The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity

The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity – August 11, 2024

Psalm 68; Genesis 4:1-15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-10

St. Luke 18:9-14

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We must all recognize that there is more of the Pharisee in each of us than there is the Tax Collector. This is because the temptation to justify ourselves is so great.

Sure, on the one hand, we might look at the Pharisee and rightfully point out that he prays in such a way as to make sure everyone else can hear him. We might also point out that while he thanks God that he is not like other men, he doesn’t really ascribe this difference to God. The Pharisee does not say that God is the reason he isn’t tempted toward these sins. Instead, it seems pretty clear that although the Pharisee is thanking God, he is saying that he is a good and pious man because he has worked hard to be a good and pious man.

Seeing these things, we might say to ourselves, “Thank God I’m not like that self-righteous Pharisee! I know better than that!” And that is why I say there is more of the Pharisee in each of us than we realize. This is the same sin as the Pharisee.

It is a good and God pleasing thing to thank God that you have not fallen into grave sins – extortion, embezzlement, adultery, or murder. But equally important is realizing that the reason you haven’t fallen into those sins is not that you are strong, but that God has preserved you from them.[1] Every one of us is moments away from falling into the worst sins imaginable. The only thing protecting you is the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is the depth of the depravity of the human condition.[2] There is no woman that is incapable of having an affair. There is no man that is incapable of killing another person – man, woman, or child.

The stakes of the parable seem much lower, but I can tell you they are not. The Pharisee – that pillar of the community and known by all to be pious and kind – prays to the Lord in praise of himself. He seeks to justify himself by his actions and he wants God to recognize his efforts. The result, as Jesus says, is that he goes back to his home a pagan. He eventually goes to his home in hell, just the same as the unrepentant extortioner, thief, adulterer, and murderer. The blasphemer is equally condemned.

The Tax Collector is a great sinner. He has turned his back on his people, stealing from his neighbors, his cousins, his family, all for selfish gain. He has tied himself to the pagans who have invaded his country, and he supports their wicked sacrifices to demons. He is the man no one wants his son to become.

But the heart of the Tax Collector has been turned toward God. He has heard the Word of God, and it has convicted his heart of sin.[3] He has seen the sins in his life. He knows there is nothing he can do to be free of these demons.[4] For this reason, he prays to the Triune God, “Please, be merciful to me, for I am the worst of all men.” He does not ask for God’s pity. He doesn’t ask for a handout from God or reassurance that everything will be ok. He doesn’t ask God to change the situation around him. He doesn’t even ask for the strength to become unlike other men because he knows that even changing his ways won’t save him from the fires of hell.

The Tax Collector asks God to make atonement for him. He asks God to spill the blood of God’s own Son on his behalf. He asks for Jesus to bind the demons in his soul and cast them into the abyss, making way for the Holy Ghost. He finds himself in the Temple asking that God would cleanse him and make him the temple of the Holy Ghost.

This is the lesson for today. In the Book of Leviticus, as God is establishing the worship by which He would be present with His people, we read,

Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.[5]

Then immediately, we hear,

Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’ ” So Aaron held his peace.[6]

Aaron offered sacrifices to the Lord according to God’s good pleasure. His heart, and the hearts of the people, were oriented toward God, knowing that it was not their obedience to God that made atonement, but that God had provided them with the offering which He Himself would receive.

The sin of Nadab and Abihu was that they thought any sacrifice would do. They thought any fire could be used to sacrifice to God. They thought so little of their own sin that God would excuse it because He had already come to dwell with His people.

Do not make the mistake that you are immune to these temptations. There is the crass dismissal of God’s law, like that of Nadab and Abihu, thinking so very little of your sin. Then there is a more subtle temptation, akin to that of Cain. Both Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices to God but only Abel’s was received. Why? Because Cain’s was not offered in faith.[7] Cain placed his trust in the sacrifice, not on the gracious God who would receive it. This subtle temptation is to think that because your name is on the membership roles, because you are here this morning, because you tithe, because you are well liked, because you aren’t like other men (not even like Cain, Nadab, Abihu, or even that Pharisee), you are saved. There is no human on this earth who is incapable of the greatest sins.

Rather, are you like the Tax Collector? Are you frightened of your sins? Are you in mind of the fact that hell is real and could really swallow you whole on the last day? In this case, repent of the sins clinging to your flesh. Follow the example of the Tax Collector and confess that you are the sinner, the worst mankind has to offer, and plead that God would have mercy on your soul.

Recognize also, that God has had mercy on your soul. He has given you a gift greater than you can imagine. The very blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, was shed to forgive your sins. The atonement, for which the Tax Collector prayed, has been made. The same God who warned Cain against the sin waiting to devour him; the same God who came to dwell with Moses, Aaron, and the children of Israel; the same God who descended into mortal flesh shed His blood to cover, to make atonement for your sins. It is then this same God who comes to you today. He comes in the Word read and even more intimately in His Body and Blood. The very Body and Blood of Jesus that you receive from this altar is the blood of the atonement, the Body broken and blood shed on the cross. It is the same and it gives you the answer to the Tax Collector’s prayer. The Lord has had mercy on you.

In + Jesus' Name. Amen.

---

[1] Psalm 121:7-8.

[2] Romans 3:23.

[3] Psalm 86:11.

[4] St. Matthew 12:29.

[5] Leviticus 9:22-24.

[6] Leviticus 10:1-3.

[7] Hebrews 11:4.

The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity

The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity – August 28, 2022

Psalm 68; Genesis 4:1-15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-10

St. Luke 18:9-14

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:

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

¹⁰ your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³ And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from the evil one.’

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.

---

[1] This is a retelling of the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector from St. Luke 18:9-14.

[2] Arthur A. Just, Jr. Luke 9:51-24:53, Concordia Commentary Series (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1997), 681-682.

[3] Psalm 141:2.

[4] St. Matthew 6:2-18.