9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
- Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)
By definition, the Pharisee is the most religious of the two mentioned. He is the one that not only follows the law, but even chooses to go beyond what the law requires. He kept to the daily practice of prayer, the weekly practice of fasting, and he gave the Lord the first ten percent of everything he acquired. How often do we approach our religion with the same attitude? Let’s go through the checklist…___attended Bible class; ___attended worship; ___took communion; ___gave my 10%; ___attended small group; ___attended Wednesday night; ___daily Bible reading; ___daily prayer. I must be a good and faithful Christian, right? In many ways, all of us aspire to achieve such dedication and devotion to God. However, Jesus implied that the Pharisee’s prayer was not heard. He, unlike the tax collector, did not leave the temple justified before God. Why? What makes the tax collector so much different than the Pharisee in this case?
The attitude of the heart; an attitude of gratitude. The Pharisee may have longed to honor God with such strict adherence to these religious practices, but he failed to honor God with his heart. The purpose of these disciplines is freedom. “Our goal is the freedom, not the discipline. The moment we make the Discipline our central focus, we turn it into law and lose the corresponding freedom.” (Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 110) Such was the problem with the Pharisees. Instead of experiencing freedom, they had become enslaved by their own self-righteousness. To the Pharisee, salvation is not the surrender of your heart to God, but complete surrender to the laws of God. They had become so focused on themselves that they could not even see God right before their very eyes. Jesus scolded them in Matthew 15:7-8, “You hypocrites (Pharisees)! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’”
The tax collector had no credentials. As far as his society was concerned, he was the scum of the earth. As far as God was concerned, he was a model student of the faith. He probably wasn’t tithing. He probably wasn’t fasting. He probably took more than he should have from those he met that day. However, he approached God humble, broken, and penitent. The only achievement he acknowledged was his failure to honor God with his life. He had but one request, “Have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Father, forgive me for acting religious. Humble me and help me see that you are the focus of my faith, my worship, and my life. Destroy any arrogance and pride I may be tempted to display. Help me read, pray, fast, and tithe so that I may be liberated by your wonderful mercy and amazing grace. God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
You may have given your heart to your spouse, your children, your job, or even your religion; but, have you given your heart to God?
13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
- Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)
By definition, the Pharisee is the most religious of the two mentioned. He is the one that not only follows the law, but even chooses to go beyond what the law requires. He kept to the daily practice of prayer, the weekly practice of fasting, and he gave the Lord the first ten percent of everything he acquired. How often do we approach our religion with the same attitude? Let’s go through the checklist…___attended Bible class; ___attended worship; ___took communion; ___gave my 10%; ___attended small group; ___attended Wednesday night; ___daily Bible reading; ___daily prayer. I must be a good and faithful Christian, right? In many ways, all of us aspire to achieve such dedication and devotion to God. However, Jesus implied that the Pharisee’s prayer was not heard. He, unlike the tax collector, did not leave the temple justified before God. Why? What makes the tax collector so much different than the Pharisee in this case?
The attitude of the heart; an attitude of gratitude. The Pharisee may have longed to honor God with such strict adherence to these religious practices, but he failed to honor God with his heart. The purpose of these disciplines is freedom. “Our goal is the freedom, not the discipline. The moment we make the Discipline our central focus, we turn it into law and lose the corresponding freedom.” (Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 110) Such was the problem with the Pharisees. Instead of experiencing freedom, they had become enslaved by their own self-righteousness. To the Pharisee, salvation is not the surrender of your heart to God, but complete surrender to the laws of God. They had become so focused on themselves that they could not even see God right before their very eyes. Jesus scolded them in Matthew 15:7-8, “You hypocrites (Pharisees)! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’”
The tax collector had no credentials. As far as his society was concerned, he was the scum of the earth. As far as God was concerned, he was a model student of the faith. He probably wasn’t tithing. He probably wasn’t fasting. He probably took more than he should have from those he met that day. However, he approached God humble, broken, and penitent. The only achievement he acknowledged was his failure to honor God with his life. He had but one request, “Have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Father, forgive me for acting religious. Humble me and help me see that you are the focus of my faith, my worship, and my life. Destroy any arrogance and pride I may be tempted to display. Help me read, pray, fast, and tithe so that I may be liberated by your wonderful mercy and amazing grace. God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
You may have given your heart to your spouse, your children, your job, or even your religion; but, have you given your heart to God?
5 comments:
So the burning question is: How spiritual is your/my religion?
I think it is interesting that the first and greatest command is "Love your God" not "Do for your God." Without the love, the works are vanity.
Good job my friend.
I have added you to my reader. If you come to my blog and leave a comment, I will email you back.
I wish you and your family well and miss you very much.
Great Post!
We struggle so much with our indentity, and we seek to establish this by what we do or don't do. JESUS already established who we are. This now frees us to just be his disciples.
There is great freedom if we can just let go of record keeping. The problem is that we are so comfortable with that mode of living. I like checklists; they let me know just what I need to do. And it is very rewarding when I can mark something off. But my relationship with God is so much more than a checklist. Changing from that mentality requires me to look deeper into my heart. And that is a difficult proposition. But the rewards will be great--after all, "it is for freedom that we have been set free."
The checklist keeps my life in order. It also makes me in "control" of what happens day to day. Becoming "spiritual" means I let go of my control and allow God to have control. Hum...there in lies my problem. If I allow His spirit to control me I must live according to His plans. That would nulify my "to do list" and my "am I living right checklist" and turn it all over to God. That would mean I would let His words touch my spirit during worship and I might cry in front of others. That would mean I would not look like I had it all together and I would be seen as....not perfect! It also means that I would sing with my eyes closed or with my hands lifted and focus only on Him instead of how off key I might be or what others will think. It would also mean I would go forward and ask for prayers when I felt weak or had struggles in my life without worry about the whispers around me. Would it also mean that I might pray aloud and speak from my heart without fear of my words really "sounding" right?
Sounds to me like becoming spiritual with my religion might actually free me from alot of fear or rejection and open me up to real worship and a closer walk with my Lord.
Just my thoughts....:)df
bigwhitehat - great insight on the first and greatest commandment. oh how often we strive for the "do" rather than the "love."
christiantechnologist - Good point! If we could only convince everyone to seek their identity in Christ, rather than their "busyness."
Raleen - There is comfort in checking things off of my list, and much self-fulfillment in realizing I have accomplished something. I believe you are right. Checklists are so superficial. God has called us to a much deeper relationship than that!
Denise - Thanks for this point..."Becoming spiritual means I let go of control and allow God to have control." If only we could... How liberating that would be!
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