Chapter 18, verse 9. Praise the Lord. I say that
because last night I dreamed that I got up here
to preach and I could not remember a single passage
in the whole Bible. I couldn't come up with nothing.
I didn't know what book I was in, what chapter
I was in. I couldn't find it. I couldn't think
of nothing. I couldn't think of... I couldn't
think of nothing. I could not think of a single
word of God to just speak. And I was like, well,
maybe I made a note about what I was going to
preach on. I started looking, and I couldn't
find a note anywhere, and it was just horrible.
That dream happens a lot, and praise the Lord,
it hadn't come true yet, but if it does, that's
going to be a scary day. But we're going to be
in Luke chapter 18, verse 9. Luke chapter 18,
verse 9. I love this passage. I know I've preached
on it several times throughout the years. We're
going to talk about it for just a moment this
morning. This is one of the parables of Jesus.
Jesus told lots of parables. They were short,
simple stories that usually had some spiritual
connection, something that was easy for his hearers
to relate to, that they could connect to. It
was a way to make his hearers maybe think about
things in a different way and maybe even shed
light on their own sins. Now, we need that same
type of thing to go on in our life because what
is so easy for me, and maybe for you too, it
is so easy for us to see everybody else's problems.
It's so easy for us to figure out how to solve
everybody else's problems. And it is. Boy, we
see people's problems on Facebook. We see them
on the news. We see other people's families.
And we say, well, what they ought to do. And
then we proceed to say what they ought to do.
And what's going to fix it? I can fix it. But
yet, how many times is there problems in our
own life, in our own families? And you know what?
The people whose problems you can fix. Or looking
at your problems and saying, I can fix his problem.
What we all need to do is just get together with
a cup of hot chocolate, maybe, and you can tell
me how to fix my problems, and I'll tell you
how to fix yours, and we can all be happy. But
it's not that easy. It's not that easy. And a
lot of times, the real problem is this, is that
we have sin and we have problems in our life,
and we don't see them at all. And that's what
Jesus was addressing here. It represented a group
of people that, in his eyes, he was doing great.
He was doing great. He had nothing to worry about.
He was doing so much better than the rest of
the lowlifes that he just was praising God and
how good he was doing. And maybe that's us sometimes.
Maybe we don't want to admit it if we know it.
Maybe we don't know it. But that's the beauty
of God's Word. That's the beauty of Jesus. And
that's the beauty of these parables. We need
to pause and we need to think in these stories
that we see and in these parables we see, who
am I in this story? We always want to be the
good guy, but maybe the fact of the matter is
we aren't the good guy. Maybe we're the bad guy.
And when we realize we're the bad guy, it makes
the good guy, Jesus, look even better. So let's
read through these scriptures. We'll talk for
a second and then we'll get started. We'll pray
after we read through them. Luke chapter 18,
verse 9. He also told this parable to some who
trusted in themselves, that they were righteous
and looked down on everyone else. Two men went
up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee
and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took
his stand and was praying like this, God, I thank
you that I am not like other people. greedy,
unrighteous adulterers, or even like this tax
collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth
of everything I get. But the tax collector, standing
far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven,
but kept striking his chest and saying, God,
turn your wrath from me, a sinner. I tell you,
This one went down to his house justified rather
than the other. Because everyone who exalts himself
will be humbled. The one who humbles himself
will be exalted. Let's pray. Father God, we come
to you now. We thank you for your good word.
I pray, God, that you would just help us to pay
attention to our own life. That we don't fall
into this trap that this Pharisee fell into,
dear Lord. That we don't... Think too highly
of ourselves that we just think that we have
made it, dear Lord. And we are doing so good.
And we are so much better than others, God. We
don't want to have that heart of pride within
us. And maybe we do. And if we do, dear Lord,
I pray that you would show that to us. I pray,
God, today that we would lay down our pride at
the foot of the cross. That we would not pretend
to be something that we're not. but that we would
acknowledge that we are simply sinners, unworthy
of your grace, unworthy of your mercy. But dear
Lord, we seek you and we need those things because
God, we cannot make it through life without them.
So I pray today, dear Lord, if we came into this
place with a proud spirit, that your Holy Spirit
would speak to us through these words, that we
would humble ourselves before you today. And
I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. A short
and simple story. Two men in this story. A Pharisee
who was self -righteous and a tax collector.
Now, really, Jesus is signaling out two groups
of people here. He's signaling out the religious
self -righteous person, the one who thinks, the
one who is declared of themselves, I am... righteous.
I am holy. Now, we can declare of ourselves anything
we want, and people do that today. People will
declare that they are all kind of things, but
it is what God declares us as that makes the
difference. And so here's one person that declares
himself as a self -righteous and godly man. And
then we have the tax collector, and the tax collector
here represents the sinners. The people who just
sin so greatly that are looked down upon as the
worst of the worst. Tax collectors were not well
respected, not so unlike the IRS today. If you
ever got a letter in the mail from the IRS, you
see that envelope and your heart just sinks instantly
because there's a good chance that it ain't going
to be a check in there. It's going to be a piece
of paper saying that they have found an error
in your taxes. from five years ago, and you're
going to owe some money. And I'm thinking, well,
it seems like five years. If we can make it to
seven, maybe you could just forget that debt.
But that's the way it is. You don't like to see
the tax man. Well, tax collectors were frowned
upon because they oftentimes didn't do right.
They oftentimes took more. than what was necessary,
and they just would keep the extra. As long as
they paid to Rome what was due Rome, Rome didn't
care how they got the money or what they did
with the excess. So they would always get more
than what they needed. They would give Rome what
was Rome, give the Caesar what was Caesar's,
and the tax collectors would stuff their pockets
with the rest. And so you can understand how
tax collectors were not... really looked on in
a good light in this society. But the tax collector
here is symbolic of sinful people who are looked
down upon because of their lifestyle. And so
Jesus says there's two people. There's a self
-righteous, religious, and godly man, and there
is just this horrible, sinful man. And the scene
is simple. They both are headed up to the temple.
To pray. Praying is a good thing. Praying is
something that everyone should do. But what we
need to make sure we do is pray with the right
heart. And that's what we're going to see in
this story. That's what we just read. One of
these men prayed with the right heart. The other
one did not pray with the right heart. So the
godly man who declared himself righteous goes
into the temple as big as you please. He seems
to be the type who would just strut right to
the front row. He seems to be the type that would
say long prayers just for show. He seems to be
the type that would love for you to see him in
the marketplace and say, oh, brother so -and
-so, you are so godly. And the New Testament
talks about these very people. Those who like
the big greetings. Those who like to sit on the
front for everybody to see. The kind that would
come up here and he'd sit right here beside me
so y 'all could see him while I was preaching
because he is so holy. And boy, he would look
good and he would long for me to call on him
to pray and he would pray for 15 minutes and
y 'all would be saying, he needs to hurry up,
I'm ready to go. But he would think he was so
old, boy, he'd get all into it. I bet he'd be
raising his hands. And he would just be, he would
think he was really something special. And this
man, he comes strutting up into the temple and
he does not even think twice. And he begins to
pray to God. And he says, God, I thank you that
I am so good. That I am not like sinful people.
that I'm not greedy, that I'm not an adulterer.
God, I am so good. And I am so good, God, I thank
you, that I ain't like the rest of these sinners.
That's what he said. He said, God, and I thank
you that I am so good that I ain't like this
old tax collector who is a rotten and dirty and
thieving scoundrel. God, I thank you that I am
so good and so much better than everybody else.
Now, do we ever pray that way in our life? Maybe
not quite so boldly, but maybe there are hints
of that kind of heart and that kind of pride
in our prayer life. Maybe not. Maybe we show
our disgust with people in a little different
way. Maybe we don't pray that way, but maybe
we're still a little passive -aggressive toward
people. Maybe we don't say these words to God.
Maybe we just post them on Facebook. That's what
people do, right? You'll see that on Facebook.
You'll see somebody. They'll get that phone out.
And they know that the whole world is going to
see this. And they'll start. They'll say, I am
so glad I am not like some people who stab you
in the back and do you wrong and talk about you.
I am so glad that I'm not like them people. Y
'all need to pray for people like that. And you
know what people that type that want you to do.
They want you to say, oh, what happened? See,
you can say, oh, I'm just glad I'm not liking
people. And they're saying that. They're saying
that because what they're saying is somebody
has done me wrong and I'm better than them and
I want everybody to know, but I ain't going to
say no names because y 'all all know who I'm
talking about anyway. but it's going to be okay
because at the end I said we need to pray for
them. So that makes it okay. And so what I want
to respond when I see that is, I am so glad I'm
not like people who air their dirty laundry on
Facebook just to get attention. That's what I
want to say. And so maybe in some way we do that
in our lives in a passive -aggressive way, maybe
not in our prayer lives. But maybe we have a
way of calling out other people who have done
us wrong when maybe, just maybe, we're not as
good as we think we are. Maybe we've done somebody
else wrong, and maybe they can get on Facebook
and post the same thing about us. Maybe we pretend.
Boy, we post our picture on Facebook. We're in
front of the church with our whole family, and
we're thanking God about how good he is. And
all the while, behind closed doors, behind that
picture, there are things that are going on in
our house and our lives that are rotten as can
be. But boy, we look good on the outside for
everybody to see. And that's where this guy was
at. Boy, he looked good on the outside. If you
had had to pick him out of the lineup and they
said, can you pick out the righteous person from
this lineup? You'd have looked at this guy and
you'd have said, that's him right there. I can
see the way he's standing. I can see the way
he's talking. I can tell that's the righteous
person. And he had declared himself righteous
and so much so that he declared it before God
how good he was. God, I thank you that I am so
good and I am not like this guy. And that is
not how you pray. That is not how you pray. God,
I pray for so -and -so that you'd help them.
That ain't wrong to pray for people. Y 'all ever
heard a sermon before? And you say, boy, I hope
so -and -so's listening to that today. So -and
-so needs to hear that. Well, maybe they do.
You know who else might need to hear it? You.
We spend a lot of time sometimes, we'll take
a sermon that's coming in at us and we're shoveling
it over. Oh, I'm going to shovel over to him.
I'm going to shovel that over to him. The preacher
says something, you look over at your wife or
your husband and you say, no. But maybe instead
of shoveling everything that God's sending our
way, maybe we need to start raking through some
of it and seeing what God's got in his word for
us that we can grow from, that we can learn from,
that God can speak to us from. But we become
so proud. We don't see how God's word applies
to us. How it affects us. Because, oh God, we're
doing so good. And we're praying for how God's
word can affect other people. And we need to
be praying about, God, how can your word affect
me? That's not how to pray. We pray for other
people. Praise God. We're supposed to pray for
other people. You know what Jesus says? He says,
take the log out of your own eye before you try
to take the speck out of your brother's. By all
means, help your brother out. You see flaws in
his life. Praise God that you can see that and
you can notice that. And in love, you can try
to help that brother or sister out. But don't
fail to get the log out of your own eye. Don't
fail to check your own heart and your own life
before you try to restore a brother or sister
in Christ. But this man didn't care about any
of that. This man didn't care about God. He would
have said he did. But he didn't care nothing
about God. At least not in the way that God wanted
him to. He gets up there. He's got his chest
out. He's praying. Probably loud where everybody
can hear him. He's saying, God, I'm glad that
I'm so good and I'm not so bad like this guy.
And that is not how to pray. And then you have
the old sinner. We need to pay attention to the
old sinner because that's us. If you came in
today, Is that self -declared a righteous person?
Then you need to check yourself right now. You
need to repent and you need to pay attention
to the old sinner. Because the old sinner knew
who he was. He knew that he was an old rotten
tax collector. He knew that he had done great
sins. He knew that he just was not worth anything
on his own. He knew that God was good. He also
knew that God was a just God, so much so that
he feared God. He wouldn't even come close. The
tax collector, I mean, the Pharisee was standing
front and center and the tax collector said he
wouldn't even come close. He was keeping his
distance. And where one man was poking his chest
out before God, the other man was pounding his
chest. And he came before God saying, God, I
am so rotten. I have done things that I don't
want to do. I've said things that I don't want
to say. I've acted in a way that I don't want
to act. God, I know you are good. I know you
are just. And God, I am afraid to even stand
in your presence now. God, I desire your mercy.
Would you be merciful to me, God? And that is
how we pray. We talked just a couple of weeks
ago about Paul. Paul was one of those self -declared
righteous men of God. And then what happened?
He encountered Jesus Christ. And then what did
Paul say later in his life? He said, Jesus Christ
came to save sinners of whom I am the worst,
of whom I am the chief. That is the heart of
a humble man. That is the heart of a humble man.
Jesus Christ, a humble Savior. Jesus Christ was
born in a manger. Jesus Christ lived a normal
and simple life. Jesus Christ was a humble man.
Followers of Jesus Christ are to be humble people.
So who are we today? Are we the one who is aware
of our sin and aware of how much we need Jesus
Christ, aware of how much we need the grace of
God even though we don't deserve the grace of
God? Are we those today who come in here with
a heart that is desperate to repent of our sin
and to seek God? Or do we come in here and say,
hey, I'm doing pretty good. I've been to church
every day for the last month. I say long prayers.
I'm not like him or I'm not like her. Praise
God I'm not like them. I give plenty of money
so therefore I'm alright. There are a lot of
people that have that attitude. This man was
one of them. But that's not the attitude that
a Christian should have. And that's not the attitude
that's going to save our soul. Because it's that
attitude that is full of pride. And pride comes
before a fall. But Jesus tells us in this parable
that there is a better way. And it is the way.
of humility. And Jesus says, after telling this
story, he says, only one of these men went away
righteous. Only one of these men were justified.
And Jesus says, it was the sinner. It was the
sinner who came humbly pounding his chest, repenting
of his sins, crying out to God. It was the sinner.
Who left justified. You know what justified means?
It means declared righteous by God. The Pharisee
declared himself righteous. That ain't worth
anything. You can declare yourself righteous
all day. I can declare you righteous all day.
But that don't count for nothing. Only if we
have been declared righteous by God. God, only
if we have been declared righteous because we
are covered with the precious blood of Jesus
Christ, only then are we righteous. Jesus said,
one man went away justified, and it was the one
who humbled himself before God. Which one are
you today? Have you been living in the pride
of your sin? Maybe today is the day that you
need to repent. That you need to seek Jesus Christ.
That you need to lay down your pride. And you
need to humbly ask God to forgive you. Fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This man
feared the Lord and humbled himself before him.
What about you today? Let's pray. God, we thank
you for your good word. I pray, God, that you
would help us not to be those with a heart of
pride, that we don't declare ourselves righteous,
dear Lord, that we don't boast in ourselves.
God, we do thank you. We do thank you for being
good. We do thank you for blessing us, dear Lord.
We do pray for others who struggle with sin,
dear Lord. Those things in and of themselves
are not bad, dear Lord. We do want to pray to
you. We do want to praise you. We do want to
give back to you what is yours. But God, we never
want to be guilty of doing that with a heart
of pride. So God, I pray that if we have any
of that pride in our life today, that you would
help us to repent of that. God, I pray that if
we have any struggles or difficulties with other
people in the world, That we wouldn't air our
dirty laundry in such a way that tries to make
us look better and get other people down, dear
Lord. God, I pray that if there are broken relationships,
that by your help and by your guidance, dear
Lord, we would approach those people that we
struggle with, that you would restore those relationships.
But God, the real relationship that we need to
make sure that is restored today is our relationship
with you, God. That we can't come before you
today, dear Lord, thinking that we are able to
do anything of our own. But God, we have to humble
ourselves today knowing that there is nothing
we can do to earn your grace but to trust in
the fact that Jesus Christ gave it freely. So
God, I pray that if there is sin and that there
is pride, whatever it may be in our heart, that
we would just repent of that today. That whatever
we brought into this place, that we would humble
ourselves before you this morning. That we would
be those who call out to you just like this old
sinner in the story, dear Lord. This is a room
full of sinners right here in need of your grace.
And I pray, God, that we would humble ourselves
before you today. And I ask these things in Jesus'
name. Amen.