We All Have to Stand Before God

October 24, 2010
We all have to stand before God
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14
Year C





Introduction – the church leader and the drug dealer
Two people, one a church leader and the other a drug dealer, went into the church to pray. The church leader prayed “God, I thank you that I am not like other people, welfare cheats, pornographers, or even like this drug dealer, who had the nerve to step into church. I go to church every Sunday, I tithe, I give time in mission, I even spend my vacation building homes for the poor.
The drug dealer in the back of church could not even look up at the altar. He wrung his hands and said God forgive me, I am a sinner.
Who do you identify with – are you the church leader, or the drug dealer. Most of us would prayer – God I am not like the drug dealer. Now let me ask you another question- which prayer do you think God appreciated more – a prayer of rightouesness, or a prayer of confession?

The Pharisee and the tax collector
In some ways this could be thought of as a modern day version of the old parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
A Pharisee was a lay person, who committed to following the law to the letter. He did what was right all of the time. He tithed, the prayed, he studied the scripture, he lived right.
The tax collector of Jesus day, was not the IRS man of today. The tax collector was thought of as a thief and a traitor. He stole from his own to give it to the government. Sometimes the money made it to the government, most of the time it did not. He kept it in his pocket.
Jesus understood the plight of the tax collector very well – he had lunch with them all of the time. Jesus did not get along real well with the Pharisees. And when we hear the prayer of the Pharisee, thank you lord that I am not a heathen, a woman, or an uneducated man. It is easy for us in this story to say - God I am not as arrogant in my faith as a Pharisee. The truth is, we would be thinking too highly of ourselves. There is nothing wrong with the Pharisee or his prayer. He was praying as he was instructed to do. In Timothy – Paul thanks God that he has always done what was right, even in the midst of trials and hardships, in the midst of persecution, he stayed faithful to the God that was faithful to him. The Pharisee’s prayer that they have done what is right, is a prayer for strength. The Pharisee;s prayer was an example of ordinary and standard faith. Jesus points to him, because he is calling us beyond faith that is ordinary – to faith that is extraordinary. Faith that is dependent of grace. To a life that is dependent on prayer.
Some people pray because it is the right thing to do as a person of faith, some people pray because their lives depend upon it. Everything we have is a gift from God – our wealth, our health, our lives, everything.

The importance of prayer in Luke
Prayer is a major theme of the book of Luke. Luke talks about prayer in all types of prayer. The five major types of prayer, intercession on behalf of others, adoration, confession, petition and thanksgiving. Luke gives models of all of them.
As a matter of fact, there are 3 models of prayer in chapter 18. Last week we heard of the woman persistent in her prayer. – prayers of petition. You could say that the Pharisee was praying a prayer of adoration – even if it was adoration of his own faith. And the tax collector prayed a prayer of confession. Which is a better prayer? Which is better for us to pray? There is no comparison. There are times in our lives when we need to pray all five prayers. The comparison is not with the widow, the Pharisee and the tax collector. The comparison is with Jesus Christ – does the prayer draw us closer to Jesus Christ? Does it help us to acknowledge the need for grace in our lives, as our only source of salvation?


The test of grace
I want us to take a test- everyone get a pen and keep score o you bulletin. This test is to see if you have gained enough points to get into heaven. You don’t need to keep exact score – you can estimate if you would like.
If you have been baptized, you get 25 points. Now give yourself 2 points for everytime you have ever been to a church service in your life – just guess-. Give yourself an extra point if you made a prayer request when you came to church. Give yourself 5 point for each bible verse that you have ever remembered. 10 points for doing a personal devotion for 10 days in a row.
Now you also get points for deeds of kindness. An act of kindness for a neighbor is worth 10 points. If you have ever volunteered at a hospital you get 1 point for each hour worked. If you have never cheated on a test you get 1 point per test. If you have had to turn the other cheek instead of seeing revenge – you get 20 points each time. If you have ever gave someone your coat when they were cold – yo get 25 points. For giving all of your possession to the poor you get 10,00 points. But if all that you had to give away from the start was less than $100 – it is only worth 5 points. If you have ever been on a church mission trip you get 1000 points.
Now you also have to deduct points for incorrect attitudes.
If you have ever gone to church – you get two points for each service. But if you were thinking of something else during the sermon – then you lose 4 points for each service. If you made fun of the pastors clothes or hair- then you lose 2 more points. If you have ever said something unkind or mean then you lose 10 points for each time. If you have ever done something that you knew was wrong then you lose 1000 points for each time. If you have had an argument with a family member – any family member – then you lose 150 points for each time. If you have ever forgot to water your plants – them you lose 100 points for each time.
Now there is a chance to win extra bonus points. If you have are willing to give a million $ toward upkeep of the church – you get a million points. Or if you prefer to donate $3 millions to mission work of the church you get 3 million points.
You need 3 million points in order to get into heaven. Did anyone come even close? I usually give this test to my confirmation classes. It is much more fun to give to youth because they aren’t so stuck on being righteous, and are more willing to admit when they have done things wrong. So they see their point disappearing pretty fast.
The point of the exercise is to realize that no matter who much we do right, no matter how much money we give to god (that doesn’t mean don’t give), no matter how much many good things we do for others, no matter how much we pray – It is not enough to be right with God. never a time in your life when you will have a right to say- I am justified – I am okay. The point is, You can’t earn grace from God Grace is a gift that is freely given.


The pilgrim’s prayer
My favorite prayer in times of trouble is: Lord Jesus, son of God have mercy on me a sinner. That is a very old prayer, called the pilgrims prayer. In the 1400’s a man walked the world teaching people that simple prayer that when you don’t know what else to day say it all. Let’s say it - lord Jesus, son of God have mercy on me a sinner.

Sometimes that is all we ever want to know, when will things get better, when will we finally see God, when will the peace of God finally come to the world - That was the question behind all of these parables on prayer – we pray because we want to know that God is near us. God is near – in a reign of justice and mercy.

Commentary on Timothy
In our verses from Timothy – we come to the end of the line for this lesson on being a church leader and for Paul. He says that the time for my departure has come. But his words are not about death, but about the beginning of a journey. The greek work for departure is the word for letting a boat off of the dock and freeing it for its journey. What ever happens, he is putting his life in God’s hands. That is what we do when we pray. – we give our lives over to God’s will not ours.

The reign of justice and mercy
There was a conference on religions, and the question came up – what makes Christianity so special? What makes it different from the rest? Is it prayer? No all religions pray in some form of another, is it the incarnation, of god present with us, is it the resurrection? Is it living holy? There are forms of those things in all religions. What does Christ bring that no one else brings?
Jesus just told us in the parable – in the Buddhist 8 fold path, Hindu karma, the muslim code of law, even the prayer of the Pharisee – the only salvation you have are your actions, how well you stick to the plan, how good you are. It is up to you to earn divine favor.
We just saw that if our salvation is up to us, none of us will ever get too far. Only through Christ dying for us on a cross are we fully forgiven of our sins, and we know the gift of God’s unconditional love for us. God’s reign of mercy and justice is as close to us as a prayer. Lord Jesus Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Amen.