Luke 18:9–17—The
Pharisee placed the hope of his salvation in himself and his good works,
confidently declaring to the Lord, the righteous Judge of the universe, God, I
thank you that I am not like other men, extortions’, unjust, adulterers, or
even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I
get. But our works can never save us. They fall far short of God’s standard of
perfect holiness (Leviticus 19:2; James 2:10). We must humble ourselves before
the Lord, as did the publican, and cry out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner,
as we do in the Kyrie. The Lord hears the prayers of those who trust in Him and
humble themselves before Him. Like the tax collector, we go home from the Divine
Service justified, having received the full forgiveness of all our sins.
According to Jewish law, there was a required quorum of at
least ten men necessary for the public reading of the Torah and for prayer. The
fact that these two went up to the temple to pray alone meant that they had
each been individually banned from the sacred assembly. They could not gather.
They could not pray, because there had been scandal and shame, unresolved sin,
Forgiveness had been withheld. They had been shunned.
One bragged of his works; the other begged for mercy. Both
fell far short of the LORD’s standard of perfect holiness, which says, “Speak to the congregation of the people of
Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy for I the LORD your God am holy.’”
– Leviticus 19:2
James would remind us, “For
whoever keeps the whole law but ails in one point has become guilty of all of
it,” – James 2:10 We must humble ourselves before the LORD as did this
publican and cry out, “God be merciful to
me a sinner.” As we do in the Kyrie.
The Lord hears the prayer of those who trust in Him and
humble themselves before Him. Like the
tax collector, we go home from the Divine Service justified having received the
full forgiveness of all our sin.
Redeem us, O God, out of all our poor ways into thine.
Teach us thy will for us by calling us back each day to the things which we
know are most certainly true. Direct our lives by the constant pressure on them
of other lives that have felt the touch of thy hand and loved the beauty of thy
peace, until our faces be set toward the hopes hid forever in thine. For Jesus’
sake. Amen[1]
-21 October 2022
[1] Collect
for Friday of the week of Pentecost 20, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book for
and By the Church, Vol. II © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau,
Delhi, NY
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