Renounce
Other Gods!
Discipleship Questions for
Sunday
October 28, 2007
Scripture
Readings:
First Reading:
Jeremiah 14:1-10,19-22
Psalm: 95
Second
Reading: 2Timothy 4:6-8,16-18
Gospel:
Luke 18:9-14
Jeremiah 14:1-10,19-22
1The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the
droughts. 2" Judah mourns, And her gates
languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. 3Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the
cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were
ashamed and confounded And covered their heads. 4Because the ground
is parched, For there was no rain in the land, The plowmen were ashamed; They
covered their heads. 5Yes, the deer also gave birth in the
field, But left because there was no grass. 6And the wild donkeys
stood in the desolate heights; They sniffed at the wind like jackals; Their
eyes failed because there was no grass." 7O LORD, though our
iniquities testify against us, Do it for Your name's sake; For our backslidings
are many, We have sinned against You. 8O the Hope of
Israel, his Savior in time of trouble, Why should You be like a stranger in the
land, And like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night? 9Why should You be like a man astonished, Like a mighty one who
cannot save? Yet You, O LORD, are in our midst, And we are called by Your name;
Do not leave us! 10Thus says the LORD to this people:
"Thus they have loved to wander; They have not restrained their feet.
Therefore the LORD does not accept them; He will remember their iniquity now,
And punish their sins." 19Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has
Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing
for us? We looked for peace, but there was no good; And for the time of
healing, and there was trouble. 20We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness
And the iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against You. 21Do not abhor us, for Your name's sake; Do not disgrace the throne
of Your glory. Remember, do not break Your covenant with us. 22Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain?
Or can the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O LORD our God? Therefore we
will wait for You, Since You have made all these. -- NKJV
Psa. 34:1
I
will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let
the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3
Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered
me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5
Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with
shame. 6 This poor man called,
and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around
those who fear him, and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who
takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the
LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of
the LORD. 12 Whoever of you loves
life and desires to see many good days, 13
keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek
peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes
of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 the face of the LORD is against
those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD
hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 18 The LORD is close to the
brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 A righteous man may have many
troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one
of them will be broken. 21 Evil
will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 22 The LORD redeems his servants; no
one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18
6For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the
time of my departure is at hand. 7I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Finally, there is
laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved
His appearing. 16At my first defense no one stood with
me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. 17But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the
message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might
hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me
for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen! -- NKJV
Luke 18:9-14
9Also He spoke this
parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
despised others: 10"Two men went up to the temple to
pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood
and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other
men-extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' 13And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as
raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me
a sinner!' 14I tell you, this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." -- NKJV
The author of that
golden book The Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis, describes St. Francis in
a word when he calls him "humble." "For how much so ever each
one is in Thine eyes, O Lord, so much is he and no more, saith the humble St.
Francis." (Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chap. 50) In fact, it was the
supreme wish of his heart to carry himself always with humility, as the least
and last among men. Therefore, from the very beginning of his conversion, he
ardently desired to be looked down upon and to be despised by all. Later on,
although he became the Founder, the writer of their Rule, and the Father of the
Friars Minor, he insisted that one of his followers should become the superior
and master on whom even he was to depend. At the earliest possible moment,
steeling himself against the prayers and wishes of his disciples, he desired to
give up the supreme government of his Order "in order to practice the
virtue of holy humility" and to remain "with her till death, living
more humbly than any other friar." (Thomas of Celano, Legenda, Chap. II,
No. 143)
Now this is not
a fun exercise and that’s probably why I don’t do it myself very often although
I have the questionable advantage of having to live my life in a glasshouse –
fairly visible to all and therefore the easy target of every the critic.
When was the
last time you found yourself criticizing someone either directly or
indirectly? Now that criticism may have
contained some legitimate truths but the real question is this: Was the criticism driven by a spirit of anger
or wounded pride or some other emotion that would not be described as gracious
or generous or loving?
I must confess
that I can think of probably a half a dozen instances when I was very much less
than gracious in the last week and it’s as I remember these instances that God
brings deep conviction to me and the pleading prayer for “amendment of life” –
O Lord, forgive me and change me! Give
me a humble and contrite heart.
Psa. 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, O
God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
You see I was
trained to disdain anyone who acted with less than perfect intentions. The trouble with this training is that this
disdain had to ultimately turn on me and so self-disdain and self-hatred
invaded my being. Not a very kind bedfellow!
The terribly demanding child of pride - “scrupulousity” - became my
constant companion!
Now back to
you. Allow yourself to remember snippets
of conversations you had with others or with yourself in which sarcasm and
disdain we clearly evident.
Remember a
thought you had perhaps this morning or one you might be having right now about
me – ha! A thought that is not driven by
love or grace or care but rather one driven by peevishness or frustration or –
I don’t now what. . .
Now you and I
can easily justify these thoughts – these conversations – these comments! No worries.
We’re probably very correct in our assessment but the problem is that
with the same measure we judge others so too we find ourselves being judged –
by ourselves and unfortunately be God.
Remember
Matt. 7:1
“Do not judge,
or you too will be judged. 2 For
in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you
use, it will be measured to you.
Matt. 7:3
“Why do you look
at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank
in your own eye? 4 How can you
say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time
there is a plank in your own eye? 5
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Jeremy Taylor in “Holy Living” put it this way: “For the
humble man will not judge his brother for the mote in his eye, being more
troubled at the beam in his own eye; and is patient and glad to be reproved,
because himself hath cast the first stone at himself, and therefore wonders not
that others are of his minde.”
Have
you and I got in touch with this terrible tendency in us? I’ve become overwhelmed with my sinfulness in
this area so this medicine of Humility that our Lord is offering us this
morning is timely at least for me!
Luke
18:9
He told his next story to
some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance
and looked down their noses at the common people: 10 “Two men went up to the Temple to
pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man.
11 The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you
that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid,
like this tax man. 12 I fast
twice a week and tithe on all my income.’
Luke
18:13
“Meanwhile the tax man,
slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said,
‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
Luke
18:14
Jesus commented, “This tax
man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your
nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re
content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
So the context for this
parable is Jesus speaking to some spiritual snobs who were looking down their
noses at the plebeians – the common folk - around them.
We might assume that Jesus
is just “ticked off” at these pompous people but that’s a mistake for we are
ascribing to Him what would more probably be ascribed to us and our reactions
to such people.
No we must assume that He is
what He says He is – God incarnate – God in flesh on earth – and if that’s a
safe assumption then we must also assume that His actions are always and ever
redemptive – transformative. In other
words, Jesus is seeking to help these people to grow in humility for what they
were exhibiting clearly was the quintessential opposite of this virtue. They were clearly operating out of
self-righteous pride.
Jesus was offering these
people the spiritual medicine that would make them to quote Peterson “right
with God.”
Jesus was giving these
people a picture of what God loved and it was the picture, of all persons, a
“tax collector” – one of the most despised people of the community. Don’t you find it fascinating that Jesus
would choose such a person to personify the virtue of humility?
Try to image that
scene. You can close your eyes if you
wish but try to envision that scene and as we do let’s let some clarifying
questions rise to the surface.
The people around Jesus were
just that – members of a crowd. They
were fairly obviously manifesting disdain for those whom they felt were below
them so Jesus told them a parable designed to free them from this bondage of
their disdaining behavior.
Please listen in
to the prayers of the two main characters again:
Luke 18:11 The
Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like
other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax
man. 12 I fast twice a week and
tithe on all my income.’
Luke
18:13
“Meanwhile the tax man,
slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said,
‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
Now to whom is the Pharisee
praying? Who is listening in? Clearly the Pharisee is but who else? Let’s assume that the Pharisee is believing
that he is praying to someone. Who is
that someone? Yes, God Almighty is
obviously listening in but He is thinking sad thoughts for the Pharisee and
seeking to apply the medicine of humility.
But I want to make another point.
I think the Pharisee is praying to his god – a god of his own
creation. A god of disdain and one who
values right behavior done in a spirit of disdain and of self-righteousness!
This
is the god the Pharisee worships! This
is a cruel God – a false god who will eventually turn on him and judge
him. Beware of the god’s you worship –
for any other god than the real god will judge you and me and all of those
around us . . . . mercilessly!
One of my Pastoral Care Text
books made the fascinating observation that pastors should try to identify the
gods that some of his congregation worship – the god’s, that is, other than the
real and only good God!
Is there a competition then
of the gods? Yes, of course there
is! That’s what spiritual warfare is all
about isn’t it? Demons want you to
worship them! But God is coming to us
this morning and seeking to apply the heavenly salve of humility.
OK – let’s turn
briefly to the prayer of the humble tax man:
Luke
18:13
“Meanwhile the tax man,
slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said,
‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
O Lord, I love this
man! And so too does God! Look at him – slumped in the shadows – hiding
from the glare – the disdain - of his despisers. Look at him – his face crushed into his hand
seeking to hide even further from the disdainful glares of his haters – come in
his utter despair to the one in whom he seeks to find forgiveness and
consolation.
He, of all people, has found
the One –the very One - who will not judge him in his humility! Come to God aware and deeply sorry for your
sins and your will find His loving mercy and forgiveness.
Matt. 11:28
“Come to me, all you who are
weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Listen to how Peterson
paraphrases these verses in “The Message:”
Matt. 11:28
“Are you tired? Worn out?
Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your
life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.
29 Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the
unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
This is who you and I
worship! He doesn’t disdain us! He loves us and call us to the freedom of
humility for our own sakes and for the sakes of those around us.
Humility! And listen to Jesus’ concluding comment:
Luke
18:14
Jesus commented, “This tax
man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your
nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re
content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
This is
translated in the NIV this way:
Luke 18:14
“I tell you that this man, rather than the
other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Ah! “For everyone who exalts himself or herself
will be humbled and he or she who humbles himself or herself will be exalted.”
Now, I think, it
prudent to assume that this is a rule of life.
In other words, we can assume that if we exalt ourselves God will sooner
or later humble us and if we humble ourselves God Himself will exalt us!
How
then do you and I humble ourselves? How
do we do that?
How do we weave
the spiritual virtue of humility into the very fabric of our beings so that
more and more and more and more we are operating out of a spirit of humility
and less and less out of a spirit of pride and disdain and judgementalism?
This
really is the fundamental question for us now isn’t it?
Charles Spurgeon
once wrote:
“The higher a man is in
grace, the lower he will be in his own estimation. Not because he is comparing
himself with people, but because he is comparing himself with the Lord God.”
How to become
humble – that’s the question and how to do it quickly and easily please? Ha!
The fact is that
the weight of heaven pushes all of creation to the posture of humble worship!
Let go of
yourself and look for God and you can’t help but assume the posture of humble
worship.
No! It’s not
about how to become humble but rather it’s about how to become free from pride
for its pride that tries to block the inevitable movement of the universe to
worship its Creator.
Let
me suggest a strategy that has and is increasingly being helpful to me.
First
remember how you looked, felt and responded to the world around you when you
operated out of a spirit of humility.
Can you remember
a time when this was true of you?
Perhaps it was the time immediately after you had been humbled – perhaps
even humiliated – and you gone to God and received not only His forgiveness but
His loving embrace. Can you remember any
time in your life when you walked for a time in real peace and real humility?
Now if you’re
struggling with this – try to envision the tax collector. Look at him broken and begging for God’s
mercy: ‘God,
give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
Try
to see him getting up from his knees and experiencing God’s forgiveness and
embrace and then leaving with a lightness in his tread.
Look at his face – joy, peace,
restedness, trusting, Hmmmmmm . . .
Second
we must remember how we feel and respond to the world when we’re operating out
of self-righteous anger and disdain.
Can you remember
a time when this was true of you?
Perhaps it was a time when someone in this sanctuary did or said
something that infuriated or hurt or frustrated you. Can you remember how you felt – what you
thought and what perhaps you did as you operated out of this feeling?
Now I want to
note once again that you or I may be correct in our assessment of the person or
situation to which we’re responding with self-righteous anger but the focus
here is upon what spirit is driving us – one of self-righteous anger.
You and I can be
correct in our judgment of someone’s behavior but if we can’t find love and
grace and operate out of these virtues then let’s wait until we can.
Oh I
wish I could take this advice more often!
Andrew Murray said,
"The humble man feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others
are preferred and blessed before him. He can bear to hear others praised while
he is forgotten because ... he has received the spirit of Jesus, who pleased
not Himself, and who sought not His own honor. Therefore, in putting on the
Lord Jesus Christ he has put on the heart of compassion, kindness, meekness,
longsuffering, and humility."
Look Jesus wouldn’t call us
to adopt a spirit of humility if we couldn’t do it! He doesn’t tease us like that. The fact is that you and I can grow in
humility – the question is do we really want to?
How much do you
and I want to grow in the cardinal virtue of humility?
If you do then show God –
not me – or those around us – don’t do the Pharisee – adopt the spirit of the
humble tax collector.
Come and join me as I kneel
and ask God to shower us this His spirit of humility – please join me, if you
can, in the posture of humble petition.
I want to conclude with what
I think might be the final confession of the Tax Collector – it might go like
this –
“O Lord, I have relied on
everything else but you. Everything else
has been the source of my security – my money, my power, my authority over
others but all of these apparent sources of power have turned to dust in my
mouth! You and You only are the real
source of power and authority! O Lord,
forgive me – be merciful with me a terrible sinner. Amen.”
And God’s response to him
and to you is this, “You are forgiven now stand up and let me hold you. You are no longer a slave to those sins but
you are a friend of mine – from now until forever. Amen!