We’re in week 4 of our Costly Confrontations series as we prepare our hearts in this Lent season. We’re looking at encounters that Jesus had with various religious leaders of his day. These aren’t just normal, ordinary encounters. They are explosive encounters that lead to religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus. So far, we’ve read stories of Jesus forgiving sins, healing someone who is paralyzed, allowing a sinful woman to weep at his feet, and healing someone who had a severe back disability. So, today, we’ll be looking at a parable from Luke 18:9-14 that would have led to a few powerful folks getting angry with Jesus again.

A few months ago, our family watched the hit blockbuster, Air Bud. In case you don’t know, Air Bud was a film from the late 90’s involving a dog who could play basketball extremely well. Buddy, the dog, became a much-needed support for the main protagonist, Josh whose dad died. Through the story, Josh gets on the basketball team and meets his worst nightmare: a boy named Larry. Larry is prideful and arrogant, thinks he’s super talented at basketball. On the other hand, Josh knows he’s not the best player and is just thankful to play.

Eventually, Larry goes to a different school and they play against Josh’s team in a game. Larry thinks he’s all high and mighty. But, Josh, Buddy (the dog), and his team end up winning the game. Larry is embarrassed because he thought he was so much better than Josh.

And so today, we’re going to be looking at a similar story of two people:

1.      The first person thought they had it all together but really didn’t just like Larry in Air Bud

2.     The second person who was humble just like Josh in Air Bud.

Read Luke 18:9-14

Comparing yourself to others leads to pride and self-reliance.

In this parable, Jesus is asking us to consider deep things that go on inside of our hearts as his followers.

But in this parable, I want us to take a look at the Pharisee because his prayer is so interesting. First, did you catch the detail that Jesus includes “he stood by himself”? In my personal reading of this passage, I think Jesus includes that detail in there to pride and self-reliance. If you think with me to the story of the sinful woman weeping at Jesus’ feet and wiping his feet with her hair, I shared that falling at someone’s feet was a sign of heartfelt humility. It was a sign of total dependence and acknowledgement that you can’t save yourself. But, this Pharisee is standing by himself as if to say: I don’t need to throw myself at the mercy of God, I’ve done such great things for him. I can stand justified in your presence because I’ve done great things for you.

What does his prayer do next? He thanks God that he’s not like these other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or tax collectors. He’s comparing himself and counting himself as a significantly better person. I do find something ironic about this comparison. Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus calls the Pharisees robbers, evildoers, and adulterers. In Mark 12:40, Jesus says they devour or rob widow’s homes to take the income for themselves. In Matthew 12:38-40, some of the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign and Jesus replies by saying: Only a wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! Multiple times, Jesus calls some of the Pharisees a crooked and corrupt generation which is extremely similar to being called an evildoer.

Why does he believe all this and pray this way? The final part of his prayer gives us a hint: he focuses on the good things he’s done for God as a justification for his right standing with God. And truly, Jesus would likely say that this Pharisee has done good things for God. According to the law, Jewish folks only had to fast once a year for day of atonement and they had very specific instructions for tithes. This fella does more than the Law requires – by fasting twice a week and tithing more than is needed! He’s the real deal and he’s pointing to the evidence to tell God and to others: “Look, how great I am.” “I know I’m better off in your eyes because my works demonstrate that.” When he prays to God, there’s no plea for mercy or asking that God would provide his daily bread, he has everything he needs and God owes him that much since he does so much.

Surely, we are a group of people who have grown so much that we don’t compare ourselves to others? Surely, we don’t judge our brothers and sisters who may be less mature in the faith? Surely, we don’t look to our own works as evidence that God has justified us and saved us? Or do we? Unfortunately, we do and I find myself struggling with this very thing. It’s easy to act like the Pharisee and list out all the good things you do for the Lord then compare yourself to someone that seemingly doesn’t do as much. You start to think you’re more of a Christian than them. If we start to go down that road, our souls take a turn for the worst as we’ve forgotten the truth that Paul teaches in his Galatians letter in chapter 2:16: “We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” If you don’t believe that deep in your bones, you don’t believe what the bible teachers about justification or being made right with God. Without believing that, you start to draw lines in the sand of describing who’s in and who’s out in the Kingdom.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” When you become blind, you can’t see your own flaws. You begin to think you’ve got it all made and figured out. Sure, you have some issues maybe but you’re not as bad as that person. Since you have it all figured out, who needs God’s help with anything? This pharisee has become blind by judging others and comparing himself to others. Will you follow his example?

How do you apply this to your life then? I’d recommend you take the heart posture of the tax collector in this story. What does his prayer look like instead? He stands in a posture of humility, complete surrender to God. He doesn’t go into the Temple really. He doesn’t look up to heaven. All he asks is: “have mercy on me, God, a sinner.” He realizes that his most essential need is God’s mercy and he realizes that it’s true for others too. In the Emotionally Healthy Leader, Pete Scazzerro actually shares that one of his spiritual disciplines is a daily repeated prayer of the tax collector. I’ve tried to adopt that discipline as my own as well.

And what I’ve found is that this prayer re-centers you to realize that apart from God’s mercy (remember: mercy means you do not get something that you deserve. Ie. Sin leads to death but through God’s mercy and Christ’s sacrifice, we do die), we are sinners without hope. But because of God’s mercy, we can find the forgiveness and redemption that we need. And since it is God’s mercy, we don’t get to brag about it. We realize we are totally reliant on God’s mercy for our right standing and can then extend that same mercy to others. If we’re further along in our faith journey than others, it’s all because of God’s mercy. So if you struggle like the Pharisee in the story, try saying the tax collector’s prayer on a daily basis. Or every time you begin to think prideful thoughts.

But, what happens when we pursue humility from an impure standpoint? If we deem humility as the better way as this parable wants us to, is it possible that we begin to view non-humble people in a similar way to how the Pharisee viewed evildoers, robbers, and adulterers?

Humility pursued for the wrong reasons can become pride

As we read, did you find yourself thinking: “Man, this Pharisee is a mess.” Be honest. Did you think: “I would never pray this way!” This parable is almost like a trap as we read it because Jesus makes it very clear that we should pursue humility. But in pursuing humility, it can start to deform your heart the opposite way.

Instead of thanking God that you’re not a robber, evildoer, adulterer, or tax collector, you start to thank God that you’re not a Pharisee. When we try to act with humility because we view it as superior to those who act with pride, we’re also exalting ourselves. If we pursue humility out of that context, we start to believe we’re better than others. This can show up when you begin to say things like: “I love serving but I wish more people would do as much as I do.” Or “If you use your gifts and continue to downplay them vs. giving praise to God.”

In this parable, Jesus is portraying the tax collector as the ideal person who is truly humble. But imagine if there was a second parable with these characters where we get an insight into the tax collector’s heart. We may find out that the tax collector wouldn’t look up because he wanted to look humble so that others would think to themselves: “Wow, he is such a humble guy.” He may have called out to God’s mercy only not out of humility but because he’s obsessed with being right and having proper theology. His humility was actually just for show or pretend.

Whether we admit to it or not, we have standards for our version of Christianity. There are specific things that we’ve come to value and treasure after humbly searching the Scriptures. And we seek to obey them but is our heart always pure? We may believe Jesus’ words that the first shall be last and the last shall be first meaning we should not seek importance but rather seek to serve. So, we do that ourselves in trying to be humble. Then, we look down on our brothers and sisters who maybe get in line first for the fellowship meal who didn’t even help like you helped. In pursuing humility or biblical truth for ourselves, we’ve begun to judge others who don’t adopt the same posture as us.

In this church’s history and the broader BIC, there was often some consensus on ways that Christians should dress. Rather than take cheap shots at our brothers and sisters, I believe that this started out with good and humble intentions to follow what the bible taught in their given context. But as a result, the humility to follow what they believed to be right soon started to become a division. Soon, it became a way to determine who was the real Christian and who was just pretend. The real Christians didn’t cut their hair if they’re a woman or wear ties if they’re a man. If you did cut your hair as a woman, you’re not a real Christian. Is that true humility? Of course not.

That humility begins to deform itself into pride. Our hearts do messed up things even though we’re being conformed into the likeness of Christ. Our best intentions can still have impure motives.

So, what do we do? Do we despair because our humility can actually also make us prideful? No, of course not. The answer to this can be found in the verses after this parable.

Folks are bringing children to Jesus. His disciples try to stop that from happening and Jesus corrects his disciples. Jesus wants the little children to come to them because the Kingdom of God belongs to them and that we need to become like children if we want to enter the Kingdom. A lot can be said on these passages. But for today, let’s focus on a child’s self-forgetfulness. What I mean by self-forgetfulness is that kids aren’t seeking to justify themselves in other people’s eyes. Kids aren’t yet thinking things that adults think of: what will this person think if I don’t do that or if I do that? Does this particular action or belief make me look good or bad? Kids forget about all of that. So when they serve or help, it’s often out of pure humility.

And to joyfully follow Jesus, we must receive God’s mercy like a child. You delight in that so much that you stop caring what others think of you. That means you can serve solely because of God’s mercy and not care how others are serving. You can serve from a place of true humility. It won’t come naturally at first, but over time the Spirit reshapes us. Remind yourself that you’re not that important.

To close our time, I want to answer a question that you may be thinking which is: how can we get to a place of true humility? We’ve spent time looking how we can be like the pharisee or adopt a fake humility. So, how do we get to the good stuff or true humility?

True humility rests in the daily reminder of your identity in Christ

For the Pharisee in this story, his identity was based on his good deeds. For the tax collector with his heart in the right place, his identity was based on God’s mercy and his need for it. If we fall into the trap of humility actually leading to pride, we also start to build an identity based on good deeds and right belief. What’s behind all this?  

At the end of the day, we all want to matter. We all want to know that we have value. So, what do we do? We put ourselves on trial every single day to find out if we are valuable. As a result of that, we’re constantly trying to justify ourselves that we do matter and that we do have value. Here’s what begins to happen with that: we begin to think of ourselves way too much and look within ourselves to determine if we matter and have value. When you begin to think of yourself so much, you can go to two places:

1.      Think too high thoughts of yourself which leads to pride. Wow I’m so much better than other people.

2.     Think too low thoughts of yourself which leads to self-hatred. Wow, I’m just a piece of trash.

Either place has its issues. If you think too highly of yourself, you’re going to live with a fragility and in a glass house. Can you imagine how the Pharisee would feel if a life circumstance meant he couldn’t fast as much as he used to or if he couldn’t tithe as much as he once did? What if someone criticized him for not doing enough? He’d likely start doing more because his good deeds and high view of himself necessitates that he needs to. People’s opinions matter so much to him. What does he do when he finds someone who is doing even more than him for God? He falls backward and spews hatred or annoyance at the other person. C.S. Lewis said: “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

If you think too lowly of yourself, you’re going to live a life of pessimism and cynicism. Nothing ever goes your way. You’re just the worst. I can’t do anything right. Why am I not gifted in that way? Why am I not like this other person? Why is my life so hard? You’re so fixated on yourself just in a different way. If the tax collector continues to rest in his identity as just a sinner, he would go to this place. We can’t just identify as sinners, we should identify as other terms like: stumbling saint or sinner saved by grace when you’ve placed faith in Christ. That’s what some of you were but now you’ve been washed and sanctified.

So where should you go to seek justification then? Jesus Christ is the one who gives us the ultimate verdict on the fact that we matter and have value. The verdict is yes: we can find justification by professing faith in Christ. That verdict comes before we do anything as well.

Jesus ends this parable by saying if we humble ourselves, we will be exalted. To humble ourselves means we stop thinking of ourselves (whether that’s too highly of ourselves or too lowly of ourselves). True freedom can be found when we stop thinking of ourselves. It’s not about anything we have done, what we have accomplished, or how that compares to others. It’s based on what Jesus done on our behalf.

<worship team, you can come on up.>

At the heart of the tax collectors prayer, is an admission of that. All you need to do is throw yourself at the mercy of God and because of Christ, he will accept you. Ultimately, Jesus’ opinion of us is the only one that matters. Stop looking at yourself if you want to find real humility, value, and satisfaction with life. Start looking at Jesus and rejoicing in how he has heard your cry for help and has made you valuable through his life, death, and resurrection. From there, you can live for his glory no matter what others say or do or even how we feel about ourselves.

When you stop looking within yourself, true humility arises because you’re serving out of heart that’s been loved and accepted by Christ. Tim Keller would often say: “Humility isn’t about thinking less of yourself, it’s about thinking of yourself less.” You don’t have do these special things to earn God’s favor nor do you have to do things to make yourself look good nor do you need to adopt a false sense of humility where you’re nothing special, Jesus makes you special. He’s given you gifts, skills, and experiences that he wants you to use for his glory. You don’t get the credit for those.

But, the choice is yours: will you continue to compare yourself to others like the Pharisee? If you do, beware – it’ll lead you to isolation from God, pride, and self-reliance. Will you fall victim of the trap that humility can lead to pride if you’re not careful? How do you stop that? You stop it by not looking within yourself but looking outward to Jesus. You look at him and see that he calls you his precious child whom he loves. Now, you can serve out of a humble and thankful heart to make your father in heaven happy. Amen?

Let me pray.