A woman told about a conversation that she’d had with her 4-year-old son after they’d gotten out of their Bible Studies one night. She said: “My son and I were WALKING to our car, and he said to me, ‘Mom, I’m not going to sin anymore.’” I got to wondering this, so I asked him why he said that, and this was his answer: “Jesus said if you don’t sin, you can throw the first stone and I want to throw the 1st stone.” (List Member Dannette from Ohio)
Our word for today is “SORRY.”
It used to be that - in our culture – if an actor/ politician/ public figure said or did something they shouldn’t have said or done AND, if they stood in front of a camera and admitted to the world they were wrong; Americans would often be willing to give them a pass and forgive them. I mean: just say you’re sorry! That’s all that most people would want to hear.
But that’s changed over the last few years. We’ve now entered the era where people throw stones… a lot! It’s called “the cancel culture” and it dominates social media and internet. If a comedian/ actor/ politician has said or done something that’s offensive - EVEN if happened 30 years in the past - there is NO forgiveness given. EVER!
No matter how many times someone says “I’m sorry” - these critics will NEVER forgive.
Commenting on this… an agnostic by the name of Andrew Sullivan observed that the Cancel Culture “filled the void that Christianity once owned, without any of the wisdom and culture and restraint that Christianity once provided.’ (Andrew Sullivan, “Andrew Sullivan: America’s New Religions,” Intelligencer, December 7, 2018, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/andrew-sullivan-americas-new-religions.html.)
Another man noted that The ONLINE shame culture is “Christianity with all of the forgiveness sucked out.”
(David Zahl, director of Mockingbird Ministries, Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It (Fortress Press, 2019), 76))
Cancel Culture people want to stand in judgment of others… and they will NEVER forgive another’s fault.
In our text today, we read about a man that was like that. He would have felt totally at home in our present “Cancel Culture.” This man was a Pharisee, and he was … a stone thrower.
Jesus told this parable about him: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ Luke 18:10-12
Notice what this Pharisee did. First – he declared how righteous he was. “I’m not like other men (and he gives God a list of those other men just in case God wasn’t paying attention). Then he tells God WHY he’s SO righteous: “I FAST TWICE A WEEK” and I GIVE TITHES OF ALL THAT I GET." Essentially, he was saying – God you are lucky to have me!!!
Now was tithing a good idea? Well yeah Proverbs 3:9-10 says “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” AND Malachi 3:10 “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
So, yes… God loves the TITHE (we ought to do that)
AND was fasting a good thing? Well yeah! Isaiah 58:8-9 tells us – if we do our fasting correctly: “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
So, yes… God loves FASTING.
But then Isaiah 58:10 explains WHY fasting was beneficial: “if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”
In other words, fasting gives you extra money to help the hungry and afflicted.
But there’s another part of that passage (Isaiah 58:9) that the Pharisee overlooked. Yes, God loved fasting and said that (done the right way) fasting would speed your healing and impress God… But then God puts a condition in the verse: “IF you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness.”
The pointing of the finger? Yes, pointing fingers is when we focus on the failures and faults of others. “I am not like other men” not like extortioners (look at them), not like the unjust (look at them God), not like the adulterers (look at them), or even like this tax collector. I mean, look at him God because that tax collector is PRETENDING to be righteous. But he’s not righteous … I am.
GOD, YOU ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE SOMEONE LIKE ME!!!! So, was God lucky to have someone like this Pharisee? Well… no! The Pharisee was a stone thrower and a finger pointer. The Pharisee was impressed with himself, but… Jesus wasn’t. Comparing the Pharisee with the Tax Collector, Jesus said “I tell you, (the tax collector) went down to his house justified, rather than the (Pharisee). For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:14
So what did the TAX COLLECTOR do… that the Pharisee didn’t. Did he tithe more? I doubt it Did he fast more? I doubt that too. No but he DID do one thing the Pharisee didn’t - he HUMBLED himself more. “The tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ Luke 18:13
BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER!!!!
Notice, the tax collector didn’t point fingers and he didn’t cast stones. He simply looked at his own life and said to GOD - “I’m Sorry! Have MERCY on me! I AM A SINNER!” To say “you’re sorry” actually means, “I am filled with sorrow.” And the Tax Collector was FILLED with sorrow about the sin in his life.
It occurred to me that Jesus is commending this Tax Collector for his humility. Jesus was impressed by the man’s admitting that he needed mercy and that he was sinful. Jesus was essentially saying that - THAT’S the kind of mindset… that’s the kind of attitude we should shoot for: We need Mercy because we are sinners
But wait…? WE ARE SINNERS? WE NEED MERCY? I thought God forgave us of all our sins? I thought He’s presented us to Himself as holy and pure in His presence. Well… He did! In fact – we are very special to God. We have been made in the image of God; We have a destiny that God wants to perform in our lives; We have a reason to live… a reason to exist. WE ARE VERY SPECIAL TO GOD!!!!
But you and I must never forget that we are sinners saved by grace.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul is writing to a church of Gentiles (a Gentile is anybody that is not a Jew – not circumcised), and this Gentile church had been approached by “Circumcisers”. These circumcisers were folks that believed unless a Gentile was circumcised … they couldn’t be saved. And these circumcisers were so convincing that they had gotten the Gentile Christians to doubt that they had any value, because (well) they weren’t circumcised.
So Paul spent the entire 1st chapter of his letter to the Ephesians telling these Christians that they were IMPORTANT to God.They were “saints” (Ephesians 1:1); They had spiritual blessings from God (1:3); God had chosen them… to be holy and blameless before him. (1:4); They were predestined for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ (1:5); They had been redeemed through the blood of Jesus, and had been forgiven of their trespasses (1:7); They’d been sealed by the Holy Spirit (1:13); AND that they had an inheritance waiting for them in heaven (1:14). THAT’S WHO THEY WERE (and that’s who YOU are)
BUT then Paul writes this… “But you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:1-5
• They were DEAD in their sins
• They had followed Satan
• They had lived however they wanted to live… and they weren’t nice people.
• They were – by nature – children of wrath
BUT GOD LOVED THEM even when they were dead in their sins. He loved them so much He sent His son to die on the cross; He rescued them from the burden of their sinful lives; He saved them even when they didn’t DESERVE it! You see that’s the attitude that God wants from us. An attitude that accepts the fact that we didn’t DESERVE His love. An attitude that accepts that we’re never gonna be good enough to be good enough to get into heaven. But that was NOT the attitude of the Pharisee. He figured he was GOOD enough just the way he was. In fact… when Jesus told this parable about the Pharisee/Tax collector we’re told that: “(Jesus) told this parable to some who trusted in THEMSELVES that they were righteous.
The Pharisee believed he was righteous… and so he trusted in HIMSELF!!! Now, by contrast, the Tax collector believed he was NOT righteous… and so he trusted in God. Once we come to that position… where we accept that we’ve GOT TO trust in God, then our attitude will be more like that of the Tax Collector.
John Newton, who wrote “Amazing Grace” once said it like this: "I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; But still I am not what I once used to be, And by the grace of God I am what I am.”
That’s why the song Amazing Grace has such a powerful message: "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I am found; was blind but now I see."
CLOSE: So, why has that song (Amazing Grace) been so popular - why is its message SO important to so many people? Well it’s often because a lot of people just don’t like themselves. Back in 2011, Barna did a survey of Americans and found that 1/3 of those they interviewed reported that they were struggling with an unresolved emotional conflict or just conflict in their lives.
They often struggled with thoughts like these:
• I'm worthless.
• I’m always gonna be worthless
• I will never BE any different.
• I can't overcome the mess I've made.
• I feel so stupid and weak and no good.
• How can I expect anybody else to forgive me when I can't forgive myself?
That’s a terrible way to live a life! Is there a way to cure that feeling of worthlessness and self-hatred?
ILLUS: Years ago, there was a great gathering of religions, held at Chicago. Practically every known religion was represented, and many impressive messages were delivered. During one session, a preacher named Joseph Cook stood up and said: “Gentlemen, I beg to introduce to you a woman with great sorrow. Bloodstains are on her hands, and nothing will remove them. The blood is that of murder, and nothing will take away the stain. She has been driven to desperation in her distress. Is there anything in your religion that will remove her sin and give her peace?”
They say a hush fell over the gathering, and the speaker turned from one to another for an answer. But nobody spoke up. Then, raising his eyes to heaven, Cook cried out, “I will ask another the question. John, can you tell this woman how to get rid of her awful sin?” And he waited as if listening for a reply.
Suddenly he cried, “Listen, John speaks “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleans us from all sin (I John 1:7).”
INVITATION
