I Sure Am Sorry To Hear That
Have you ever listened to someone praying publicly and cringed because the words you were hearing and the personal knowledge you had of the individual praying were so opposed to each other that you couldn't believe what you were hearing? How could they be praying that? How could someone who has an ongoing record of impropriety in family, business, in the community and even in the church be leading us as we enter into conversation with Almighty God?
In Luke 18 Jesus tells a parable about two men praying:
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 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. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But 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!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
(Luke 18:9-14 ESV)
Read the parable closely. We don't hear prayers today where the hypocrite publicly expresses what a great guy he is. Today we have a whole new breed of hypocrite. The new model gives us a different prayer. The example of prayer I'm talking about is not one in which the hypocrite prays: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.' I'm talking about a hypocrite who prays like he's the justified tax collector: 'God be merciful to me, a sinner' and then after church services goes right back to being the hypocrite he was when he got there. No effort to change who or what he is . No effort to separate himself from a lifestyle contrary to the one Christ died for him to have. Just a public appearance that (I guess) is supposed to remind him and everyone else how righteous he is and make him feel better about being the hypocrite he is Monday through Saturday.
Look, I know we are all sinners. But isn't the idea to try to be less of one? If we're praying for God's mercy and for his grace and thanking him for his blessings and letting him know in our prayer how much we want to glorify him; how can we possibly think that act alone fixes , excuses or ignores all the things about us that are contrary to God? You know, all those things that we refuse to fess up to.
It seems to me that we have developed an attitude that is very precise in identifying every flaw in other people and very quick in sweeping our own under a rug.
The person you are all week is the same one you bring to church on Sunday. Walking into the building, making comments in the bible study class, serving the Lord's Supper, leading a prayer or putting $50 in the collection doesn't change that. What changes you is you. Your willingness to honestly look at who you are and realize that you only exist because of God's grace. If you want to amount to anything it's up to you. And if you aren't concerned about who you really are, about growing and becoming what you can be in God's view, you're not amounting to much.
When you pray, think about who's really praying, what you are saying and about who's listening. Imagine who might be thinking: "I sure am sorry to hear that".
In Luke 18 Jesus tells a parable about two men praying:
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 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. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But 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!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
(Luke 18:9-14 ESV)
Read the parable closely. We don't hear prayers today where the hypocrite publicly expresses what a great guy he is. Today we have a whole new breed of hypocrite. The new model gives us a different prayer. The example of prayer I'm talking about is not one in which the hypocrite prays: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.' I'm talking about a hypocrite who prays like he's the justified tax collector: 'God be merciful to me, a sinner' and then after church services goes right back to being the hypocrite he was when he got there. No effort to change who or what he is . No effort to separate himself from a lifestyle contrary to the one Christ died for him to have. Just a public appearance that (I guess) is supposed to remind him and everyone else how righteous he is and make him feel better about being the hypocrite he is Monday through Saturday.
Look, I know we are all sinners. But isn't the idea to try to be less of one? If we're praying for God's mercy and for his grace and thanking him for his blessings and letting him know in our prayer how much we want to glorify him; how can we possibly think that act alone fixes , excuses or ignores all the things about us that are contrary to God? You know, all those things that we refuse to fess up to.
It seems to me that we have developed an attitude that is very precise in identifying every flaw in other people and very quick in sweeping our own under a rug.
The person you are all week is the same one you bring to church on Sunday. Walking into the building, making comments in the bible study class, serving the Lord's Supper, leading a prayer or putting $50 in the collection doesn't change that. What changes you is you. Your willingness to honestly look at who you are and realize that you only exist because of God's grace. If you want to amount to anything it's up to you. And if you aren't concerned about who you really are, about growing and becoming what you can be in God's view, you're not amounting to much.
When you pray, think about who's really praying, what you are saying and about who's listening. Imagine who might be thinking: "I sure am sorry to hear that".
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