A Lesson in Humility

A Lesson on Humility

Luke  18: 9-14

Wow!  What a year 2020 was, eh?  But Praise God, we made it!  One thing that I’ve been reminded of during this past year is that things aren't always what they seem.

Have you heard the one about the kid named Dick who wanted to work for the zoo?    This teenager bugged the manager nearly every day for a job.  Each time the man would have to let him down easy.  But one day, things took a strange turn.  The manager took the kid in the back room and began to whisper, “If you really want a job at the zoo, I have a proposition for you.  Our gorilla died last night and we can not afford a new one,  so try this on.”  The man handed him a brand new gorilla suit. Well, he excitedly tried it on and it fit.  He finally had a job at the zoo.

The next morning, before the zoo opened up, he climbed into the cage and starting eating bananas.  A young boy took a keen interest in the gorilla and Dick became inspired.  He jumped up and down, made gorilla sounds, and started swinging on the tire swing.  The young boy called his mother over excitedly. Egged on by his audience, Dick swung so high that he ended up going over the wall and landed with a plop…in the lion’s cage!  By this time, the mother had walked away but the young boy ran to the other side.  The lion woke up and let out a slow growl. At this Dick panicked and began yelling for help.  The boy yelled for his mom, “Mommy, monkey can talk.”  The lion got up and slowly circled Dick and the young boy yelled, “Mommy, lion’s gonna eat the monkey.”  At this Dick totally lost it and began loudly exclaiming that he was not in fact a monkey but a man and he did not want to be eaten.  The lion pounced and knocked Dick to the ground and opened his huge jaws.  Just when he thought he was a goner, he heard the lion say, “Would you please shut up, you are going to get us both fired!”

Sometimes, actually very often, things are not what they seem, are they?

Today we are going to look at one of our Lord's parables.  In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about two people who went to the temple to pray.  In this story we will see that things aren't always what they seem in church also.  We will see ....

I Pray Therefor I Am

I Give Thanks For Me   and ...

I Thank God For Mercy 

1. Read Text -- Luke  18: 9-14Body
1. I Pray Therefor I Am
1. the seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes wrote. “I think; therefore I am”
2. Jesus’ parable has two men
3. One was outwardly clothed in righteous
1. He was a Pharisee
2. A member of a strict religious sect
3. He attempted to keep strict observance of all of God's laws
4. One was outwardly steeped in sin
1. He was a publican, a tax-collector
2. He had sold out to the Romans
3. He was the face of the occupying forces in that country
4. Members of that profession were known to cheat and steal
5. God looks on the heart
1. This parable allows us to see both of these men in their private prayers
2. Each of them seem to be sincere expressions of what's on these men's hearts.
3. The heart is the true test of a person's character
4. Keep your heart with all diligence,  
   For out of it spring the issues of life. -- Prov. 4:23
5. “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”  -- Matt. 12:33-37I Give Thanks For Me    (vv. 11-12)
6. His prayer contained thirty-three words and five of those were the word “I.” It was been suggested that this guy needed an “I exam.”
7. A man brought his boss home for dinner. The boss was brash and arrogant. The little boy in the family stared at the boss for most of the evening but didn’t say anything. The boss asked the boy, “Why do you keep looking at me like that, son?” The little boy answered, “My daddy says you’re a self-made man.” The boss beamed proudly and admitted that he was a self-made man. The boy said, “Well, if you’re a self-made man, why did you make yourself like that?”
8. I DON'T
1. steal
2. cheat, or
3. lie
9. I DO
1. fast 2x per week  (deny myself)
2. tithe everything  (faithful giver)
3. The Pharisees had added 613 laws to God’s commands. They determined that in order to be a “good” Jew one had to follow all of their rules. That’s why religion is spelled, “do.” I must follow the right rules, do the right things, jump through the correct hoops in the correct order in order to be right with God.
4.   Isaiah 29:13 --  The Lord says:
5.       "These people come near to me with their mouth
6.       and honor me with their lips,
7.       but their hearts are far from me.
8.       Their worship of me
9.       is made up only of rules taught by men.

1. A lion who wanted every animal in the jungle to know he was king so he went from animal to animal soliciting their respect. He went to a bear and roared, “Who is the king of the jungle? The bear said, “You are of course.” He went to the tiger and roared, “Who is the king of the jungle? The tiger said, “Everyone knows you’re king.” Then he ran into an elephant and roared, “Who is the king of the jungle? The elephant reached down and grabbed the lion w/ his trunk, whirling him around in the air, slamming him to the ground and into a few tree, and dunked him in the river before throwing him onto the shore. Dazed, bloodied & bruised, the lion got up and said, “Listen, if you don’t know the answer, you don’t have to get mean about it.”

C. I Thank God For Mercy   (v. 13)

1. I'm not worthy.  We all understand this at some level.
2. There are times though when our need becomes critical. When we understand that without radical intervention we will be lost in the sea of our sin. The tax collector recognized this better than most of us. Something that is not captured in the English is how he describes himself. In the Greek, the text literally reads, “the sinner.” He doesn’t say, “a sinner” but “the sinner” – a truly bad guy with a truly bad heart. Paul echoes this sentiment in his letter to young Timothy:
3. “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” (I Timothy 1:15-16)
4. It is the tax collectors lack of pride and humility that draws God’s heart:
1. “For this is what the high and lofty One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15)
2. Solomon wrote in his journal of wisdom:
3. “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)
4. The tax collector perceived his powerlessness. 
5. He finds nothing in himself to recommend him to God
1. He cried out for help and God heard, as He still does today.
6. God's call is the same to all
1. God called the Pharisee and the tax collector to a relationship with Him based on grace. Paul puts it plainly:
2. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
3. Our relationship is with God is settled - in Jesus, it’s “done.”   You do not have to earn God’s love.  Through Christ, everything has already been done.
4. That frees us up to love others, as He has loved us.Conclusion

1. I tell you, this man [the tax collector]  went down to his house justified rather than the other [the Pharisee]; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  (v. 14)
2. The one sought justification from God, the other sought to justify himself before God.  There is a huge difference in that.  One mirrors humility, the other pride.

1. The great American businessman, Samuel Colgate, told of an interesting thing which happened in a church where he .was once a member.  During an evangelistic service, a prostitute responded to the altar call and confessed her sins.  She was humbled by her wicked life and wept openly.  She asked God to forgive her, and then expressed a desire to Join the church. "I’ll gladly sit in some back corner," she said.
2. The pastor hesitated to call for a motion to accept her into membership, and, for a few moments, the silence was deafening.  Finally, a member stood up and suggested that action on her request be postponed.  At that point, Mr. Colgate arose and said with a note of sarcasm, "I guess we blundered when we prayed that the Lord would save sinners.  We forgot to specify what kind of sinners.  We’d better ask him to forgive us for this oversight.  The Holy Spirit has touched this woman and made her truly repentant, but apparently the Lord does not understand that she Is not the type we want him to rescue."
3. Many In the congregation blushed with shame.  They had been guilty of judging, like the Pharisee in the temple who exclaimed self-righteously, "God, I thank you that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers."  Another motion was made, and the woman was unanimously received Into the membership of the congregation.

1. Who's prayers do yours most resemble?  The Pharisee or the publican?
2. Do your prayers have more "I"-s than cries?
3. Let us remember Jesus' words to "some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous”:  "... everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted"