C, Post-Pentecost 20 Proper 25 - Luke 18:8b, 9–14 "Postures of Faith"
Jesus sets the scene for this parable.
The scene is set with the final words of his last parable, the parable
of the faithful persistent widow, who never gives up crying out for
justice. His final words are, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find
faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8b ESV)
Jesus then sets the scene with the arrival of two men at the
temple. He, the Son of Man, allows us to
take his place to see if we find faith on earth through the parable! In it we get to examine the faith posture of
the two persons who have come to the temple in Jerusalem.
Temple worship is set around the daily atonement sacrifice for the
people of Israel. Jesus gives us his
privileged position of hearing the faith of the pharisee and the tax
collector. Who are these two
characters?
One is a socially acceptable individual in the person of the
pharisee. This is a good person in the
eye of the public, a law-abiding citizen, or a good bloke one might say!
The other man is a socially objectionable figure in the form of the
tax collector. He is a bad person, a
rogue, a scoundrel, a lawbreaker, an extortioner, an enemy of the state, or one
who works against the common good!
Against the background of public thanksgiving for the daily atonement
of sins, through the priestly sacrifice of animals on the altar, to take away
the sins of the nation, Jesus gives us the privilege position of hearing the
private prayers of both men.
The pharisee’s posture is opposite to that of the tax collector. I, I, I!
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. I, I, I!
The tax collector beats the heart of his sinful being, from within
where his extortion, unjustness, adultery, and unacceptability breeds
loneliness, contempt of self, separation from God and from others. He cries out, “God, be merciful to me, a
sinner!” Or literally, “make atonement for me, one who
misses the ability to atone for myself!”
In this parable Jesus gives you a front row seat in finding the faith
of these two.
It’s obvious to us that the faith of the tax collector was firmly
grounded in the fact that he was a sinner and could not atone for himself
through acting good or bad. No! This was no act of false humility, appearing bad to be good, or good to be
bad! He knew if his sin was to be atoned
for, he needed an act of mercy on God’s part.
Whereas the pharisee, had great faith too! However, his faith was in himself and what he
did, separating and placing himself apart from those whom he thought were below
him.
Now that Jesus has given you access into the hearts of the two, which
one are you in this parable?
Scene two! As we ponder who we
are in the parable, the Holy Spirit paints a picture of you in this
congregation.
When you got out of bed this morning, what were your thoughts about
coming to church today? “Do I really
have to go?”, you may have asked yourself!
“I hope such and such is not there today!” Or, “I hope others are there,
I don’t feel like it’s church unless such and such is there. I, I, I, yet again, you hear! I want more modern songs, I want more older
hymns, I want, I want, want! Jesus looks
on, “will he find faith at church today?”
Perhaps your soul longs for the courts of the Lord, you love to dwell
in the hearing of his Word, receiving the forgiveness of sin as you confess and
receive absolution, and the reception of Jesus’ body and blood for your life
and salvation. But as you do, you
receive resistance from others who seek to hinder you from coming to dwell in
God’s atonement through word and sacraments.
And maybe you have come to observe.
You think, “Good sermon, good service pastor, THEY really needed to hear
that!
Or weighed down by the weight of your sin, you think, “If only I could
stop doing that thing or stop acting this way, I would be a better
person.” Maybe you imagine,” If I was
more like that person over there, I would be more acceptable before others —
before God!” So, I’ll act humble or a certain way to appear as someone
different.
There are those who live as if their goodness is too good for God, and
there are those who believe their badness is too evil for God. But then there are the faithful who focus not
on their good or evil but on Jesus Christ, knowing they’re sinners — being
forgiven, and they’re seated amongst likewise sinners — being forgiven.
Together they collectively beat their chests and cry out for
mercy. They look for knowledge outside
themselves for the atonement of their sin.
In the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they cherish and find the means of
freedom from themselves.
They live with a steadfast struggle, feverishly fighting the pharisee
within. The old man within, seeking
resurrection again, after sins have been forgiven. He seeks to turn the repentant tax collector
within, into a pharisee. Going out once
again to maintain separation from those from whom they are glad they are not
like.
Jesus watches on, as we picture ourselves in the parable, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find
faith on earth?”
The reality in our knowledge of Jesus Christ is that we all have
within us another tendency to be both a pharisee and a tax collector. That is, we practise a good or bad faith in
oneself, rather than practising faith in God for our atonement.
We come as sinners each week and there is a real temptation to leave
as pharisees and return as pharisees next week.
Such is our human nature we are tempted into a posture of prayer and
practise saying, “God, I thankyou that I am not like that pharisee, as well as
the tax collector.”
With a Holy Spirited knowledge of Jesus Christ, in submission to God’s
Word, revelation of our sinfulness and the covering of sin in Jesus’ death and
resurrection, we can pray,” I thankyou heavenly Father that being like all
others you have saved and redeemed me a lost and condemned person.”
You and I can serve both the pharisee and the tax collector, knowing
that without Jesus Christ we suffer from self-righteousness and
unrighteousness. Or put it another way,
without Jesus Christ we die from the sin of believing we are not sinners and
from the sins we know we cannot put right.
We can lovingly serve the pharisee and the tax collector knowing that
without Jesus’ love, we are the pharisee and the tax collector, the law faker
and the law breaker, the socially acceptable hypocrites, and the socially
separated undesirables.
Scene three! As we leave this
place and travel towards the cross in our lives. Do you stubbornly set your face towards
knowledge of your good and evil? Or do
you purposefully set your face towards knowledge of Jesus Christ, as he did
towards you and the atonement of your sin when he resolutely set his face
towards Jerusalem?
“When the Son of Man comes, will
he find faith on earth?”
Jesus quite clearly says, “For
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself
will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14b ESV)
Scene three plays out on the stage of eternity. In fact, the old covenant temple worship, the
new covenant worship of Jesus Christ, have been prerequisites for our
re-creation and our eternal recreation with God the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
The Son of Man will come once and for all, but he also comes to us
now. The faith he seeks in us is the
humble willingness to be served by this Son of Man, to have faith and trust in
his faithfulness, despite the pharisee and tax collector within.
He calls us to humbly run the race in the power of the Holy Spirit,
not in our haughty human spirit which fails to follow in the strength of Jesus’
seemingly weak walk to the cross.
Running in the Holy Spirit has its victory in the Son of Man’s
exaltation from servant to the King of Creation!
This Son of Man is also the risen Son of God who serves us with the
Holy Spirit, who fights the good fight within and with the world without our
work or worry.
Jesus Christ, both Son of Man and Son of God, in true humility, is now exalted at the right hand of the Father. Likewise, our true humility will see us, in the eternal third act, exalted with Jesus Christ in eternity. Amen.
