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| The entire AOC Sunday Report can be found RIGHT HERE! |
The
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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O
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GOD, who declarest thy
almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such
a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may
obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
As revealed in our Prayer of Collect today, God's greater virtue and power is
demonstrated in His miraculous power to forgive our sins of rebellion and
omission. Whatever grace we have is an endowment of grace from God that enables
us to keep His Commandments and be accounted righteous by the blood of Jesus
Christ. It is thus that we may, with Abraham, attain to the promises made
available through the Lord Jesus Christ, and to share, with Him, in the blessed
treasures of Heaven. This Collect is unique in specific aspects as are each of
the Collects. I wrote a series of devotions a few years back on that uniqueness
of each of the daily Collects - their origins and relevance to the Church
Calendar, and to our lives. They are gifts to us of the early church fathers,
many of whom gave their lives in fidelity to the Word of God.
In the Epistle from 1 Corinthians 15, Paul lays out the means and way of
salvation through Christ alone. He, too, had been a Pharisee as we see in the
Gospel account today whom Jesus addressed “certain which trusted in
themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." (Luke 18:9)
In fact, Paul (as Saul) had been a tool of the Pharisees by which many
Christian worshippers had been persecuted and murdered. This is the context for
the Words of Christ today from the Gospel of St. Luke 18:
9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in
themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a
Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I
possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so
much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon 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 every one that exalteth
himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
(Luke 18:9-14)
First of all, we note Jesus addressing His remarks to certain men present. Who
were these men? Some are in church today. His words were addressed to certain
men and women who believed in their OWN righteousness - even to the extent of
condemning others and looking down on them. We would call that
self-righteousness (and there is no such thing under Heaven). Such would be
wise to heed the counsel of Paul to Timothy: Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not
highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us
richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works,
ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves
a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal
life. (1 Tim
6:17-19)
Secondly, our Lord is speaking of two DIFFERENT kinds of people (a Pharisee and
a Publican) - BOTH went up for the seemingly same purpose (to pray). BOTH went
t to the right place for prayer - the House of the Lord. But the similarities
end with those two facts. Let us examine, now, wherein the characteristics of
these two men diverge, and examine our own hearts to learn if we are like unto
one or the other of the two:
The Pharisee
1)
The Pharisee's ATTITUDE of Prayer:
a.
The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself. Intimated herein is that the
Pharisee stood proudly, and he prayed out of a false perspective. He did not
humbly pray to God, but prayed thus with
himself. His words were not directed to God, truly, but for his own
personal purposes which are explained further in the text. He trusted that he
was righteous just as millions of Christians do every Sunday at worship. Smug
and arrogantly they sit in the pew thinking of those others when the word
'sinner' is mentioned. They trust too much in their OWN religion and not upon
the imputed righteousness of Christ.
b.
They trust too much in a particular denomination
and not the sole grace of God and the sacrifice of His Son.
c.
They feel like they are not "like those
others."
a.
We read of how proudly the Pharisee prayed “with
himself” – not to God. He prayed that others might hear his boastful words. The
contrary is true of the publican who felt himself unworthy to come so near the
Temple. He did not lay claim to ANY GOODNESS, or righteous deeds, in his life
but only sought mercy upon himself as a sinner.
2)
The Pharisee's PRESUMPTION in Prayer: He
did not begin by glorifying God, or showing a spirit of repentance for sins he,
like us, had surely committed. But, if taken alone, his prayer would have been
more fitting than it became when he added his reason for gratitude to God.
" God, I thank thee." The
Pharisee would have been better off to stop right there with that salutation!
But he did not!
3)
The Pharisee's ARROGANCE of Prayer:
For what was the Pharisee thankful?
a.
The Pharisee boasts of being thankful for what
he is not!
i. "I AM NOT as other men are" In other words,
"I am better than all others. I am good in, and of, myself."
ii. I
am not an "extortioner" "I have never been guilty of such a
sin" (but probably was stained badly thereby)
iii. I
am not "unjust" He is being
unjust on the face of his proclamation and his indictment of the publican!
iv. I
am not an "adulterer" He
may have been one of those guilty Pharisees who brought the Woman taken in
Adultery to Christ who left early because of his guilt.
v. I
am not "even as this publican."
In other words, "I am not a COMMON sinner[1]
as is this publican!"
b.
The Pharisee boasts of being thankful for what he
DOES!
i. "I fast twice in the week"
ii. "I give tithes of all that I possess"
c.
In TRUTH, the Pharisee was none of what he
claimed as his own:
i. In truth: He was
a liar! Though he claimed otherwise, he was precisely as other men are – a
sinner. (Romans 3:23)
ii. He was an extortioner. (Matthew 23:14, Mark
12:40)
iii. He was unjust. His very attitude and
self-opinion of himself proved this.
iv. He was a worse man than the publican for the
publican realized his need to which the Pharisee was blinded of his own.
v. He did not fast to satisfy a Godly purpose
but only for the purpose of show and boasting.
vi. He did not tithe of all he had for he kept
his heart from God by not surrendering it to Him. (Luke 20:25)
vii. He had a religious zeal, but not according to
the Bible. “….they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For
they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
(Romans 10:2-3)
Now let us look at
the Publican: "And the publican,
standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote
upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner."
The Publican[2]
1)
The publican knew who he was – a lost sinner and
condemned.
2)
The
publican knew his place with God without mercy – at a distance!
3)
The
publican knew how he felt – guilty, ashamed and needing mercy.
4)
He knew
WHAT he needed – MERCY.
5)
He knew
how to attain mercy – repent, confess, and call upon the Lord.
6)
He knew
of his salvation – went down to his house justified.
There is a great secret revealed, too, in
this Parable – sin causes a great separation from man and God. The only means
to bridge that separation is repentance and confession of sins. When we have
betrayed or hurt a close friend, do we not avoid looking them in the eye until
we have reconciled ourselves to that friend? We may not speak to that friend
for months due to our guilt. The friend may not even be aware of our guilt, BUT
WE ARE! When we forget God, we live according to our own prerogatives. This
free will always leads to sin. That sin raises a wall between us and God.
Suddenly, we are ashamed as was Adam in the Garden. We cannot tear down that
wall with our good deeds, but only by our tearful cries for mercy!
Do we mark our offering envelopes at church
with large letters to show our great tithing? Do we embellish our prayers with
beautiful words that do not come from the heart, but from a proud mind? Do we
attempt to seem so close to God that publicans cannot approach Him? Do we admit
our unworthiness apart from God’s grace? Have we known that the very moment we
feel that we are “good enough” is the very moment that we are NOT? Do not be a
pharisaical hypocrite, but be a humble sinner who lays claim to grace and mercy
in God.
Which of the two are we most alike - the
Pharisee, or the Publican?
Better be a lowly Publican than a proud
Pharisee! AMEN!
