The Pharisee & The Tax Collector - Luke 18

1. A Prayer For The People of God
God of faithful surprises,
throughout the ages
you have made known your love and power
in unexpected ways and places.
May we daily perceive the joy
and wonder of your abiding presence
and offer our lives in gratitude
for our redemption.
Amen.

3. Luke 18:9-14
The PHARISEE and the TAX COLLECTOR

4. ThePHARISEEand
theTAXCOLLECTOR
“I tried to paint this
familiar scene from
the more shocking
spiritual lens of what
was happening…
the pharisee’s self
righteous posture
emanating darkness,
spiritually dead but
covered by a veneer
of beautiful color.”
(Bryn Gillette)

5. “The error of the Pharisee (singular,
the one in this parable)…is surely
that he thinks he can be obedient
to God and still have disdain for
people like the tax collector –
that is, that he can fulfill what the
Torah demands with no attention
to the love command. He is certain
that his acts put him in good stand-
ing with God and that his pious
acts make him better than
his contemporaries.”

6. “This parable addresses the implied
question, ‘What counts as righteous-
ness before God?’ Righteous acts
without compassion and love
are not considered righteous
before God…the person proud of
his or her orthodoxy and orthopraxy
is in the most danger and…
those who are written off
elsewhere are written in
by God in the gospel.”

7. He told this next parable against those
who trusted in their own righteous standing,
and despised (looked down on) others.
“Two men,” he said, “went up to the Temple to pray.
One was a Pharisee; the other was a tax-collector.
The Pharisee stood and prayed in this way to (by)
himself: ‘God, I1 thank you that I2 am not like the
other people – greedy, unjust, immoral, or even
like this tax-collector. I3 fast twice in the week;
I4 give tithes of all that I5 get.”
LUKE 18:9-12

8. He told this next parable against those
who trusted in their own righteous standing,
and despised (looked down on) others.
“Two men,” he said, “went up to the Temple to pray.
One was a Pharisee; the other was a tax-collector.
The Pharisee stood and prayed in this way to (by)
himself: ‘God, I1 thank you that I2 am not like the
other people – greedy, unjust, immoral, or even
like this tax-collector. I3 fast twice in the week;
I4 give tithes of all that I5 get.”
LUKE 18:9-12

9. OTHER possible PRAYERS for OUR day…
1. PRAYERS ACROSS ATHLETIC LINES
“God, I thank you that I am not like my neighbor
who cheers for A,” or, “who cheers for B…”

10. OTHER possible PRAYERS for OUR day…
1. PRAYERS ACROSS ATHLETIC LINES
“God, I thank you that I am not like my neighbor
who cheers for A,” or, “who cheers for B…”
2. PRAYERS ACROSS POLITICAL LINES
“who flies his MAGA flag,” or, “who FEELS THE BERN…”

11. OTHER possible PRAYERS for OUR day…
1. PRAYERS ACROSS ATHLETIC LINES
“God, I thank you that I am not like my neighbor
who cheers for A,” or, “who cheers for B…”
2. PRAYERS ACROSS POLITICAL LINES
“who flies his MAGA flag,” or, “who FEELS THE BERN…”
3. PRAYERS ACROSS ECONOMIC LINES
“who drives her Cadillac SUV,” or, “…her ‘81 Yugo…”

12. OTHER possible PRAYERS for OUR day…
4. PRAYERS ACROSS IDEOLOGICAL LINES
“God, I thank you that I am not like my neighbor
who is a capitalist,” or, “who is a socialist…”

13. OTHER possible PRAYERS for OUR day…
4. PRAYERS ACROSS IDEOLOGICAL LINES
“God, I thank you that I am not like my neighbor
who is a capitalist,” or, “who is a socialist…”
5. PRAYERS ACROSS RELIGIOUS LINES
“who worships so foolishly,” or, “who doesn’t believe…”

14. OTHER possible PRAYERS for OUR day…
4. PRAYERS ACROSS IDEOLOGICAL LINES
“God, I thank you that I am not like my neighbor
who is a capitalist,” or, “who is a socialist…”
5. PRAYERS ACROSS RELIGIOUS LINES
“who worships so foolishly,” or, “who doesn’t believe…”
6. THINK OF YOUR OWN…
“God, I thank you that I am not like…”

15. But the tax-collector stood a long way off,
and didn’t even want to raise his eyes to heaven.
He beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me,
sinner that I am.’ Let me tell you, he was the one
who went back to his house vindicated by God,
not the other. Don’t you see? People who exalt
themselves will be humbled, and people who
humble themselves will be exalted.”
LUKE 18:13-14

16. ThePHARISEEand
theTAXCOLLECTOR
Try to think
of yourself more
as the Pharisee
than as the
Tax Collector…

17. a THOUGHT on HUMILITY
CHOOSING HUMILTY > BEING
HUMBLED

18. When he noticed how the guests picked
the places of honor at the table, (Jesus) told
them this parable: “When someone invites you
to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor,
for a person more distinguished than you may
have been invited. If so, the host who invited
both of you will come and say to you,
‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated,
you will have to take the least important place.
LUKE 14:7-9

19. But when you are invited, take the lowest place,
so that when your host comes, he will say to you,
‘Friend, move up to a better place.’
Then you will be honored in the presence
of all the other guests. For all those who exalt
themselves will be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will be exalted.”
LUKE 14:10-11

20. ThePHARISEEand
theTAXCOLLECTOR
CHOOSING
HUMILTY >
BEING
HUMBLED

21. Benediction
O God,
the strength of those
who humbly confess their sin
and place their hope in you,
save us from vain displays
of righteousness, and give us grace
to keep faith with the true humility
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.