My apologies that the previous e-mail didn't follow proper list nomenclature in the subject line. Rev. Charles R. Lehmann Pastor, Saint John's Lutheran Church, Accident, MD http://www.stjohncove.org
----- Original Message ---- > From: Rev. Charles Lehmann <chaz_lehm...@yahoo.com> > To: Sermons <sermons@cat41.org> > Sent: Friday, August 21, 2009 5:41:28 PM > Subject: SERM: Sermon for Trinity 11 > > Rev. Charles Lehmann + Trinity 11 + Luke 18:9-14 > > In the Name of + Jesus. Amen. > > Our Lord has a way of turning our thoughts about what the church should > be > like on its ear. Two men went up to the temple to pray. It's important for > us > to consider that both of them went up to the temple. Both were religious men > who desired to be in the presence of God. Both were praying in the temple. > So > far, so good. The first few words seem fine. But then we find out who went > up > to the temple: a Pharisee and a tax collector. > > This would still seem fine if we could figure out a way to keep the > parable > from applying to us, but that's not an option. We are in the parable. There > are two options. Either we are a legalistic and self-righteous Pharisee or > we > are a despicable tax collector. That doesn't seem like much of a choice, > does > it? > > The Pharisees were one of the most frequent opponents of our Lord. They > believed that obeying the actual Law of God wasn't enough, and so they > devised > hundreds of man-made rules in order to convince themselves that there wasn't > even a possibility of disobeying God's Law. They figured that if you didn't > ever speak the Name of God, you could never take it in vain. They ignored > the > fact that God wants us to call upon Him by Name, and that He desires to put > His > Name on us when we gather together to receive His gifts. > > The Pharisees also set up complicated rules to define what it meant to > work > on the Sabbath. They counted out how many steps you could take and made sure > that they lived close enough to the synagogue to get there. The Pharisees > were > great at obeying their elaborate rules, but when it came to caring for the > needs > of their neighbor, and showing compassion to each other, they failed > completely. There's no way we would want to be the Pharisee in our Lord's > Parable. > > But the other option isn't much better. Tax collectors were even less > popular in first century Palestine than they are today. In the Roman Empire > if > you wanted to be a tax collector for a particular area, you would tell the > Empire how much tax you could collect over the next few years. If you were > the > highest bidder, the Romans would give you the job. This was a tricky > business. > At the end of your contract, you had to deliver what you promised. If you > did, > Rome would pay you a certain percentage as your salary. The key to being a > successful tax collector was to bid low enough that you could collect the > full > amount and high enough that you'd beat out your competition. > > Unfortunately, the Romans didn't mind if the tax collectors collected > more > than they were entitled to. Whatever the tax collectors got that they didn't > send on to Rome was pure profit, and, in the eyes of the people, pure theft. > > And so in today's parable, our Lord gives us two extremely unpleasant > options. Are you the self-righteous hypocrite who thinks that he's earned > good > things from God because he obeys his own made up rules but ignores what the > Lord > actually desires? Or, are you the thieving traitor who squeezes your > neighbors > for every penny you can get, all so that you can live in the lap of luxury > while > the rest of the community lives in poverty? > > Though we really do not want to be either of the people in this story, > there > is a very real way in which we are both. We are all tempted to be like the > Pharisee. We parade out everything we do that is good and hope that people > will > ignore our sin. The Pharisees wanted to be regarded as virtuous. They > wanted > people to think they kept the Law perfectly. They were utterly unwilling to > acknowledge their sin. And though this morning we have all confessed our sin > and received the Lord's absolution, we are not free from the sin that > afflicted > the Pharisee either. Pride infects us all, and none of us can ever escape > from > it completely. And so, we all will tend to brag about ourselves from time to > time. We all want to make ourselves appear a little better than we actually > are. > > The Psalms put it very simply. They say that all men are liars, and we > can > see how true this is when we look at ourselves. When we tell stories about > ourselves, we always take center stage. We are always a bit more important > in > the story than we were when the event actually took place. If we tell the > story > well, we come off looking witty, kind, honest, and clear. What usually > happens > when you tell someone about an argument that you've had. You often make the > person you were arguing with look a little less reasonable and a little less > right than they actually were? You leave out the moments when you got a > little > angry, and in the retelling your argument is almost always a little better > than > it was in reality. > > We want to be respected. We want to be thought well of. We want to have > a > good reputation in our community and in our neighborhood. We almost never > tell > the story if the other guy comes out looking better than us. We keep those > memories to ourselves because they shame us. > > The tax collector didn't have that option. He couldn't keep his sins > secret > because everyone knew about them. Even if he was honest and only collected > what > he was contracted to collect, he was a servant of the filthy Romans. He was > regarded as a traitor by his people. His reputation was worse even than > murderers and prostitutes. > > Both the Pharisee and the tax collector were sinners in need of the > Lord's > mercy. Both of them stood condemned on their own and had absolutely no hope > of > life or salvation apart from the Lord's mercy. The difference in the > Pharisee > and the tax collector was not whether they were sinners standing under the > judgment of God. The difference was that while the Pharisee went before God > talking about how he was a good man deserving of the Lord's favor, the tax > collector was terrified to be in the presence of God. He acknowledged his > faults and said, “Lord have mercy upon me, a sinner.” > > That, dear Christian friends, is the key point. If you are not a sinner, > then Jesus has nothing to offer you. Jesus is the Great Physician. He is > the > merciful one. He offers His life to save those who deserve death and hell. > > If you are whole and healthy, then the Physician cannot heal you. If you > are innocent, then there can be no mercy for you. If you do not deserve > hell, > then you cannot be given heaven. > > If I were to hire one of you to build me a bookshelf, the money that I > paid > you afterward would not be a gift. It would be a wage. It would be the > amount > that we had agreed beforehand that you should be paid for your work. You > would > deserve it. The money would be yours by right. > > I would not write out the check and give it to you because I was having > mercy on you. Mercy is only given to those who don't deserve it. That's > what > mercy is: undeserved favor. > > Jesus spoke today's parable “to certain people who trusted in themselves > that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” The Pharisee > wanted to be paid his wages. He thought that he deserved good things from > God > because he was not like the rest of men. He set himself apart and claimed > that > he was deserving of divine favor. He did not know that the wages of sin are > death. He did not realize that God has only wrath for those who come before > Him > on their own merits. > > The tax collector knew that he had nothing to offer God. He knew that > his > sins meant that he deserved eternal wrath and punishment. He was afraid even > to > lift His eyes to heaven. And that is why he received everything from God > except > for what he deserved. He went down to his house justified. He received from > God what he did not deserve. He received love, mercy, the forgiveness of all > his sins. Though he was guilty of countless cries against heaven, the tax > collector was declared not guilty. He would not serve a day of the sentence > he > deserved because the punishment had been laid on Jesus' shoulders. > > The Pharisee would have to bear all the punishment for his own sin. The > Pharisee wanted to be judged on his merits rather than on Christ's. He > wanted > to receive what he deserved rather than what Jesus gives. And so the > Pharisee > did not go down to his house justified. > > And so, dear Christians, do not offer your own deeds on your behalf. > Rather, receive what Christ wants to give. Come before your Father saying, > “Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” Sinners Jesus will receive. He has > gone > to the cross and paid for your sin. He is raised to life and cannot die. > > Your Lord and Savior has come to you today to give you all the gifts of > life > and salvation that He has won for you on the cross. These gifts are for > sinners > only. You cannot convince Jesus to give you good things because you are a > good > person. You are not a good person. You are a sinner. You are a beggar in > need > of the Lord's mercy. You are one for whom the Lord has died and won every > good > gift. There is no need for fear. You may lift up your eyes to heaven > knowing > that the Lord has mercy for you. You are forgiven. You are free. All the > gifts of heaven are yours not because you deserve them but because Jesus > loves > you and has made you His child. > > In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. > Amen. > > And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts > and > minds in faith in Christ Jesus. Amen. > > Rev. Charles R. Lehmann > Pastor, Saint John's Lutheran Church, Accident, MD > http://www.stjohncove.org > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > > 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise > noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such > gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_ > _attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as > for quoting or use in a congregational setting > _with_or_without_attribution_. > > Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. > Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. > > Subscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons...@cat41.org > Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons-...@cat41.org > Archive? > > For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach > For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: > > Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski org> ___________________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_ _attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons...@cat41.org Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons-...@cat41.org Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/sermons@cat41.org/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <MoM [at] lists (dot) cat41 <dot> org>
