2023.07.02 Pharisees, Tax Collectors, and Giving, Oh My!

Pharisees, Tax Collectors, and Giving, Oh My!

Psalm 37:16-22 • Luke 18:9-14

Luke 18:9–14 NASB 2020

9 Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Before we jump in, I want to make sure you notice the audience of this parable:

Look at verse 9 - who is he telling this parable to?

Luke 18:9 NLT

9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else:

Most of our translations use something along the lines of “people who trusted or were confident in themselves that they were righteous...”

The Greek word here is pepoithotas

a form of the word “peitho” (peetho), which means being persuaded of, or CONVINCED of

These people Jesus is talking to are people who had become CONVINCED of their own righteousness, so they (literally translated) despised others.

Have you ever been so convinced you’re right about something you look down on other people?

When I sorted packages at UPS, some of my coworkers would test other workers. When they found a zip code that we didn’t see very often, or that was sorted to an unexpected conveyor, instead of sorting the package, they would move it down the slide to test the guy next to them. And if they miss-sorted the package, they would make fun of the “loser” who didn’t remember that 755 Texas went to a different place than the rest of Texas! They had become arrogant about it. They looked down on ‘other’ sorters … because I … I mean … they … were OBVIOUSLY better than the others.

This being Independence Day weekend, I’m sure you can think of a few names politically who fit this description, can’t you?

That’s the audience of this parable - those who have been convinced they are good and everyone else is evil. Wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus would come back just to have another conversation with those types of people? Or maybe we are more like those people than we’d care to admit out loud.

I’m going to reverse the first two questions again this week. The context begins with humans, so let’s start with humans:

What do you learn about HUMANS?

What do you learn about HUMANS?

Righteous or sinner? • Good guy or bad guy? • Good or evil?

Humans tend to separate people into simplistic categories, so Jesus plays within those boundaries today. Two people go into the temple. What are they going in for?

verse 10: They’re going in to pray! Wouldn’t that make them BOTH good guys? Apparently not.

Pharisee - good guy or bad guy? (This one is a little harder for us, because we have Jesus’ penchant for poking at the Pharisees. But what about the people Jesus is talking to … would THEY have seen the Pharisee as a good guy or bad guy? GOOD GUY - of course! And not just A good guy, but one of THE good guys.

And in the other corner, we have a tax collector - good guy or bad guy? I worked a high school camp several years back. One of the camp counselors was a very gregarious guy. He loved Jesus and wanted the kids to love Jesus. In the middle of the week, I found out he worked for the IRS. If I told you I didn’t struggle a little bit when I heard that I’d be lying to you. Tax Collectors are considered bad guys even today.

So a good guy and a bad guy go into the Temple - why? To PRAY! Assuming they were both Jewish, they would’ve entered the Court of the Israelites at the top of 12 stairs, and they definitely would’ve been close enough to hear each other.

How does the tax collector pray (verse 13)?

humility - stands back - presumes no standing with God

confession

throws himself on God’s mercy

How does the Pharisee pray (verse 11-12)?

explain the phrase “humble brag” “thank you that I’m not like other people” and then he rattles off a list of atrocious attributes of “other people” including the tax collector to his face! “O God … thank you that I am so great!”

The Pharisee lacks humility because he’s comparing himself to other humans and their failings instead of comparing himself to God and his righteousness

sees himself as better than other people and he wants to make sure God knows how much better he is

Then he lists off his justifications: I fast twice a week; pay tithes “They all do bad stuff, and I do good stuff. I’m a good guy.”

We’re all guilty of this Pharisee’s attitude at times aren’t we? …when I’m driving

Which prayer is better, the Pharisee or the tax collector?

Which prayer do you pray more often?

Pastor Chris, I would NEVER pray the way the Pharisee prays. NEVER! But how often do you pray the way the tax collector prays? How often do you preface your prayers with true humility, and acknowledgement that you don’t belong in his court?

We just said the tax collector’s prayer is the better prayer. Maybe we should be praying it more often.

What do you learn about GOD?

What do you learn about GOD from this story?

Would you say God doesn’t CARE what we do?

No.

Would you say God cares MORE about our motives than our behavior? The implications of the Law would suggest not … the Law is largely behavioral, so it would appear on the surface that God cares only about our behavior.

Let’s look at the Sermon on the Mount for a minute.

Turn to Matthew 5. Jesus is teaching specifically about the Law, which Jews have traditionally (and even still today) consider “behavioral law”. But look at what Jesus says about it:

Matthew 5:20–22 NLT

20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! 21 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ 22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.

Matthew 5:27–28 NASB 2020

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus teaches that the heart of the Law is more important than the actions of the Law. God cares more about our motives than our behavior!

Returning to Luke 18

Luke 18:14 NASB 2020

14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Why did the tax collector return justified?

Jesus teaches that humility is the reason the tax collector went home justified. Do you know what justified means?

The Greek word here is a form of the word dikaioo (dih-kai-oh)

Dikaioo’s definition helps us see that justification means being DECLARED RIGHTEOUS!

The tax collector returned to his house DECLARED ACTUALLY RIGHTEOUS! Meanwhile, The Pharisee returned home satisfied in his self-righteousness.

What do you learn about YOURSELF?

What do you learn about YOURSELF?

The obvious question to ask here is, “Which prayer are you more likely to pray?” but I want to ask this differently.

Which attitude do you display more often?

Thank God I’m not like those other people...

Or Lord, God have mercy on me, a sinner!

God gives us free will to think whatever we want to think. But he clearly tells us that one way of thinking is superior to the other.

What needs to CHANGE?

What needs to change as a result of what you’ve learned?

From the early days of Christianity, believers have prayed a simple prayer simply called “The Jesus Prayer.” It goes like this:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

Some use this as a breath prayer: Inhaling: “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God” Exhaling: “have mercy on me, a sinner.”

I have a set of prayer beads similar to a Catholic rosary. I only use them for seasons, but when I’m using them, I pray a version of the Jesus Prayer for each bead on the line: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Some pray this prayer throughout the day when they have an unfilled moment: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Some Christians, when they have thoughts of being better than others, they’ve trained themselves to respond to such arrogance with this prayer of humility: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

The world in which Jesus found himself was in desperate need of humility, and the world has not changed from then till now … not in that aspect. We are in desperate need of humility, and true humility begins when we realize the truth: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

As you come forward for Communion this morning, I’m going to ask you to do so a little differently.

When you come forward, before you receive the elements, I’d like to ask you to pray this simple prayer:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” (It’ll be on the screen.)

On behalf of Jesus, I will respond, “The body and blood of Jesus.”

I’ll remind you again after we ask God to bless the elements.

Let’s pray