Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires the humility to extend the mercy we have received from Jesus to those who are far from Jesus..

This week we are looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Yesterday, Luke began to give us a front row seat to this event from history by explaining who a parable that Jesus was about to communicate was directed to. You see, this earthly story that was designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth that was directed to those in the crowd who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt.

In other words, the target audience for this parable were those in the crowd that trusted in what they did for God in order to be right with God. The target audience for this parable were those in the crowd who compared what they did for God with what others did for God. The target audience for this parable were those in the crowd that looked down on others and who viewed others as being of little value and worth because they did not do for God what they did for God.  The target audience for this parable were those in the crowd who looked down on others as being of little value and worth because their performance for God did not measure up to how they performed for God.

Jesus began His parable by introducing the two characters of the parable, a Pharisee and a tax collector. Now in the Jewish culture of the first century, the Pharisees were viewed by most Jewish people as the spiritual superstars of the day. The Pharisees held positions of power and status in Jewish culture and were viewed as being insiders who were close to God. By contrast, in the Jewish culture of the first century, Jews who were tax collectors were hated by their fellow countrymen.  Jewish tax collectors were viewed as outsiders who were far from God.

Jesus explained that both the Pharisee and the tax collector went into the Temple to pray. Jesus explained that while the Pharisee was having time in communion with God, the Pharisee was not communicating to God about God. Instead, the Pharisee was not communicating with God. No, the Pharisee was communicating with Himself so that God could hear the conversation that he was having with himself.

The Pharisees prayer to himself, if communicating in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: God, I thank you for me. I thank you that I am not like these other people who are all up in here. I am not like that robber over there; I am not like that guy over there who does not do what is just and right; I am not like that dude over there who is always sleeping around on his wife. After all God, just look at me and all that I do for you. I take two times a week to give something up to create space for You. I always give 10% of the money that I get back to You. Just admit it God, I am awesome. After all look what I do for You that makes me so much better than everyone else that is here in church today.”

After revealing how the Pharisee prayed about himself to God, we see Jesus transition to reveal the prayer of the tax collector in Luke 18:13:

 "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'

Instead of following the custom of the day by praying out loud in the presence of others, Jesus explained that the tax collector, standing some distance away from everyone else so as to not be seen or heard by anyone else, was unwilling to lift up his eyes to look at anyone else, let alone towards Heaven. When Luke tells us that the tax collector was beating his breast, this was a sign that was used in the culture of the day to demonstrate one’s humility and shame.

This tax collector, while looking to the ground and beating his breast in shame, simply proclaimed to God “be merciful to me, the sinner!” You see, this tax collector recognized that he lived his life in a way that did not measure up to God and was an outsider with God. And because of that reality, this tax collector entered into the Temple with a desire to spend time in communion with God so that He could communicate with God and plead for mercy from God. After introducing the characters in the parable and their prayers, Jesus concluded His parable by making His point unmistakably clear in verse 14:

  "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.".

Now when Jesus stated that the tax collector went to his house justified rather than the Pharisee, the word justified is a big fancy church mumbo jumbo talk word that means to be found in the right when it comes to a relationship with God. Jesus point was that the tax collector, not the Pharisee would be found to be in a right relationship with God.

Jesus then made a statement that many people may not realize comes from the Bible. This statement is very familiar for a great many people, regardless of whether or not they have attended church or read the Bible: “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." This statement by Jesus, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: everyone who considers themselves to be better than others so as to place themselves above others will have their prestige and status taken away from them by God, but he who has an attitude that places others before themselves will be placed above others by God.

And it is here, in this earthly story designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth, that we discover a timeless truth when it comes to inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires the humility to extend the mercy we have received from Jesus to those who are far from Jesus. In order to invite people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus, we must strive to have the humility to extend the mercy we have received from Jesus to those who are far from Jesus.

Inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we recognize that everyone needs the message of the gospel. Both religious people and irreligious people need the message of the gospel. The gospel is neither religion nor irreligion. Instead it is something else altogether.

You see, religion makes law and moral obedience a means of salvation, while irreligion makes the individual a law to self. The gospel is that Jesus pays the penalty of our disobedience, so we can be saved by grace. The problem is that there are people who do not see their selfishness and rebellion that separates them from God and therefore do not realize that they need to change the trajectory of their life that is moving away from God back to God. That is why Jesus would point such self-righteous religious people back to the commands of God, so that they might become aware of their rebellion and need for rescue.

Now a question has been raised in your mind. And if we were having a conversation out in the courtyard coffeehouse, the conversation would sound something like this: Well Dave, how do you know whether or not you are self-righteous. I mean if self-righteous people have a hard time seeing that they are self-righteous, then how can they know they are self-righteous?”

“If that question is running through your mind, I just want to let you know that you are asking a great question. And Friday we will answer that question…