A Prayer for Mercy - July 26, 2015 sermon

By Pastor Greg

An executive was interviewing applicants for the position of divisional manager. He devised a simple test to select the most suitable person for the job. He asked each applicant the question, "What is two and two?"  The first interviewee was a journalist. His answer was "Twenty-two."  The second applicant was an engineer. He pulled out a slide rule and showed the answer to be between 3.999 and 4.001.  The next person was a lawyer. He stated that in the case of Jenkins v Commissioner of Stamp Duties, two and two was proven to be four.  The last applicant was an accountant. The executive asked him, "How much is two and two?" The accountant got up from his chair, went over to the door and closed it then came back and sat down. He leaned across the desk and said in a low voice.... "How much do you want it to be?"

Do you want to know what bugs me?  That story I just told probably isn’t a joke anymore.  Sometimes it feels like the norm.  From what I’ve experienced in the business world, an increasing number of people would hear the punch line and ask, “What’s your point.”  In the years I spent in industry, I was shocked how often I witnessed coworkers deceiving and lying to one another.  I guess I was a bit naïve.

I’m not exactly sure all that has contributed to the moral decay of our society, but this one thing I know: our society does not want to hear about sin.  Today, it is unacceptable to talk about sin.  No one wants to hear that it is their sin which makes their life so miserable.  And yet, many people I meet want their life to be more peaceful.  They want God’s acceptance but don’t want to change.  So a storm rages within them.  They are torn apart by who they are and what they want from God.  Oddly, what they want is simply a prayer away, but only if they will be honest with God.  To find peace in their life, a person merely needs to pray like a Tax Collector.

⁹ Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: ¹⁰ “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! ¹² I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’  ¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” ^[1] (Luke 18:9-14).

Along comes a man – a tax collector – who was an outcast.  It’s likely the entire town despised this man, except for the ruling government, of course.  They loved him.  Rome loved this Jew because he collected taxes for the local government and for the empire.  Considering that Rome occupied Israel at this time, it’s easy to image just how much the local community hated him.  I mean, think back to life before the American Revolution and the growing anger toward the British government.  Well, this tax collector was like a “Benedict Arnold” – a Jewish citizen who defected to the Roman Empire.  This is why most Jews hated and despised tax collectors.

Anyway, this Tax Collector walks into the Temple knowing who he was and what he had done.  He knew he was hated.  Perhaps he even thought that God hated him as well.  However, as he stood there, he honestly confesses who he was.  There is brokenness in his voice.  His prayer is one of desperation.  He pleads with God to show him mercy.

Since Jesus indicates that it was the Tax Collector who left the Temple justified (his sins forgiven), there is obviously something we can learn from his prayer.  As we deal with the storms in our own hearts, what lesson does this Tax Collectors prayer teach us?  What makes his prayer different from the Pharisee’s prayer?  It’s openness.  It is conviction.  It’s an honest confession of sin.  That is what made the two prayers so different.

One of the things missing in America today is an honest confession of sin.  Nobody makes mistakes anymore (at least nobody admits they make mistakes).  There is no sin.  Even the Church in America seldom mentions sin.  Telling someone they are sinning is almost taboo.  It’s offensive.  Most of what we hear from the Church today talks about God’s love for us and how he desires great things for us.  But where is the beating of the chest?  Where is the sorrow?  Where is the confession of sin?  I tell you the truth, until a person confesses these things, there will be no justification (no forgiveness).  The storm will still rage in the heart of an individual who knows their relationship with God is broken, but can’t figure out how to fix it.

Do you remember how David reacted when he was confronted about his sin?  David admitted he was wrong.  He confessed, “The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin” ^[2] (Psalm 51:17).  Rather than hide behind sacrifices and burnt offerings (verse 16), David openly admits that he had sinned.  And as a sinner, he stands before God begging for mercy (verse 1).

The kind of prayer that calms the storm of guilt in our hearts is a prayer that is honest with God.  We get on our knees and admit what we have done.  We confess our guilt.  That’s the only way to calm the storm in your heart.  It will not go away by coming to church.  It will not go away by doing religious things.  It will not go away by trying to be a good person.  It goes away once you are justified by God – once He forgives you because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Too often, we approach Christianity much like the Pharisee.  We look around us hunting for a terrible sinner and then believe we are okay because we are not as bad as that person is.  That’s not honesty.  That’s self-righteousness.  That’s the way of the Pharisee.  The people who lie and cheat and deceive justify themselves by saying, “At least I’m not a murderer.”  These people compare themselves with the world around them, and as long as they are a step or two better than the world, the self-righteous person feels they are not a sinner because there are others a whole lot worse than they are.  But, as the morality of the world decays, so too does the morality of the self-righteous.  It just decays a step or two behind.

Honesty.  That’s what God desires from you.  He desires that you come to Him openly admitting your sin.  But in doing so, the storm in your heart will be calmed.  Guilt is replaced by grace.  Anguish is replaced by peace.  Sadness is replaced by joy.  The stain of your sin is washed away, and you become whiter than snow.   This is why everyone must allow the Truth of God’s Word to speak to their heart, and allow the Holly Spirit to illuminate the sin lurking in the darkness there.  Everyone needs to stand before God and honestly confess their sin – everyone.  You see, in God’s eyes, there is no good or bad person.  There is only the forgiven and the unforgiven, and a person cannot be forgiven unless they ask.

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^[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed.) (Lk 18:9–14). Carol Stream, IL.

^[2] The Everyday Bible: New Century Version. 2005 (Ps 51:17). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Daniel’s Prayer of Guilt - July 5, 2015 sermon

By Pastor Greg

A rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package.  He was aghast to discover that it was a rat trap.  Retreating to the farmyard the rat proclaimed the warning; "There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!"  The chicken said, "Excuse me, Mr. Rat, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me."  The pig told him, "I am so very sorry Mr. Rat; there is nothing I can do about it but pray.  Be assured that you are in my prayers."  The cow said, "Like wow, Mr. Rat.  A rat trap. I am in grave danger. Duh?"  So the rat returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's rat trap alone.  That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a rat trap catching its prey.  The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.  In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail was in the trap.  The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.  However, his wife's sickness continued to get worse, and many friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.  To feed them the farmer butchered the pig.  The farmer's wife did not get well.  She died, and so many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.  The moral of the story is: when there is a rat trap in the house, the whole farmyard is at risk.

The idea of community is something desired by God, especially within the Church.  Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).  It’s difficult to segregate and divide when we love one another.  When we live as a community we “Decide instead to live in such a way that [we] will not cause another believer to stumble and fall” (Romans 14:13).  The Church is a community of believers - a concept Daniel understood quite well.

Daniel was a young man when the Babylonian Empire conquered his nation.  However, Judah and Jerusalem were not captured because Babylon was stronger.  Jerusalem was conquered because God withdrew His hand of protection.  The leaders of the nation had become corrupt.  They failed to obey God’s commands.  They worshiped other gods.  They turned their back on God.  Therefore, God permitted the destruction of Jerusalem as punishment for their sin.  The only problem was that many innocent people were punished because of the way leadership behaved, and they found themselves in captivity in Babylon.

Daniel lived his life in Babylon holding fast to the Lord’s commands.  He would rather be thrown into the lion’s den than compromise his faith.  In other words, Daniel did not contribute to the problem.  Daniel did not deserve this punishment from God because he had not disobeyed.  So you would expect Daniel to remind God of his innocence.  You would expect him to ask God to punish the guilty; to say, “God, look at how everyone else has sinned.  Punish them for their disobedience, but spare me Your wrath.”  That’s what we expect.  Instead Daniel prays, “⁶We have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. ⁶ We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land. ⁷ “Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you. ⁸ O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you (Daniel 9:6-8).

Daniel could have complained.  He could have looked around at everyone else and blamed them for the collapse of his nation.  He could have said, “God, the leaders and the priests caused this problem.  Make them pay for what they did.  Punish them, but not me.  It’s not fair that I suffer because of their mistakes.”  Yet, how did Daniel pray?  “We have sinned.  We have rebelled.  We have not obeyed.” words we hardly expected to hear.

There are times when the storms in our life are caused by someone else.  We did not cause the crisis, but are affected by the actions and decisions of others.  How should we pray during these times?  How should a believer be praying in light of our current situation in our country?  In Daniel, we see how redeemed humanity should live; how a child of God should pray.  The Church needs to pray like Daniel.  What about the local Church?  How should a Christian pray when the behavior of some cause turmoil and strife in the life of a Church?  When a community of Christians is facing a trying storm, they need to pray like Daniel.  We need to pray as Jesus taught us - Our Father - Give us this day.  Forgive us - Lead us not into temptation - Deliver us.”  In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us about community.  Echoing these words, the Apostle Paul explains that “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad” (1 Corinthians 12:26).  In other words, when there is a rat trap in the house, the whole barnyard is at risk. 

The Church needs to learn this very difficult lesson.  We are one body.  Each of us is part of it.  When there are problems in the church or when a church begins to fall apart, playing the blame game is not how redeemed Christians behave.  A child of God does not blame the Board or the Deacons or the pastors for the problem. A follower of Christ prays just like Daniel.  “Lord, we have a problem.  Lord, we have sinned.  Lord, we have disobeyed your command to love one another”.  I know this lesson is painful.  It’s difficult because it is not the natural way to respond when facing a storm in the life of a church or in the life of a nation.  Nevertheless, this is how a follower of Christ has been commanded to live.

We are called to “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Colossians 3:13).  We are to “help the weak, be patient with them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).  In fact, those who have not contributed to the problem are told that “If another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself” (Galatians 6:1).

I understand that most of us would rather not live this way.  The easy way to live while facing a storm is to blame others for the problem – to look around the room and single out those who contributed to the collapse.  However, that is not the way a follower of Christ should respond.  If the Church is one body made up if many different parts, then there needs to be healing, not blaming.  The prayer of a redeemed believer seeks to calm the storm raging within the church, not add fuel to the fire by blaming and condemning and criticizing.

Paul described his fellow believers as “Brethren”; and old word meaning “family of believers”.  As a family, we have been called to “encourage each other and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).  This does not happen when we blame.  It happens when our prayers of love help calm the storm.