The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:11)

Today’s Readings: Luke 18:9-14

Once inside the temple, the Pharisee stands up and prays this prayer in honor of himself: “God, how I thank You that I am not on the same level as other people—crooks, cheaters, the sexually immoral—like this tax collector over here.

I’m teaching and recording a ministerial course right now on sharing Christ across cultural boundaries. One of the lessons discusses two extreme responses to different cultures that is apropos for this situation, I think. One is called cultural relativism which says every culture is okay, when in Rome, do as the Romans, accept every culture completely for what it is without criticism. The other is ethnocentrism which measure every other culture by your “superior” culture.

Both extreme approaches in viewing cultures are flawed. And every culture is flawed. All of us find ourselves profoundly influenced and molded by the culture in which we live, work, and worship, but because sin entered the world and we became flawed because of sin, the cultures we develop hold those same flawed concepts.

So, the Pharisee with all his piety becomes pious and his religion becomes his prideful downfall. He takes a view that his religion makes him better than those around him. His culture sets him apart as better than the tax collector who kneels at the altar near him. Surely God sees the difference between the two of them, and the Pharisee thanks God for the distinct superiority he holds in his goodness.

God has a problem with the Pharisee’s prayer. The Pharisee forgot he doesn’t come close to meeting God’s standard of goodness. In comparison, the Pharisee is much closer to the tax collector in terms of behavior than he is to God. We are all sinners and can’t live the standards God sets in our own strength. In fact, Jesus said the tax collector found himself closer to God than the Pharisee because he at least knew his position. The Pharisee did not.

The story is about humility and pride. It is also about being careful not to assume other’s position with God. And about prayer. The story tells us we all sin and fall short of God’s standard of right living. It tells us we should all take the position of the tax collector, sinner in God’s eyes, needing His forgiveness, needing His help.

The story is much more than the different cultures of the two, but it’s easy to start there. It’s easy for us to think ourselves better than others because of where we live, the color of our skin, the house we live in, or the car we drive. It might be the gang with which we associate or the job where we work or any number of things that describe our culture or subculture that makes us think we are different or better than another. But we must always remember we are nothing without the blood of Jesus. Until we become citizens of the Kingdom of God where only His culture matters, we live far below what God has in store for us.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

Remember Who You Were (Ephesians 2:1)

Today’s Readings: Nahum 1-3; Ephesians 2

When we are forgiven, God removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. That’s a good thing. He changes us completely. He remakes us and renews us in amazing ways. We are not the same as we once were. At least that is His plan. Some who claim to wear His name, though, show no signs of that change. They wear the title, but haven’t transformed because they really haven’t made the step of faith God requires to let Him really be Lord of their life.

The sinner’s prayer is more than reciting a few words. Unfortunately, in some churches I’ve seen it reduced to that simple ritual. “Just repeat after me, and you’ll be saved.” Such hocus, pocus makes a mockery of what Jesus did on the cross. The part the recitation misses is repentance and faith. Repentance means doing a 180 in life, turning away from sin and turning toward a life of obedience to Christ. It means obeying His commands.

Many Christians today also fail to remember the state from which they came. Consequently, when they encounter those outside “the faith” some can look down their nose with a pious, holier-than-though attitude. They sound a lot like the Pharisee praying in the temple that Jesus encountered. It’s no wonder outsiders don’t particularly want to be like us sometimes when they run headlong into the “Christians” that represent us.

I think that’s why Paul wants us to remember what we were and where we came from before we were adopted into God’s family. No matter how good we think we might have been, none of us lived up to God’s standard. I expect most of us fell very far short if we are honest with ourselves. When we remember how far God brought us, we understand how much we need His help.

When we remember where we were when God found us, we can also share with others and help them know that God can find them, too. He knows our deepest, darkest secrets, but can erase them from His book and never hold them against us. He toss our sins as far as the east is from the west. What a promise!

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

Just Look at Me! (Luke 18:12)

Today’s Readings: Isaiah 52-54; Luke 18

 

Jesus tells the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying at the altar in today’s reading. In The Voice, the contrast between the two prayers and two attitudes is evident. The Pharisee prays (to himself), “God, how I thank you that I am not on the same level as other people – crooks, cheaters, and sexually immoral – like this tax collector over here. Just look at me! I fast not once but twice a week, and I faithfully pay my tithes on every penny of income.” Contrast his prayer with that of the tax collector, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

How often are we guilty of playing the role of the Pharisee? I’m okay because I’m better than the guy next to me. I go to church. I pay my tithe. I put offerings in the plate. I give to charities. I’m polite most of the time. I don’t rob banks or hurt people. Look what a catch God has in me! I’m a contributor to society instead of a taker. I must be one of His chosen, right?

Well, it just doesn’t work that way. You see, none of us measure up to God’s standards. If you put any of us up to His standards we fall so far short by comparison it’s like measuring our two-story house against a one-story house and then comparing both of them to the Empire State Building. There’s just no sense in bragging about our two-story house. Both are miniscule in comparison. Both are swallowed up by the majesty and overpowering size of the Empire State Building. How can stand up and talk about how much better we are than someone else, or even think about it when we fall so short ourselves…always.

The tax collector had a honest view of where he stood before God. The Pharisee tried to disillusion himself by looking around at other people. That was his problem. As soon as we get our eyes off of God and on others, they get between us and Him. And quite frankly, if they are between us and God, theorems in geometry prove they are closer to God than we are! The lesson for us? Keep your eyes on God. Understand we are all sinners, some saved by His precious and marvelous grace, but all of us fall far short of His perfect standards. We just can’t live perfectly this side of eternity because of our imperfect frailties. We can, however, let Him perfect us day by day by following in His footsteps and listening and obeying His word.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

Here Comes the Prejudice…Again (John 7:45-52)

A couple of things jump out at me as I read these few verses that close the seventh chapter of John.

First, we find the temple guards come back to the Pharisees without Jesus. They couldn’t lay their hands on him as we discovered earlier. But what strikes me is the words of the Pharisees. The guards are belittled for their failure. Of course, the Pharisees would not dare be caught doing any of their own dirty work, they sent the temple guard to do it. When the guards defended Jesus’ words…the Pharisees belittled the guards in front of everyone gathered there. A classic example of how not to act as an employer or a leader.

Second, one of their own tries to bring their own law into remembrance to bring some sanity to the group. “Are we going to condemn someone without allowing him to defend himself? Doesn’t the law require us to hear him and investigate for ourselves and not take the hearsay of others?” And again, the mob rule among the threatened leaders takes over and hurls insults at the one logical voice among them.

In reality, if they had looked into scripture they would have found that prophets do come from Galilee. The Messiah would be called a Nazarene. Several of the Old Testament leaders took Nazarite oaths during their time as prophets and judges. The history of the Nazarite oath came from the region of Galilee. Was it a rough and tumble place that needed a good dose of God? Yep. Was it any more corrupt that Jerusalem? Nope. Anywhere you go you can find good and bad if you look for it.

The prejudice of the Pharisees so blinded them, they could not see the truth Jesus shared with them. They could only see their own interpretation of their 612 traditions and that Jesus might disrupt their livelihood by telling commoners they could commune with God personally. They could worship him in spirit. He already disrupted the money changers. He already talked about the Sabbath as a time of building relationship with God being more important than the rituals they had spent decades establishing. How would they pay their temple guards if they didn’t fine the people for breaking the Sabbath “laws?” How were they to enforce their rules if they all were turned upside down?

The easiest way to get rid of this guy was to denigrate him. He came from Galilee. What good can come from Galilee? He came from Nazareth, no less. What of any worth ever came from there? He was an illegitimate child. That’s strike three! How could the people be so blind as to even listen to what he had to say? Surely, God would not use the likes of him as a mouthpiece! These people were mistaken. It was their duty to get rid of this plague before he caused more harm. From Galilee…Ha!

Prejudice got in the way…again. Am I guilty of jumping to the wrong conclusions because of prejudice? Skin color, age, gender, education, socio-economic level, school, language, culture, nationality, denomination, … What a slippery slope it can be when we start to label someone because of … That was the Pharisees’ problem with Jesus. Don’t let it be yours.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard

Night Stalker (John 3:1-2)

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if god were not with him.”

I like Nicodemus. He gets a bum rap a lot, but I can relate to him sometimes. Think of what was going on at the time and how you might react in the same circumstances. Israel was an occupied nation. Rome was in charge and they let everyone know it. The Jews rebelled from a religious position as much as they could. The Sanhedrin, the ruling council mentioned in verse one, was allowed to retain some power by Rome, unlike most of the other countries Rome occupied. That says a lot. Rome understood that without the Sanhedrin, they would never have anything but rioting in Israel. At least if they could pacify the Sanhedrin, they had some chance of the Sanhedrin pacifying the rest of the people. So the ruling council, the Sanhedrin walked this fine line between the Roman rulers and the theocracy that was the nation of Israel.

Jesus comes on the scene. He was not the first rebel that said a new kingdom had come. Most prophets emphasized the conquering hero side of the Messiah, not the suffering servant side. Nicodemus knew both parts of the scripture, but surely the Messiah would loosen the political bondage just as Moses had set them free. Or would he?

If Nicodemus sided with this man, he could not only jeopardize his position on the council, not a small thing, but could put the whole nation of Israel in jeopardy. Remember this is early in Jesus ministry. He had performed only a few miracles, had spoken to only a few crowds, had mesmerized only a few followers. We are only at the beginning of chapter three of John’s gospel.

I think too often we think about Nicodemus’ coming at night in light of our 2000 year knowledge of the rest of the story instead of the immediacy of the events that happened at the moment. Nicodemus came to him. That’s the important part. He recognized early in his ministry that Jesus came from God. That’s the critical message. He didn’t fly off the handle without thinking about the cost of following Christ. To follow him could mean the destruction of the nation! Jerusalem would fall just 40 years later. Not just because Nicodemus followed Christ, but because the Jews and Christians together were more than Rome wanted to deal with and finally crushed the city of rebels bent against Roman rule.

He is my kind of guy. Weigh the cost, ask the right questions, go to the source and find the answers, make a decision. We will find he made the right decision when we see his name again.

Join me next time, won’t you?

Richard