February 22, 2023 – Ash Wednesday Text: Luke 18:9-14
Dear Friends in Christ,
Brushing your teeth. Texting. Eating your lunch. Opening a door. Driving your car. What do these mundane activities have in common? They are most often accomplished by using your hands. Take away your hands and these everyday tasks are very hard.
Your hands are an indispensable part of your life. Hands figure prominently in the events surrounding our Savior’s suffering and death. This will be the theme for our Lenten sermons, “The Hands of the Passion.” The hands tonight do not belong to Jesus or Peter or Judas or Caiaphas or Pilate. They are the hands of the two men in our text.
Most are familiar with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, but as we study it again, focus on their hands. Make a connection between the actions of their hands and the attitudes of their hearts. Then apply it to what you observe in your own life, to appreciate and embrace what it means to have . . .
“HANDS OF REPENTANCE”
The setting is the temple in Jerusalem. Two men have come to pray. They begin the same way, “God,” but that is where the similarities end. The first man is a Pharisee, the spiritual elite of Jewish society. They were reverent and obedient.
He prayed, “God, I thank you…”. What a great beginning. Should have stopped there. “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” His hands were folded but he was giving himself a pat on the back. He had been keeping the commandments.
He actually felt he was going beyond. “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” He looked good, didn’t he? The other people probably looked up to him. But what about beneath the surface. What was in his head and in his heart?
We don’t know his motivation; Luke doesn’t tell us. He could have been blinded by sinful pride or he prayed loudly to mask his insecurity.
Ash Wednesday is about acknowledging our sinfulness and asking God for forgiveness. We look to Jesus as the only hope for our sin. The Pharisee looked past his sins and saw no reason to repent. He went home empty-handed.
The other worshippers probably didn’t see the other man who stood at a distance. He was ashamed of what he had done, with eyes downward and beating his breast he offered a simple prayer, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” He didn’t compare himself to others or put together a splashy resume. He stared into the mirror of God’s Law. He saw himself for who he was, a helpless sinner who could only beg for mercy.
It was a short prayer – seven English words – but it was powerful and genuine. Jesus declared, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus addressed this parable to the self-righteous who treated others with contempt.
Can you think of anyone who fits the description? The classmate always telling you how great she is? The co-worker suggesting how to do your job. The friend who uses the Christmas letter to brag about the family. Or, do you see someone who looks a lot like you?
If we complain about people who makes themselves out as being better than us, aren’t we making ourselves better than them? When we criticize those who look down on us, aren’t we turning our noses against them? C’mon, we would never stand up in church and call out another worshiper like the Pharisee did, but could God judge us for the way we pass judgement on each other in our hearts?
We can easily slip into Pharisee mode. We need to be imitating the tax collector. We need to fold hands and open hearts and confess every day, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Then we look to the parable and notice one more person in this little story, the person who told it. If anyone should be boasting it is the storyteller. He honored his parents. He obeyed laws of the land and Ten Commandments perfectly. Not for his own benefit. Everything he did, He did for you. If anyone shouldn’t be humble it is Jesus. Yet He made himself nothing and came in human flesh. He was a servant who allowed himself to be humiliated and executed for your sin and my sin.
He took your place so that you have a place in heaven. He shed body and blood so you can receive it tonight and go away from this altar knowing His mercy is upon you. His mercy assures you that you don’t have to be weighed down by guilt. Your Savior is with you. You know where you are going when you die. You can leave this house of worship with humble confidence because you are in good hands. You are in God’s hands.
Amen.