The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There is more than one way that a person can go in life. There are an innumerable number of paths that one can walk on. One walks the path of being a teacher, another walks the path of being a police officer, and still another walks the path of politics. Yet this is only to speak of careers. The place we live, the friends we associate with, and the organizations in which we are involved also impact our path in life. This but scratches the surface of the estimated 35,000 “remotely conscious” decisions that a person makes each day. There are many choices in life—some more significant than others. But for all the choices we make in a day, for each of the paths we might walk down, there are, in the end, only two ways that a person can go.

These two ways are placed before us in today’s Gospel text. There is the way of the Pharisee and there is the way of the Tax Collector. These two ways are likewise paralleled in the Prophecy—there is the way of Cain and there is the way of Abel. Or, to say it more directly, there is the way of death and there is the way of life. The way of death is the easy road. It is the road filled with pleasure, prestige, and it is often filled with earthly wealth. It is the comfortable way. It is the way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it is the way of death. The way of life, however, is hard. It is filled with self-denial. It is often filled with earthly poverty. But it is always filled with humility. And though this way is contrary to the way of the world, it is the way of life. Therefore, let us consider the two ways presented in our Lord’s Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, which will teach us this important truth:

Only he who walks the way of humility will receive the justifying grace of Christ.

We begin by considering the way of the Pharisee. The Pharisees, as a group, were a part of the religious establishment of Israel in our Lord’s day. They were organized during the intertestamental period as a reaction against what was deemed to be a liberal swing in Jewish theology. The Pharisees, as the Gospels present them, were the direct opponents of the liberal faction known as a Sadducees, who, like certain liberal-leaning so-called Christians today, denied the resurrection of the body. So it is that the Pharisees as a group were the conservatives of their day, standing firm against an increasingly liberal and progressive secular society which had begun to infiltrate the Jewish religion. Present-day Missouri Synod Lutherans should easily be able to identify with the Pharisees in this way.

And yet, it is right for suspicion to arise whenever the Pharisees enter the scene in the Gospels. For we know that they were among the chief opponents of our Lord. And we know how their story ends. St. John tells us that the Pharisees were present with the chief priests and scribes when they came to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Christ. They, then, were a part of the “Jews” who pressured Pilate into releasing Barabbas and crucifying Jesus. They joined in the mocking. They were present after our Lord’s burial in the ill-fated conspiracy to keep Christ in the grave. In many ways, the Pharisees are the figureheads of the way that opposes Christ.

Therefore, it should not surprise us that our Lord names the antagonist in today’s parable as a Pharisee. For this parable is spoken directly against the Pharisees with the purpose of revealing the heart of what was wrong with them. So, the Pharisee’s prayer is as revealing as it is damning:

“God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess” (Luke 18:11-12).

The Pharisee so trusts in himself that he cannot see clearly. He has such confidence in himself and in his own good works that he despises all others who are not exactly as he is. Therefore, he has the audacity to smugly thank God that he is not like other men.

Thank God that we are not like this Pharisee! For we did not crucify the Son of God! We have right doctrine! We don’t trust in our good works to earn salvation! We are so much better than he!

Or are we? To be sure, it is true that our Lutheran doctrine refuses to allow us to trust in good works. It is true that our Lutheran faith is the right exposition of Holy Scripture. It is true that our sins, on the surface, are not those of the Pharisees. And yet, underneath the surface lies the most insidious of all sins—that which manifests as boastful self-exaltation, entitlement, and despising of others. That most insidious sin is the sin of pride.

Pride takes many forms. There are many different pride-filled paths in life. The seeking of earthly gain or of an increased status are examples of a pride-filled life—but there are many others as well. The book of Proverbs constantly warns us against the insidious temptations of pride:

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 16:25).

And:

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18).

The truth is, we are more similar to the Pharisees than we would like to admit—Or, at very least, the temptation for us to become like them in their pride is always there.

And yet, the way of a Pharisee is not set in stone. One can depart from that path, as did the Pharisee Nicodemus. For as long as we are still breathing, there remains opportunity for repentance.

And, in a word, repentance is the way of the Tax Collector in our parable. Let us be clear: It is humble repentance which separates this Tax Collector from others. For tax collectors in general were not the best of people, to put it mildly. They were cheaters who collected more money from taxpayers than was required so that they could pad their pockets. And if this weren’t enough, they also were directly responsible for funding the occupying Roman army. Though there are notable examples in Scripture of tax collectors who amended their ways, by and large, tax collectors were among the chief public sinners in New Testament times.

And yet, the Tax Collector in our Lord’s Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is different. For our Lord says of him:

The tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13).

This man could not be presented in greater contrast to the Pharisee. Where the Pharisee displays pride of the heart, the Tax Collector stands in humble repentance, trusting God alone to grant him mercy. This man had nothing to offer God. And so, he confesses his sin to the Lord and therefore goes down to his house justified. For this is how the mercy of the Lord works. The one who humbles himself before God will be exalted by Him.

Dear friends in Christ, let us learn from the Tax Collector that we might walk in his steps on the way which leads to life. Admittedly, we don’t know much about this man beyond his humble disposition before God. And in many ways, that’s all we need to know. For this is the chief work we are called to as Christians.

When we think about good works which are pleasing to God, we immediately think of serving the poor and needy or helping our neighbor who is in distress. But our Lord says in John chapter 6 to those who asked what to do in order to be doing the works of God:

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29).

One of the core components of belief in Christ is a right view of ourselves. This, of course, is the heart of what is so insidious about pride. It distorts our view of self. It tempts us with Satan’s original deception of humanity: “You can be like God!” Indeed, you can be like God. You can rule your life and determine right and wrong. But if you will be like God, then you must also be your own savior—a feat which is impossible for humanity.

Therefore, we must learn from the Tax Collector to walk the way of humility. We cannot save ourselves from our many sins. Left to our own devices, we ruin it all again and again. Therefore, because we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment, we must choose humility again and again. This continual choice of humility is what Luther means when he speaks of the Christian life being characterized by “daily contrition and repentance.” For this way of humility is the way of grace and justification. It is the way of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is not easy, for it goes against the way of the world, but it is the only way to life.

This life of humility, then, ought to inform the way that we live our everyday lives. As we seek to walk the way of humility and avoid the way of pride and death, we are still faced with daily choices of how to live, choices which shape our walk in this life. And these choices matter, for they shape our character—making it easier or harder to walk the way of humility. Therefore, we would do well to learn from another tax collector named Zacchaeus, whose story is told in the very next chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel. Because of the grace he received in Christ, Zacchaeus abandons his life of selfish living. He gives generously to others. And he seeks to restore to others what he has taken from them.

This is an example for us of how the Christian life of humility ought to be lived. It is not lived for self. It is lived with eternity and the well-being of others at the forefront of all decisions. To be sure, the Bible does not tell us all the finer details of how to live our lives or how to choose between two paths that we might walk down. It does, however, teach us to always keep the two ways in view. How do my choices serve the end of fostering within myself a spirit of humility? How can I best serve my neighbor with the resources God has given me? These questions will go a long way to guide us in our everyday choices as we seek to walk the narrow way of humility and receive the eternal justifying grace of Christ.

God grant it.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.