Given by Sherry Black One of the least popular topics in our culture today is, well, sin. In fact, you won’t even find the idea of sin, original sin, talked about in many churches. The progressive religious people of our day don’t talk of sin, but of self-actualization. All people do wrong, but they must try to make up for it by working to correct the wrong. Or they focus on the sinfulness of the social structures of society that support injustice and oppression. But we certainly don’t hear much about sin in the traditional Christian sense of the word. We don’t talk about the “S” word. And why is that? One Christian author says:
We get awfully complacent when in comes to sin. We really don’t quite get it; we don’t understand how abhorrent our sin is compared to God’s holiness. When we sin, we are more than just being naughty, we are breaking our communion with God. But, like us, the Pharisee in the gospel reading didn’t get it either. First, let’s consider the Pharisees. While we have a pretty poor opinion of them from reading the gospels, in actuality they were the religious elite of their day. Someone said that in today’s language, we might begin this story by saying “The Pope and a pimp went to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray.” The Pharisees were a Jewish group founded on the ideas of separatism and purity. They were staunch defenders of Jewish law and tradition, and did their utmost to keep those laws. They felt that a return to living according to the laws of Moses would hasten God to send the promised Messiah. Because of their piety, they received great admiration and support from the people, and eventually they became the source of authority instead of the priests. But along with this prestige came a degree of arrogance and conceit—and this pride is what Jesus frequently addressed. While they meant to obey God, they became so fanatical and extremist in the fine points of the law that they were blind to the spirit of the law--and to the Messiah. So . . . a Pharisee went to the temple to pray, saying “God, I thank you.” That’s a good start, a prayer of thanksgiving. This is a common type of psalm or prayer, where the petitioner is thanking God for something he has done or something he has provided. This Pharisee, though, is thankful that he is not like other people;” giving him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he’s reflecting on his being a Jew, a man created in God’s image, by God’s hands. Still not all bad, but unfortunately his prayer went down hill from there! “I thank you that I am not like other people—thieves, rogues, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.” Ooops! He is grateful only for himself, that he is not like other sinners. And not only is he not like those people, he honors God by fasting twice a week and by tithing. He wears his piety “as a badge of achievement that should cause God to give him favor.”2 His prayer says “I thank you God that I am so great!! And he uses the first person pronoun 5 times in two verses, making himself the major subject, and with derision he compares himself to “this tax collector.” The great tragedy is that he does not understand the flawed nature of his prayer. He is deceiving himself. He does not look upon himself as God’s servant, but as one who deserves blessings from God for a job well done. And besides this pride, he is guilty of contempt for others. In contrast, the tax collector approaches God and prayer from a distance, standing far off, and not even daring to look toward heaven. He beat his breast and said “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Humility. He understood his proper relationship to God Almighty. Humility is knowing our place before God. The despised tax collector does not puff himself up, or list his good deeds. He knows that he does not deserve consideration for anything he has done. There is but one thing he knows: his need for God’s mercy. He knows that he cannot earn God’s forgiveness, and the only thing left is God’s grace, so he appeals for God’s mercy and compassion. He wants only to develop his relationship with God, and it is this sense of helplessness and dependence that opens one to God’s grace, the spirit of a child. Jesus concludes the passage by saying that the one justified before God, the one whose prayer is heard, is not the great religious man who does everything right, but the prayer God hears is the prayer for mercy. Why? Because those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves . . . will be exalted. So, what do we see, what do we hear? First of all we need to be aware that we must not be in the business of comparing ourselves with others, or of boasting of our good deeds. How often do we compare our own lives and achievements as a way of justifying ourselves? When we condemn the Pharisee, we condemn ourselves also. And how often do we want to present ourselves before God and our neighbor as good, church going folk, devoted to all that is right and good. We secretly are proud of our goodness. We are thankful that we are not like those other people, that we haven’t stolen anything, that we haven’t harmed anyone, that we haven’t run off with a lover. Or have we? What is the sin in our hearts? Oh, but for the grace of God . . . and we are more like the Pharisee than we care to admit. So, the Pharisee is merely boasting, and not aware of his own sinfulness. He cannot pray like the tax collector because he is to wrapped up in his goodness to see his arrogance. So, we say, we should pray like the tax collector. We won’t praise ourselves, we won’t approach the temple, we will not even look up but beat our breasts saying “God have mercy on me a sinner.” The danger is in thinking “I thank you God that I am not like this Pharisee. I have no self-righteousness in me, only sin. And I am confessing that now. How sad for the Pharisee that he cannot see to pray like I do.” And a new form of pride sneaks into our humility!! And pride follows pride, saying “I thank you God that I have seen the arrogance of my sin, and I return to you, newly penitent, confessing purely. Do you see how well I have done this?” And this is a danger of our secret individual as well as our corporate confessions. So, in looking so hard at our own sinfulness, our own pride, we get bogged down and forget to see the necessity of grace, not only the grace of God, but of our own offering of grace to the sinners around us, both Pharisees and tax collectors, popes and pimps. We who need God’s grace for our very life and health and breath must be just as quick to offer grace to those around us. When we say, “God have mercy on me, a sinner” we must also recognize that we are called to show mercy. Micah 6:8 tells us that what is good, what the Lord requires of us, is to do justice, and love kindness (or mercy), and to walk humbly with our God. I saw a story the other day where a guy met a friend that he hadn’t seen in several years at a gym; they had know each other through church. He said “It was the first time I had spoken to Phil since he left his disabled wife of thirty-plus years. After some superficial chit-chat, and figuring that many people probably thought he was a slime ball for doing such a thing, I asked Phil if he felt socially isolated.” His answer? “Only by Christians.” We spend much of our lives justifying ourselves before God, others, and our own selves. And the more often that we look at our own sin, the more able we are to justify it, too. But this doesn’t work, does it? As soon as we realize and accept that we are accepted by God just as we are, we don’t have to prove ourselves. And the key is seven little words: God, have mercy on me a sinner. If we truly understand this, and speak it from our hearts, that’s the most important prayer we can say, the only attitude of prayer that we need. It speaks from a humble understanding of our human condition and to a confidence in God who shows mercy. Perhaps you have heard of the ancient Jesus Prayer. It’s not seven words, but 12, and taken in part from this verse. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” This form of contemplative prayer dates back to the sixth century, or earlier. It has been the providence of the Eastern Orthodox and of monks, but has become more common among mainline Christians. Contemplative prayer, or heart prayer, is like a mantra, or a continual remembering. It is the process of repeating a word or phrase until it becomes as much a part of one’s life as one’s own breath, or even as one’s own heartbeat. The Jesus prayer, a form of heart prayer, is a simple yet complete Christian theological statement. Its most common traditional form is “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” It is a Christian mantra and an expression of faith. The Jesus prayer is most likely a contraction of two biblical verses: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47), and “God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13, NKJV). Some choose to practice this prayer for specific time periods, once or twice a day. Others remember the prayer during empty moments – during travel, on awakening or falling asleep, or any pauses in the day. The rewards are great, and with practice you will come to an improved awareness of God. You will be on your way to “praying without ceasing”—see 1 Thess. 5:17. With practice, this prayer can be united to your breath. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Amen.
1 http://www.ivpress.com/spotlight/2389.php 2 Bock, Darrell. The NIV Application Commentary: Luke. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996. (461). |