West Loop Church UBF

Key verse 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.’

In this short parable, Jesus addresses the problem with righteousness. We don't usually connect with this word. But what does it really mean? Basically, righteousness means "finding approval, acceptance and passing scrutiny." We want someone to say to us “You are alright. You are loved. You deserve a valentine’s day gift.” Everyone has to deal with this problem of righteousness. Otherwise, we will always feel unloved, lacking approval and a sense of condemnation. Jesus shows three ways we try to solve the problem with righteousness, two that doesn’t work and one that does.

First, Work righteousness leads to pride

Verse 9, 10 reads, “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ’Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.’” As Jesus taught the crowds, he saw among the crowd, those who were confident of their own righteousness-“I’m so good.” While some who despaired in their righteousness-“I’m so bad”.

But it was not always like this. According to Genesis Chapter 2, we found our approval, our worth and acceptance in God.  In the Garden, Adam and Eve were both naked but they were not ashamed (Gen 2:25). Since man disobeyed and fell from grace, everything changed. Sin created a deep separation between God and us. God no longer became the source of our approval, worth and acceptance. Instead, we looked to the world and its vanity and glory to find our worth.  We said, “I don't need God, I will find my source of righteousness.” This is called work righteousness. We look to the outside to define who we are and to find our worth. We work so hard, so we can say to ourselves, "You are special. You are somebody." We try to find approval from our bosses, teachers, girlfriend, boyfriend and our children. We break our backs to make money, climb the ladder of success and find that special someone. We equate our self-worth to our net worth-the amount of money we make, education, the position we have, the home, the car, the success of our children, etc.

Look at verse 9 again. There is a great danger to work righteousness: One is pride, the other is despair. In verse 9-12, Jesus addresses pride. There is a temptation "looked down on everyone else." There's a great danger to become proud and arrogant. Those who achieve some success tend to “look down on” those who aren't so successful. The one with the Ph.D. tends to look down on those with a high school education. The Green Bay Packers look down on their divisional rivals, the Chicago Bears. The tragic stories of work righteousness that leads to pride are so common. I heard a story of a medical student who was supported by his wife so he could complete his studies. The moment he became a doctor, he left her for another woman.

According to Jesus, even Christians are not immune to this craving for love, attention and approval. Even the "good things" we do in church can make us look down on others. Look at verse 11, "The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-even this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'" The Pharisee stood by himself. This means he tried to stand above the crowd so that everyone would notice him. He tried to go closer to the temple to show how holy and good he is.  He starts off his prayer well we start saying “God, I thank you…” But after that, his prayer goes downhill. This is his only reference to God. He didn't pray thanking God that he was more patient and loving. He didn’t pray about loving public sinners. The rest of his prayer is how upright, good and nice he is!  He had no clue about his own sins. To him sin was more about behavior. He was so good compared to other public sinners: robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. He also said he fast twice a week. The interesting fact about this statement is that this is not in the Bible. He just inserted this, so that he can look even better! Since, he lived such a good life, he expects God to owe him.  Work righteousness can also lead to violence. Before knowing Christ personally, St. Paul’s work righteousness drove him to become a murder and persecutor of the early Christians. When I looked back at my Christian life, I realize was just like the Pharisee. I thought I was good because, I didn’t do drugs, I obeyed my parents, and I didn’t sleep around. When I join the ministry, I thought I was doing God a favor. In my mind, I believed God owed me and should bless me without any question. I also looked down on my Christians brothers were not as hard working or didn’t witness on campus. However, when others excelled or had higher position, I became envious and upset. I was a Christian, but I lived like an unbeliever. I was constantly on an emotional rollercoaster.

Second, Work righteousness leads to despair

Look at verse 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.’”

The Pharisee “looked down on others.” But the tax collector, “looked down on himself.” Perhaps as a young boy, he had aspiration to be a noble man. He wanted to serve the orphans in his town. He wanted to feed the poor. But poor life choices and decisions and bad friends lead him to a dark path. He became a tax collector. Tax collectors were Jews who worked for the Romans. In contemporary terms, his line of work could be comparable to a drug dealer or a pimp. He lived well and comfortable as a tax collector. But his work righteousness led him to deep despair. It is interesting to notice his actions. He “stood at a distance” It meant he was filled with shame and guilt. He tried to live a good life, but he failed. Perhaps he failed in his marriage, lost respect from his children and his people. He would not look up to heaven. He felt God would not forgive the sins he committed. He also beat his breast. This expressed his self-hatred. He did not hear "You are good!" He heard, "You're a traitor, you’re a failure, you’re scum! God won’t forgive you!" Many of us can relate to the tax collector. We try to live a good life, but we fail. We despair about our immoral thoughts and behavior, our pride, our hatred, our envy, our addictions, etc. We drown our failures in alcohol, drugs, rebellion, self-mutilation and punishment. Two weeks ago, I saw a tragic story of a young teen who would mutilate herself with razor. Isaiah 64:6 says, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Isaiah graphically portrayed our acts like soiled menstrual cloths. It is totally disgusting! Work righteousness leads to pride and despair. One way says, “You are a winner and look down on others.” The other way says “You are a loser and you want to die.” But there is another way; that leads to joy. It is not based on our righteousness, but on Christ.

Third,  Jesus’ righteousness becomes our righteousness

From the two men, only one found resolution. It can be found in the last part of the tax collector’s prayer. Look at verse 13b again "God, have mercy on me a sinner." All the tax collector could do was to ask God’s mercy. He knew he was helpless. He knew he was corrupt, he knew he could not change himself, he didn’t blame anyone, he knew he deserved punishment. It was his sin that separated him from God. It was sin that destroyed his relationship with others. All he could do was fall to his knees and with tears say "God have mercy on me, a sinner."

What the tax collector could not do for himself, God had to do. He cried out for God's mercy. Here the word mercy means "atone for my sin." Atonement means to make amends of a wrongdoing, so that reconciliation is possible. Suppose, you smash your neighbor's car because you were texting while driving. If you don't pay for the damages your relationship will be strained. But if you atone, in other words, pay the damages, you are reconciled. But how do you pay back for the sins you committed against God? Our sins broke God's heart. Our sins separated us farther from God. How reconciliation possible? Someone has to pay for the damage done. This word mercy is also refers to the Greek word, “hilasterion” which means the mercy seat which was on top of the Ark of the Covenant. In the Old Testament, atonement for sins was displayed by the sacrifice of a lamb. The priest would put his hands on the lamb. It was a symbolic gesture of transferring the sin of the people unto the lamb. The weight of guilt and shame was given to the lamb. Then the lamb would be sacrificed and its blood would be sprinkled on the mercy seat (Leviticus 4:32-34). In the New Testament, God displayed his mercy by sending his one and only son as the lamb to atone for our sins (John 1:29). The heavy weight of our guilt and shame was transferred to Jesus. Jesus absorbed the damage and punishment that we fully deserved (Isaiah 53:7-10). The punishment that we deserve was placed upon Jesus. It was not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. It was not possible for man to save himself. Man needed a greater sacrifice. The animal sacrifices was just a dim shadow of good things to come. Jesus alone paid the debt for our sins (Hebrews 9:12).

Jesus concludes in verse 14 saying, "I tell you that this man, rather than the other went home justified before God." How can this be? On the cross, Jesus atoned for our sins. He reconciled us back to God. In other words, he solved our approval problem. We are righteous, not because of anything we have done, but what Christ has done. 2 Corinthians 5:21 "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  My sin goes to Jesus and his righteousness comes to me. It is totally an act of grace that we don't deserve. I did nothing, Jesus did everything! What does this mean to us practically? We can work hard and excel as our expression of love for Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:10). We don't look down on others. Rather, we remember how God came down to atone for our sins. We can love and sacrifice for others. When we fail, we can be assured of God's love who died for us while we were rotten sinners. When we are criticized, we bless others. When we suffer, we can smile and endure with joy.

In this passage, we learn work righteousness leads either to pride or despair. Jesus solved our approval problem by atoning for our sins. When Jesus becomes our source of righteousness, it changes our life changes the way we think about ourselves and our inner motives. May God bless each of you find your acceptance and worth in what God has done.

Resources cited:
Keller, Timothy, http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/inside-out-living
Church of God, http://www.godsacres.org/pg.stories.temple.html
Sproul, R.C., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IapqqQ45Q4w