Sermon for 11 August 2024 Anno domini
the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
The Collect
O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Every man, woman and child is born into this world with a great NEED – the need for salvation and the providence of God in their lives. There is an old saying that “beggars cannot be choosey” and so it is with prayer. God is the Great Sovereign of the Universe. He is eager to hear and to answer our prayers if we ask out of a humble and contrite spirit for the things it is pleasing to Him to grant. There is only one way our Great Need can be satisfied, and that is through the mercy of God alone. We are not entitled to anything under heaven; but God is pleased to grant those things that are right and just to us.
The Prayer of Collect succinctly states the issue. We seek His mercy to grant us grace to not only come to His throne of Mercy, but also to be granted the grace to walk in His Commandments and by His Spirit of Love. Once we are made sons and daughters of the King of Kings, we must deport ourselves accordingly by walking in His Way as princes and princesses.
Remember, too, that prayer is a two-way communication with God. Not only should we reverently offer praise to Him in every prayer, state our Need, and close with a glorifying benediction; but we must also wait on His response to those prayers. We must not simply repeat prayers as from mere rote memory, but deeply consider the actual terms of our petition. Remember the Third Commandment in prayer: “7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7; all scripture quoted is from the king James Bible) It is likely that the Lord’s Name is taken in vain in church as often as out. Mean what you pray!
In Paul’s 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, he enumerates the vast features of which the Gospel faith consists. First, we must receive the Word in faith as seed for the new character and life in Christ; we must Remember the Word through diligent study; we must stand upon that Gospel that we have received and believed; we must recognize our utter lack of worthiness and recognize only that merit of Christ by which we are accounted worthy; and last of all, we must be aware that we do not rust inwardly by self, but outwardly by the One who has redeemed us.
In confirmation, the Gospel text, of these points made in our prayer and the Epistle, our Lord tells us a parable that is directed to the hearts of those whom He knew were averse to His teaching. In the previous verses 1-8 of this same chapter, Jesus tells another parable concerning a humble widow who was persistent in prayer ere her prayer was answered. Many of those who heard His words were yet proud and rebellious to His teaching; so, He now tells the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican to distinguish between the prideful heart and the humble.
There are two opposing character dispositions revealed in this parable – the proud and boastful (the Pharisee) and the humble and penitent Publican. The difference in these two men makes all the difference in the state of our salvation.
Both men come up to the temple to pray. Whether in a valley, or on a mountain top, our prayers always place us in a spiritually higher plane. They came, supposedly, for the right purpose – to pray. But the similarities end at that point.
See how the Pharisee, dressed in his fine robes, prays – not to God – but within himself. He did, however, begin with the right words – “God, I thank Thee!” He would have been better off if he had said no more, for all after revealed his pride and disdain for others: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” He is unaware of his own sinful disposition. He believes himself to be righteous apart from the grace of God. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) He considers himself better than others in his self-proclaimed righteousness. He has come to an openly public forum – the Temple – to make his prayers for others to hear his boasting. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts! The Pharisee believes himself on high ground. He looks down on the Publican whom he considers to be on the lowest spiritual ground – but it is just the opposite.
The public is full of shame and remorse for his sins and lack of standing with God. The Publican would not so much as approach the Temple grounds for his lack of worthiness. He stood afar off and would so much as take the license to look up to Heaven, and smote upon his anguished breast in proclaiming his prayer of NEED!
“God, be merciful to me a sinner!” What was the decisive difference in these two men?
The Pharisee failed to know his own heart in believing himself righteous and worthy. The Publican saw himself in light of the Word of God as a mirror to his soul. He knew himself unworthy to even address a Holy God; but it was precisely this frame of mind that enable his prayers to be received in favor and not rejected as was that of the Pharisee. The Pharisee came with the spirit of Cain; the Publican in the humility of Abel. Cain’s sacrifice was rejected because the source of his offering came from a cursed source – the ground. God had cursed the ground for Adam’s sake in Genesis 3; moreover, there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. Abel brought and acceptable offering from his flock.
These two accounts are similar in nature. The offering of the Pharisee was made for vain purposes in being heard by others. His prayer did not garner the favor of God. The prayer of the Publican was out of a broken and contrite heart. “17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalms 51:17) Thus, the Publican went away justified while the proud Pharisee went away as lost as when he came.
