Note: The Middle School is a week ahead of the High School in teaching. That gap will increase some over the next few weeks as many Sunday evenings will have other things going on.
Text: Luke 18:9-14
This parable is one of the most famous of Christ's parables and it has much to teach us about living the Christian life and how the gospel transforms how we live. Last week, we talked about what it meant to be holy (from 1 Peter 1:13-16). This parable expands on some of those same concepts.
Jesus presents us with two men, one a Pharisee, and another a tax collector, or publican. The Pharisees were essentially a ruling class who dictated religious law to the people. The tax collectors worked for the Roman government, and were well known for skimming too much off the top for their own pockets. Jesus is essentially presenting us with opposites - one person who is regarded highly, and another who is not.
The Pharisee embraces his position, points at the tax collector, and says, "Lord, thank you I'm not like that guy." Can you imagine the arrogance it would take to say that? We know the kind of arrogance it take to think that though. We are all guilty of thinking the very same thing as the Pharisee, though we likely don't say it aloud in a public place. What is interesting about this parable is the reason Luke lists for Christ telling it: "He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt." It's almost as if he was able to see into our own time and know the issues we struggle with! In our attempts to be holy, we often get caught up in the doing. When we do good, we look at others who are not, and we point fingers. We think things we shouldn't and say things about people to other people. This type of behavior allows us to create deep-seeded prejudices and stereotypes that hinder our ministry to the world. This behavior creates a worldly standard and we decide who can live up to it and who can't.
Consider the tax collector. He stands far off and can't even look up to heaven - perhaps out of guilt and shame, but maybe simply out of the realization of his own sin compared to the matchless grace of God. (see Isaiah 6) He realizes his need for a Savior, and prays for mercy.
In our own lives, and as we seek to live holy, we must understand that the call to be holy is not a call to seek salvation outside of the person and work of Jesus Christ. We are called to do good things, but doing good things doesn't make us holy. Christ does that. Because we are his, we are holy. Daily we are sanctified and we grow more and more like Jesus. In that, we become more holy - the Holy Spirit working in us, setting us aside, and making us a people for himself. Our good works and there because of who we are - not because they somehow make us better than everyone else.
This is particularly difficult for youth as they become more and more acquainted with a culture that is so driven by performance and one's deeds. We easily transfer these ideas to the church. The challenge to us as parents is to keep before our believing children the grace of God, while at the same time, hold them accountable to the calling of God in our lives to be holy - to be ever mindful that we are people bought with a price, and we should live accordingly. We should approach the Lord like the publican, recognizing our sin and inability, and daily request mercy and forgiveness. We must also be willing to accept that the others in our lives are publicans too, and they need our mercy, lest we become the Pharisee.
Follow-up with your family:
1. Read Luke 18:9-14 with your family.
2. What is wrong with the prayer of the Pharisee?
3. What is right about the prayer of the tax collector?
4. How are our own thoughts/prayers like that of the Pharisee?
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