"Sinners Only"

Jesu Juva
St. Luke 18:9-14
October 27, 2019
Reformation/Proper 25C

Dear Saints of Our Savior~

One of the first things they teach you in pre-school and kindergarten is how to line-up. And knowing how to line-up is a very useful skill to learn. The proper method for lining-up is one of those skills that you will definitely put to use your whole life long. In fact, if you’re especially good at lining up—if you have an aptitude for it—and if you have a knack for seeing to it that other people line up properly—well then, you, my friend, just might have what it takes to become part of that elite group here at Our Savior we call the “ushers.”

Lining up isn’t as easy as you might think, however. You have to be alert for those scoundrels who are always trying to cut in line. And then there’s the shame and embarrassment of getting in the wrong line. You get in the wrong line at the airport or the train station or going through customs or at the DMV—and things will not go well for you.

Getting in the wrong line actually happens more often than you might think. In coming here to the church, many people are actually getting into the wrong line. For instance, people occasionally show up here during the week asking for money. Not food or clothing, not prayers or counseling—just some cash, thank you very much. Essentially, I have to tell them, “You’ve come to the wrong place for cash. You got into the wrong line.”

And then there are those who line up here at church without really knowing the reason why. Their families originally put them in line here. They meet up with friends and family here. Lining up at church is a good habit—it’s what respectable people do—so they keep on doing it. But exactly why they’re lining up here, they’re not really too sure about that.

Others line up at church because they have an agenda to push and they want to enlist the church’s help. They think the church should take a stand on immigration, or impeachment, or that the church should push hard for certain political candidates, or that the church should champion the charge against global warming. But those who seek to harness the church for their own purposes are ultimately in the wrong line.

In the parable we heard from Jesus this morning, we’ve been given two examples of getting in line. The first was the Pharisee. And he right away strode up to the very front of the line. He deserved to be there. He had great credentials for being there. He didn’t need any help from anyone. He had a resume of accomplishments that was second to none. He trusted in himself—brimming with self-confidence. And just to be polite, he even thanked God: “I thank You, God, that I’m better than everyone else.”

The Pharisee was comfortable and content there at the front of the line because, as he looked down at those around him, there was nobody else like him. Looking down on others is always a satisfying exercise for most people. It makes us more pleased with ourselves. Because no matter how depraved and messed-up we might be, we can always find someone more depraved and more messed-up than we are. This is also why we gossip. This is why we take such delight in sinking our teeth into the reputations of other people: because it raises us up, reinforces our belief that we are better than everybody else.

But in many ways, this Pharisee really was better! He fasted twice a week while most ordinary people fasted but once, if at all. The Pharisees did this extra fasting to atone for the sins of the people. The common people were such horrible sinners that the Pharisees (who hardly had any sin to speak of) generously fasted for the sins of others. What a good thing to do! What’s more, the Pharisees tithed. The Law required a tenth of one’s income. But because so many of the common people failed to tithe, the Pharisees not only gave a tenth of their income, but also a tenth of every purchase they made. Imagine that! Tithing not only your income, but your expenses too! What a good thing to do!

So be careful not to despise the Pharisees. They lived clean, decent, useful lives. They did their utmost to fulfill the Law of God. Before we despise them, we should compare our conduct to theirs. How many of us are ready to give ten percent to the Lord not once, but twice? How many of us would be willing to go without food for a day for the spiritual good of our sinful neighbors?

Of course, I know what you Lutherans are thinking—that the Pharisees had only good works, but we have faith. Works don’t count, but faith counts. Lazy Lutherans like to look around and see others busily engaged in good works, and then comfort themselves with the message that faith alone saves, not works. We Lutherans thank thee, God, that we are not as others are: Roman Catholics who pray to Mary, anything-goes Anglicans, Methodists so concerned about social justice. Yes, we thank thee God that we’re so good at pointing out everybody else’s errors.

Beloved in the Lord, before you condemn the Pharisee in the parable, you need to recognize and condemn the Pharisee in here. This Pharisee is the hardest one of all to recognize because he’s always so busy—busy looking down on other people and seeing them as something less. The Pharisee in here always measures his own worth according to other people and, inevitably finds himself bigger, better, and more religious and spiritual than they. The danger faced by every Pharisee is that we become so busy looking down on others that we no longer look up to God—because, in fact, we’re so good that we don’t need God.

But there was also another man who lined up that day to pray—a tax collector. Unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector had led an outwardly evil life—a life of greed, graft and corruption. But unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector wasn’t looking around at everyone else, comparing himself to them. He had no religious resume—no spiritual credentials to present. He simply beat his breast and blurted out the God-awful truth: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Comparing yourself to other people will get you nowhere; doing that only feeds the Pharisee inside. It is, instead, when we stand in the presence of the holy God, that we recognize our sin and are shrunk back down to size. The tax collector was standing alone before God, as a sinner. When you stand before God there is no hope in trying to fool Him. He can’t be fooled. When you stand before God no references or recommendations will help you. And you cannot bribe Him.

The tax collector knew what the Pharisee did not—knew that he was a sinner—knew that He needed God. Only by the mercy of God could he stand. He places his future in God’s hands. The tax collector was standing in the correct line. The tax collector had lined up in the line designated for “sinners only.”

That line for “sinners only” at first seems like a line to avoid. Who wants to be in that line?! No one tried harder than Martin Luther to avoid the “sinners only” line. Back in his monastery days Luther did all that he could to rid his life of sin—praying for hours, confessing every infraction in excruciating detail, beating himself into submission. But the harder he tried, the more he hated himself, and the more he hated God.

But by the grace of God, Luther learned that the “sinners only” line is actually a very good place to be. Jesus Himself once went through that line, for He was numbered with the transgressors. He identified with the tax collectors. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity with sinners. He who had no sin became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. He Himself took your sin and shame to His crucifixion cross. He came to save His people from their sins.

It’s precisely when you get into the line for “sinners only” that Jesus joins you—joins you with what you need: with mercy, with faith, with forgiveness. It’s in the line specified for “sinners only” that you are washed in Baptism and fed with Jesus’ body and blood.

It’s not easy being in the line for “sinners only.” You have to honestly admit the worst about yourself. Sometimes you will be tempted to wander off, thinking that you must belong somewhere else. But do not be deceived. For in this line is grace. In this line is forgiveness and faith. In this line (for sinners) is the tender mercy of God; and apart from God’s mercy there is only hell. This is the line where we all belong. And after a time of waiting in this line, you will not be disappointed. For at the end of this line there is Jesus—the friend of sinners—the Savior of sinners. And you will be with Him forever.

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