Sermons for Chesley Geneva, Nov. 10 & Chatsworth St. Andrew's, Nov. 17, 2019
Scripture Summary Luke 18:9-14
A wise person once said, "I've learned that to ignore the facts, does not change the facts." Which reminds me of the story about a man who had become an expert in ignoring certain difficult facts.
The man, who was getting on in years, observed, and he could be writing my story: "Everything is farther away than it used to be. It's twice as far to the corner store, and I've noticed that they've added a hill.
"I've given up running for the bus. It leaves faster than it used to.
"I ran across an old school friend the other day, and he had aged so badly that he didn't recognize me. I got to thinking about him this morning as I was combing my hair and glanced at my reflection in the mirror. They don't make good mirrors anymore, either."
I transgress...
"I've given up running for the bus. It leaves faster than it used to.
"I ran across an old school friend the other day, and he had aged so badly that he didn't recognize me. I got to thinking about him this morning as I was combing my hair and glanced at my reflection in the mirror. They don't make good mirrors anymore, either."
I transgress...
Getting more to the point, it has been said that the cause of humanity has suffered much at the hands of people who do what they think God would do if only He knew the facts.
In today's Gospel Lesson, Jesus tells the story of two men, one of whom is in the act of praising himself as he thinks God would praise him if only He knew the facts. And since he is in the Temple, he finds it convenient to let God in on the facts.
"I am not like other men," he tells God. "I am not an extortioner. I am not unjust. I am not an adulterer. I am not like that sinner standing over there. I give my fair share to the Temple. And I am obedient to all the religious laws."
He sounds almost like he's asking God, "Now what more could you possibly want?"
"I am not like other men," he tells God. "I am not an extortioner. I am not unjust. I am not an adulterer. I am not like that sinner standing over there. I give my fair share to the Temple. And I am obedient to all the religious laws."
He sounds almost like he's asking God, "Now what more could you possibly want?"
The second man in Jesus' story is also in the Temple. He bows his head and, unlike the first man, does not presume to let God in on the facts of his life or anyone else's. Instead, he offers a simple prayer in which he acknowledges that God already knows the facts of his case. "God," he prays, "Be merciful to me a sinner" (Lk. 18:13).
Jesus' commentary on the story, is short and unmistakably clear. The first man who presented God with a laundry list of all his virtues, compared himself favorably to the second man who acknowledged his sinfulness.
Jesus reverses that judgment.
The self-accused sinner, Jesus says, "went down to his house justified rather than the other." Then, this little postscript from (Lk. 18:14-15): "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted".
Jesus reverses that judgment.
The self-accused sinner, Jesus says, "went down to his house justified rather than the other." Then, this little postscript from (Lk. 18:14-15): "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted".
What does this parable say to us? Remember the story of Adam and Eve? In the Book of Genesis, we are given the facts in their case. We know that Adam and Eve could have fulfilled God's dream for the human race.
Adam and Eve had a chance to do that. All they had to do was to acknowledge that only God had full possession of the facts of life. All they had to do was let God be God. All they had to do was let God be in control.
Instead, they wanted power. That was their temptation. And that was their choice. That was their original sin. And that is the original sin in all of us...the refusal to let God be in control of our lives; the refusal to let God be God.
Adam and Eve had a chance to do that. All they had to do was to acknowledge that only God had full possession of the facts of life. All they had to do was let God be God. All they had to do was let God be in control.
Instead, they wanted power. That was their temptation. And that was their choice. That was their original sin. And that is the original sin in all of us...the refusal to let God be in control of our lives; the refusal to let God be God.
After the story of the fall of Adam and Eve, the rest of the Old Testament story is that of the prophets and others calling their people back -- back to the dream -- back to God.
And then Jesus came along. The New Testament calls Him the "New Adam." And the issue is the same. Jesus' public ministry starts with temptation. Just as Adam and Eve were tempted, Jesus was tempted.
And the temptations were all about control. But Jesus resisted those temptations and spent the rest of His life increasingly submitting to God’s control until that incredible moment in Gethsemane when he uttered the words: "Not My will but Yours be done."
And the temptations were all about control. But Jesus resisted those temptations and spent the rest of His life increasingly submitting to God’s control until that incredible moment in Gethsemane when he uttered the words: "Not My will but Yours be done."
And His life and His teaching and His atoning death on the cross are all about this fundamental issue. And that's the message behind today's parable.
The fundamental issue for us is whether we trust God enough to relinquish our compulsive need to control. The underlying question for us is whether we trust the Lord enough to abandon our need to live by our own rules.
The underlying issue for us is whether we are ready to position our lives under the Rule of God. The underlying question for us is where do we go from here?
Do we leave the Gospel story and carry on as usual? Or do we supply our own ending based on Jesus' postscript: "Every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted"?
The underlying issue for us is whether we are ready to position our lives under the Rule of God. The underlying question for us is where do we go from here?
Do we leave the Gospel story and carry on as usual? Or do we supply our own ending based on Jesus' postscript: "Every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted"?
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) founded the world-renowned Hospital in Lambarene, a town located in the Central African Rainforest in 1913. Today, the Hospital comprises departments of Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, a maternity clinic, a dentistry clinic, and a medical research unit focusing on malaria.
A visitor to Lambarene once found the great medical missionary pushing a wheelbarrow as he helped build a new road. The visitor was shocked in seeing the famous doctor performing such a menial task. "Doctor Schweitzer," he asked, "why are you doing that? How is it that you, the director of such an important hospital, is pushing a wheelbarrow?
With a playful wink, Schweitzer replied, "Oh, that's very simple. You just pick up a shovel, fill up the wheelbarrow with dirt, take hold of the handle, and push." Indeed, that is the way the Lord's work gets done.
With a playful wink, Schweitzer replied, "Oh, that's very simple. You just pick up a shovel, fill up the wheelbarrow with dirt, take hold of the handle, and push." Indeed, that is the way the Lord's work gets done.
Like digging in the dirt, there may not be very much glamour in our day-to-day tasks and the everyday decisions we make for Christ and His Kingdom. We need to learn that most of the triumphs of the Christian Faith are won humbly, in the daily rounds of loving service to others.
A prominent businessman and Churchgoer once wrote an article on pride. It was a brutily honest, soul-searching self admission called "The
art of Being A Big Shot" and it read in part as follows:
art of Being A Big Shot" and it read in part as follows:
“It is my pride that makes me independent of God. It is appealing to me to feel that I am the master of my fate. It is appealing to me that I run my own life. It is appealing to me that I call my own shots. It is appealing to me to go it alone. But that smug, self-satisfied feeling is my fundamental dishonesty.
“I can't go it alone. I'm dependent on God for my next breath. And I need help from other people, as well. It is dishonest for me to pretend that I'm anything but a man -- small, weak, and limited.
“So, living independent of God is self-delusion. It is not just a matter of pride being an unfortunate little vice and humility being an attractive little virtue. It is my inner integrity that is at stake. When, in my conceit, I extol my virtues before God and man, my pride is the idolatrous worship of myself. And that is the universal religion of hell!” End of quote.
How down-to-earth and powerful is that!?
How down-to-earth and powerful is that!?
Concretely, are we ready to trust the Lord enough to throw out all forms of twentieth century Phariseeism?
Are we prepared to throw out the assumption that we are superior to others whose skin is not of a particular color, or who are different from us is some way?
Are we ready to throw out the assumption that because we live in freedom in a mighty nation, we are superior to people who live elsewhere?
Are we ready to trust the Lord enough to humbly acknowledge that we are sinners in need of His mercy; that we are ready to rely on His superior knowledge of the facts of life; that we are ready to freely and joyfully submit to His Rule of Love?
In (Phil. 2:3-9) we read: "Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility, count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Jesus Christ, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant ... And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him."
Those words were taken from the Gospel of the Apostle Paul...What about yours?
Now that I've got your attention with that question, consider this in closing:
You too are writing a Gospel,
A chapter each day,
By deeds that you do,
By words that you say.
God reads what you write,
Whether faithless or true.
Say! What is the Gospel according to you?
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