Heavenly Father and our God, you remind us that
all of our religious practices are not worth
anything if we use them for our own purposes,
not yours. Father, we come to you this morning
in humility, repentance and dependence, ready
to encounter you in love and to turn your way.
We pray this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Well,
good morning, everybody. Thanks for reading God's
word to us, Tony. And welcome to John, who was
talking just before. John, put your hand up,
John. John's an Anglican pastor from Tasmania
joining us this morning. So welcome. One of the
readings that Tony gave to us was the parable
of the Pharisee and the tax collector. In this
parable, Jesus wants to teach people about the
importance of praying with the right attitude.
Praying with the right attitude. And this parable
is not actually aimed at those who are obviously
wicked. It's aimed at those who are religious.
It's aimed at those who are disciplined and morally
serious. This parable is aimed at people who
pray, people who fast, people who give. It's
aimed at people like me, people like us. Let's
read these verses again, page 1595. No, it's
not up there. We'll read it again, yeah. Verse
9, to some who were confident of their own righteousness
and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told
this parable to men. went up to the temple to
pray. One was a Pharisee, the other was a tax
collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and
he prayed, God, I thank you that I am not like
other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers,
or even like tax collectors. I fast twice a week
and I give a tenth of all I get. But the tax
collector stood at a distance, he would not even
look up to heaven, he beat his breast and he
said, God have mercy on me, a sinner. Jesus says,
I tell you that this man rather than the other
went home justified before God because all those
who exalt themselves will be humbled and those
who humble themselves will be exalted. In verse
nine, we're told that Jesus' audience are those
who were confident in their own righteousness
and looked down on everyone else. And then he
told them a parable. Pharisee, tax collector,
they both went up to pray. So Pharisees, well,
Typically, they were respected and they were
disciplined. They were outwardly righteous. Tax
collectors, hmm, not quite so. They were actually
hated in biblical times and they were regarded
as sinners. They were Jews who worked for the
Romans. So this kind of made them traitors. many
people resented paying taxes to the foreigners
who ruled over them. Tax collectors, they actually
weren't paid any wages by the Romans. They were
expected to take a little bit of extra money
and keep some for themselves. Many tax collectors
were quite dishonest and they abused the system
by taking far too much. There's a contrast of
two different types of people. Let's look at
the Pharisee's prayer. The Pharisee's prayer,
it was impressive, but it was empty. He stood
by himself and he prayed, God, I thank you that
I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers,
adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week and I give a tenth of all
I get. Now at first, this kind of sounds like
gratitude, but when you listen closely, it's
self -congratulation and it's kind of dressed
up like prayer. The Pharisee prayed about himself.
telling God, as if God doesn't know, but he was
telling God of the wrong things that he had not
done. I'm not like other men, robbers, evildoers,
adulterers. And then he went on to tell God more
about himself, about the religious practices
he observed, fasting twice a week and giving
tithes. The Pharisee's problem is not obviously
sinning, but it is spiritual pride. Spiritual
pride is really dangerous because it kind of
looks righteous, looks like righteousness. It
feels like obedience and it actually hides itself
in good behaviour. But the tricky thing about
spiritual pride is it doesn't always shout out.
Sometimes just whispers inside us. The Pharisee
thought he was praying but he was actually only
praising himself. So the problem with the Pharisee's
prayer, his prayer is full of himself and it's
empty of God. He compares himself to others and
he measures his worth by contrasting himself
to others. And he keeps using I, the word I,
again and again and again. So it's like he's
not confessing his sin at all, he's giving God
his resume. Look at how good I am, God. Now let's
look at the tax collector's prayer. Tax collector
prayed with humility. repentance and dependence.
He stood at a distance, would not even look up
to heaven, beat his breast and said, God have
mercy on me, a sinner. He stood at a distance,
wouldn't even look up. He didn't have any list,
he didn't have any defence, didn't compare himself,
he was just He had raw honesty. He's not bargaining.
He's not throwing himself on God's grace. The
tax collector shows us the right posture. We're
not pretending. There's no polishing, no performance,
just honesty. So how would the original audience
have perceived what's going on here. They would
have expected the Pharisee to be the hero, but
Jesus flips the script. Jesus says, I tell you
that this man, the tax collector, rather than
the other Pharisee, went home justified before
God for all those who exalt themselves will be
humbled. and those who humble themselves will
be exalted. So that Jesus tells us the one who
went home justified before God was the messy
one, tax collector. The good man is not justified,
the bad man is. That must have been a bit shocking
for the audience. The word justified is is really
important to try and understand. It means declared
righteous before God. Being justified, declared
righteous before God, is a gift from God. We
need to totally understand that we're not saved
by what we do, how we talk about what we've done
and what we haven't done. That's not going to
save us. We are saved by what God does. So the
tax collector, he didn't deserve God's grace,
God's justification, but he received it. The
other important thing is to remember who the
audience was. Jesus audience when he was telling
this parable are those people who are confident
in their own righteousness and they look down
on others. It was the Pharisees and people like
them. I'm going to ask you two questions. Do
you think that I am the audience that Jesus had
in mind? Are you the audience that Jesus had
in mind? Well, the answer to both could in fact
be yes. In this fallen world that we live in,
there are so, so many opportunities for us, for
me, to fall into the trap that the Pharisees
fell into. Here's a couple of real -life examples.
A man applied for a job. It was very competitive.
Lots of applicants. They were all highly qualified.
Candidates were asked to wait in a room, and
one by one, they were called in for the interview.
Some came out quietly confident, thinking, oh,
I nailed that one. I impressed them. I think
I've got this. Others came out perhaps a little
unsure, perhaps discouraged. Finally, the hiring
manager came out and said, hey, we've made our
decision. The job goes to the person who admitted
that they didn't know all the answers, but they
were honest, showed that they were willing to
learn. The person who was the most honest. Or
here's a church example. A man comes to church
every Sunday. He volunteers to help with lots
of different ministries. He tithes regularly.
He avoids obvious sin. He's nice and he diligently
serves the church. Perhaps he's even on a leadership
team. One day he hears about someone in a congregation
who is struggling, struggling with sin, or who
has an addiction, or is going through a divorce,
or who is making poor decisions, for example,
and quietly, in his heart, this man thinks to
himself, gee, I don't... I just don't understand
how people get themselves into a situation like
this. I'd never let my life fall apart like that.
So outwardly he's saying nothing. But inwardly,
he's already stepped into the Pharisees' prayer.
Thank God that I'm not like them. Even a whole
church. can drift into this. Oh, look at us.
We're a solid church. And we've got really good
teaching. We're not like those other churches.
That's collective Pharisee thinking. Well, parents,
perhaps this one hits home. You raise your kids
well, with discipline and structure and values.
and you see another family struggling. And the
thought creeps in, oh, if they had just done
what we did, if only their kids behaved more
like our kids. Well, life is a whole lot more
complex than that. And the thought, as subtle
as it might be, drifts into pride. Pride instead
of compassion. That's no good. In this fallen
world we live in, there's also opportunities
for us to be like the tax collector and come
to God in humility and repentance and dependence.
Here's a couple of real -life examples of that.
A person sits alone late at night. Their life
hasn't gone the way they'd hoped. Perhaps relationships
have broken down, or they carry guilt over past
decisions. Perhaps they feel like they've failed.
They don't have impressive words. They just...
whispered, God, I have messed up. I need your
help. And that's it. There's no big speeches
or performance or pretense. This is the heart
of the tax collector. Or a man sits in his car
before he's going to work and he's overwhelmed
by the pressures. of stress or maybe he regrets
how he's been performing or how other people
have been treating him, for example. Instead
of when people ask him, say, hey, how are you
going, mate? And he says, yeah, I'm great, thanks.
Instead of pretending he's fine, he says to God,
God, I really don't have this all together. I
need you. It's all you got to do. There's no
audience. It's just honesty like the tax collector.
And here's a bit of a shocking truth. The good
person can be far from God. The broken person
can be right with God. And that's not because
God loves brokenness. But it's because God always
responds to humility, repentance and dependence.
Think about it like some recovery programs, perhaps
like AA. One of the first steps is admitting
that you are powerless. That's not a weakness.
That's a strength. It's a doorway that you have
to open. And that's exactly what the tax collector
showed us. Now here's an amazing and a beautiful
thing. God does not say, fix yourself and then
come to me. God says, come as you are. and I
will justify you. Let's make this a little uncomfortable
now in a good way. I'll ask you three questions,
give you a few seconds to personally reflect
on them. Do you sometimes feel quietly superior
to others? Do you sometimes compare yourself
to others? Do you ever quietly think to yourself,
oh, I'm glad I'm not like that? Well, perhaps
if you're like me, the answer to some of those
questions might be Yes. So, guess where this
parable is aimed today? It's aimed at us. To
remind us that we need God's help. We need God's
mercy. We need God. Here's a closing illustration.
Two people walk into church. One looks successful,
confident, composed, respected. Everyone knows
him. Everyone talks to him. The other one looks
tired, worn down, a bit unsure. No one talks
to him. Now, at the end of the service, one of
those two men leaves thinking, hey, I'm doing
really well. Everyone knows me. Had a great time
today. Thank you. The other one leaves thinking,
oh God, I need you. And guess what? Only one
walks out justified. You know which one. God
is so, so not impressed by how put together we
look, how respected we are, what we outwardly
do. He responds to how honest we are before Him.
So don't bring God your resume, bring Him your
truthful heart. I'll finish with a pictorial
example. Imagine two men in a boat caught in
a vicious storm at sea. Both of them are in trouble.
Boat's taking on water. The rescue boat arrives.
First person shouts out, hey, I'm all right,
I'm fine. I've handled much worse than this.
Perhaps I just need a little bit of help. And
he plings to the boat, trying to prove that he's
a man, he's still in control. The second person
does something very different. He just lets go
of everything. And he says, oh, I can't save
myself. Please, please help me. Now here's the
reality. This rescue is available to both of
those people, but only one person is actually
saved. Not because the rescuer prefers that one
over the other, but because only one of those
two people is willing to admit that they need
to be saved. And that's the difference between
the Pharisee and the tax collector. One says,
hey God, I've mostly got this under control,
I'm pretty right, thanks. The other one says,
oh God, I need your help. I need your mercy.
So this week, when you come before God, pray
this simple and powerful prayer. God, have mercy
on me. Show me where my pride is hiding in me.
I don't have it together, but you do. Please
help me. And how about we pray that prayer all
together right now. God, have mercy on me. Show
me where pride is hiding in me. I don't have
it together, but you do. Please help me. Please
help us, Father. I'll pray. Heavenly Father,
thank you for your unending love and your patience
with us. Father, we surrender our pride. and
our shortcomings to you. Please show us where
our pride is hiding. Father, we do not have it
together, but you do. We need your mercy. Please
help us. And all of God's people said, Amen.