Lost & Found: The
Tax Collector
Luke 18
There are various types of sin. All sin is failure to do the good God rightly
requires of us. Some of these failures
are more serious than others. Do you know there is one sin that is far more
serious than all the rest? It is so serious that if we continue in it we will
be cut off from God forever without hope.
It is so serious that Jesus, who was so kind even to the worst of
sinners, never spoke gently to anyone guilty of this sin. It is so serious that it can work its way
into the most well-behaved people in the world without being noticed. And once embraced it will make them guiltier
than the worst sinner in the world. In the list of sins this one, I believe, is
most insidious. Do you know what sin I
am talking about? A most serious sin in
the bible – the one that will damn you forever should you persist in it is the
sin of self-righteousness – and that is the topic of our bible text today. Before we read, let’s pray.
9 He also
told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,
and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the
temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 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. 12 I fast twice a week; I give
tithes of all that I get.’ 13 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!’ 14 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.”
This
passage presents two very different types of people – a Pharisee, a member of
the religious and cultural elite and a tax collector, an outcast in Jewish
society who engaged in treason and extortion as he collected taxes for the
hated Romans and most likely associated with other outcasts in licentious
living. These two very different men
stand as stark contrasts to teach us some stark lessons. Listen to what George
Whitefield, the 18th century evangelist, buried in nearby
Newburyport, says about this passage, ”The parable
of the Publican and Pharisee, is but as it were a glass, wherein we may see the
different disposition of all mankind; for all mankind may be divided into two
general classes. Either they trust wholly in themselves, or in part, that they
are righteous, and then they are Pharisees; or they have no confidence in the
flesh, are self-condemned sinners, and then they come under the character of
the Publican just now described. And we may add also, that the different
reception these men meet with, points out to us in lively colors, the different
treatment the self- justified and self-condemned criminal will meet with at the
terrible day of judgment: ‘Every one that exalts himself shall be humbled, but
he that humbles himself shall be exalted.’” [1]
This parable paints a shocking
contrast between two very different men.
Once again Luke sets up the contrast between a Pharisee and a tax
collector. Once again Jesus turns the religious
world on its head. And once again, I
believe the Lord himself wants to speak to us about his ways. I believe there are three things he wants to
do this morning. 1) I believe he wants to expose our self-righteousness for
what it is that we might be saved from our sin. 2) I believe he wants to invite
self-humbled people to find forgiveness and salvation, and 3) I believe he
wants to give us fresh motivation to proclaim the wonderful riches of free
grace to a broken world. To sum it up in
a sentence, God humbles the self-exalted and exalts the self-humbled, pass it
on!
Luke tells us that Jesus told this
parable for those who trust in themselves and treat others with contempt. And these two qualities go with each
other. If you trust in yourself the
eventual and often immediate outcome is that you will treat others with
contempt. Do not think that you can do
one without the other. Is your problem
lack of respect for others or lack of love for others? Your problem is
self-righteousness. Do you trust in yourself? Than you will not properly love and respect
others. The two are coupled together.
“Why?” you may ask. It all has to
do with where the center of your universe is. If you are the reference point
than all others are either potential rivals and by necessity must be conquered
or already conquered and therefore ignored or ridiculed. So, self-righteousness and contempt for
others go hand in hand. Find a man
without love for others and you will most likely find a self-righteous
man. Find a self-righteous man and you
will find someone who has contempt for others.
Do you recognize your lack of love for others? I think the cure is
through the painful but necessary elimination of self-righteousness and this
passage is just what you need.
We find the self-righteous contemptuous
Pharisee going to the temple to pray. He
is in the presence of God in the most holy place in Judaism and he stands up to
pray, probably alone, set apart from the hoi-poloi, probably in the inner
court, the nearest a non-priestly Jew could get to the actual holy of holies
where the tabernacle of God was, the symbol and the place of the very presence
of God. And he stands up to pray but his
prayer really isn’t a prayer to God but more to himself. He takes the opportunity to thank God but the
object of his praise is not God but himself.
In a dramatic and comical way he prays, ‘God, I thank you that I am not
like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax
collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of
all that I get.’
Now it may seem ridiculous that anyone would ever pray this way but are
these not the honest vocalizations of what is all too often truly in our
hearts? Don’t we often or even continually compare ourselves to others? And don’t we usually do so to make ourselves
feel better about ourselves? Isn’t this
often the heart of gossip? We love the
juicy details of someone else’s mishap largely, I believe, because we feel
superior through it. What about Saddam’s
hanging? Did you find yourself
condemning him for his crimes and even delighting in his execution? Now I am in no way saying justice was not
carried out. I just think that we often
like to have the Saddams and the Hitlers around just to make ourselves feel
better about ourselves. “At least I’m
not like Hitler.” At least I never
killed anybody. “Thank you God that I am
not like other men – Saddam’s and Hitlers and this tax collector.” Are we not pretty much just like the
Pharisee? The only difference is we know
we shouldn’t pray it out loud. But does
not the Lord hear your thoughts? It is no different to him.
I know one area for me where I display
self-righteousness is with my kids. In
particular, I am all too often like this Pharisee in terms of how I treat my
kids when they don’t take care of their things.
I grew up in a home where we were taught to take good care of our
possessions. I find myself often with an
exaggerated sense of my ability to make items like clothes and electronics and
tools last a long time. I am quick to
remind my family that I just recently got rid of the shirt I wore in my senior
picture, that my boots from high school would still be very useful if their mom
hadn’t thrown them out. And I find
myself unfavorably comparing my children’s breakage of things like plates or
toys to my spotless record of taking care of my things. You know you are struggling with
self-righteousness if you start your sentence with “When I was a kid we didn’t
….” And at those moments my assertions
and self-righteousness are just as ridiculous as the Pharisees’.
Another
way we can be just as ridiculous as the Pharisee in our self-righteousness is
what we do when we feel like someone else is blaming us for something. Have you ever noticed that? I have found myself extremely self-righteous
when someone brings an observation or correction to me in an area that is close
to home – like my children. Just the
other day I noticed how strong and extreme my self-righteous is when Peg and I
were discussing some parenting issues.
Peg was offering some suggestions to improve my parenting of the
children and I was so resistant to any insinuation that there was any room for
improvement in my parenting. Now I
wouldn’t have said it like that. The way
it came out was in my squirming in my chair while Peg was talking and then,
after interrupting, redirecting our conversation to how the kids are the ones
who need to change and how Peg needs to do better to help them change. Now, at the time I didn’t really recognize it
as self-righteousness and maybe Peg didn’t either but that was exactly what it
was. It came across subtly but it was
just as ridiculous as the Pharisees comical prayer. Have you ever been like that?
Folks,
the sad reality is that we are extremely self-righteous by nature and left to
ourselves we will not only have moments of comical self-righteousness but lead
lives of comical self-righteousness that will not be funny at all in the
end. For, if we persist in this sin we
are in serious trouble – just like the Pharisee in the story.
But this
parable is given that we might find a remedy for self-righteousness. Look again at this passage as we look at the
tax collector. He has gone up to the
temple as well but his disposition is very different. He is standing far off – probably in the
outer courts in a corner somewhere, not to be noticed by anyone. And he is praying, truly praying to God. But he will not even lift up his eyes to
heaven but can only look down. I imagine
there were hot tears of sorrow and remorse and humility streaming down his face
and watering the ground. He is not in
the least interested in bringing any of his supposed righteous deeds before
God. There is no focus on the evil deeds
of others. Instead he beats his breast
in humiliation and Godly remorse. His
focus isn’t on himself, his own ability to somehow win favor with God. Instead his only plea is to God’s mercy. His hope is not in the least in himself. For a matter of fact he characterizes himself
as “a sinner” or more literally “the sinner” in the original language. There is no – “thank you God for making me
better than others.” There is no, “I do
this or that”. There is no “when I was a
kid we never did that.” There was no
“what a loser that other guy is.” There
was only, “God, be merciful on me the sinner.”
Folks,
this is a incredible contrast to the Pharisee.
This is an incredible contrast to you and me. This tax collector has no hope in
himself. He sees himself as condemned
and hopeless. His only hope is in the
mercy of God. His plea can also be
translated, “God, propiate me, the sinner.”
Now, we don’t talk like that now so the translators say, “have mercy on
me,” but the word is technically propitiate.
This is a word that means put away wrath towards me. This man is fully acknowledging that God is
rightfully wrathful towards him. And
instead of trying to justify himself he is saying, “guilty as charged.”
Now,
this is not at all the normal response to condemnation. We would rather fight tooth and nail to
justify ourselves before others. Now you
may say, “I would not, I am trusting in Christ alone for my
justification.” I am confident that for
most of us, we are trusting in Christ.
Yet I am also confident that we often live day to day fighting tooth and
nail to justify ourselves. Listen to
what Pastor Alfred Poirier says about this:
“In counseling, I see it in the humorous way a couple
will be diverted from the issue at hand to debate who said what, when, and
where. Or in how people debate back and forth as to whether it was a Tuesday or
a Wednesday when they did something. Why do we expend so much time and energy
swatting at these flies with sledgehammers? Why are our hearts and minds so
instantly engaged and our emotions surging with great vigor in our defense? The
answer is simple. These issues are not minor or insignificant. We defend that
which we deem of great value. We think it is our life we are saving. We believe something much larger will be lost if we
do not use every means to rescue it. Our name, our reputation, our honor, our glory.…. Thus, for the sake of our pride and foolishness, we willingly
suffer loss of friends, spouse, or loved ones. Some of that destruction comes
in the shape of a thin truce. We tolerate a cold war. We make a false peace. We
pledge to each other to discuss only those things which have little
significance for bettering our souls. We lay out land mines and threaten the
other that we will explode in anger if they so much as raise the forbidden
subject of my mistake, my error, or my sin. “ [2] Are you like that? Sad to say, I am. Or as someone once said, “I don’t know if you
are like me, but I am.”
And
what are we doing when we act that way?
Are we not denying Jesus Christ?
Are we not denying the truth of the gospel? Are we not acting like the Pharisee instead
of the tax collector? The tax collector
is not spending an ounce of energy justifying himself. He has received the justice of his
condemnation without protest. He has
recognized that he has inexcusably disobeyed and dishonored an infinitely good
and holy God. He has recognized that he
has no plea in any of his own behavior.
He only had condemnation for himself.
He would not be offended if someone told him at that moment that he
deserves to go to hell. He would
probably say “you don’t even know the half of it.” As far as he is concerned he is “the sinner”. This is the mindset behind the Apostle Paul’s
statement near the end of his life when he calls himself the foremost of
sinners. It is the mindset behind Jesus
command to take the log out of our own eye before we take the speck out of our
brothers. It is an acknowledgement of
the fact that as far as we know we are the worst sinner in the world. Folks, this isn’t false humility. This is reality. If you and I can truly see ourselves in light
of the goodness and glory of God we will be filled with a sense of our own
guilt and unworthiness. We won’t think
anyone else is worse – we will be the worst of sinners for we will know our sin
unlike anyone else’s and beat our chest and put no hope in ourselves. Who is the worst sinner in your life? Is it you or is it someone else? Do you think you have not murdered? But have you murdered people in your
heart? Do you think you have not been
sexually immoral? But have you lusted in
your heart? Do you see yourself as
religious and a worshipper of God? Have
you not had yourself as the chief object of your worship – thinking about ways
to bring attention to yourself or acquire fame and glory for yourself or
inflict vengeance on your enemies or to bring comfort and pleasure to yourself? Are you not in your thought life the most
worthy one in the universe, the chief object of your affections? And if this is so, you have committed sin and
a cosmic travesty in putting yourself ahead of the only truly worthy one who is
to be at the center of the universe – God himself. And so, you are just as
guilty as the one who has the audacity to live out their thought life. Have you not noticed that the only difference
between Saddam’s and your average Joe is that Saddam had the power to do what
he wanted? And would you not do great
evil if you had great power? Folks, if
we saw ourselves truly with God’s eyes we would beat our chests along with the
tax-collector and put no hope in ourselves.
Where is your hope this morning?
The
tax collector put no hope in himself but he did put hope in someone. Do you know who? To whom was his plea? It was to God wasn’t it? The very one he had sinned against was also
the object of his hope. This is a
blessed truth! The very one whom we have
chiefly offended with our sin is also the very one in whom we have hope for
salvation. And he must be the only One
in whom we put our hope. The Pharisee
put his hope in himself and his deeds, he ultimately had no need for God. Not so the tax collector. His plea was, God, have mercy on me a sinner!
God, propitiate me a sinner! God, mercifully according to your goodness
and kindness, put away your just anger against me, a sinner, who deserves
anything punishment he gets but wants you and your forgiveness. God, be merciful to me a sinner. There is no pride in this but abject humility
before God.
And
such a man or woman will not be disappointed.
For God has propitiated his wrath for all who would become as the tax
collector. He has sent his wonderful and
glorious Son – his pride and joy – the apple of his eye. He has sent the one in whom he is infinitely
pleased. And this Son, Jesus Christ,
went to the cross in the tax collectors place and took the punishment for sin
he and all those like him deserve that the tax collector and all like him may
have the reward of eternal life the Son deserves. The Son became sin for us and was punished as
such on the cross, propitiating the Father’s just anger, that in this Son we
might be justified. God has propitiated
his wrath and it cost him his very Son.
Jesus died for you that you might be forgiven and live in him! Look up tax collectors, your forgiveness and
hope has come and it stands finished.
The wrath of God is put away, you are now justified before God, not in
your righteous deeds, not a speck because of your character, past, present or
future, but all and entirely because of the Son. That is where you and I must put our hope -
today, tomorrow and every day. Rejoice
in your salvation – rejoice in the Son – rejoice in forgiveness and eternal
life and live for him! You can now go to
your house justified. For everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
So
let us commit to rejoice in our only salvation – Jesus Christ. Let us commit to boast in him alone. Let us commit to do this not only on the
judgement day but on the day that someone else judges you. Let us commit to do this when someone brings
correction to us – be it founded or unfounded.
Stop trying to justify yourself, you are already a condemned sinner
without hope in yourself. Stop trying to
justify yourself – you are only and always justified entirely by another’s
righteousness – Jesus Christ. When
someone criticizes you tell them, “you don’t know the half of it.” Stand on the truth of the gospel – it
condemns sinners and justifies tax collectors.
Let it be our only boast and our entire hope and joy. Let us live gospel centered lives!
And,
let us tell others. If we really
understand this text and its truth it will change our self-image and our
relationship with others. We will be
humble yet exalted in Christ. Because of
this, I believe God will give us fresh motivation to tell others because we
realize they need the same truth and because we no longer see them as objects
of contempt or competition. Love will
flow where self-righteousness is absent.
Love will flow from a tax collector who has been forgiven. He who is forgiven much loves much, he who is
forgiven little loves little. So let us
be changed by our Savior’s words today -
let us kill self-righteousness – let us cultivate joy in our salvation and let
us tell others about it. Let’s pray.