In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Two men went to church to pray, one was an Elder and the
other was homeless. Before the service, the Elder came quietly into the nave
and prayed, “I give thanks to you Almighty God, that I am not like other men—I
am not tempted by money, women, or food, or even alcohol and drugs as this
homeless man has certainly struggled with. I’ve been a member here for 35
years, I give more than a tithe, and I even fast during Lent.”
Meanwhile, the homeless man sat in the back corner. He did
not make eye contact with anyone, but he also would not look up at the altar
for fear that his filth would somehow stain the beautiful clothes. Instead, he
wept quietly and prayed, “God, please do not be angry at me. Jesus has died for
me.”[1]
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector are going to church. They
are presumably at the Temple during either the morning or evening sacrifices. Every
day, at 9 AM and 3 PM, public prayer services were conducted in the Temple
while the atonement sacrifices were made.[2]
A lamb was sacrificed every morning and every evening to atone for the sins of
the people. After the lamb was sacrifice, that is, after atonement had been
made and the people declared righteous, incense was offered to God. Having been
atoned for by the blood of a lamb, it was during the offering of incense that individual
prayer was offered. “Let my prayer rise before you as incense, the lifting up
of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”[3]
Our Lord is preaching to those who would justify themselves.
He clearly intends to compare the prayers of the Pharisee and the Tax
Collector. One great difficulty for us in this parable is our familiarity with
the Scriptures. We are just familiar enough to get ourselves in trouble.
The prayer of the Pharisee strikes our ears as immediately
self-righteous and sinfully prideful. We hear the words, “God, I thank you that
I am not like other men,” as being the height of self-righteousness. To do so
is dangerous. Our Lord intends to compare the prayers of these two men, but He
intends to compare more than the bare words. The prayer of the Pharisee could
just as easily be read as a prayer of thanksgiving that God has spared him from
the temptations besetting other men. To pray in such a way is good. I thank God
I was not raised in a Muslim country, where I would be tempted to worship the
false god of the Muhammedans. So too is it a worthy prayer to recount your
pious deeds.
On the other hand, the Tax Collector is singularly focused
on begging God for mercy. His prayer could even be read as a plea that God
would be the sacrifice on his behalf. The Tax Collector is praying for the
death of Jesus. He is praying that God would take on his flesh and carry his
sins into the grave. He clearly understands there is nothing he can do to save
himself. He also understands that just as the blood of the lambs just
slaughtered in the Temple are not enough to save his soul. The forgiveness of
sins requires the shedding of blood, and the salvation of man requires the
shedding of the blood of God.
It is important to understand that the bare words of either
man do not determine who returns to his home justified. Recognize that when
Jesus says that only one man returns home justified, He means the other returns
to his home condemned to hell. The words spoken by these men do not justify nor
damn them. The words of their prayers simply reveal the orientation of their
hearts.
Let us return to the idea that these men are attending the
Divine Service. The words spoken, the prayers said aloud and within their
hearts, the hymns sung, and the Scriptures read reveal the orientation of the
hearts of the congregation. So do their actions. Seeing the Tax Collector stand
in the corner, praying with his eyes cast down speaks of the humility of his
heart. He is a man broken by his sin and seeking the One Being who can save
him.
The Pharisee stands before all men, making sure they can
hear his prayer. His prayer is oriented toward himself. This is reflected in
his words in that he refers to himself seven times and never once recounts the
works of God. He also does not ask the Father for anything because his heart
sees himself as sufficient.
We worship the Triune God. We worship the God who has come
to us in our own flesh. Thus, we physically orient our worship toward the
altar. An altar is a place of sacrifice. However, our sacrifice has been
offered once and for all. Now, the altar serves as that place where the
benefits of that sacrifice come to us. Upon the altar sits a crucifix. This is
the sign, or symbol, of the sacrifice that is distributed from that altar. The
paten and chalice which sit beneath the veil are not symbols, but actually
contain the Body and Blood which were shed for your salvation. They contain the
answer to the prayer of the Tax Collector.
The bare words of the prayers in the parable are not enough
to damn or save. The orientation of the hearts of the men praying them are what
give the prayers authority. Now then, before you think I am speaking to the
sincerity of your prayers, or the importance of “really feeling your prayers,”
stop it. When I speak of the orientation of your heart, I speak of moving
toward God or moving toward Man. God alone can change the heart of man. Therefore
we pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within
me.”
If you tried to orient your heart toward God of your own
efforts, you will become the Pharisee. Your prayers would be turned immediately
toward yourself. In fact, this is already the state of us all. By nature, each
of us will turn our prayers toward man. If not praying about how great you are,
then praying about how terrible you are and that it is your fault.
By God’s grace and mercy, He has called you into the true
faith. He has washed you in the waters of Holy Baptism and He feeds you on His
flesh and blood. By this, your heart is oriented toward Him. As such, when your
pride swells and you are thankful that you are not like other men, you give
thanks to God and pray that He would uphold you in this blessedness. You pray
that He would grant you the ability to share this blessedness with others. You
thank God that He has died for you and spared you the temptations that are so
rampant in our world.
Then when you fall into despair and see the depth of your
sin; sin which lies at the bottom of your heart and plagues you with nights of
sleeplessness; you pray that God would forgive your sins. You pray that God
would atone for your sins with His own blood. Then you give thanks that God has
already done this; that He has called a sinner like you into His family. You
pray that God would relieve you of your suffering or at least grant you the
faith to receive it as a sign that you are loved by Him and hated by the sinful
world.
Either way, you come to the altar of God to receive His
gifts. You are confident of your salvation because it does not depend on you,
your actions, or your words. You are confident because it depends on Christ,
His death, and His resurrection.
And then, when you pray, you examine the orientation of your
heart. Are you praying to elevate yourself? Or are you praying that you might
diminish that Christ would elevate? Are you praying to give thanks and trust in
the mighty power of God? Or are you praying that God would see what you have
done?
And when you come to worship, are you coming because you are
oriented toward God? Does your every action in worship speak of one who is in
the presence of the Almighty God? Or do your actions speak of one who is seeking
entertainment, recognition, or friendship? Do you come to the altar of God
knowing that He is present? Or do you just wait for it to be over? Is there a
certain gravity to the Divine Service or is it something that must be done just
so you can get to the part where you might stand before others and be heard?
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with
trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be
honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in
full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let
your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so
that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you.
5 “And when you pray, do not be like
the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on
the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received
their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into
your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then
your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And
when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they
will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not
be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should
pray:
14 For if you forgive other people
when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But
if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
16 “When you fast, do not look
somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others
they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in
full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head
and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be
obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen;
and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”[4]
In + Jesus’ name. Amen.
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