Luke 18:9-14: How Good People Fool Themselves

INTRODUCTION

I remember back when I taught school how the children would behave on the day the grades came out.

Some would be very anxious because they feared the worst.

Some would be happy because they were sure the grade they would receive would confirm their good opinion of themselves.

I hated grading children because I knew that for some good grades came easy, and for others, no matter how hard they worked, they could never make top grades.

Jesus told a parable about a man who knew he had made top grades and another man who knew he had failed.

But the story doesn’t come out just the way you think.

Here is Jesus’s story.

Luke 18:9-14: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, “God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner!”

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

I. First, let’s picture the scene.

A. To the Jews of Jesus’s day, their Temple was the most beautiful building in all the world.

It was such a holy place that one could practically feel God to be present there.

The Temple wasn’t anything like a church building—not even like a great cathedral.

The Temple building itself stood in the middle of a great courtyard the size of 20 football fields.

Around the courtyard were colonnaded porches, sheltered areas where people could gather to hear sermons, pray, or discuss the scriptures.

The priests could go inside but for the people the worship went on outside.

Sacrifices, the prayers, the preaching, and instrumental music and singing took place outside in the courtyard.

Worship wasn’t like at church, where people go, attend a service, and then go home.

They had services, but most of the worship was prayers that people offered on their own.

The worshiper would choose a place to pray and then lift up his or her voice out loud to God, who they felt was very close to them. As they prayed, they would lift their hands up and look up into heaven as they prayed.

B. There are only two characters in our story, a Pharisee and a tax collector.

The Pharisee was a good person, a person who was admired.

He was devout and serious about his faith.

Mothers would be pleased to suppose that their sons might grow up to be Pharisees.

The tax collector was not a good person.

He was hated by most people because he was serving the Roman rulers of the land.

The tax collector would have been hated like a collaborator in one of the Nazi occupied countries during World War 2. Remember the name “Quisling”?

These tax collectors collected the taxes for the Roman rulers of the land.

They were noted for shaking down people and collecting way more than was due. And much of the tax went to Rome to build palaces, fund wars, and benefit the rich and powerful people in Rome.

Tax collectors were noted for being dishonest and rich. They were willing to do the enemy’s dirty work because it paid well.

Mothers didn’t hope their sons would grow up to be tax collectors.

C. These two men—the tax collector and the Pharisee—entered the Temple court as all people did by coming up the stairs that ran under the walls from the city far below.

The Pharisee chose his place, we gather, a prominent place where many could hear his prayer and admire his piety.

The tax collector, we read, chose a place “afar” off, because he wasn’t proud of the prayer he had to make.

II. Now let’s listen to the prayers of each of these men.

A. The Pharisee’s prayer is all thanksgiving.

“God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”

This man was a pillar of the church. He knew his Bible. He talked the talk and walked the walk.

He gave generously to the work of the Lord. He prayed several times every day. He fasted twice a week.

He was serious about his faith, as we all should be.

Everything he said was true.

But when he compared himself to other men, “extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this tax collector,” he showed that he was as much pleased with other men’s badness as he was with his own goodness.

B. Now listen to the tax collector’s prayer.

He chose a place, away from the crowd to pray his prayer.

He was so overwhelmed by his need for forgiveness that he didn’t even look up to heaven—as was the custom—and he didn’t hold up his arms—as was the custom—but he bowed his head and pounded his chest with his fists and cried out in his desperation: “God be merciful to me, a sinner!”

I can believe that he spoke those words over and over, so great was his need.

III. But look at how Jesus evaluated the two men and their prayers.

A. Jesus said that the tax collector went home justified, rather than the good Pharisee.

Jesus liked the tax collector’s prayer because it came from a humble heart.

Jesus said that the tax collector went home “justified.”

By that Jesus meant that the sinner’s prayer set him right with God.

When he cried out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” he connected with God. God heard and forgave him and came into his life.

We can believe that from then on this tax collector was a changed man, a man who knew and loved and served God.

B. But Jesus didn’t approve of the Pharisee’s prayer. That prayer didn’t set him right with God.

The Pharisee’s prayer concerns me—because the Pharisee was a lot like me.

I take my religion seriously. I try to live for God.

This parable warns us religious people of the danger of thinking we are better than we are.

The problem with living for God is that we’re so likely to make us think we are better than other people.

The devil tempts us to congratulate ourselves on our accomplishments.

The devil tempts us to criticize other people we see as worse than we are.

What should happen as we live for God and make progress in our Christian life is that we will become more and more aware of our need for forgiveness.

Instead of comparing ourselves with other people, we should be comparing ourselves with what we ought to be.

We need to consider that we’ve had advantages other people haven’t had.

If we had lived their life, we might be worse than they are.

I must never think that goodness in my life is because of me.

Whatever good there is in my life comes from God, and he should get the credit.

So rather than thanking God that I am better than someone else, I need to thank God that he loves even sinners such as myself.

No matter how far I go in my walk with God, I need to keep repeating the prayer of the tax collector: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

CONCLUSION

In an  old Greek fable, everyone carries two packs, as if each is suspended from a pole—one pack in front and one pack in back.

The pack in front is the sins of other people.

The pack in back is my own sins.

I see clearly the sins of others.

I am mostly blind to my own sins.

Some years ago a drunk smashed a full-length mirror in a ballroom in Venice, California. His hand was gashed and bloody.

The police arrested him for public intoxication.

The wounded man told the police: “I just walked into the room and saw this other guy looking at me very nasty.”

If we could just see ourselves as others see us, what a difference that would make!

We would see sins that have escaped our notice.

Have you ever heard a person criticize someone, and said to yourself, “But you do the same thing; you just don’t realize it.”

The closer we live to Jesus the more we will be aware of how far short we come from what we ought to be.

The farther along the road of holiness we go, the farther our goal will seem to be.

The mark of true holiness is to forgive others, to understand the hard battle they may be fighting, and to turn our eyes upon Jesus.

A saint of God said, “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.”

If we are truly walking with Jesus, if he is filling our vision, we will become holy and good without congratulating ourselves.

Even when we are in heaven with Jesus we won’t forget that we are saved sinners.

We won’t be congratulating ourselves; we’ll be praising God and thanking him for his mercy.

I have a friend who says she hates the hymn “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”

She says, “I’m not a wretch!”

I think that in heaven we’ll still be singing “Amazing Grace,” because we’ll be even more aware than we are now of what we would be like without God’s grace.

In the last book in the Bible—the book of Revelation—we have several scenes of the redeemed in heaven worshiping Jesus with the angels—and Jesus is always called “The Lamb”—not because he will look like a sheep but because Jesus is our offering for sin. We will see those scars in his hands, and we will never forget that we are sinners saved by his life-giving blood.

Here are three prayers we might pray every day:

“God be merciful to me, a sinner.”

and

“Thank you, Jesus.”

and

“Make me a blessing to someone today.”

Ephesians 2:8-10: “We Are God’s Workmanship”

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever heard this scripture?

By grace you have been saved through faith;

and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—

not of works, lest anyone should boast.

From my earliest days in church I remember hearing those verses from Ephesians quoted often in gospel sermons.

We memorized it in Sunday school.

That scripture was popular with preachers because it makes it so clear that we can never earn salvation.

Some people thought that they could earn their salvation by their good works.

And that idea leads to two bad results:

1. Some people have sensitive consciences and realize that they can never be good enough to be sure of salvation. So they live in anxiety. They say to themselves: “I hope I will go to heaven, but I might go to the other place.”

2. But the more common error is that people compare themselves with other people and decide that they are pretty good—at least as good as some church members—so they are sure that a kind God will welcome them into his heaven. At least they hope so.

I. This scripture tells us that salvation is by grace, and our preachers reminded us that “grace,” means something we can’t earn or deserve—a gift. And salvation is a gift.

A. I remember one preacher illustrating the point by this story:

Long ago there lived a poor widow who had an only daughter who was sick and dying. The doctor told the mother that the child’s life could be prolonged if she could eat fresh fruit. But the mother was too poor to buy fresh fruit; she had hardly enough for the bread they needed every day to keep from starving.

One day the woman was near the king’s palace. The gate was open and she could see the beautiful trees in the garden laden with fruit. She went into the garden, but she was met by the gardener who asked her what business she had there, and ordered her to be gone.

But just at that moment the princess came along. When she heard the poor woman’s story and learned how she needed fresh fruit to prolong the life of her daughter, she ordered the gardener to pack a large basket of fruit and give it to the woman.

The poor woman was overcome with gratitude and took out her purse. In it were only a couple of copper coins, but she begged the princess to take them.

The princess said, “I can’t accept your money. My father is the king. He is much too rich to sell anything. And you are much too poor to buy it.”

B. So we can forget about earning our way to heaven by our good works. Salvation is a gift received by faith in Jesus.

And faith—as your pastor reminded you many times—doesn’t just mean believing in God or believing the facts about Jesus.

Saving faith means giving myself body and soul to God, to live for him in love and obedience.

II. But it is the next verse in Ephesians that I want to talk about because I can hardly remember hearing a message on that verse.

The sentence I read tells me how to become a child of God, but it’s the next sentence that tells me what happens once I get into God’s family.

Listen, as I read all three sentences—Ephesians 2:8, 9, and 10:

By grace you have been saved through faith;

and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—

not because of works, lest anyone should boast.

For we are his workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

A. “We are God’s workmanship…”

I want to tell you about the Greek word that’s translated “workmanship” in my Bible.

The Greek word is poiema. It’s the word from which we get our word “poem.”

But in Greek it doesn’t just mean “poem.”

In the version I read to you it is translated “workmanship.”

In other versions it’s translated “creation,” or “handiwork,” or “masterpiece,” or “work of art.”

It means something that is made—but not just anything that it made.

It means something special that is made—like a poem, or a painting, or a piece of music, or a beautiful building.

I used to make things out of wood in my basement.

Sometimes I made some shelves for the garage—they were not a poiema.

Sometimes I made toys for my granddaughter—they were not poiema.

But one time I made what, for me, was a work of art.

I took great care and made a beautiful wall clock. It had a door in the front that you could open and see the pendulum going back and forth.

It was the one thing I made in my life that I was proud of.

I took the movement out every year and carefully oiled it. It ticked away and chimed the hours in our living room for 35 years.

Our youngest son said, “Dad, when you die, can I inherit your clock?”

So when we moved into Village Place, I turned it over to him.

How does it make you feel to know that you are God’s “handiwork”? His “work of art”? His “masterpiece”? His “creation”?

Perhaps you don’t feel like you are a work of art—but that’s because God isn’t through with you yet.

B. The rest of the verse explains God’s purpose in your salvation.

I used to think that the whole deal was that God saved me so that I could go to heaven when I died.

Now going to heaven is really important—and something that most people don’t think nearly enough about.

I like to think about how wonderful it will be when I am with Jesus in Glory—with the saints and angels for my companions—and when I will see Jesus face-to-face.

For me, the idea of spending eternity with Jesus is the main thing that makes this life so important.

But that’s not what Paul says in Ephesians 2:10 is the purpose of salvation.

Let me read it again:

For we are God’s workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand,

that we should walk in them.

Salvation is not only a gift to receive and enjoy; it is not only a ticket to heaven.

Salvation is also a life to live—a road to travel.

Our verse says, “we are created in Christ Jesus for good works that we should walk in them.”

According to Paul, God’s purpose in saving you and me is good works.

We aren’t saved by good works, but we are saved for good works.

C. So what does it mean to live a life of good works?

Good works are the results of God in our life.

The good works that God has prepared for us are unique to each of us.

The good works God has prepared for you aren’t the good works of St. Paul, or St. Francis, or John Wesley, or Mother Teresa, or Billy Graham.

The good works God has prepared for you are the things God has given you to do and fitted you for.

The things God gives his children to do vary with the stages of our lives.

I used to teach children in Sunday school and VBS at church. I can’t do that any more. Younger people are better with children.

For years I planted and maintained beautiful flower gardens around two of the churches we attended. But I can’t do that any more.

I used to do a lot of painting at church, but when we moved here I got rid of my brushes and painting clothes.

I used to volunteer with Aging Services taking people to appointments. But I can’t do that any more.

But there are still things I can do.

Charlotte and I pay for the education several children in India who are from the impoverished class called “Untouchables.”

They are children so desperately poor that they have no hope of a decent life without education—which they could not have without our help.

The mission we support also trains pastors and sends out pastor couples—a man and his wife—to pastor churches so that these poor oppressed people can be, not only be educated for a better life, but also know Jesus and have the promise of eternal life.

So we also send money for the training of pastors.

We get a lot of satisfaction out of supporting this mission and a couple of other missions.

But there are opportunities close to home. We are surrounded by needy, hurting people.

A young woman prayed this prayer every day: “Lord, I’d appreciate it if today you’d bring someone to me who I can serve.”

If we pray that prayer and mean it, God will send us someone we can love and serve in some practical way.

I had an aunt who lived to be 100. She lived in a nursing home. She couldn’t do much, but she ordered several copies of a devotional booklet—maybe it was Guideposts or The Upper Room. So she kept them in her room and when the housekeepers came in to clean, or the CNAs came in to care for her, or when the medication aide came in with her meds, she would ask them if they would like one of her devotional booklets.

It got so that some of them would even ask her for them: “Do you have another one of those little booklets like you gave me last month?”

We have a friend at Keystone Cedars assisted living who writes notes to encourage people. She writes about four or five notes to people every day. She apologizes because her handwriting isn’t very good any more, but she keeps writing—mostly to people in her church. She congratulates them on birthdays and anniversaries. She writes to the sick ones, and many of her notes are just notes of appreciation or encouragement. 

Several years ago a woman at Village Ridge named Hazel asked me if we could have a Bible study at Village Ridge. So Charlotte and I came every Wednesday, and we had a Bible study. Hazel talked it up and got a number of her friends to come. That Bible study went on for several years until all the members had died. Hazel was the one who kept it going to the end.

Sometimes the best things we can do are little things—a listening ear, a sympathizing tear, a prayer.

Mother Teresa said once, “We can do no great things for God; we can only do little things with great love.”

These are the “good works that God has prepared for us beforehand that we should walk in them.”