So a Pharisee and a tax collector walk
into a Temple…I know, this sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke. But
the reality is this was how one of Jesus’ parables began. You can read the
whole parable in Luke 18:9-14.
But the point seems to be a matter
of prayer. In particular, a matter of the position of our hearts when we pray.
The Pharisee sounded ego-centric and
self-sufficient in his prayer. He thanked God that he was not like other
people, people who he viewed worse than him, and in any societal or religious
ranking they probably were. Then he went on to remind God how good he was, what
he did, and how he went above the requirements of the Law in his giving.
And then there was the tax
collector, a notorious-swindler-corrupt tax collector. Granted, he was just
doing his job, but his job was part of a corrupt Empirical system that was
draining the people and making the rich richer.
His prayer is “God, have mercy on me, a
sinner”. That’s it. No list of his accolades. No list of his accomplishments.
No reminding God how nice he had been and how naughty the other sinners were.
There was no building himself up. In fact, he didn’t even look up. He couldn’t.
He looked down at the ground, stood far away from everyone else in the Temple,
and beat his chest as he cried out to God.
He is not comparing himself to
others like the Pharisee had done, he simply sees himself before a perfect and
holy God, and realizes how far from that standard he is. How far we all are.
That’s a pretty powerful picture of
repentant prayer. I like to think that he quit his job, too. In the 2014 movie,
Son of God, this scene was portrayed
as Jesus telling the parable and then calling Levi (Matthew) from his tax
collector booth and Levi left this lifestyle behind to follow Jesus. I think
that’s a neat picture of this parable, but I don’t know if that’s exactly the
historical context or not. In fact, in Luke’s gospel the calling of Matthew
comes much earlier as recorded. The gospels were never meant to be
chronological historical documents, but if any of them had a chronological base
I think it would be the ordered and logical account of Luke.
Here’s my point with all this today:
Do you thank God you’re not like other people? This was one of the “21
Questions” of John Wesley (for more info on those questions you can visit our
website under the resources tab at www.telforumc.holston.org). You can also watch a video devo for all 21 Questions on our Youtube channel.
I know we could talk about prayer
right now. We could say pray like the tax collector, not like the Pharisee.
But even there we have to be careful. C.S.
Lewis wrote,
“Be careful about wanting to just pray
like the tax collector, or before long you may be thanking God that you’re not
like the Pharisee”.
So instead of just looking at this as an
example of how to pray (or how not to pray), I think this has more to do with
humility. It’s about having a right view of ourselves, a right view of God, and
a right view of others.
So, the question again, is “do you
thank God you’re not like other people?”
Maybe you can think of
characteristics of people that you are thankful you are not like…
Maybe you can think of names of
people that you are thankful you are not like…
Maybe you can think of
nationalities, or races, or colors, of people that you are thankful you are not
like…
When we have too high a view of
ourselves, or others, or even we have too low of a view of ourselves, or
others, we are discrediting the creation of a perfect God. Jesus died for
everyone. And He rose for everyone, too!
Thank God we are not all alike!
Thank God I am me, and thank God you are
you!
And thank God that when we turn to Him
with a humble and repentant heart that we are justified, and set on a path of
life as works in progress following our Creator.
Thanks be to God!
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