Sermon For The Eighteenth Sunday Of Ordinary Time 2025

Luke 18:9-14

We have all, at one time or another, existed in the feeling of being down, of being crushed by the darkness of the world. Much of the time, that darkness comes from within, a soul-sick despair that consumes us. For many in this modern life, despair is the only honest answer. I think of Alice in Chains song, “Down in a Hole, Losing my soul, I’d like to fly, but my wings have been so denied.” What we see in the Gospel today is a form of despair, but of one who still holds out hope, and in his simple words to God, we see the promised salve to an honest assessment of ourselves. We, yes, are sinners indeed, transgressors, ones who step over the line of the good God who has gifted us life, in all of the beautiful mosaic of experiences that we are to have. But sinners who ask for mercy, and to a God who “[shows] them…his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.” (Isa. 63:7)

Remember that last week we saw that essential to faith was prayer, which is simply speaking to God, and more specifically, to conform ourselves to God’s will through speaking with him and expressing our faith thereby. This passage drives that point home, that prayer is the essential sign of our faith, and demonstrates also what that prayer ought to look like, between these two characters. For it is not just prayer that matters, but the manner in which one prays, whether out of of pride or of humility.

First, we have a Pharisee, and can infer from the statement that the listeners are those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt,” that Pharisees were indeed listening. Then, a tax-collector, a notorious collaborator with imperial power who would gather taxes from his own people, and often were guilty of extorting for their own benefit. To the person in that time, it would present as “oh, a religiously devout person, and a villain.” But for the reader, Luke has been preparing us for the reversal that is to come; so far in his Gospel, we have had 7 references to tax-collectors and sinners being open to the word of the Christ, and 18 identifying the Pharisees and scribes as those who reject God’s word.

This Pharisee fasts and gives above and beyond the minimum and prays every day, but the key is in the substance of his words. “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector.” He is self-righteous. He does not see what he needs, and delights and is proud in religious achievements and faithfulness. He does everything right, has the right ideas, remains ritually pure, follows the Law and beyond. This, in other words, is a man who is sick and cannot accept it. He has been offered a vaccine, but says, “I’ve got this, I’m fine, I’m healthy and do everything I am supposed to.” 

The tax collector, in contrast, stands with his head down in shame, beating his chest in sorrow, he says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” This is a man who knows himself. This is a man who knows God. He, sick with sin and in need; God, holy and unreachable on our own. We have this passage passed down to us by the Tradition as the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” First, who do we worship? God the Son, Jesus (LORD is salvation) the Messiah. And who are we? Sinners, people who have “missed the mark,” those who in sickness are weak and cannot do what we are called to do. But nestled right in between God’s identification and ours, the key phrase: “have mercy on us.”  That is the conduit by which our sins are forgiven, our heads lifted up, and we then are made whole and well. “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.’” God saves those who seek his mercy out of recognition of their own need.

Kids, have you ever been sick? What helped you get well? When you are sick, do you ask for help, or do you say “I can do just fine on my own”? Sin is a sickness that will cause us to die, and Jesus is the medicine that guarantees we will live even after these bodies die. We have to recognize we need him, ask for his mercy, and he will give it.

Friends, this is a danger for every one of us. I lament the pride and self-righteousness I see in myself and in the Church. I have often stood in judgment of others, whether over politics or religion or simply taste, and scoffed at their stupidity. I have stood and believed myself superior. I have seen and heard many in our province acting like this Pharisee. Thank God we are not like The Episcopal Church. Thank God we are not like those Baptists, or Catholics. Thank God we pray right, our liturgy is the best, our doctrine tuned properly. And I see us yielding the fruit of that in the turmoil that has beset us most recently. Maybe for you it is thank God I am not a democrat, or a republican; thank God I am not poor or not rich; thank God I protest the right things, go to church every Sunday, watch the right news company, have the right opinions. It is never enough to judge and then celebrate ourselves. It is only God who justifies, and we best not praise the day before the night, nor claim God’s blessing before the judgment.

You and I, also, had best stand in humility before our God. We best pray the Jesus Prayer daily, and internalize it. Spend time focusing on each phrase, each word, meditating on them. When we find ourselves speaking derisively of those whose politics or theology don’t match ours, we best stop ourselves and remember that we need mercy. When we think ourselves more righteous, for any reason whatever, we had best stop and ask God for mercy. Forget your pride, for it is he who justifies, who declares us righteous, and that is found only in Jesus Christ, and he is given to those who can see they are sick and need to be inoculated. And when you are down in that hole, look to Jesus, the cure for the sickness of sin, the one who will lift you out and raise your eyes, that you may see the face of God. Amen.