DAILY GRACE
March 21, 2020, Saturday in the Third Week of Lent
Hello again everyone!
Because of the social distancing these days I am sending out to you all a bit of “Daily Grace” to help us feel connected. I hope you find today’s devotion helpful.
Sincerely,
Pastor Dave Gilbert
Scripture: Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to Go
Meditation
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner
Jesus tells this famous story of the tax collector and Pharisee in order to contrast two types of “posture” before God. The first is the one taken by a certain Pharisee, who would have been considered holy by the religious standards of Jesus’ day. The second is the one taken by a certain tax collector, who would have been outside of the Jewish community due to his profession. Their standing before God is completely the opposite.
The Pharisee standing by himself (literally “took up his position,”) assumed a posture of proper prayer to his religious standing. His exterior posture betrays his internal attitude toward God and others. He says to God, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” He considers himself superior, of greater worth and holiness on the “God” scale. Though he ostensibly speaks to God, his thoughts are all about himself, as if he’s directing them to himself, praying to himself.
But the tax collector, with an implicit decree of condemnation hanging over him, assumes a humble posture: “standing far off, [he] would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ Like the Pharisee he speaks his prayer to God, but unlike the Pharisee his thoughts are toward God. Casting himself on God’s mercy he allows God to be God and surrenders all judgment to him.
Thus, the tax collector, not the Pharisee, is truly in right relationship with God. God is his God in whose hands he places his current situation, and on whom he waits for mercy and redemption.
Prayer
O God, I desire to live for you, in my thoughts, words, and deeds, but I am all too familiar with my failings. Let me like the tax collector trust in your mercy. Imperfect as I am, help me to embrace your love. And help me not to judge myself better than others, but indeed to see all people as you do. Amen.
Contemplation
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.”
(Isaiah 55:8)