Asking for Mercy

October 23, 2016


GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 18:9–17 [The Pharisee and the Publican]
Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘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.’ 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 the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Next week is Reformation Sunday. The core issue of the Reformation was about justification or righteousness before God. How do we make it just right? How do we get in a good relationship with God so that we can go to heaven? And so the key passage of the Reformation is Romans 3:19-28. This passage tells us that we are saved not by what we personally do, but by the grace of God through the work of redemption that came by Christ Jesus. The summary is verses 27-28, “27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. (NIV)”

And this brings us to today’s Gospel reading which talks about being justified. Two men went to the temple to pray. One man was very boastful about what he himself does, the other was ashamed of what he had done. One man thanks God that he is not like certain crooks, the other man admits that he is one of those crooks. One man exults himself, the other humbles himself. And then Jesus tells us “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Those two men went to the temple to pray. And today, we have come to church to pray. Are you like the first man or the second? Are you proud or humble? Do you thank God for your good fortune or do you admit your fault? Do you rely on your keeping the Law of God and the laws of the land and other social morals? Or do you cry out for the mercy and forgiveness of God? We know that the humble man went home justified, so we want to be like him, and we humble ourselves before God. And we thank God that we are not like that boastful, “goody-two-shoes,” and hypocrite. And we take pride that we are so humble! It seems that we boast about how humble we are.

We Lutherans are not proud people. We know we are sinners, but sometimes we Lutherans talk about how we do not worry about sinning. We know the mercy and grace and forgiveness of God. There is that Lutheran expression, in Latin, "Simul Justus et Peccator," which means, “at the same time saint and sinner.” We are justified saints who are sinners. See how humble we are? Are we happy to be sinners so that we have something to be humble about? We know that we are saved by faith and not by our deeds, so one old Lutheran is said to have said, “I know that I am surely saved because I have never done a single good deed in my life.”

In the parable the first man said, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” That truly is something to be thankful for. But you cannot take pride in that. You can thank God for not leading you into temptation, or for leading you out of temptation and away from evil. For example, I cannot take pride in the fact that I have never smoked marihuana or used drugs. The fact is I have never had the chance; none of my friends used those things so I have not been tested. But I am very happy that God has protected me and thank God for that. For the Pharisee in the parable, perhaps the worst thing was when he thanked God that he was not “like this tax collector.” He was trying to raise himself up by putting someone else down. He “treated others with contempt.” That is cruel.

The other man went home justified because in his humility he threw himself onto the mercy of God. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” He wanted to be reconciled to God, he wanted to be forgiven, he wanted to be justified by God. He knew that he could not do it himself and that he did not deserve it. When we pray for mercy, we receive it. It is a humble experience because we know like the Publican that we do not deserve it. And that is what makes mercy so special.

Real humility is seen in the work of Jesus Christ. His humility was not just an attitude or state of mind. His humility was his action. It was when he became a sinner like other sinners, taking their sin upon himself, suffering with them and taking upon himself God’s righteous judgment, which is death. Jesus’ humility led to the cross. That is why we know that his promise is true. In his resurrection from the dead, we know that the humble are exalted. We know from the resurrection that God’s promise of mercy is true.

Two men went up to the temple to pray. We have come to the church to pray. We pray for many things, for ourselves and for others, which is good. Prayer is an act of worship because it knows the power and glory of God. The greatest glory of God is shown in his great humility. That is the story of Christmas: that Christ came down to this world to be with us, Emmanuel. That is the story of Good Friday and Easter. Here we see God working for us.

When we pray for mercy, we are first praying for forgiveness. We are praying that that glorious work of Christ on the cross would be done for us. To pray for mercy is to receive mercy and thank God for it. And like the man in the parable, our humble hearts are lifted, our worry is taken away, we go home justified and happy. In the Lutheran Book of Concord, it is expressed like this: “The greatest possible comfort comes from this doctrine that the highest worship in the Gospel is the desire to receive forgiveness of sins, grace, and righteousness” (Ap IV 310). The mercy of God is pure Gospel.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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