Eleventh Sunday after Trinity (2026)

Luke 18:9-14

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ we have before us this morning the parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee, this builds off what we had last week, and shows one the dangerous directions that works can take. I mentioned last week the Paul who was once Saul, was a pharisee, a man who looked down upon His neighbors because of the ways in which he kept the Law better than others. We will get into why this happens in the hearts of people, and why it should be avoided.

The Delusion of Self-Righteousness

The Pharisee thinks he’s good.

He doesn’t have any problems, he has been following the Law carefully as I pointed out last week, his dedication to his belief went so far as to influence where he bought his house, so he wouldn’t even have to do work to get to church and not break the sabbath. He is certain that he has kept all the laws and done it all perfectly and he is thankful that he is not like that tax collector over there.

He is there to boast.

To show off to God all that he has done, now we talked about this last week, with the fixation on works, and how the Law does not make one righteous, but brings to us the knowledge of sin. This is who Paul used to be, and that is why he had his lament for his brothers who were focused on this and lost salvation because of their pride. For

What measure does God use?

When the day comes that God judges you, and you stand before His throne, and He examines your life, and the things you have done, and the things you have left undone. Does he compare you with who you consider to be the worst of humanity? No. God compares your your actions against Himself. For He is the judge and heaven is His home, and if you want to enter heaven according to your works, they have to be equal to God. People deceive themselves when they think their opinion matters in God’s Court.

You can’t declare yourself innocent.

Imagine doing that in front of a judge in an earthly court. Sir I know the officer clocked me at 30 over in a school zone, but you don’t have to worry about this matter at all. I have declared myself innocent. So you can go back to your chamber and I can go home. Now let me know if you are going to do that, because I want to see what happens next. You cannot forgive yourself, when you sin, you sin against God himself who created not only you, but your neighbor, and this world, and you have violated His commands. This is where the Law wakes us up, to see that our works are not equal to God’s

God’s Works vs Man’s

Who gives us daily bread?

In the Lord’s Prayer we pray for that, and daily bread includes all those needs of our earthly life. God provides not just for us, but for the entire world, and watches over all creation. The Jesus tells us that not one sparrow falls to the ground without Him knowing. He is active and preserving all of creation. It gets to the point that God provides these things so regularly that we fail to consider it, but

Have we deserved it?

For God doesn’t just do this for those that like him, none of us can give anything back to Him. How have we treated him? By our sins, in thought, word, and deed we have treated him with contempt for He is the source of our life, our being, the one who orders our days, and gives breath, and he can take it all away in a moment. While we were still His enemies, He gave up His Son for us that we poor miserable sinners might not be damned to hell, which we deserved, but have the hope of everlasting life

How do you compare with God?

Which of your works compare with his greatness, his majesty, who are you or I to correct him or boast before him as though we have done anything of worth compared the wonders that He has crafted and the life that He has maintained. Where were we when the He put the galaxy in motion with the planets and all the stars. What are we so foolish to boast about in his presence, when the very thing He told us to do, we refused to do?

The Danger of the Law

Having only Law results in despair or delusion.

The despair brings a person down to their knees and the the law crushes them, thinking there is no way that God could love me, or care about me. There’s no way that I can get into heaven. The Pharisee in our parable he is the delusional one, for he believes that his works mean something, but Christ will say to him, depart from me you worker of lawlessness. Between these two

The delusion is harder to break.

You have a person who is convinced that they are good, that they are holy, that they are a christian, but why is it by the Law, and do they rely on the Law for that? Look at the PHarisee,

Did the Pharisee need a savior?

No, he had no sins, no problems, you can tell him about Christ, the Savior of Sinners and he will say that’s nice, but he isn’t like those other sinners who need Jesus, like the Tax Collector. He is deluded, and convinced that He will get into heaven apart from the Son of God or as some believe that Jesus will give us just the boost we need, and we can take care of the rest. Compare that with the Tax Collector who understood the

Dynamics of Law and Gospel

The Tax Collector felt the law.

What does the Law do? It shows us our sin, it shows that there is nothing good inside of you or me, and that by our life we have not lived according to God’s holy commands. And every time we try to justify ourselves it knocks our feet out from under us, as it reveals the holy righteousness of God, and we dare not even lift our eyes, and that’s where this man was at.

He felt God’s wrath, but trusted God’s mercy.

We talk about the Lord being merciful, but mercy is meaningless if there is no wrath, there would be no reason to talk about mercy if there was no sin, no danger, no wrath of God burning against those who have done evil. This tax collector realized there was nothing He could do to satisfy the demands of the Holy and Righteous God who punishes evil, and so he cries out for mercy. This what the Gospel is all about, it is about the mercy that is found in the heart of God, and shown there upon the Cross. God keeps His promises, and he gave the promise to forgive our sins for the sake of Christ His Son, and the blood he shed upon the Cross for us. Law and Gospel,

They work together to save you.

The Law is true and remains until the end of this world, but let us to not rely upon our works for salvation. Many try, but sin corrupts all of us, and that is why God sent His Son into the World for sinners like that Tax Collector. That is why we continue to teach and proclaim this again and again that

Our Hope of Salvation

There’s nothing good inside of us.

Not a one of us measures up to the demands of the Law, and we can’t get into heaven by comparing ourselves to our neighbor, nor by comparing ourselves the Pharisees. None are righteous, the fall into sin was that bad, but

God promised a savior.

God’s plan was to send into the World, the very same one through whom all things were created Good in the first place, the Word made Flesh Jesus Christ. For if the world had become Corrupt who better to send than the very same one through whom it was first made Good to accomplish our restoration. Jesus only came to save sinners, and if you are not a sinner, then Jesus didn’t come for you.

Now, I spent a lot of time dealing with the self-righteous, but I would be remiss if I did not also speak to those who slip into the despair and wonder,

Did God save me?

No matter how vile your sin might be, no matter how great your failing, no matter how many people you have caused grief and pain towards, Christ came to pay for your sin. Satan will try to convince us that sure Christ died for other sins, and will persuade us that your sin is too awful. If you are in that despair and convinced there is no mercy for you, did you not already hear this morning, those precious Words that Christ entrusted to the Church. In the stead and the by command of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I forgive you. You confessed your sin, and heard the proclamation of God’s grace. Let it rest upon His head, let it be covered by His blood, and remember that He has washed away your sins in the waters of baptism, don’t carry it out into the world again, Christ has forgiven you because He loves you and paid for your entrance into heaven.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, God’s Law reveals that we are poor miserable sinners, that we may not perish as the proud do who boast before the Lord. The Law wasn’t meant to force us into perpetual despair and depression and think there is no hope for me. The Law teaches us to despair of our works, to recognize the wrath of God against us, that we might rely solely upon the mercy of God that is found there in the Cross of Christ who shed His blood and gave up His life to save you. May you go home today, justified for the sake of Christ our Lord.