Eleventh Sunday after Trinity (2023)

Luke 18:9-14

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Pride is a deadly sin that leads many away from God and the grace that He has given to us through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. This parable is important for us to understand as Christians, that our hearts might be right before the Lord and that we might not, fall into the trap of pride and toss away the gift of salvation that Jesus has given to us freely.

The Dramatis Personae

The Pharisees were a strict religious sect.

Their observance of the Customs of the Old Testament were quite something. They took the Law of God quite seriously, and would only be rivaled by some of the strict Monastic orders that are still around today. They didn’t take their faith lightly.

On the outside they’re flawless.

They observed the Law of God carefully, and they were considered by many within Israel as devoted Jewish people whose works were second to only God himself.

The tax collector’s were agents of Rome.

The Romans Governors would appoint people from within the nation to collect taxes for them. They would not pay the tax collectors though, and so when the tax collectors went to collect money, they collected not only for rome, but also for their own wages.

They were despised and seen as traitors.

We can understand why, imagine if we were in that situation and our country was overrun and rule was taken away from us, and then our neighbor signs up to collect taxes for our invaders, and had committed great atrocities against our religion?

God Also Weighs the Heart

Consider the Pharisees works.

He isn’t extorting, he isn’t guilty of crimes, he isn’t an adulterer, not only does he tithe what his income is, but everything, even their dried garden herbs. On the outside he looks good.

The real problem is his heart.

For what there you see that what sits in his heart is pride, and self-righteousness, he prays, but he praises himself and how he is better than his neighbor, and that’s why he is going to be ok.

In the Parable, this is who we are.

This is an unpleasant truth, but it’s true. When you heard this parable who did you thank God that you’re not like? Who did you think needed to hear this parable? You are pointing the finger at another just like the Pharisee. We think of ourselves more highly than we ought, because if we aren’t evil like that person over there, or the hypocrite that dared to call us out for our wrongdoing. If you can show someone else is wrong, you think that means you are in the clear?

The heart of man is evil continually.

God saw this in the days of Noah, and it grieved him, it was the same sin that sat in the heart of Adam when God asked him what He did, and Adam first blames Eve, and then Blames God, and exalts himself as righteous.

A Pure Heart

In this Parable, Jesus is the Tax Collector.

It is important in every parable that we learn to find Christ, before we find ourselves. We want to be the Tax Collector, but we want that so we can exalt ourselves. Humility is hard, and the one who got it perfectly right is Him.

He humbled himself to the point of death.

He submitted to the will of His Father that He might be put to insulted, mocked, spit upon, struck, betrayed, and put to death. It wasn’t a quick death, but one that was slow and painful and yet He humbled himself.

Think about who is on the cross?

English Standard Version Chapter 1

his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

His birth was heralded by angels, and yet...

Jesus lowered himself to carry your sins.

He set aside that glory that belongs to Him and allowed sinners to unjust sinners to not only lay their hands upon them, but all of their sins, all of your sins are upon His sacred, when He is the one that should be praised by the entire world. In his humility what does He do?

As He was dying, Jesus asked God to forgive you.

Is that how you treat your enemies? Is that how you treat someone who spits on you, blindfolds you, and then puts you in a group who strikes you in the face and asks you to say who just hit you? We are not the Tax Collector, that is Christ.

How Do We Compare?

How does your heart compare with Jesus?

It is easy to compare ourselves with wicked or evil people, but how do you compare with Him? Even if your works have been great, even if you have remembered your offering every week, and remembered to include your offerings for the weeks you weren’t here. You don’t even come close.

Then we cry out, Kyrie Eleison, Lord have mercy!

For we have spent our lives comparing ourselves to the worst of humanity, because we didn’t want to admit, that we truly are sinners. But do not give up hope, for

A broken and contrite heart, God will not despise.

He breaks the proud, not because he hates them, but because He wishes for them to learn to rely on His mercy, not their own works. Too often we trust in ourselves, and think that we can do it all, but Law of God reveals that we too are broken. That is why

Jesus was sent to bind the brokenhearted.

For He is our Good Shepherd that cares for the sheep of God that have wandered, have fallen, and been injured, He is gentle with them as He tends to their hurts, and He is willing to suffer for their sake that they might be healed.

What of the Law?

So can I just keep sinning with a pure heart?

You can’t be intentionally abusing the grace of God, and just living in sin. No matter what that sin might be, could be lying, drunkeness, stealing, fornication, these things are in conflict, furthermore,

Why would you want to keep harming your neighbor?

Don’t tell me that your sin doesn’t hurt anybody else, what Jesus there on the Cross, or let me guess you don’t care about him, and want to be a christian. .

Christ didn’t free you from sin that you might live in it.

He didn’t save you from eternal death, so that you might run back into the jaws of hell. Oppose your sin, fight against it, not just in your hands, but in your heart, and then you will learn why we say Lord have mercy.

When you do fall, come to the house of the Lord.

For there is the one who will lift you up, who will carry you when you cannot go on and bring your back to life. For what he did there on the Cross He did to bind up ours hearts.

So my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let us learn from this parable that God will not judge us by comparison and no matter how great our works are, they are not enough for us to earn heaven. May we also see Christ who lowered himself for our sake, and was justified that we might be forgiven by the Blood that shed for us. Then may we learn to flee from all sin that so entangles our souls, and cling alone to Christ who is the Savior of Sinners and will bring us home with Him. In Jesus name Amen.