You will find a Outline on pages 11 and 12 if you care to use that to help you follow along with the sermon For I speak want to just let you know there will be probably I don't know how often Fred will be asked to speak in other Churches he's let the other churches in our Presbyterie know that that he's available for pulpit supply It's one of the ways he can Build a little income as he'll begin half-time at our church in April and that's where he is today and in fact I think I'll go ahead and just lead us in prayer not only for him as he preaches But for this church that he's preaching out. It's one of the churches in Kentucky and it's the congregation is going through some Extremely difficult times and so we can we can ask God to minister to them and to use his Servant Fred, not only in the preaching of the word, but ministering to the needs of these folks. Let's let's pray
Father, we do pray for our brothers and sisters in Kentucky and ask that as They work through some of the issues that have come their way that you would give Grace upon grace to each of your servants there That you would bless them comfort them and strengthen them We thank you for pastor Fred and his love for you his service to you and as he uses His gifts and preaches there this morning this church. We ask that you would bless that That he would faithfully and accurately preach your word and we pray that he would be a faithful servant and minister of the Lord too as he Demonstrates love and just pastoral concern for this congregation And Lord as we come to your word now we we're looking at a parable that I would imagine many of us have known for many years Please give us insight into it and cause us to draw ever closer to you We ask in Jesus name. Amen Now we are looking at that passage I read during our new Testament lesson from Luke's gospel chapter 18 verses 9 to 14 and Having read it. I won't read over it again to you But I want to again put it in its context. We've talked about how Luke is Recording the life of Jesus how from the end of chapter 9 he has been moving toward Jerusalem where he will give his life a ransom for the the people of God and he is he is getting ever closer maybe in this passage just days away from Jericho and then into Jerusalem and to the Palm Sunday and Holy Week so to speak The passage we looked at two weeks ago from chapter 17 verses 20 through 37 Jesus was speaking about the becoming kingdom and he explained to the Pharisees that the kingdom is already at hand in that He the king is here and then he explained to his disciples that there would be quite a period of time between his death burial and resurrection And the time when he comes again when he sets all things Straight and he told the disciples they would belong to see one of the days of the Son of man In other words one of the days when the kingdom is fully realized He also explained that when he comes not only will in this meantime Well they have longings to see the day But when he comes it'll be a day of judgment a day like in the days of Noah when God Fluttered the earth or like the day lot left sawed him and God rained down fire in brimstone He talked about how There would be judgment that way and then last week we saw at the beginning of chapter 18 that he wanted to encourage the saints during this period of time that they were waiting between the resurrection and the return of King Jesus and he told us in that we shouldn't lose heart But we should continue to seek God in prayer and seek justice from him and this parable is also I believe connected to his Teaching about his coming again only this passage seems to be more in terms not of the disciples who are Longing but maybe of the the Pharisees who Assume that they're righteous and not in fact the main point is given to us. I would say it's more a parable about judgment We may put it this way if we were to continue Jesus's teaching There will be two people two men praying in the temple One will be taken to heaven and the other left behind and this parable is set in that category of who will go to heaven and Luke gives us very clear teaching at the very beginning why Jesus gave this parable It was because some people trusted in themselves That they and themselves were righteous and viewed others with contempt and Jesus tells us pretty much the same thing at the end of his Teaching after giving the parable. He said I tell you this man the the Tax collector who said God be merciful to me the sinner this one went home Justified this one went home declared righteous if you will and And speaks about we must humble ourselves because if we exalt ourselves we will be humbled Want to go ahead and state to you what I believe the main point is I'll say it both positively and negatively and together They I think make the main point of the passage and then I ask you no matter how well you know this story Stay with me. Let's work through it so that we understand if you will the kind of the questions that Jesus is raised And answering it's important to understand not just the answer But the question behind it so we'll start with the main point and then we'll think about what was wrong with the Pharisee and what was right I'm sorry What was wrong with the tax collector and right with the Pharisee and then we'll turn it around what was wrong with the Pharisee and Right with the tax collector but the main point stated positively would be this Humble yourself and seek God's substitute to deal with your sins The humble yourself and it seems pretty clear in the text I may have to show you it may not be abundantly apparent to you It doesn't seem to be on the the surface of the text that we should seek God's Substitute, but I hope to show you that this by the end of the message in fact at the end of the message that we need God's Substitute to deal with our sins the main point stated negatively is is quite simply don't be proud and self-righteous Don't be proud and self-righteous Jesus gives us this and like I said Luke makes it clear at the beginning that that's why Jesus told the parable and Jesus makes it clear at the end About humbling yourself or exalting yourself But it's important for us to work through and and see what's being said and I want us to think through what's wrong with the tax collector We we need to have the perspective of the people that Jesus is speaking to at the time and when Jesus says There were two men who went up to the temple to pray one Tax collector and one a Pharisee but we need to understand a few things first of all They're going to the temple in Jerusalem There were two services a day at the temple a morning sacrifice That would be offered early in the morning and then the evening offering the evening sacrifice and It was it was a time where the Saints would gather and worship the animal would be slain the lamb would be slain And there was a bit of a liturgy that went with that and so as Jesus is teaching there were two men who went up to the temple The pray probably the the Jewish folks that are listening to Jesus being Experienced with having been to Jerusalem and knowing the liturgy they would understand this is probably the the evening service The afternoon service somewhere between two three four clock that would be the time frame where there would be a liturgy And it wouldn't just be these two people going to pray there'd be a lot of Worshipers gathered but Jesus is pointing out two in particular and he talks about the Tax collector and we want to talk about what's wrong with him Tax collector by his very name is associated with with centers with those who are unfaithful Those who are immoral those who are ungodly in their behavior They're unfaithful because of this they they were Jewish citizens these tax collectors But they collected taxes for the occupying Country of Rome Rome had overtaken Israel and they had put their soldiers there and Israel had to pay taxes to Caesar and and they didn't like this at all And the the tax collectors wore Jewish citizens who were traitors to their nation They and they made their they made their living by taking advantage of their own people in the name of Caesar In other words, they collected taxes for Caesar and the way they made their income was By their fees and charges and such it's easy for us to understand if any of you have have ever used more minutes allotted to you with your cell phone Only to find that bill doubled what it normally is or tripled or whatever it is You know how could it be so expensive or if you missed a payment to a credit card company or overdrive You know Wrote a check for more than what you actually had in the account some you know how that happens Maybe I'm the only one, but I know how it happens You you get your bill in and it's like oh no what happened and it's not just the the overdraft amount But there's there's fees and charges and all this kind of extra money So what what you need to do is an imagine that the the tax collector works for your bank or for these are for yourself Company and and it's not just the money that you have to pay that you know You got to pay and feel good about paying or at least say okay. It's just the way it is You know, I got to pay my taxes. I want paid roads. I want plumbing so on and so forth like the police doing their job But these taxes these fees and if you imagine it's it's a trader An American citizen who sold out to the Taliban who's collecting that money Then you start to feel the hatred that the Jews have When Jesus is telling this story two men went into the temple to pray one was a a tax collector. Oh, man Already there's There's a hostility They're no good They're unfaithful to their nation That they're immoral that this guy being in in Jerusalem He's he's one of the better ones. He's not often some potent little village or town or out in the middle of nowhere He's he's at the New York, you know, he's a man hat and so to speak He's he's in the big city. He's he's he's a fortune 500 tax collector
And he's hated and resented by the people because He's a trader to his nation and he takes advantage That's why the the Pharisee says I'm not like others, you know, and he mentions extortion That's how this guy this tax collector made his money and when he says adulterers He's probably thinking of the tax collector too because they were lawless. They were The category tax collector in centers. It's like The morality issue was connected to that and in the mind of the people To say a prostitute in a center would be the same thing to say a tax collector in a center would be the same thing They were they were just seen that way unfaithful immoral Ungodly he did know you know he probably was not at the morning service And he doesn't really even know the the liturgy of the service too well In this day people you know as Paul would tell us in first Timothy chapter two I want holy men to lift up I want men to lift up holy hands the the Posture of prayer was more like this than like this In fact the historians tell us that you know a woman might beat her breast in anguish During the temple prayer time But not men men didn't do that the the guy doesn't fit in it's It's the wrong time to He just doesn't seem to know what the liturgy is or Or anything because he doesn't practice piety he doesn't practice godly knows he He hasn't paid Ties are offerings or anything near that he's a center
he is unfaithful immoral and ungodly Well, what's right with the Pharisee In today's world in the church and throughout much of church history we hear we're the opposite We hear tax collector and having listened to Jesus's teach we say hero And to the Pharisee You know we throw the peanuts or something if it were a melodrama He's the bad guy But in Jesus's day It wasn't that way In Jesus's day the Pharisees were the outstanding citizens in the kingdom They were the conservatives too when it came to biblical practice we Would identify mostly with the Pharisees a little test How many of you believe the Bible is the inspired word of god raise your hand Uh-huh, so today How many of you believe in angels?
Miracles I can't believe it how about the resurrection on the last day do you believe in the reservoir? Well you a bunch of Pharisees They believed all these things They would be in the you know the principle we use it not only to talk about the church in fact I think it started with business the 80-20 Rule or principle that 20% of the people do 80% of the work in the church we say they give 80% of the budget They do 80% of the work just that 25 these were the 20%ers
And so when Jesus is telling this parable they're the heroes They're the good guys They're the ones who have purity and morality and piety they're purity just the word Pharisee the Hasidim the the holy ones The ones who set themselves apart this man when he went to pray he was standing a bit of luft For a completely different reason than the tax collector. He wanted to maintain his purity He would not let anything unclean or unholy anywhere around him to defile him. He was pure
He was moral He knew the commandments. He knew them by heart. He could quote the 10 commandments in order forwards and backwards
And he was grateful He was a grateful man God I thank you He if he were here he would give a testimony something like this I think God that I was brought up in a Christian family where I was taught to pray Where I was where I was taught how to live and I think God that he has spared me from some of the things I've seen In fact just the other day I saw this panhandler that was drunk and you know Is the smell and the stench of alcohol on his breath and his unkeptness and And I thought to myself there but for the grace of God go I I praise God That he has made me to walk in faithfulness. I thank him That I was taught how to live a moral life. I I thank him for giving me holy hab it's piety right Piety is the practice of of holy things of of prayer and Bible reading of going to church He knows the liturgy he he knows everything that's going on He was probably at the morning worship service as well as the afternoon service Not only that day but the day before and the day before and all the days of his life He was the hero in the mind of the people Something that oh frankly they couldn't attain to They just weren't going to put that much effort into it. Thank God for him We get 80% of our work done there
They were the good guys They were the ones who would train their children To memorize verses like 1 Corinthians 1533 Do not be deceived bad company corrupts good morals They would be the ones who would teach their children He who walks with the wise men will be wise but the companion of fools will suffer harm They were committed to the word and to godliness If if the parable was being told today it might sound something like this There were two guys in church praying during the prayers of god's people One was a ministry leader and the other a drug dealing temp who sold teenage girls The ministry leader was thus praying god thank you for your goodness to me I thank you that I was brought up to do what is right I see this guy who's in church today. Please work in his life It's obvious he know it needs to know you And then this pump or drug dealer would pray and say God be merciful to me the sinner That would be something of how he would tell the story that would be the The kind of disparity between the two that that the Jewish listeners would have heard as Jesus Was teaching Well, we know the answer isn't what I just been telling you isn't It is what people would have been thinking they would have been able to say There's no way the tax collector would ever go to heaven having been justified look at his life But I think the Pharisee would look at his life And so Jesus we need to look at why what what is what are we to understand what was wrong with the Pharisee Well, I don't think it's too difficult to see he doesn't recognize his sin and need for atonement He falls into the trap that we often fall into we can we can look at what god is done in our lives And be thankful and begin to make comparisons with that with which we see I I see my life and I see the lives of other people and the The trap is to begin to see Our strengths in comparison to their weaknesses. That's what seems to be going on with the Pharisee He's devoted his life to purity, right and keeping away. I mean Here's another illustration right the law tells us how to live for the glory of god and the Pharisee if we pretend that law is like a fence In our front you are to keep our kids and pets from going out into the street and stuff like that And god says you're free to play in the in the yard then the Pharisees would be like the parents who say Let's make a fence five foot inside from that fence just in case and teach our children Let's stay inside the inner fence so that we don't get too close to the boundaries And after a year or two the chickens are playing on that inner fence and and they say I let's make another fence Five feet inside of that and tell our kids don't leave this inside fence And it just gets smaller and smaller. That's how the Pharisees were and they they judged people who weren't inside that small enclosure as well as the people who were outside of the fence altogether
He compared himself to people and he where they were strong where they were pure where they had memorized the The catechisms and the the ten commandments and those other passages of scriptures and they took pride in that and they said I must be okay because look I'm doing this. I'm thankful. I'm giving. I'm fast. I don't need you know A annual fast on the day of atonement that's required in the law the tradition a couple months out of the Out of the year there were some days. I fasted twice a week
And so he could begin to look at others with contempt by the way The opposite is not righteous if you say to yourself if you compare your Weaknesses to other people's strengths and you say I am terrible. I am no good I have nothing to offer You're really suffering from the same root problem which is self-centeredness, right? You're just looking at yourself and the comparison doesn't work. It's no good But that's how he got stuck That's where he was When he got stuck He was comparing himself to other people
Well, what's right with the tax collector? Well, he understands God's anger at us and seeks favor and forgiveness
The scholars say that there was this and we know from even our knowledge of the scriptures Or at least some of us that there was this evening sacrifice or this afternoon sacrifice for sin And it would be assumed by the the heroes of this Parable that it's in that context that these guys are praying and and the The tax collector is there and he's dealing with He's dealing with all sorts of guilt at least from three different areas. First of all
He is Totally uncomfortable being in the temple compound He holds himself aloof because the the Pharisee because he's wants to maintain his purity the tax collector because he's so uncleaned He's not worthy He is aware of his own sin And he feels guilty about it and he's aware that everyone else is aware of his sin
And he feels uncomfortable in their presence as well And he's aware that he's sinned against God
And he's uncomfortable Being in the place where God's presence dwells
But there he is and I think the reason why he's so extreme He doesn't look up to heaven. He doesn't pray with eyes Open and hands raised the way the good Jewish men prayed the reason he bows his head and beats his breast as He knows he's sinned against God. He knows he's guilty in his own eyes and in the eyes of all the people and in the eyes of God And he says God be merciful to me the sinner now It happens in the Liturgy in the that that the people are gathered and I don't know all the details of when they were singing and when they were praying and so on and so forth What I'm told is that During the service this lamb is selected To be the evening sacrifice and it's it's washed by the priests and examined very carefully to make sure it is without spot Or blimish or any imperfection and having been found spotless and without blimish or imperfection The animal is then taken and slaughtered. It's throat is slit and the priest carefully Gathered the blood of the lamb as its life ebbs away into the bowl in that blood And they they skinned the animal and they cut it into its parts and they dispose of some of it with the way They're supposed to and and they bring the the meat the fat portions the appropriate parts and they put it on the altar of burnt offerings and it's sacrificed to the Lord and it's at this time in the liturgy where people would make their private supplications
While the Pharisee prays at this time he's thanking God for all sorts of things and his the big word seems to be eye in his prayers
But the tax collector Someone who's good with numbers And keeps the ledger Keeps a record He sees that the lamb has been slaughtered as a substitute Offering for the sins of the people
And it doesn't take much calculation in his mind And that's why he prays God be merciful to me the sinner but but he uses a word that's a little bit different than What we usually use my favorite Hebrew word would be hesset right you know that if you've listened to me preach Which is often translated to in the Greek word I can't pronounce it properly or something like that have mercy mercy mercy. It's it's one of its chief translations It's loving kindness and compassion and this sort of stuff It's the the regular word for mercy is what's that what what the blind guy will say Lord have mercy on me I want to receive my sight. I have this problem and I need some help But that's not the mercy word that is in this passage. It's a unique word. It's it's not often used and it's not often translated mercy
It's most often translated propitiation He's praying God be propitious toward me and we need to understand what that word means We talk about the God of the Old Testament being a God of wrath who must be Have atonement in the word atonement and propitiation are the same Hebrew and Greek words. It's it's the removal of anger It's the idea that God is angry at sin and evil all the time And that for the people of God to come into the presence of God his anger must be a swaged placated Atoned propituated he must be moved from the state of anger and wrath to a state of peace and favor Which implies forgiveness And the tax collector understands that this lamb could never atone never cover The amount of this sin
And so what he says is oh God I need a sacrifice They can cover the greatness of my sin
That's why Jesus says he went home justified declared righteous Because he was not trusting in himself He was trusting In God to make propitiation We love it. It's it's easy for us to see ourselves as being vastly different from one another I heard a preacher talk about it this way when we look at each other we we can see one as being like a You know plant in the garden in the vegetable garden, you know Let's say time or dill or some herb like that and others look like oak trees that have been around for a hundred years And they're big and stately and the difference is huge right But from God's perspective the analogy goes We really look like a freshly cut Off course Offly smooth Because the difference between you and me The difference between the righteous and the sinner When compared to the holiness and righteousness of God we're just like blades of grass that have been cut That there's a little bit of difference, but it just doesn't that much It's only when we're in the minutia where all we see is you and me and the people around us that some look good and some look bad
And so they're saying it's we we need to adopt Jesus's view We need to see that our sins are against a holy God and we need to simply cry God Be Propicious To me The sinner That's pray we ask Lord God that in your mercy
You would help us to see it is a good thing to be brought up in a Christian home. It's a good thing to be spared The Christless lifestyle
But it's a bad thing when we exalt ourselves And we lose sight of the fact that you and your infinite perfect holiness
See all our sins We might clean up the outside pretty well, but you know our hearts
The merciful to us and grant that Christ's blood might be the propitiation Satisfaction so that we know your favor And forgiveness We ask this in Jesus name Amen