Isaiah 58:1-4 Luke 18:9-14

This morning, I want to give you an “I” exam. I am not an ophthalmologist so I don't mean eye, I mean “I” as in me. I am going to give you an “I” exam about yourself. The parable that Jill just read, as she said, is a parable about humility. In it are two main characters, the tax collector and the Pharisee. First of all, let's learn a little bit about both of them. A Pharisee was a lay person. Did you know that? I didn't know that until this week. I always thought a Pharisee had to be one of the priests of the temple or something of that nature. But a Pharisee was a lay person, an extremely learned lay person. Not only did they memorize the Torah which was the first five books of the Bible, but they studied at great length the Mishnah which was a commentary and explanation of all the rules and regulations in the Torah. When they mastered that book, then they studied the Talmud which was a commentary on the Mishnah. So these lay people were extremely learned. They were looked upon as the most educated people in all Jerusalem. As they stood there praying, the thing that jumps out is that they are both telling the truth. So that is not what distinguishes them. Their position in life distinguishes them because the tax collector as you know from previous readings of the Bible and previous sermons was designated as perhaps the greatest type of sinner there could be. He was usually an extortionist. He worked for the Roman government which was despised by the Jewish people and usually he was dishonest. He would charge more taxes than the Roman government required and he would just simply pocket the remainder for himself. So he was also usually wealthy. Clearly this tax collector in Jesus' parable recognized his sinfulness and that is what separated him from the Pharisee. So even though they both told the truth and in the eyes in the Jewish people, the Pharisee would have been the ideal religionist, the perfect follower of God, Jesus held him up as a bad example. Now he did all the right things. He tithed. He prayed. He went to Temple every Sabbath. He wore a phylactery which was a little box on the top of his forehead hanging down like a tassel with pieces of the scripture inside it to constantly remind him what the Torah stood for. But the problem with the Pharisees was their arrogance. They knew they were the most learned. They knew they were at least in practice the most religious and they were also usually the most proud. So it was his arrogance that Jesus was condemning. As we learn about the Pharisee, it is interesting to note that the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee. He studied under the famous Biblical Old Testament Scholar, Gamaliel. So he knew the Torah, the Mishnah and the Talmud. He considered himself one of these highly educated important people in the Jewish nation. So when he was struck blind on the Damascus Road, it was a real blow to his ego when he discovered what he was doing was not what Christ wanted done. So the whole gist of this parable then is about attitude, the attitude of humility, and this led to the attitude of repentance being willing to stand before God and recognizing that we're a sinner. In fact, Paul wrote in the book of Romans that not one person is free from sin, but all have fallen short of the glory of God, and all people are sinners. None of us has a right to consider ourselves extra special in God's sight because we have all failed. We are all sinners in God's sight.

A minister named David Dykes was inspired from reading this parable. He decided he was going to translate this parable into a modern story and maybe that would help his congregation understand the point better. So I hope you will indulge me as I read his parable to you. I know when I sat in the pews, I didn't like to be read to very much but that is the only way I can do his whole parable justice. He calls it “The Parable of the Deacon and the Drug Pusher”.

As Deacon Bob walked into church one Sunday morning, he was disgusted to see Larry Lowlife. Larry was a drug pusher who had just gotten out of jail. Bob warned some of the ushers to keep a close watch on Larry because he was a no-good crook and he might get his hand into the collection basket. Before the offering, it was Bob's time to pray. He walked up proudly to the microphone and began to pray using his religious tone of voice. (Have you ever heard that religious tone... “Oh GAWD”?) “Oh Heavenly Father, I thank thee that I have been a deacon in this church for twenty years. I even remember when I built the building using my own two hands and I thank thee that I haven't missed a single Sunday in over ten years. There were times, O Lord, when I was sick but I came anyway. And oh Father, thou knowest (he spoke in Elizabethan English, too. His type thinks that is the only kind of prayer that works.) Thou knowest I used to sing in the choir until I was persecuted by the song leader who wouldn't sing my style of music. But I can endure persecution just like you did. Thou has blessed me financially. So I have been able to give you much more than ten percent. I thank thee that I am morally pure, for I don't drink, I don't cuss on Sundays, and I don't smoke unfiltered cigarettes. I don't used drugs or seldom like someone else who is among us today. Lord, we need more people just like me. And Lord, help everyone to come out tomorrow night at 7:00 pm at Oak Park Field to watch our church softball team beat the Methodists. And bless the gift and the giver. Amen.”

After napping through much of the sermon, Deacon Bob strolled out of the church feeling good about himself because he made it through another Sunday. He liked leaving church because he didn't have to think about God again until next Sunday. Meanwhile, Larry Lowlife was slouched on the back pew. After hearing the message about God's forgiveness, he slipped to his knees and began to pray. Holding his face in his hands, he sobbed quietly. “God, I am the dirtiest sinner in this town. I am so sorry. I don't deserve it but if there is any way you can wash away my filthy mistakes, please do so. God, I need you so much.” I tell you, it was Larry Newlife, not Deacon Bob, who went home that day right with God. For he who struts his stuff before God will eventually be slapped down. But when you admit you are like dirt compared to God's purity, He will pick you up and wash you clean.

Are you more like Bob? Or Larry in this story? Isn't that a marvelous story? I just was so tickled when I read that and thought, “Wow.” That caught the meaning of the parable of Jesus beautifully. It is hard at times to be humble. When you do something well, if you acknowledge it was because of God that you did it, it is OK. We find in the writings of Paul that he said, “I boast, but I boast in the Lord.” So when we do good things as I have been talking about, we must give credit to God for the gifts we will receive. It is OK to acknowledge that we have the gifts, to know that we have them and that we can use them freely. As we use those gifts because they are God-given to us that we might do them exceptionally well or in a very good way, but we also have to acknowledge where they come from and that it is God that gave us those gifts and it is God that gives us the opportunity to use them. It is God who deserves the glory and not us.

A rich young ruler came to Jesus. I like to think of him as a yuppie type. He told Jesus, “I've done everything according to the book. I've tithed. I've gone to the Temple.” This was another story that sounded a lot like the Pharisee. Jesus gave him a frightening recipe for healing. He said, “Sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me.” Is that a recipe for all of us? If you examine the scripture carefully, you will see that, no, we don't have to sell all that we have and give it to the poor. But what Jesus was requiring was an emptying. This rich young ruler was also full of himself and Jesus' prescription was that he empty himself. Maybe it was an emptying like that of the widow with the widow's might who gave the last of her money in the Temple. Or maybe like the children who came to Jesus and the Disciples tried to keep them away. Why did Jesus love children so much? Because they were pure. They were usually joyful. Do you know that children laugh twenty seven times a day more than grown-ups do? Jesus saw their emptiness of pride, their total acceptingness and in a sense, humility. That is why He loved them and that is why He said, “Don't keep them from me. And oh by the way, unless you become like a child, you won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” So, over and over again, he gave us the message of emptying ourselves, putting ourselves before God in humility and in repentance. That is what He asks for. The recognition that we are sinners, that we all fall short of the glory of God and no one has a right to stand in front of God and yet because of what Jesus did on the cross, we are allowed to. But then we have to acknowledge our sinfulness and ask for forgiveness.

So here we are this morning with an “I” exam. Will you be like Deacon Bob or Larry Lowlife (now Newlife)? Are you like the Pharisee or the Tax Collector