Sermon based on Luke [18 1-14]

Jesus told a story about two men who went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee said, “‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men'” (18:11) and then he listed the things he did which he thought made him better than others.

However, the tax collector acknowledged that he made mistakes and wasn’t perfect and he said, “‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'” (18:13).

Let us see if we can get a picture in our minds of these two men. Think of the story in this way: It was as if the Pharisee was standing on a ladder where he could be seen by all, and it was a place where he put himself above others. And, it was as if the tax collector was standing on the ground at the bottom of the ladder. He knew he had faults and did not try to place himself above others.

When you are up on a ladder it is more difficult to talk with those below you and if you are not careful you might fall off. When you stand on the ground you are at the same level of others and able to look into their faces, talk to them and understand them more easily.

Jesus told the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in order to teach us about humility, a word that means to be modest and not brag about what we have done. Jesus teaches that the tax collector, who was humble, had chosen the correct place. We all need to be modest about our accomplishments and remember that we all make mistakes and we all have faults. Only God is perfect.

In summary

Jesus cautions us about measuring ourselves against other people to determine who is best.

And so, Jesus told us a story about two men who went to the temple to pray. One man thought of himself as a righteous, good man because he obeyed all the rules. The other man, a tax collector thought himself such a sinner that he wouldn’t even raise his head and just looked down at the ground. Sometimes we do the same thing. We can be too hard on ourselves and think we do not measure up to others. Or, we judge others and think we are better than them. Our worth or value, what kind of person we are, can only be measured by God. He is our example and we should leave the measuring to him. God can truly see the goodness in our hearts. Amen.