I Messed Up, but I Won’t Give Up
God is a God waiting to extend you mercy. - Pastor Charlie Dates
Luke 18:9-14
9 Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed 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 stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
How you tell the tale of your life says a lot about how you see yourself.
Some see themselves as the hero, some as the victim.
We take some events of our lives and skip others to form a narrative we identify with.
The narrative usually isn’t entirely accurate.
The Pharisee
The man in Luke 18 has distorted the image of himself. He thinks he’s right with God because he’s positively comparing himself to the tax collector.
He missed an opportunity to be made right.
There are two types of people who come to church every week: people who judge themselves against others, and those who actually understand the condition they are in.
Far too many worshipers lack self-awareness and self-understanding.
We run the risk of making ourselves greater than what we actually are. We should be willing to see ourselves honestly. We aren’t as clean as we think we are.
AND…
Other people aren’t as bad as we make them out to be.
We project onto other people what we would do if we were them.
The true metric of judgment isn’t your neighbor. If you think you’re a good human being because you’re not like somebody else, then you’re using the wrong ruler to judge the strength of your character.
⭐️ Here’s the one ruler by which you can measure your own character: Jesus the Christ.
It really isn’t about how we see ourselves when we stand before God, but how God sees us when we stand before Him.
The Pharisee praises God because he’s better than everybody else.
The Tax Collector
The Romans relied on the natives in a land they occupied to collect taxes.
The tax collectors frequently collected more than what was required so they could keep some for themselves.
They didn’t care about their fellow citizens.
This tax collector comes in and stands back. He recognizes who he is in the presence of God. Shows reverence and awe.
We don’t have to go to church, we GET to go. We should be grateful that God lets us in. We wouldn’t even have access to God if it wasn’t for Jesus’s sacrifice.
The church is where we recognize that all have sinned and fallen short.
As we invite others to church this month, we have to acknowledge our shortcomings.
Understanding Mercy
This text helps us understand mercy. When you know that mercy is God’s undeserved favor on your life, you appreciate God more.
He withholds from you what you actually deserve.
His mercy hid your mistakes.
Goodness and mercy follow you. Imagine mercy following you with a broom sweeping up behind you!
Jesus isn’t condemning the Pharisee’s accomplishments, but his attitude of comparison. He isn’t applauding the tax collectors behavior, but his attitude of humility.
The takeaway from this text is that we need and should seek God’s mercy. That requires humility.
Reflection Questions:
How do you typically see yourself in the story of your life? Are you more like the Pharisee, seeing yourself through comparisons to others, or like the tax collector, aware of your need for God’s mercy?
What does God’s mercy mean to you personally? Reflect on a time when you experienced God’s mercy, and consider how it has shaped your understanding of grace and forgiveness.
How can you better align your sense of character and self-worth with the example of Jesus rather than the people around you? What steps can you take to evaluate your life by Christ’s standards instead of societal ones?