Introduction

Welcome church! I am excited about today’s message because we are going to learn something important about God and his eternal nature. The word “gospel” means good news, and today we’re going to discover some news that’s actually mind-blowing. To begin, I’d like to ask you a question.

Some of you have been followers of Christ for a long time, some of you for a short time. In either case, let me ask you: has your understanding of God changed over time? And if so, how has it changed? (Give people a moment or two to think if their understanding or perception of God has changed over time).

I know mine has. The more I walk with Christ, the more I study scripture, the more I pray and interact in fellowship with you my brothers and sisters, the more my understanding of God changes.

Now church, here’s my next question. In that space of time, was it God who changed? Did God change or did you simply grow in your understanding of him? My guess is, God didn’t change! You grew in understanding of his love, kindness, goodness, or some other incredible quality about him. This is one of the beautiful things about being a Christ-follower, that because God is infinite goodness and love, we will never stop growing in our knowledge and understanding. In a billion years we might be right here, back in this very spot, and you might stand up and say to me, “Hey pastor! Guess what I discovered about God and his goodness today!?” And then you share it, and we are all encouraged and edified yet again. Isn’t that amazing?

God loves to reveal himself and his character to us. It gives him great pleasure. When he reveals something we typically respond in wonder and in worship because he is so beautiful and good. And on the other hand, when this happens it’s often a clue as to what character quality he desires to create or grow within us, since we are all being transformed into the image of Christ.

God loves to reveal himself and his character to us. It gives him great pleasure.

Main Teaching

Today we’re going to look at a teaching of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke. Jesus shares a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector who both go up to the temple to pray.

Let’s make a few observations about this parable. We have a Pharisee and a tax collector both going up to the temple to pray. In Jesus’ day the Pharisees were religious, committed to their faith, and committed to obeying the rules of their faith. The Pharisee would be considered the good guy in this story. The tax collector, on the other hand, is the bad guy. Tax collectors were traitors. They were Jewish men who turned against their countrymen by aligning with Rome. They were despised. They demanded more tax than was required, enriching themselves by abusing families who were poor and powerless. Tax collectors received little sympathy from the people.

The Pharisee seems like a decent human being here. By his own account he does not steal, he does not do evil, he is faithful to his wife. He even fasts twice a week and gives away ten percent of his income. This guy is an outstanding churchman! Especially in contrast to the tax collector standing way off in the back. The tax collector steals. He oppresses. He cheats. He is unfaithful. This guy is a snake and deserves justice!

And the crowd is stunned when Jesus turns everything upside down. It’s the tax collector who goes home justified before God, not the Pharisee. How can this be? The Pharisee was doing everything “right.” The tax collector was doing everything “wrong.”

One other difference between the two: the tax collector was humble, the Pharisee was not ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium