Reformation Sunday 2007
A sermon based on Luke 18:9–14
In the name of Jesus; amen.
Last week Jesus told us a parable about prayer. It was the story of a widow who repeatedly went before an unjust judge to plead her case. Eventually the judge granted her justice because he was tired of dealing with her.
At the end of the parable Jesus reminds us that God is not an unjust judge, but a just judge who listens to us and comes quickly to our aid.
I asked you all to finish my sermon last week by finding a partner and sharing your name and a prayer concern then praying for one another. This was not an easy task for all of you. One person I talked to afterwards said that while it was uncomfortable it was a good opportunity to meet other people in the congregation. Now, that wasn’t one of my goals last week, but it was a bonus.
I want you all to pray for one another and to do that it helps if you know the person you are praying for.
Last week I also asked you to pray for a woman I knew in college named Karen who is dying of breast cancer. She is a friend of my brother who called me yesterday to tell me that he had just been to the hospital to visit her. She is not doing well and, in his opinion, will probably not last much longer. She is the mother of two small children and the wife of a loving husband. So I ask you again this week to keep her and her family and friends in your prayers.
When we pray for the sake of others we are doing holy work. So, don’t stop.
But prayer does not need to be for others in order for it to be holy.
This week Jesus tells us another parable about prayer. In this parable we hear the prayers of two different men, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee’s prayer might seem shocking to us, but to the audience who heard it for the first time it was not a surprising prayer. In fact it sounded much like other prayers that Pharisees prayed daily.
Praised (be the Lord) that He did not make me a heathen, for all the heathen are as nothing before Him (Is 40:17); praised be He, that He did not make me a woman, for woman is not under obligation to fulfill the law; praised by He that He did not make me ... an uneducated man, for the uneducated man is not cautious to avoid sins. [t. Ber. 7.18] [p. 59]
The Pharisee’s job was to perform the religious duties of the people in the Temple. His prayer might sound self-righteous, but he had a duty to God and the people not to be like those people who were considered sinners or else he could not perform the religious duties in the Temple. His thanking God that he was not like the tax-collector also implied that he was grateful he could do his job.
The second man, the tax collector, prays a different prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
It might sound like a more appropriate prayer, but the tax collector was perceived as a sinner. Tax-collectors, as a rule, were cheats and liars, and thieves. If anyone needed to say this prayer, it was the tax-collector.
So which prayer was the right prayer?
It’s not until Jesus finishes the parable that we know which man’s prayer was acceptable to God.
“I tell you,” Jesus says, “this man (the tax-collector) went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."
The Pharisee’s prayer might have seemed like a proper prayer for a Pharisee to pray, except that his prayer was spoken to exalt himself, not to exalt God.
Had the Pharisee thanked God for making him righteous so that he could fulfill his duties that would have been an acceptable prayer.
The tax-collector, on the other hand, recognized his need for God in his life. As a sinner, only God could grant him mercy.
When we go before God, how do we pray for ourselves?
We should always go before God with humility and gratitude, knowing that God is the one who makes us righteous, knowing that God is the one who grants us mercy.
So I want to have you all do another prayer exercise this week. I’m going to give you all pieces of paper and ask you to write either a prayer of gratitude for what God has done for you or a prayer asking for mercy for something in your life.
And again, when you say “amen” think about what Martin Luther said in his explanation of the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer.
“I should be certain that such petitions are acceptable to and heard by our Father in heaven, for he himself commanded us to pray like this and has promised to hear us. “Amen, amen” means “Yes, yes, it is going to come about just like this.
A sermon based on Luke 18:9–14
In the name of Jesus; amen.
Last week Jesus told us a parable about prayer. It was the story of a widow who repeatedly went before an unjust judge to plead her case. Eventually the judge granted her justice because he was tired of dealing with her.
At the end of the parable Jesus reminds us that God is not an unjust judge, but a just judge who listens to us and comes quickly to our aid.
I asked you all to finish my sermon last week by finding a partner and sharing your name and a prayer concern then praying for one another. This was not an easy task for all of you. One person I talked to afterwards said that while it was uncomfortable it was a good opportunity to meet other people in the congregation. Now, that wasn’t one of my goals last week, but it was a bonus.
I want you all to pray for one another and to do that it helps if you know the person you are praying for.
Last week I also asked you to pray for a woman I knew in college named Karen who is dying of breast cancer. She is a friend of my brother who called me yesterday to tell me that he had just been to the hospital to visit her. She is not doing well and, in his opinion, will probably not last much longer. She is the mother of two small children and the wife of a loving husband. So I ask you again this week to keep her and her family and friends in your prayers.
When we pray for the sake of others we are doing holy work. So, don’t stop.
But prayer does not need to be for others in order for it to be holy.
This week Jesus tells us another parable about prayer. In this parable we hear the prayers of two different men, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee’s prayer might seem shocking to us, but to the audience who heard it for the first time it was not a surprising prayer. In fact it sounded much like other prayers that Pharisees prayed daily.
Praised (be the Lord) that He did not make me a heathen, for all the heathen are as nothing before Him (Is 40:17); praised be He, that He did not make me a woman, for woman is not under obligation to fulfill the law; praised by He that He did not make me ... an uneducated man, for the uneducated man is not cautious to avoid sins. [t. Ber. 7.18] [p. 59]
The Pharisee’s job was to perform the religious duties of the people in the Temple. His prayer might sound self-righteous, but he had a duty to God and the people not to be like those people who were considered sinners or else he could not perform the religious duties in the Temple. His thanking God that he was not like the tax-collector also implied that he was grateful he could do his job.
The second man, the tax collector, prays a different prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
It might sound like a more appropriate prayer, but the tax collector was perceived as a sinner. Tax-collectors, as a rule, were cheats and liars, and thieves. If anyone needed to say this prayer, it was the tax-collector.
So which prayer was the right prayer?
It’s not until Jesus finishes the parable that we know which man’s prayer was acceptable to God.
“I tell you,” Jesus says, “this man (the tax-collector) went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."
The Pharisee’s prayer might have seemed like a proper prayer for a Pharisee to pray, except that his prayer was spoken to exalt himself, not to exalt God.
Had the Pharisee thanked God for making him righteous so that he could fulfill his duties that would have been an acceptable prayer.
The tax-collector, on the other hand, recognized his need for God in his life. As a sinner, only God could grant him mercy.
When we go before God, how do we pray for ourselves?
We should always go before God with humility and gratitude, knowing that God is the one who makes us righteous, knowing that God is the one who grants us mercy.
So I want to have you all do another prayer exercise this week. I’m going to give you all pieces of paper and ask you to write either a prayer of gratitude for what God has done for you or a prayer asking for mercy for something in your life.
And again, when you say “amen” think about what Martin Luther said in his explanation of the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer.
“I should be certain that such petitions are acceptable to and heard by our Father in heaven, for he himself commanded us to pray like this and has promised to hear us. “Amen, amen” means “Yes, yes, it is going to come about just like this.
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