God the Healer
God the Healer
Readings
Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22
Psalm 84:1-7
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14
Devotion
Are we too proud to admit our helplessness before God?
Today in our Gospel reading, Jesus tells a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisees were the really religious people of their day. They were very careful to make sure they kept God’s Law perfectly right. They gave themselves to study of the Old Testament and to a rigorous practice of faith. But oftentimes, even though they knew the truth in their head, they forgot about the most important thing: their heart. They were sometimes known for showy religious actions, hypocrisy, and looking down on others. All too often, we religious people are apt to be the same way today.
The tax collector in Jesus’ story is meant to be a contrast to the Pharisee. Tax collectors collected money for the Roman occupiers and often cheated people so as to increase their own wealth. They were not looked at positively in the society of Israel. We could compare their standing in society to perhaps Bernard Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme cheated people out of billions of dollars. The last person that people would expect to be the hero of Jesus’ story would be the tax collector. But there he is: humble, contrite, confessing his sin to God. Jesus points out that we are justified when we humble ourselves and cast ourselves on God’s mercy, not when we proclaim our own goodness.
There’s no coincidence that the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector is followed by the story of the little children and Jesus. Both are stories about the humility of recognizing our unworthiness of what God does for us. That attitude of humility is the trust and faith in which we place ourselves wholly at the mercy of God. And yet we also trust Him and His heart toward us, like a little child trusts their parent.
In the sacrament of baptism, God gives us an object lesson of what it means to be cast wholly on His mercy. The picture of infant baptism is a humble one. We believe that God saves a little baby who can do nothing for herself. She is completely at the mercy of her parents for food, drink, clothing, shelter, and diaper changes. And she is completely at the mercy of God’s grace spiritually.
There is no humbler picture than that of a helpless baby. But there is also no better picture for all of us spiritually. All too often—like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable—we take pride in our spiritual or moral accomplishments, but we should not do that because Scripture tells us that, apart from Christ, we are dead in our trespasses. If there is any more helpless person than a baby, it is a dead person! Through baptism, God buries our sinful nature and as we come out of the water, He brings us a new nature. We are now simultaneously saint and sinner. We are given new life in Christ Jesus.
That is what anyone who is baptized—child or adult—is promised. What we could not do for ourselves, Jesus has done for us on the cross and through the empty tomb. We have been given new life in Him and made a part of His family.
After we have been given new life, we can’t boast about it, like “I thank God that I am so holy and righteous that I had faith as a baby...or as a person dead in sin!” Rather, as we grow in faith, hopefully we will be humble and realize that everything that was given to us was God’s gift. And the same goes for each of us—whether we were baptized as a baby, as a child, or as an adult. When we are awed by the unmerited grace of God on our behalf, our heart is in the best possible place to express that faith in action. Instead of being show-boaters, we become people who are so grateful God reached out to them that they try to do everything they can to say “thank you,” always knowing their thanks can never equal all God has done for them.
When I was serving as a pastor, I remember exhorting the parents of baptized babies. I remember telling them how humbling it is to teach your kids about faith. I have discovered since becoming a Mom myself that it is a daunting task to be faced with teaching your child about faith—even if you are a pastor! Nothing exposes our own sinful nature like becoming a parent. Suddenly, there is a little one watching us all the time, and coming to imitate our every move. How will we ever pass on the faith when we know we fall so short of the faith? The answer is that God calls us to point first and foremost to Jesus Christ, not to ourselves.
Unfortunately, as sinners ourselves, we will make mistakes. We will have regrets. We should be honest about that with our kids, and emphasize the forgiveness of God. We can imitate the humble heart of the tax collector by confessing our mistakes when we mess up and by being in awe of God’s grace to us.
What does it mean, for example, to yell at your kid, but then to model asking their forgiveness and reminding them that God forgives us when we confess our sin? What does it mean to admit mistakes you have made in your life and how God helped you learn something from them? What does it mean to admit we don’t know everything about the Bible but that we want to keep learning?
God doesn’t call us to be perfect, but He does get upset when we don’t even try. So often, as a young pastor, I baptized babies whose families I rarely saw again. I confirmed students who assured me their faith was real, but then stopped coming to church. I married couples who rarely showed up again. And I sometimes witnessed in my heart and the heart of other regular churchgoers a stubborn refusal to change and grow and humble ourselves. God’s grace is a free gift, but like any gift, you have to use it to get the full benefit of it. Are we too proud to humble ourselves before God like the tax collector? Are we so self-assured that we feel we don’t need God?
In closing, are we humbly in awe of the fact that God has saved us when we were most helpless, when we were dead in our sins?
And secondly, out of a heart of thankfulness and not superiority, what are we doing with this free gift of God? Are we letting it get musty and moldy? Or are we using it with excitement and joy?
What an opportunity! What a blessing! May God bless each of you as you fulfill your calling to pass on the faith!
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for understanding we are not prefect. Remind us to humble ourselves by confessing our sins to one another and by forgiving others who sin against us. Lead us to share your grace with others. Thank you for your grace and forgiveness. Amen.
Reflective Questions
Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the comment covenant located here.) You can answer as many questions as you What sin is God calling you to repent of and turn from? would like.
1.What habits will you set up in your lives to regularly use the amazing gift of God’s grace? What sin is God calling you to repent of and turn from?
2.What devotional habits can you use with your family? What prayer can you pray for your child? How can you ensure that you get your child to church on a regular basis?
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost: God’s Grace in Forgiveness
photo by Amber Sue Photography, www.ambersuephotography.com