Sermon -- Ash Wednesday (March 5, 2025)

LUKE 18:9-14

GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME, A SINNER.

In the name + of Jesus.

     Our Lord Jesus Christ asked his disciples, “Why do you focus on the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye” (Matthew 7:3)?  It is a probing question because we are very good at noticing the sins of others.  We tend to be dismissive of our own.  I see the best in me, but I focus on the worst in you.  Comparing ourselves to others is addictive since we always come out the winner.  Jesus knew this, which is why he told the parable in our Gospel reading.

     “Jesus told this parable to certain people who trusted in themselves (that they were righteous) and looked down on others: ‘Two men went up to the temple courts to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector’” (Luke 18:9-10).  If you are familiar with this parable, you have already taken sides.  In doing so, you are already looking down on someone. 

     When Jesus told this parable, he depicted two people whose reputations were on opposite ends of the spectrum.  We may as well call the Pharisee a pastor because that is basically what his vocation was.  The Pharisees were moral, decent, and careful observers of their laws and traditions.  The Pharisees were held up as examples of virtue.  Mothers told their children to be like them.  And it was certainly no surprise to see a Pharisee standing in the temple during the hour of prayer.

     By contrast, there was the tax collector.  This was a man who had hired himself out to the Romans to collect taxes from his fellow Jews.  The tax collector was hired to benefit a pagan government and an occupying force.  It was abhorrent to the Jews to be ruled by a foreign power.  It was not only an annoyance, it was also forbidden by God’s Law.  What’s worse, the emperor of that foreign power claimed to be divine.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar when he regards himself as a god?  Even if it was lawful, it was despised.  In addition, tax collectors were known to pad their own pockets at the expense of their own people.  The only people who were lower than tax collectors were murderers and insurrectionists like Barabbas.  The Romans crucified criminals like Barabbas, but they protected tax collectors.  While this tax collector would not have been forbidden to enter the temple, many people would have considered it insulting to God and country that he was there.

     “Two men went up to the temple courts to pray” (Luke 18:10).  What is the point of prayer?  What do we do, and what do we hope to gain from it?  Prayer is our word to God.  We praise him for who he is and for the gifts he gives to us—our daily bread, our family, our talents and abilities, and so on.  We offer up intercessions for those who are in need—the sick, the sorrowful, the poor and needy, widows and orphans, and any who are oppressed.  We make our petitions for our own needs— the forgiveness of our sins, strength in the hour of temptation, and protection from evil.  Prayer is where we take God’s word to heart: “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).  Prayer is a bold act of worship as we call upon God and trust him to act for our good regarding our concerns and struggles and desires.

     The Pharisee did none of that.  Listen to his prayer: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week.  I give a tenth of all my income” (Luke 18:11-12).  To be fair, everything the Pharisee said about himself was probably true.  The people surrounding him would have heard his prayer and would not have disagreed.  But the Pharisee sought no mercy and no forgiveness from the Lord.  Really, he asked for nothing.  He boasted and expected to be honored and rewarded for his exemplary life.  Convinced he had no faults of his own, he looked down on others whose faults were manifest.  Convinced he did not need mercy, he had no mercy upon others.

     Naturally, we conclude that the Pharisee is a bad guy.  We conclude that because Jesus tells us so.  Jesus tried to show the Pharisees their sins and their need for forgiveness.  When they rejected Jesus’ teaching and despised him for having mercy upon sinners, Jesus called them hypocrites and offspring of the devil.  But they sure did not look like bad men.

     That is why we can deceive ourselves, too.  We might question how much we really need to repent.  Our behavior is outwardly noble and decent.  We adhere to God’s word.  We are respected in the work place.  We are liked by friends and neighbors.  We have not made a mess of our life.  Maybe you don’t even get speeding tickets.  All the noble characteristics, kindness, and morality you claim for yourself may be true.  Should you not be honored by God for such goodness?

     When we exalt ourselves, we cannot help but look down on others.  Like the tax collector in the temple, other people have made poor choices—some out of desperation, others out of depravity.  It is easy to judge them according to their sins.  Their sins are evident, and they are without excuse.  It can lead us to boast, “God, I thank you that I am not like them.”  Maybe you don’t have a reputation that’s been sullied by public sins, but it certainly does not make you righteous.  If you cannot look upon sinners with compassion, it means that you do not appreciate the depths of your own sinfulness.  It is focusing on beams in the eyes of others while ignoring the speck in your own.  Repent.

     Now, you can find fault in the tax collector all you want.  You wouldn’t be wrong.  But unlike the Pharisee whose prayer was boasting, the tax collector’s prayer was reduced to begging.  He had nothing to present to the Lord, and he did not pretend that there was anything redeeming about himself.  The Pharisee poured out many words about himself, but the tax collector offered only one—sinner.  The tax collector stood off to the side, as if he were not worthy to be in the Lord’s temple.  He did not stand with hands outstretched, as if he deserved to receive anything from the Lord.  And he beat his chest, thumping against his aching heart.  The tax collector confessed his sin both in his words and in his posture. 

     The tax collector prayed to the Lord, seeking only one thing.  “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13)!  Perhaps you recall the words, “Lord, have mercy,” in their Greek: “Kyrie, eleison!”  The tax collector’s prayer was a bit different.  Translating the phrase, “Have mercy,” more accurately, we would say, “God, be propitiated to me, a sinner.”  This is significant because the hour of prayer was also when the priest was offering the evening sacrifice.  The lamb was slain to atone for the sins of the people.  God’s wrath was diverted from the people to the lamb which was consumed in fire on the altar.  The substitute died for the people.  That is propitiation.  The tax collector was not asking God to forget his sin; he was asking that God would reckon the evening sacrifice as a sacrificial offering made for him.  The Pharisee did not appeal for this propitiation because he was convinced of his own righteousness.  The tax collector acknowledged that he had no righteousness; therefore, he yearned for the atoning sacrifice.

     Even if you do not have a plank in your own eye, you do have a speck.  And if you’ve ever had a speck in your eye, you know how terrible that is.  You do whatever you can to flush it out of your eye to alleviate the pain.  If you recognize your sins, then you also know the pain and the sorrow over all kinds of words that you regret, actions you wish you could take back, or dark thoughts that you wish you could purge.  But you can’t take back those words and the pain they inflicted.  You can’t erase the sins of your youth.  Even if you are no longer suffering the consequences, you are haunted by the memory.  And secret thoughts rarely go away.  They continue to come back as temptations as you fantasize about sins you wish you could commit. 

     Even if others do not notice the speck in your eye, you certainly feel it.  How could you exalt yourself or look down on others when you know the truth about yourself?  Therefore, join with the tax collector and offer up an honest prayer.  We make no appeal for our worthiness.  Rather, we appeal to the sacrifice which has been made for us.  We implore our Lord, “God, be propitiated to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13)! 

     There is no point in comparing ourselves with any other sinner on earth.  We all have been stuck in the same pit.  Whether you bear the smudge of ashes or not, you are marked for death.  It does not matter if your sins are unnoticed or egregious.  St. Paul tells us: “There is no difference, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22-23).  But Paul goes on.  “There is no difference, because all … are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat (that is, the propitiation) through faith in his blood” (Romans 3:22-25). 

     No matter what guilt you bear, Jesus has suffered and died for all of it.  He is your propitiation, which means that all of God’s wrath has been diverted from you to Jesus.  He is the atoning sacrifice.  He has taken your sin, and he has suffered your curse.  He was consumed in God’s fiery wrath for you.  So, if God’s wrath has been consumed by Jesus, God only has blessing left for you.  Therefore, we appeal to our Father for the sake of Jesus, “God, be propitiated to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13)!  And he is. 

     We repent in dust and ashes.  This not only means that we put off sin and fight against temptation, it also means that we put off any claims of our own righteousness.  We don’t worry about planks or specks.  We have no reason to look down on anyone.  Rather, we rejoice that our Lord looked down on us from heaven, beheld our miserable state, and sent his Son to redeem us.  Therefore, we focus our eyes on Jesus.  “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).  Jesus has exalted you and made you children of the Most High God.  Thanks to Jesus, you shall go home justified.  And you may live in peace.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.