COME TO CHURCH A SINNER. GO BACK HOME A SAINT.
ASH WEDNESDAY, 2014
Luke 18:9-14 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and
looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up
to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 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. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "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.' "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."
Dear Christian Friends:
Last Sunday Hollywood held its annual Academy Awards. Movie stars
showed up dressed to the hilt. Stars took turns getting up on stage to
present the nominees. Then they opened the envelope. They announced
the winners. Then the winners got up on stage and said, “I’d like to thank
the Academy…blah, blah, blah…”
That’s how the Pharisee in our text acted. Like movie stars showing off
at the Academy awards, he went to the temple to show off. He went to be
seen and admired. He made a speech about himself. He went to the temple
expecting to receive an award for best performance of keeping the law.
Jesus says, 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. I fast twice a week and give
a tenth of all I get.' Talk about your ultimate selfie!
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Unfortunately, you and I also fall into this trap. No, we don’t dress in
tuxedoes and evening gowns when we come to church. No, we don’t stand
up in the middle of church and boast out loud about how great we are.
But all of us share in that Pharisee’s sinful pride. Our pride loves to
think, “I am better than lots of other people. I thank God that I am better
than my neighbors who never go to church. I thank God that I am better
than my relatives who always get drunk. I thank God that I am better than
my co-workers who are lazy liars. And, yes, I thank God that I am better
than all those delinquent members of this church. I come to church every
Sunday. I even come on these special mid-week services during the season
of Lent.”
Yes, you and I have the in-born skill to make ourselves look better by
comparison. We all like to soothe our consciences by saying, “Well, I’m
not perfect but at least I’m not as bad as that other stinker.”
But God does not want you to compare yourself to other sinners. No,
God demands that you compare yourself to his holy law. And that
comparison to God’s law leaves us with nothing to brag about. The Bible
tells us, Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. The book of
James tells us, Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in just
one point, is guilty of breaking all of it. And Saint Paul says in Romans,
There is no difference. All have sinned and [everyone] falls short of
the glory of God.
So, yes, according to God’s law, you are just as sinful as your drunken
relatives. According to the perfect standards of Gods Word, you are just as
lazy and dishonest as your good-for-nothing co-workers. According to the
unbendable demands of God’s moral code, you are just as filthy, just as
wicked, and just as impure as the worst robbers, evildoers, [and]
adulterers.
Look at it this way. Three people are in a large swimming pool. One
person drowns in the shallow end – three feet deep. One person drowns in
the middle of the pool where the water is six feet deep. The third person
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drowns in the deep end of the pool – twelve feet deep. Now, the person
who drowns in the shallow end cannot say, “I am better than the other two
people. I only drowned in three feet of water.” That’s a foolish
comparison. All three people drowned. All three people are dead.
Likewise, when you stand before God’s law, it does not matter how many
sins you commit. In God’s eyes it does matter how “terrible” those sins
were. Any sin makes you a sinner. Any sin makes you filthy in God’s
sight. Any sin kills you and sends you to hell.
Therefore, you do not come to church like a self-absorbed movie star
going to the Academy Awards. You do not stand before God the way the
Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself. You and I are sinners plain
and simple. We have no reason to boast about ourselves.
So, there is only one way to enter God’s house and come into God’s
presence. Jesus tells us, "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.' "
There is only one thing that sinners need. That one thing is not an award
because you are less of a sinner than all the other sinners around you. It’s
not positive reinforcement so you can modify your behavior and be a better
you. And it is certainly not an excuse that says, “Don’t worry. You’re only
human.” No, no, and no. The one thing that sinners need is God’s mercy.
So, when you come to church or whenever you stand before God, there is
only one thing for you to say. God, have mercy on me a sinner.
When you go to church it should be like a person with kidney failure
going to dialysis. Kidneys are the body’s natural blood filters. Kidneys
take impurities out of your body. But if your kidneys fail, you need to go
to dialysis. You need a machine to take the impurities out of you blood so
that you do not die from internal poisoning. And a patient with kidney
failure needs to go to dialysis at least twice a week to stay alive.
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God’s mercy is our spiritual dialysis. That’s why we need to be like that
tax collector in our text. We must come to church and say to God, “Dear
Lord, sin has completely polluted me. Every day sin poisons my soul. And
no matter how hard I try, I cannot get rid of my sin. No matter how
carefully I try to be a good person, I cannot purify my soul. So, Lord, I
need your mercy. Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Yes, confess your sins. Confess them often—even more than twice a
week! But also listen to Jesus. He tells us, "I tell you that [the repentant
tax-collector] rather than the [the proud, unrepentant Pharisee], went
home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
So humble yourself before God. Confess your sins. Confess them often.
Listen to Jesus. But do more than listen to Jesus. Look to Jesus as the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Believe that Jesus
became a human in order to die under God’s law in your place. Have
confidence in Jesus. He poured out his holy blood on the cross to take
away all your sins.
Jesus once said, “It is not the healthy need a doctor, but the sick…
For I have not come to call the (and we might add self) righteous, but
sinners.”
You and I are sinners. There’s no sense in denying it or downplaying it.
There’s no sense in thinking we can overcome any sin by ourselves. So,
again, humble yourself before God. Confess your sins and your total
sinfulness. Despise your sins. Turn away from sins. And come to Jesus.
Dump all your sins on Jesus. He is the only one who is strong enough to
deal with your sins. His blood is the only thing pure enough to wash away
all your sins. Or, to put in another way: COME TO CHURCH A
SINNER. GO BACK HOME A SAINT. Yes, by God’s grace alone
through faith in Christ alone you are an exalted saint in the Kingdom of our
God. To Christ alone be the glory forever and ever. AMEN.
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