Trinity 11
Beloved. St. Luke introduces today’s Gospel with the words: Jesus told this parable to certain people who trusted in themselves (that they were righteous) and looked down on others. Because of that introduction, it is especially vital for us as Christians to pay attention. That’s because that as Christians we are especially aware of the evil and wickedness all around us in the world. We know the holy Law of God, what is good and right; we are not floundering in terms of right and wrong; unlike so many around us, we don’t just go along with whatever the world, most people say is right and wrong. Not only are we aware of the sin around us and that we want to keep ourselves from it, but we have the new self/ the Christian in us that works together with the Holy Spirit in us and here we strive to fight against sin and to live a life of faith and good works. The good that we do, the sin we battle against and win that battle, our life that is certainly not perfect/ not without sin but full of good works and victory against temptation and sin—that should be a testimony to us that we have the Holy Spirit and are in the faith. That is a good thing!
But precisely because our life of faith and good works, that outward testimony that we have the Holy Spirit and are in the faith, is a good thing, that’s why Satan attacks it and tries to destroy it. And he does it in a very insidious way. Using that very life of good works flowing from faith and that we see all the evil in the world around us, all the immorality that is very evident and of which we are very much aware, the devil comes to us and incites our old sinful nature and says, “Look at how wicked the world is. Look at all the immorality in the world. But you! You are so much better than the rest. Look at all the good things you do. God must be so pleased with you, being head and shoulders above the rest.” And when we then take that to heart and believe it, what happens? Self-righteousness! Jesus told this parable to certain people who trusted in themselves (that they were righteous) and looked down on others. And when that happens, when we start comparing ourselves to others to make ourselves look better—like a great saint next to this whole crowd of great sinners—it is a short step to trusting ourselves that we are righteous. And when we do that, what need do we have for a Savior, for Jesus? After all, “I’m not really all that bad. I’m really pretty good.” Or, in the words of the Pharisee in the Gospel: ‘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.’
Dear Christian, so that we do not fall into this trap and soul destroying temptation and sin, it is absolutely vital that we never stop looking into the holy Law of God as a mirror. As we do so, we will all the more be reminded of our sin and our need for a Savior. An honest look into the mirror of God’s holy law will show us very clearly all our sin—we see what God demands and what we have failed to do. The Christian life is a very honest life—where we see that we, led, strengthened and empowered by the Holy Spirit, have actually kept some part of God’s holy law, we rejoice and thank the Lord for His grace powerfully at work in us; but where we see that we have gone against God’s holy will and sinned, we sorrow over that sin and plead the Lord for His mercy and forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. Or, as in today’s Gospel: the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but was beating his chest and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
Today’s text is a sort of commentary on the tax collector in today’s Gospel. It is part of a psalm of thanksgiving written by good King Hezekiah. As we briefly look at these few verses from it, we will see the comfort we have in confession of sins—as St. David first wrote in the psalm [32.5] and as we pray in the confessional liturgy: I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
It seemed as if everything was crashing in around godly King Hezekiah. The enemy armies were advancing and making their way to Jerusalem; Hezekiah himself was sick and near death and had received word from St. Isaiah the prophet: Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall not live. Hezekiah then wept and prayed. And as it turned out, the Lord answered his prayer granting Hezekiah 15 more years and also protection of Jerusalem from the enemy armies. King Hezekiah wrote this psalm of thanksgiving as he reflected on all the grace of the Lord to him. Our text begins with King Hezekiah’s description of his prayers he prayed while sick and near death: Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered; I mourned like a dove; my eyes fail from looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. The threat of death put everything in focus for Hezekiah. He saw what was vital and what wasn’t. Although he is described in Scripture as a good king, one who followed the Lord and wanted to do His will; even though Hezekiah describes himself this way a few verses before our text: I have walked before You in truth and have done what is good in Your sight, yet in this psalm, a few verses after our text, he describes his fear of hell and praises the Lord for rescuing him from it: But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back. The king was suffering the terrors of conscience; his sins were coming back to haunt him. He was suffering true spiritual anguish as the threat of death brought to mind his sin. So what does he do? He prays incessantly for forgiveness: Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered; I mourned like a dove; my eyes fail from looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed. He compares his prayers to a weak complaining bird, chattering; his prayers to the mournful broken sounds showing pain—like the mournful moaning of a dove. Here Hezekiah is standing face to face with death—the consequence/ result of sin. And here Satan tries to bring him into despair—that his sin to too great; that there’s no way God would help and rescue him; that hell is his fate. And what does godly Hezekiah—the one who walked before [the Lord] in truth and have done what is good in [His] sight but who confronted by his sin fears hell—do? Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered; I mourned like a dove; my eyes fail from looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed.
Compare him to the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable. Why could the Pharisee [stand] and [pray] about himself like this: ‘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.’? Why could he play this game? He wasn’t confronted with his sin; he didn’t examine heart and life in the light of God’s holy Law; he didn’t take his sin and the holiness of God seriously; he didn’t take seriously the threat of hell.
Dear Christian, God is showing us a great grace here. Let us not wait until we are first confronted by death, but let us learn from King Hezekiah here to recognize the seriousness of our sin. If we truly recognize what we earn and deserve by our sin, Whom they truly offend and are against, the wrath of God over our sin and how seriously He takes them—how can we think that we are “not all that bad” –God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector—and that we can throw God a few bones of supposedly good works now and then—I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all my income? Each day, let us recognize our sin and sorrow over it—realizing what it truly is and does. This is nothing other than living a life as a Christian—confession of sin is at the center of it. However the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but was beating his chest and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
If each Christian would recognize him/herself as a sinner in need of God’s mercy and that their fellow person—their fellow Christian—is also a sinner in need of God’s mercy, how much peace and unity there can be in homes, families, parishes, communities, etc. But because we so often think that we alone are in the right, not seeing our own sin and only magnifying the sin of the other, especially if it is against me, we become the Pharisee—I thank you that I am not like other people—there is all the brokenness we so often see/ experience. A powerful call to repent and have confession at the center of our lives! I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.
Look at the description King Hezekiah gives of his prayers. He compares them to the chirping/ chattering of birds. But although they may not have seemed like much, these prayers for forgiveness—prayed by one staring death in the face, prayed by one suffering the terrors of sin—are beautiful prayers flowing from faith. Our text: My eyes fail from looking upward. Although the tax collector in the Gospel looked down in lowliness and humility, here the image of eyes looking upward is an image of waiting in hope. Hezekiah prayed in faith and he kept looking and hoping for the Lord to act; it was a painful longing but one looking up to the Lord. That’s faith! That’s the second and main part of confession. Yes, there’s the examination of heart and life and sorrow for the sin found there, but there is also faith in the Lord to forgive our sins in Jesus—just as He promised. I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Although an OT saint, living before Jesus’ coming, Hezekiah has a beautiful faith in Him as Savior. Hezekiah uses a financial expression to describe Jesus’ work: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. Hezekiah in these words describes himself as a debtor who is being hounded by the bill collectors. He felt himself being hounded by the debt of a life of sin—even though he was overall a good person—wanting to claim him and drag him down to hell—O Lord, I am oppressed. But he calls on the Lord, undertake for me, that is, be surety for me. Surety is one who undertakes responsibility for the default of another. That’s exactly what Jesus did! Our debt of sin is so great—even if we only committed one what we thought was a minor sin—even that would be too a great an unpayable debt for us to repay. But what happened? Jesus undertook our default. He came into this world to do for us what we can’t do—give God the perfect obedience He demands in His holy law. He also undertook our debt of sin and paid for it by His holy and innocent suffering and death. Hezekiah was looking forward in faith to the coming Savior, who would be true God and would do this: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. We look back on faith to Jesus and His life, death and resurrection. We are certain that our entire debt of sin has been paid, that we sinners are reconciled to the holy God, that heaven is open to us, that devil and hell have no claim on us. In other words, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
And now living a life of confession-that is examination and sorrow over sin and faith in Jesus and His saving word, trusting the word of absolution/ forgiveness that we hear—how can we thank the Lord? Hezekiah says: What shall I say? He has both spoken to me, and He Himself has done it. Hezekiah—and all Christians as we ponder our Lord’s grace to forgive us our sin/ His rescuing us from sin, death and hell—are at a loss to express our thanksgiving and praise to the God of our salvation. He has promised to save us and He has saved us; He has, through the pastor, spoken and forgiven me my sin in the absolution. We are rescued. He has, as Hezekiah says a few verses after our text, cast all my sins behind Your back—they are forgiven/ He no longer sees them. And now? I shall walk carefully all my years in the bitterness of my soul. Like Hezekiah, we live a quiet, peaceful life. Experiencing the Lord’s grace we cannot live haughtily, but in humility—before God and with others. The great comfort of confession? I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. INJ Amen.