our final justification before God. The tax collector, of all people, was given the right to stand before the sinless, 4

5 holy God. Just because he responded to conviction and humbly sought God s mercy based only on his own need for mercy and no merit of his own. The problem with the Pharisee s prayer was that he wasn t grateful to God for what God had done, he is really just telling God how grateful he is for himself. He was basically saying thank you God that I am such a great person. His prayers reflected his attitude that God basically got a great catch with the Pharisee. God was lucky to have this Pharisee on his team and reward him for how great he is. The Pharisee approaches God acting like God owes him something because of his good works. He prays as if he deserves God s favor. (Do you ever pray like this or feel like this?) In contrast to the tax collector, the Pharisee, with all of his holy living, was not justified. Meaning, he went away still standing condemned before God deserving God s wrath. This man who lived a good life, who said no to bad things, who believed in God, who studied his Bible and prayed to God and gave to God from all that he had this man was still condemned before God. In modern lingo, the tax collector was saved and the good Pharisee wasn t! Or maybe a modern equivalent might be that the flagrant homosexual, the crack dealer, or worse, the child-trafficker, was saved and the upstanding church member, the deacon, or the member of the church board or the elder was not saved. This parable should astound us and it should make us think, but not primarily about other people. Instead, as we read this parable, we are meant to think about ourselves. We are meant to evaluate our own hearts and the source of our own confidence. We are meant to evaluate where our confidence in approaching God lies. We are meant to evaluate who or what we are trusting in. We are meant to see what really commends a person to God has nothing to do with our right actions. If we were to live our whole lives acting rightly and doing good things, yet trusting in ourselves ultimately, to keep ourselves righteous, we would go home unjustified before God and instead, deserving God s wrath. Main idea: Approaching God justified, requires seeking His mercy alone instead of trusting in our ourselves. You see, what commends a person to God is humble repentance and faith, that looks to God alone for mercy. Jesus closes his parable with the statement, For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Jesus was confronting something very serious in this parable he was confronting those who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous. Why was Jesus confronting people who were righteous in their actions? Doesn t He want people to live righteously? After all, there are many commands in the Bible about how to live godly, even righteous lives. So, is Jesus being unkind here? Obviously to us now, the answer is no. We were never meant to rely on our own righteousness. Every part of us has been so effected by sin, that we cannot ever be righteous and accepted by God on the basis of our own merit. So, if Jesus is truly loving, then He would not let people think that they are ok, if they trust in themselves that they are righteous. And since Jesus is loving, we often find Jesus confronting people in the New Testament, because Jesus desires for people to be truly justified before God. That is the desire of Jesus for us today as well. It is pretty easy to slip into trusting in ourselves, thinking that we are righteous, and it can take many subtle forms. When you are doing pretty good at obeying the commands of God, and are reading your Bible regularly, and give regularly to the church, are you ever tempted to trust yourself, that you are righteous? Who are you tempted to look down on? Who do you treat with contempt, at least in your heart, even if it is not outward contempt? Maybe you re 5

6 tempted to look down on people who look differently or speak with an accent? Maybe you re tempted to look down on, or treat immigrants with contempt? Maybe you treat those with different political ideologies with contempt? Especially right now, it would be easy for some to have contempt for those who might vote for a third party candidate, because you think that those doing so are wasting their votes or keeping your preferred candidate from getting into office. Or, for those who are voting for a third party candidate, you might have some form of contempt for those who are voting for either of the two primary candidates because you feel like no reasonable Christian could do so. Or maybe you strongly believe that your candidate is the only reasonable choice for a Christian and you have contempt for anyone who disagrees after all, they certainly can t be very Christ-like and vote differently. What about those who are professing homosexuals? How about when you encounter unbelievers who lie or cheat or who have been abusers? Do you look down on them with contempt? Or, how do you treat those who claim to be Christians but who disagree with you on some area of doctrine that is important to you? When we encounter those who are more obviously self-righteous, we can even put our confidence in the fact that we are not that self-righteous. We can all be tempted to trust in ourselves and to look down on others with contempt. So, we all need to hear this parable from Jesus. If we take pride in ourselves and exalt ourselves above others, then God will humble us He will lay us low. The message of the parable is that God welcomes lost sinners, tax collectors, loan sharks, drug dealers, child traffickers, or whatever the modern equivalent might be, if they come to Him humbly, repenting and crying out to Him for mercy. This is a scandalous parable after all, but God s grace is always scandalous isn t it? The tax collector pleaded with God to atone him. What we know now, is that the atonement the tax collector needed, that the Pharisee needed, that you and I need, was provided through the death of the One who told this parable. God saves all who genuinely repent of their sins, trust in Him and call on Him for mercy, even before they clean themselves up fully. After I repented from my double life of deceit as a teenager, I wanted to obey God but it took a while to learn to put off the old sin nature, even though I had genuinely repented. You know what, it is still taking time for me to stop sinning completely. I don t lie and deceive anymore but I still get impatient. I still get angry. I still fail in a thousand small ways. Until we go to be with God, none of us will ever be able to fully clean ourselves up. But thanks be to God that I, and none of us, have to trust in our merit to be justified before God. Instead, we can trust in the fact that Jesus took our place and stood condemned before God for us, bearing all the weight of all our sins, past, present and future. Ironically, confidence in ourselves leads to condemnation in this life and the life to come. When I am feeling condemned, it is most often because I am thinking that my salvation relies on my ability to keep it. So, when I m not doing well, I feel like I am not accepted by God. The flip side of which means, that I really think that when I am doing well, that God accepts me - which is the same posture that the Pharisee had. This morning, maybe you are thinking this doesn t apply to you. But let me caution you to not conclude that too quickly. The Pharisee didn t see that his pride kept him from God or he wouldn t have remained so proud. That is the thing pride and self-confidence often blind us and we can go away feeling good about ourselves, and be completely unaware of our need. 6

7 Instead a heart-posture of lowly humility leads to true confidence confidence in Christ, even in the midst of my sins. Confidence that leads me not to flee God s presence, fearing His wrath and punishment and rejection, but a confidence based on His mercy, that runs to His presence when I mess up, knowing I won t get what I deserve, instead, I will find forgiveness, mercy, grace and the strength to change. When we cry out to God for His mercy, saying like the tax collector did, God be merciful to me, the sinner, or God atone for me the sinner, we can be confident that God has made atonement for all of our sins. Jesus earned God s mercy, our propitiation God s wrath was turned on Jesus instead of us, so now, God turns towards us with His mercy. Oh how good a thing it is for us, that Jesus indeed is a friend of tax collectors and sinners! So, in response, may we all humble ourselves before God, thanking Him for His mercy and His grace. We can stand confidently before the throne of God now, as guilty as tax collectors or child-traffickers and yet be completely accepted by Him, because of His great mercy. The credit of the tax collector is that he knew where he stood as he approached God. He was not a product of his own achievement, but a result of God s kindness in extending mercy. This way of approaching God alters radically the dynamic of how we see him, ourselves, and others. Understanding ourselves as the objects of mercy breeds compassion. -Darrell L. Bock And may we go out, seeking to actively show mercy to those we have looked down on or despised. Instead, let s go out seeking to show the love and mercy of God to all those not like us, realizing that unless they experience the mercy of God personally, they too will walk away unjustified and what an awful fate that would be one we shouldn t wish on anyone. In the meanwhile, may we respond with gratitude and praise to God in song, coming to Him again for mercy and grace in our time of need. Amen. 2016 Redeeming Grace Church. This transcribed message has been lightly edited and formatted for the Website. No attempt has been made, however, to alter the basic extemporaneous delivery style, or to produce a grammatically accurate, publication-ready manuscript conforming to an established style template. 7