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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