Meeting Jesus - Humble Hearts
Around 2018, videos began to surface online, and were somehow categorized as “Karen” videos. Karen” videos often depict middle-aged white women exhibiting entitled, unreasonable, or inappropriate behavior. Issues that caused them to be triggered could be related to, customer service, parenting children, covid related, neighbor disputes, parking violations, etc…
These videos were designed to shame these women for how they acted publicly. Public shaming has been around for a very long time.
Often in the Old Testament, Prophets were publicly shamed in the town square and placed in stocks while others laughed at them and made fun of them.
And, if your name is Karen. I am sorry! I didn’t name these types of videos!
In Luke 18, Jesus told a story about a Pharisee who publicly humiliated and shamed a tax collector who had messed up in life.
Our world is quick to judge and slower to understand, so let’s read:
Luke 18:9-14 (NLT2)
9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
This statement may surprise you.
Some people believe they are better than you! (Gasp!)
Some people believe God is always pleased with them, and God is never pleased with you.
This story Jesus tells gives us three applications that, if applied to our lives, will help significantly. First, I believe this story teaches us to:
Choose self-awareness over self-righteousness
The viral Karen videos and the way the Pharisee called out the tax collector have striking similarities. In both instances, there is a display of self-righteousness and a condemnation of the other without self-awareness. The videos show individuals quick to judge and point fingers without understanding the entire story or the perspectives of others. Likewise, the Pharisee was quick to point out the sins of the tax collector without pointing out his own sins. Avoid becoming like the Pharisee and develop a healthy awareness of self.
Here is how you can begin to develop a healthy self-awareness. Begin with two lists. The first list is a list of the things you do well. The second list is a list of the things you don’t do well. The first list will make you prideful without the second list. The second list will make you depressed without the first list. You and I need a healthy self-awareness. We grow in confidence as we get better at the things we do well, and we begin to appreciate others when they are great at the areas we are not. The more you develop a healthy self-awareness, the more you grow comfortable in your mission to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus. But self-righteousness develops when you only focus on how great you are…
If you only focus on how skilled and great you are in particular areas, you will begin to look with disgust at those who do not live up to your ability and standards.
And we are more like the Pharisee than we think. The problem with the Pharisee was that he only saw the good things he did, and he only saw the shortcomings and failures of others. He never saw the good qualities of others, only their failures and sins.
This takes us to the second application for us all to consider:
Declaring what we do right does not hide our wrongs from God
Take a look at the prayer of the Pharisee as he focused on himself.
I don’t cheat.
I don’t commit adultery.
I fast twice a week.
I give you a tenth of my income.
The Pharisee supplies God with a list of all his wonderful qualities that, in his mind, should excuse any of the sins he may be hiding.
He was honest with people. He was faithful to his wife. He fasted twice a week. He gave a tenth of his income to the Lord.
These are all great qualities for a person to have.
The problem is found in one sentence in his list:
He said: “I don’t sin.”
He listed all his good deeds, seemingly using them as a shield to cover up any of his sins and failures. I don’t know how to say this kindly, so I will say it plainly:
Self-righteous people have delusional minds.
They believe that God overlooks any sin as long as their good outweighs the bad. They are delusional because God never claimed if we did enough good in life, we would be okay.
Isaiah 64:6 (NLT2)
6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags…
Ecclesiastes 7:20 (NLT2)20 Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.
1 John 1:8 (NLT2)8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
Psalm 14:2-3 (NLT2)2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise if anyone seeks God. 3 But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!
Psalm 53:3 (NLT2)
3 But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!
And I could go on and on and on. The one who created us, God, gave us guidelines to live by. He told us how to treat others. He told us how to treat ourselves. He told us how to treat Him. When we do not obey him in those areas, we sin. When we claim to be without sin, we negate the significance of the sacrifice that Jesus made to pay the price for our sins on the cross. So, choose to be honest with God about your sin. If you are more like the tax collector, you are welcome here at Beach Church.
And, if you feel like you are more like the Pharisee, you are welcome here too. Jesus never stopped trying to reach the pharisee. He loved the Pharisees too and always tried to get them to see how their actions impacted others.
If you struggle with judgmental thoughts toward other people, I am glad you are here, too. We accept everybody wherever they are on their journey of faith. We are not going to “judge the judger.” We are going to love you too! But let me encourage you. Don’t waste your life focusing on the sins and failures of others.
Before you judge others, take a long look in the mirror.
Because,
Life-change happens through transparent living
It is clear that both the Pharisee and the Tax Collector were guilty of sin when they began their prayers. By themselves, neither one of these men is an example of the type of person we should aspire to be. The Pharisee tried to hide his sins from God and pointed out the sins of other people, and the tax collector was a cheater, liar, and swindler. Both had hurt people. The Pharisee had hurt people through his judgmental attitude about others. The tax collector hurt others by “legally” stealing from them. But Jesus said that when one of the sinners returned home that day, that sinner returned home “justified” before God.
Luke 18:14 (NLT2)
14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
The definition of the Greek word “justified” is:
Dikaioo: (dee – ki – o): to render just or innocent
When the tax collector left the temple that day, God declared him to be innocent of his sin, but the pharisee still remained guilty. They both showed up guilty, and only one went home innocent. This is because the Tax Collector is the only one who practiced transparent living with God and with others.
Take a look at the prayer of confession that the Tax Collector prayed:
Luke 18:13 (NLT2)
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
The transparency and humility of the tax collector are clearly noticeable in his actions and through what he prayed. At Beach Church, one of our core values is Transparent Living. We believe that God desires us to be real, open, and honest about who we are and allow others to do the same. That means we are all “not okay.” None of us have figured out how to live a perfect life. We embrace transparent living because living transparently motivates us all to live dependent on the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:7-9 (NLT2)
7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
Being honest with God and being honest with others actually sets us free. When we are honest and transparent about the darkness that lurks beneath the surface of our hearts and the dark sins we struggle with, we are actually living in the light!
It is only through honesty and transparency that we can experience ongoing life change!
So, today, commit to live transparently.