Once Upon a Time - 5

Once Upon A Time - 5

Introduction

Last year some lawyers from across the nation took to Reddit to discuss some rather high profile cases they had been thinking about. These cases featured some defendants we’re all pretty familiar with, as well as some crimes that rank among the most notorious in history. These cases weren’t ripped from the headlines; but from cartoons.

This group of lawyers sat down to discuss what kind of defense they would offer for famous Disney villains. If they were called to represent some of these despicable characters, how would they handle the case? Some of my favorites:

Scar from The Lion King: “What crime are we talking about here? Mufasa was killed by a stampeding herd of wildebeest. It was a tragedy, and our leader Scar mourned his brother's death before putting his personal pain aside to lead a nation that needed him. And now his nephew, who mysteriously ran off after his father's death, shows up and accuses him of foul play years later? When his loving uncle, Scar, refuses to just hand over everything, all of a sudden he starts throwing around wild accusations. This case has no merit.”

Captain Hook from Peter Pan: “Captain Hook was provoked by Mr. Pan. His hand being fed to a crocodile and forever haunted by said crocodile who proceeded to stalk him for years… Peter Pan and his ‘lost boys’ victimized the client for years before he finally lashed out in self defense.”

What kind of person would do this? Who would even attempt to defend a villain? What kind of person would try to justify the kind of evil described here?

The truth is, we do it all the time, don’t we? We are pretty quick to justify evil and explain it away – particularly when it’s our evil.

-“It was just a little white lie.”

-“I deserve this. I need to blow off some steam sometimes.”

-“What I’m doing isn’t really hurting anyone.”

TS - There’s this tendency within us to defend our sin. We want to justify our mistakes. I mean, we aren’t that bad, are we?

We’ve been in this series called “Once Upon A Time” walking through the parables Jesus told in Luke. The story we are going to look at today directly confronts this tendency within us to justify our actions.

- 9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

From the beginning, it’s clear this is a story about two very different people. One a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. One works for God, the other works for Rome. One is respected in the community, the other is despised. Jesus’ first audience would have expected the Pharisee to be the hero of this story. But as Jesus was prone to do, he flipped the script.

Notice where the Pharisee’s prayer starts: “Thank you…that I am not a sinner like everyone else.” Lots of posturing there. Thank you God that I am so awesome. This Pharisee has deceived himself into believing he’s better than everyone else.

His confidence is perfectly illustrated by how he views the tax collector. “Thank you that I am not like him!” That’s a crazy prayer, isn’t it? Can you even imagine standing in church and thanking God that you’re not as bad as the person next to you? Let’s try it. Look at the person next to you and say this: “Thank God I’m not as bad as you.” That feel weird to you? It should.

TS - Jesus addresses this compulsion within us to posture and make ourselves appear better than we are, even before God. And these two characters in this story are presented as the flip side of one another regarding this compulsion. One shows us the problem of it, the other shows us the solution. Let’s begin with the Pharisee…he thought he was in a good place. He’s posturing before God to make himself look better. How do you get to a place where you even do that?

FOCUS ON YOUR OWN STANDARDS INSTEAD OF GOD’S

He felt so self-righteous because he put his focus on his own biased standards instead of on God’s perfect standards. Notice the basis for the Pharisee’s righteousness:

-“I don’t cheat.”

-“I don’t sin.”

-“I don’t commit adultery.”

-“I fast twice a week.” (only required to do once a week)

-“I give [God] a tenth of my income.”

First off, he’s not really praying, is he? He’s just telling God how awesome he is. Notice though that he picks only 5 things to hang his righteousness on. Sounds really good until you consider the fact that the Old Testament alone has 613 laws. This guy picks five and thinks he’s doing a great job! This is less than one percent of what God requires! Still, he brags about it. One percent of the time, I keep God’s Law every time.

The Pharisee is cherry-picking his own standards. He feels righteous because he gets to pick the parameters. We can do this same thing.

It’s easy for anyone to pick out specific moral rules and use them to justify their own morality:

-“I haven’t cheated on my wife.”

-“I don’t drink or smoke.”

-“I pay all my bills on time.”

-“I don’t cheat on my taxes.”

These are all good things! But the reality is we’re just picking the parts of the Law we think we’re good at. We keep one percent of what God says is good and neglect the other 99% we’re not so great at. We probably shouldn’t pat ourselves on the back for that. Anyone can look like a saint if they get to pick the standard.

While he was setting up his own false standard, he wasn’t even willing to look at God’s standard. It’s a bit more challenging.

- “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

Everyone has fallen short. No one is exempt. No one has aced the test. We’ve all sinned.

- “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”

Sin has so messed us up that when we flaunt our righteous deeds, they are nothing more than filthy rags. Can’t do enough good things to make it right. No amount of posturing will change that reality.

2. FOCUS ON OTHER’S SINS INSTEAD OF YOUR OWN

This Pharisee didn’t just compare himself to his own standards. He looked down on the faults of those around him, which made him feel superior! “I’m certainly not like that tax collector!” This man’s righteousness is based off of comparison. “I’m awesome”… when you look around at the competition.

When we posture and try to justify ourselves, that’s basically what we mean, isn’t it? I’m a good person. I may not be that good, but at least I’m better than… I’m better than my neighbor who yells at his kids all the time. I’m better than my coworker who cusses all the time. I’m better than the homosexual couple I passed at the store. “Thank you, God, that I am not like those people.”

The problem with that is that we always rig the game. We pick someone we know we’re better than so that we can feel better. In fact, let’s do a quick comparison game. Look at these pictures and raise hand if think you’re better:

1. Charles Manson [pic]

2. Billy Graham [pic]

3. Osama Bin Laden [pic]

4. Mother Teresa [pic]

5. Jared [pic]

We feel like we’re good/bad because we’re comparing ourselves to the wrong people. Do you see how rigged this game is we play? We set the standard. We choose who we compare ourselves with. Anyone could justify anything because we can always find someone worse than us. So we look to others to feel better. Instead, we should be looking to God. I may look good when I compare myself to my sinful neighbor. But, how do I feel when I compare myself to a perfect God?

If we stopped looking down at our neighbor and started looking up to God, we’d quickly realize that we are not as good as we think we are.

This man has false standards and a false comparison game he’s playing. And he is delusional to think that he’s as righteous as he thinks he is. But that’s the danger of focusing on your own standards instead of God’s, and focusing on other’s sins, not your own.

Notice the clear turnaround from Jesus. This man who is so convinced he is innocent DOES NOT go home justified. Justified is a legal term that means declared innocent. He may think he is innocent before God, but he goes home guilty.

TS - But then there is this tax collector who is held up as the example to follow. He shows us the solution to this problem of self-righteousness and posturing. Look again at the simple, humble prayer of this tax collector:

- “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’”

Completely different from the prayer of the Pharisee. No posturing. No trying to sound better. The tax collector knows who he is. He knows why he’s there. So, he beats his chest in sorrow. He refuses to look up. He recognizes how unworthy he is. So, his prayer is a simple, humble cry for mercy.

The Pharisee looked down so he could compare himself to the tax collector. The tax collector looked down in sorrow. He hung his head because he knew he was standing in the presence of a God without compare.

This prayer and posture before God show us what to do when we recognize our own sinfulness.

PURSUE AUTHENTICITY

We need to stop pretending. We need to quit coming to church, coming before God, and acting like we’ve got it all together.

The tax collector came into the Temple with a posture that recognized who he was. He came in with his eyes on the floor. He beat his chest in sorrow and mourning. Didn’t act like he belonged there. He acted like someone who knew that he needed to be there.

There’s a tendency in our culture to put our best face forward. Only let people see the good side of us. So, we hide our weaknesses. We conceal our flaws. This tendency is only made worse in our day of social media. No one gets on Facebook and presents their bad side:

-“I lost my temper with my wife and kids today…”

-“I looked at porn again today. Why can’t I stop?!?”

-“I’m in debt up to my eyeballs.”

It’s easy for us to present a false persona. It’s easy for us to look better than we really are. In fact, late last year, a Dutch student by the name of Zilla van den Born [pic] made headlines when she faked a vacation on Facebook. Using Photoshop, she made it look like she had gone on a five-week vacation to Asia. [pic of Buddhist temple and pic of ocean]

As part of a class she was taking, she wanted to prove that social media gives us a chance to redefine our reality, make ourselves into someone we aren’t. Fooled her friends, her parents, into thinking her life was better than it was.

Don’t get me wrong, social media is a great tool. It helps us stay connected. But it can, like anything else, keep us from authenticity. It can keep people from getting to know the real us. We need to pursue authenticity. We need to be real.

This is especially important for the church. There are multiple commands about how the church is supposed to support one another as a community of believers. Can’t do any of the things the Bible asks us to do if we’re hiding from each other:

- “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”

- “Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.”

- “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

Can’t do any of these things if we’re not honest with one another. Can’t mourn together if we hide our tears. Can’t bear each other’s burdens if we hide them. The church isn’t a place for us to be religious; it’s a place for us to be real. Pursue authenticity.

2. PRACTICE CONFESSION

The entirety of the tax collector’s prayer centers around an act of confession: “O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.” He recognized his guilt. He asked for forgiveness. He prayed for grace and mercy.

We need to recapture the importance of confession. It’s not about seeing a priest or empty religious activity. It’s about honestly confessing your guilt before God and seeking His forgiveness. The Bible speaks at length about the need for confession:

- “When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

David pictures unconfessed sin as a weight. There’s a pressure in pretending to be good. There’s a weight that comes with wearing a mask. David says we only experience freedom in confessing our guilt to God.

Bible doesn’t just talk about our need to confess to God. It also speaks to our need to confess to one another. Have to find other believers we can be honest with.

- “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

James tells us that a certain amount of healing comes with we confess our sins to each other. We find wholeness. We find support. We find people willing to help us on the way.

Friends, forgiveness comes when we stop faking. Healing comes when we stop hiding. We need to stop pretending and stop posturing. Because looks what happens when we do:

- 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

In a turnaround only Jesus could orchestrate, the one who thinks he’s innocent goes home guilty, but the one who confesses his guilt goes home innocent. How does that work? The secret is in his prayer. “O God, be merciful to me…” What he prays for is huge…it literally translates, “O God, make an atonement for me.” God, cover my sin. Look to someone else’s righteousness instead of mine. I need forgiveness and cleansing.

“Atonement” is a huge theological concept that is used to describe and define Jesus’ work on the cross. His sacrifice covers over our sin. He cleanses, he forgives.

- My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

If you stop posturing today and come before God in authenticity, confessing your guilt before him, you can go home justified, innocent before him. Because Jesus atones. The great exchange of the Gospel can take place in your life…your guilt for his innocence. Your sin for his forgiveness.

Believe/Repent/Confess/Baptize

Communion