A woman was brought before the judge at night in a
The charge against the woman was the theft of a loaf of bread from a local supermarket.
The Judge heard the case; the woman pleaded guilty, confessing to having stolen the bread in order to feed her children because she had no money.
In his ruling the Judge ordered the woman to pay a fine of $50.
He also fined all 25 of the people in the courtroom $2 each for living in a city where a mother with no money had to steal bread in order to feed her children. The $50 he collected was used to pay the woman’s fine.
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The section of Luke’s gospel that we are dealing with at the moment begins with Luke 17:20… Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the
His answer was: “The
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After this Jesus speaks about the need to respond immediately to God’s call - the
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There follows a passage on prayer about the widow and the unjust judge… The sort of prayer that brings the
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In the passage we read today, Luke 18:9-14, we learn about the need to allow God to change us when we pray.
From Luke 17:20 we’ve spoken so far about the Kingdom Reign of God - a world characterized by people’s love of and obedience to God is not far off; in fact it is potentially right here.
This Kingdom is characterised by its justice… it’s not just pie in the sky when you die, but a community of people (us) living God’s way on earth right now.
We know from the witness of Jesus message that living God’s way is not about keeping a rigid set of laws, but rather about Loving God and loving neighbour - when we do these two things we automatically fulfil the law because love will not let us wrong our neighbour…
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But in order for us to see this Kingdom reality we need to be transformed within ourselves, we need to become subjects of this Kingdom. John Stott said that the
When we as people being to make God King in every aspect of our lives… then we will truly begin to see God’s Kingdom.
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The passage for today is the familiar parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, a story that emphasises the fact that true Christian prayer is prayer that confesses our need to be transformed…
Luke tells the story: A Pharisee and a tax collector go to the temple to pray.
The Pharisee (on the right in this icon), standing by himself prays: “I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there. I fast two days a week, and I give you a tenth of all my income.”
On the other hand the tax collector, standing far off - won’t even look up to heaven, he beats his breast saying seven simple words: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
Jesus tells us that the tax collector went home justified - because those who make themselves great will be humbled and all who humble themselves will be made great.
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Pharisees were considered to be the most pious people in Palestinian Jewish society.
They, like many other people longed for the coming of the
Other groups excluded themselves from the community and joined monasteries where they could experience a sort of isolated holy life, they were known as the Essenes.
The Pharisees believed that God’s Kingdom reign would begin if everybody became suitably holy and fulfilled all the letters of the law… They trusted that their own goodness and righteousness would force God to act against the injustice that the people of
They therefore kept the laws of scripture meticulously, tithing even their herbs and spices in an effort to manipulate God’s hand; and they were sure to remind God of what they had done, just in case he didn’t see them.
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We don’t like to admit it, but they’re a bit like us when we pray…
Lord I went to church every week last month, I read my Bible every day - why didn’t you answer my prayers? Why did this awful thing happen to me?
Or alternatively - following the same pattern of thought but in reverse (trusting in our own goodness and righteousness) we tell ourselves that God won’t answer our prayers or do what we need him to do because we missed church, don’t pray often enough, give enough money or we think we broke some law of scripture… We are fooled into believing that God will only hear us if we earn his favour in some or other special way.
And so - because of the same way of thinking we do not bother to pray at all.
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This way of thinking comes from a distorted picture of what God is like, a picture which Jesus corrects for us in his actions which show us what God is really like.
God cares for the good and the bad, showing mercy to all people, loving and forgiving them, welcoming us home whenever we turn to him…
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In the gospels Jesus quite often corrects the Pharisee’s way of thinking about the
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In contrast to the pious Pharisee, who trusts in his own righteousness and despises others… Jesus holds the tax collector up to his audience as a good example…
The Pharisee’s way of praying, by the way, was not considered unusual - it was actually expected of Pharisees - they were highly respected within the community for their holiness and observance of the law… and it was considered proper and good for him to give thanks to God for the fact that he was so holy.
Pharisees (who probably made up the bulk of Jesus audience) doubly despised tax collectors...
They were considered unclean - because of all the work they did with money and people. They were considered unpatriotic because they worked for the Roman government.
Pharisees hoped for
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In contrast to the Pharisee’s self confidence and opinions of others, the Tax Collector is humble… He stands at a distance, with his head down, beats his breast and cries out “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
The tax collector stands in the temple asking God to be merciful to him, to forgive him for his sins… The tax collector approaches God as if God were a King.
Jesus tells us that because of this kind of prayer he is made right with God, the Pharisee on the other hand, in spite of all his holiness - all of his faithfulness in keeping the law; fasting, tithing, everything - he is not made right with God.
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The
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The
From this point of humility we can be changed into the Kingdom bringing people that God has called us to be.
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I began this sermon with the story of a judge who fined everybody in the courtroom for living in a city where a mother had to steal bread to feed her children.
As we look around at the world in which we live we are inclined to blame all the evil that we see on everybody else… On government, on the police, on drug dealers, on lazy people, on the church sometimes - on sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes… but we seldom take responsibility ourselves for the way the world is - for the state our community is in.
Reading the Paarl Post this week, the story of a baby abandoned in a plastic packet… How are we as a community responsible for things like that? What are we going to do about it?
Are we going to pray that other people change? Or are we going to be the ones who change?
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When, in our prayers we earnestly begin to ask God for mercy… ask God to change us. Then I believe we will begin to see the
Amen
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