“Mercy, Mercy” Vance L. Toivonen
READING Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."
READING C.J. Den Heyer Jesus and the Doctrine of Atonement
Paul and John, Mark and Matthew, and all those other theologians of the first generation…sensed that…lives had been fundamentally changed. They looked with new eyes on the world around them and at their fellow men and women; they also looked with new eyes at the present and the future; and they dared to suppose that they also lived in another relationship with God…Their encounters with Jesus and the stories which had told of him had made them think differently and turned them into different people. Jesus’ life and death had an ‘exemplary’ character. He had made them see that the gulf between heaven and earth, between God and human beings, really could be bridged....(Jesus) is the embodiment of God’s love and faithfulness. In word and deed he shows us who God is…His faith in God is ‘exemplary’ and inspires people, sometimes hesitantly and sometimes enthusiastically, to take the way of reconciliation.
SERMON
During most of my years as a Lutheran Pastor, I led services that began with what is listed in the order of worship as the Brief Order for Confession and Forgiveness. As the Pastor I made the following statement to the congregation each week:
If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The congregation then prayed:
Most merciful God, we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
Then I as the pastor would declare:
Almighty God, in his mercy, has given his Son to die for us and, for his sake, forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
This was the first thing we did in worship. Before we sang a hymn, heard a sermon, listened to the choir, took an offering, or spent our time doing anything else, we confessed that we are indeed sinful human beings. Now, this might seem like a turn off to enlightened souls. There is, admittedly, an element of self-flagellation in these words that we might deem unnecessary to our emotional and psychological well-being. Yet, I can’t help but notice the correlation between this prayer and the prayer of the tax collector in Jesus’ parable. His prayer is devoid of self-righteousness, the antithesis of the Pharisee’s prayer.
I am certainly torn, this morning. On the one hand I find it a relief not to begin each worship service with this soul-wrenching prayer; but on the other hand I find a hunger for, a need for a healthy sense of humility in God’s presence. Am I not a sinner in need of grace? Can I not identify a plethora of ways in which I miss the mark, come up short, mess up, screw up, or otherwise do myself less than proud?
Is it my religious upbringing that causes this self-awareness to creep into the world within me? If I had not spent the better part of my lifetime praying for forgiveness would I be so oriented? What is the alternative? In Lutheranism we called that alternative works righteousness, a program of self-justification that is quite indifferent to the grace of God. Of course, Lutherans still believe in a doctrine of original sin, that we cannot help but be sinful by virtue of our humanity, that we are born, as the prayer dictates, “in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.”
There is a marvelous story in the gospel of Luke, the seventh chapter. Please hear it as I read it now. (Luke 7: 36-50).
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him that she is a sinner." Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "speak." "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, F71 and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus F72 said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
This woman is identified by the Pharisee as a sinner, contrasting himself as over against her. He is, by his own definition, and by the definition of his religious sect, not a sinner. She is a sinner because she is not attached to a husband. She is a woman out on the streets, and suffice it to say that there were not many job opportunities for single women in Jesus’ day.
This is one of those radical moments when Jesus makes a less than reputable individual a shining example of faithfulness in God’s kingdom. She loves much because she is forgiven much. Luke posits this story in his gospel almost as if to say that identification of one’s self as a sinner is a prerequisite to peace and justice. This woman, and not the Pharisee who allegedly plays by all the rules, is the exemplar for Jesus’ followers; and now for we who sit here this morning.
It is this quality that I seek to emphasize, this orientation towards gratitude. If I wake up in the morning thinking that I have it all together, that I do not need God, or anyone else for that matter, this will color my relationships with others. I will, for example, see others as merely means to an end, as ways of getting what I want out of life. But if I wake up thinking that I am indeed not all that, and knowing deep in my soul that God’s grace and mercy are necessities in my life, my relationships with others will likely be marked with an essential air of humility.
Paul wrote his letters before the gospels were written and thus provides the closest writings chronologically to the time that Jesus actually lived. He wrote the following to the Jesus community at Philippi. (Philippians 2:1-5)
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…
This is the opposite of the prevalent pop psychology that markets itself in America. Here are some actual book titles currently selling.
And the best one of all…
Both Jesus and Paul promote reconciliation as a process that fosters peace. Imagine what a different world this would be if our leaders adopted this principle. When we approach one another as Paul suggests, thinking the other as better than ourselves, thinking the other as a gift, thinking the other as a child of God to be loved and cherished without condition, our lives will be richer and our relationships better. Our relationship with God informs our relationships with each other. We receive mercy from God and we provide mercy for others. Mercy begets mercy. Receiving forgiveness inspires offering forgiveness.
Jesus began his ministry as a disciple of John the Baptist, and went out into the wilderness to receive John’s baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus grew up as a good Jewish boy going to Temple where sacrifice for forgiveness of sins was commonplace. This is Jesus I'm talking about here. He awoke every day aware of his need for God’s grace and mercy; and I must say – it worked well for him. Just think how it might work for us.