From the Living Room Church

We continue to marvel at our Lord Jesus' teaching style. Currently we are pursuing His parables, with a better appreciation for the Middle East context. This Sunday we celebrated the Lord's Supper in light of the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14. Notice how the Holy Spirit has Luke set up the purpose of the parable in verse 9. It's not a study on how to pray or the importance of humility. While those are certainly implications, note carefully why Jesus tells this parable to His hearers then and now.
The appreciation for that parable grows even deeper when you see what the tax collector does. He has witnessed in the Temple the sacrifice of the lamb (and this is done twice daily at the time of prayers), and has seen the priest enter the Holy of Holies to offer the incense and prayers of the people. So the tax collector's prayer is loaded with the hope and earnest plea that the atonement would be made for such a great sinner as himself! He does something very rare for a middle eastern man to do: instead of standing with his arms folded across his chest, he beats his chest. Luke tells us that this is the crowd's response to watching Jesus die at the cross (Luke 23:48).

It is the cry of everyone who comes face to face with his own sin! And the wonder of all wonders: just as Jesus could say about that tax collector, in light of the anticipated death of the True Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, you and I too may know that the atonement has been made! And for such great sinners as ourselves!

What marvellous Good News we have to announce to the world! May the Lord give all of us the opportunities to learn not only this Truth for ourselves, but may He give us the people to love and share with them this Best News. Thank You, Jesus, for not discarding us as too wretched to rescue. And thank You, Jesus, for the Grace we need to love all sorts of folks who may have convinced themselves that they are beyond hope.

The gratitude You give us for our salvation is such a gift: it rescues us from working so hard, living so seriously and trying so desperately to attain to such a lifestyle that would deserve Your acceptance. It can't be done. We can lay our doing down and trust ourselves to another righteousness won for us by our Savior Himself. Lord, help us to live out this life-changing Grace so that the folks watching can see the authentic life of Christ in us. Set us free from the tyranny of the love of our reputations in which we live for the recognition of people (and add to the ranks of the Pharisees), as we trust Him for what we need to love the Father and our neighbors.