SERMON Time after Pentecost Lectionary 30 October 24, 2010 Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 Psalm 84: 1-7 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18:9-14 Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus, who is the Christ. Amen. It has been said that a good sermon afflicts the comfortable, and comforts the afflicted. A good sermon afflicts the comfortable, and comforts the afflicted. Basically, it can also be described as the difference between Law and Gospel. I would guess that there have been different times in our lives when we needed to hear both. There have been times when perhaps we have gotten a little too comfortable, and need to be afflicted a bit. And there have also been times when we have been afflicted, and need to hear words of comfort. So today, for those of you who are pretty comfortable, you might be afflicted or challenged. And hopefully, for those of you who are suffering from afflictions in life, you will be comforted. In our Gospel reading today, Jesus tells yet another parable. This time it s about two men who went to the temple to pray one was a Pharisee, and one was a tax collector. Now first of all, who were these Pharisees? Today, we have a prejudice against them. We ve heard so many stories about them that cast them as the bad guys. But that s not the way that they were seen when Jesus spoke about them.
Pharisees were well respected and honored members of their community. They were lay people, not priests. They were dedicated to studying, and diligently following the law. And that is no small task. A Pharisee knew the law as the Torah, the Mishna, and the Talmud. The Torah is roughly the first five books of the Bible. The Mishna contains the detailed instructions necessary for following the rules that were written in the Torah. The Mishna can have several chapters dedicated to just a single verse in the Torah. And then there is the commentary on the Mishna, called the Talmud. The Talmud has entire books to explain a single chapter in the Mishna. And to make things even more interesting, the Mishna and Talmud were mostly oral traditions. Therefore, they had to be committed to memory, since they were not written down. So the Pharisee in today s parable knew and followed the law very carefully. He was so righteous that he even went beyond the requirements of the law for a little added insurance. For instance, the law only required one fast a year. He fasted twice. Let s face it; this Pharisee was one upstanding faithful citizen. And there is nothing wrong with that. This is the kind of guy you would like for a next door neighbor. So what then was his sin that Jesus was alluding to? You see, this Pharisee wanted to make sure that God knew of his righteousness. Therefore, he had become self-righteous. He became full of pride. In the Middle Ages, the church came up with a list called the Seven Deadly Sins. They were not recorded in Scripture as such, but can certainly be revealing. Here they are: Gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, anger, envy and pride. So which one of these sins do you think Jesus was addressing in this parable? No doubt it was pride.
The dictionary describes pride as; a high or inordinate opinion of one s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc. Now we can understand why Jesus would speak out against pride. However, today, the word pride has almost completely lost its sinful meaning in our culture. Pride in modern America is viewed in some ways as a virtue, not a sin. We have slogans like American Pride, and sing songs like, I am Proud to be an American. You see, the problem with pride is when it elevates the status of a person or a group of people over and against another. In these cases, pride can be dangerous. Was it not pride that Adolph Hitler used to convince an entire population of people that they were a superior nation a superior race? In regards to individuals, pride can also be devastating. Have you ever noticed that about some people? When they talk, it isn t so much a conversation with you or your group it s just another opportunity for them to tell you how great they are, or what a wonderfully intelligent child they have. If you were to later quiz them about what others said during the time you were together, they wouldn t have the foggiest idea. As a matter of fact, they don t even need to talk, you can just read the bumper stickers on their cars. For when you are filled with self, there is no room for others including God. This, I believe is the point that Jesus was talking about in this parable. The Pharisee was so focused on himself and how wonderful he was that there was no room for God s transforming power in his life. You see, Jesus taught another way. He used words like; emptying oneself, humility, self-giving the first being last, and the last being first?
Tony Campolo once said; If you ever start to feel proud, just remember that soon after your body has been lowered into the grave, your family and friends will be eating potato salad and telling jokes, and you ll be history. Indeed, pride disrupts and destroys relationships. Pride makes it harder to admit mistakes or to confess sins. Pride makes us spiritually blind to our own sinfulness. Pride inflates our own egos. Pride leads to looking down at others. Pride leads us to an attitude of arrogance. Pride makes it more difficult to heal broken relationships. How many of you have heard of the biblical phrase; God helps those who help themselves? We like the sound of that statement, don t we? It appeals to our redblooded American ideal of individualism and personal achievement. God helps those who help themselves. The problem is that these words never appear in Scripture. Benjamin Franklin, one of our founding fathers, penned those words in a book called Poor Richard s Almanac. Benjamin Franklin was not a Christian. He was a deist. Deists believe that God created the universe, wound it up like an old-style clock and let it run its course. They view God as having a hands-off approach when it comes to humanity. What we accomplish in this life and for eternity is largely a matter of our own efforts. God helps those who help themselves. Can you see how this can lead to pride? So let s turn the page. For there is another character in the story. We are told that he was a tax collector. The tax collector in this parable is portrayed in stark contrast to the Pharisee. You see, tax collectors in those days were nothing like the IRS employees that we have working for our government today. These men were the lowest of the low. Not only were they Jews who worked for the Roman government that was oppressing their own people. It was worse than that.
After collecting the taxes from their own people for the pockets of their enemies, they would then collect a little more to line their own pockets. Therefore, they profited monetarily by betraying their own people. I would like to propose that perhaps Jesus would not agree with Benjamin Franklin s theology. Instead of God helps those who help themselves, I believe Jesus came to help those who could not help themselves. Those who could do nothing more than throw themselves to the ground, and plea for God s mercy and forgiveness. Maybe some of you have felt afflicted lately. Maybe you can relate to the other man praying in the parable the tax collector. You realize that you have messed up your life in some ways. You think that there is no way that God could love you as much as those so called good people. You can t pray long beautiful prayers. You haven t kept all of God s laws. You are not looked upon as an upstanding moral person in your community. Perhaps you believe that you are a failure as a parent, a spouse, or as a son or daughter. Maybe you believe that you are a failure at work or at school. Perhaps you have doubts about your faith. You are just hoping that God will show mercy and have a small place for you in the kingdom. You are hoping that God will not scream at you and condemn you, but open his loving arms to you. There was a story from Scotland that tells of a mother s dramatic rescue of her child. Workmen were blasting rock in a quarry. One day, they had just attached the fuse and lit it. They ran for cover at a safe distance. Suddenly they saw a three-year-old child wandering across the open space where the rocks were about to explode. Every passing second meant that death was closing in on the child.
The workmen shouted and screamed at the child. They waved their arms and yelled at the little boy to run. He became so frightened that he didn t know what to do. None of the workman dared to run to get the child knowing that the explosion was only seconds away. The child most certainly would have been killed, had not his mother appeared at this moment of crisis. Taking in the situation at a glance, she did what her motherly instinct dictated. She did not run toward her son or yell at him to frighten him. Instead, she knelt down on her knees, opened up her arms, and smiled for him to come. Instantly the child ran towards her. Seconds later, the area shook with the force of the explosion, yet the child was safe in his mother s arms. What an image of a loving God calling us to life. So the question is; will we be like the Pharisee and because of our pride, fail to see our utter sinfulness and helplessness before God? Or will we be like the tax collector, and recognize our sinfulness and helplessness, and fall to our knees pleading for mercy? If we are truthful, there will be times when we will act like both. There will be times when we will be prideful and boastful. Times that we think that we are a cut above the rest. Times that we think that we are on God s top ten list. And then there will be times when we will fall to our knees in utter helplessness. But perhaps we can now better recognize the difference. However, there is one thing that we can know for sure. We know who we are and whose we are. And that will never change. We are God s precious children, baptized in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.
May the peace that passes all understanding be with you now and for life everlasting. Amen.
Do any of you know someone who thinks that they are better than everyone else? Do you think that this is a good thing? In our Bible story today there were two men. One was a Pharisee, and one was a tax collector. They both went into the church to pray. The Pharisee said this prayer: He stood up proudly in the front of the church and said: I thank you God that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that horrible tax collector. I never cheat, I always say long prayers, I always think good thoughts, and I always give lots of money to the church. Thank you God for me being so much better than everyone else. Then the tax collector who was kind of like a bad guy in those days. Some of your parents might even think that they are bad guys today. But he said this prayer: He fell to his knees and cried and said: Oh God, have mercy on me, please help me because I am a sinner. Now which one of these prayers do you think Jesus liked? Jesus does not like us to think that we are better than other people. God loves everyone the same. So God wants us to be humble, and treat others as we would like to be treated, and not think that God loves us more than other people. Let us pray.dear Lord, we are all sinners, and yet you love us all equally the same. Help us to not think of ourselves as better than others. Amen.