"The Deacon and the Drunkard"
Luke 18:9-14
October 28th, 2001
Robert Warren
Luke 18:9-14:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like all other men— robbers, evildoers, adulterers— or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Two men walk into a church. Sounds like the beginning of a Christian joke, doesn’t it? Two men, the deacon and the drunkard. The deacon is well known and respected in the church. Everyone knows that he is a good husband, a loving father, an exemplary citizen in the community, and a pillar of the church. He teaches Sunday school, is a deacon, a member of the board, and on all the search committees. He would never say it— although others would— but the church wouldn’t be able to function the way it does without him. Not only does he speak on many spiritual matters in the church, he is also a faithful giver to the church. There are many missionaries abroad who are there because of this man’s generosity, there are many bricks in the wall that he helped put there, there are many fund raisers that have been started with his seed money.
The deacon is everything that the drunkard is not. In fact, most of the people in church that day can hardly believe that he is there. Some nerve he has, coming to worship on Sunday and living the way that he does the rest of the week. He is well known in town as a no-account scoundrel. He sells used cars— now there is nothing wrong with that, but he has been known to take advantage of people. Giving credit to people who couldn’t afford it so that he can repossess the car and keep the down payment. Rolling back miles on the odometer. Putting saw dust in the transmission housing. Selling flooded cars and painting over wrecked cars to hide their defects. Not only is he a dishonest businessman, he is also not much of a man. He’s nice enough, but when he drinks too much— which is often— he is mean to his wife and kids. Many times his family has gone without necessities because he has squandered his pay on gambling and drinking. He’s not in church often. He never comes to any of the work days, he never puts anything in the offering plate, he would never even be considered to be a deacon or Sunday school teacher.
But here they come, walking into the church together. Naturally, the deacon doesn’t even offer the drunkard his hand. The deacon goes down to the first pew and takes his seat with the other deacons. The drunkard makes his way to the back road and slouches down in the seat. During the singing, the deacon sings boldly and loudly, if not a little off key. The drunkard barely mumbles out the songs, keeping his head down while singing, "Just As I Am." When the offering plate goes around everyone sees the deacon put in a wad of bills, with a $50 on top. The children giggle when the plate gets to the drunkard and the sound of coins rattles into the plate. During the sermon the deacon pulls out his thick, leather-bound bible and nods intelligently while the preacher makes his three points. The drunkard, who probably doesn’t even own a bible, fumbles around in the pew bible trying to find the Gospels. Finally, the 12 o’clock hour approaches and the minister winds down, extending a call to the altar for all those with any needs. A few people make their way down, and as is his custom, the deacon goes down to pray with those at the altar. A few people gasp, though, when the drunkard makes his way down. All eyes are on him as he falls to his knees and puts his head in his hands. He’s not just kneeling: he’s face down at the altar (we just don’t do that around here). And what’s that noise? Is he crying? Are his shoulders shaking with emotion? Wow, he must have really done something wrong.
If you were standing where the preacher is standing, right down at the front of the church at the altar, you might be able to hear these words, muttered under their breath. The deacon, looking at this wretch of a man, shakes his head and clucks his tongue, saying:
"What a waste of a life. There but for the grace of God go I. I am sure glad that my life isn’t like this wretch. God, if only everyone could be like I am. I’m not like most men, I’ve cleaned my act up. I don’t steal, I don’t lie, I don’t cheat on my wife, I don’t cuss. I pray four times a day and over every meal. I fast every Friday. I give 20% of my pay to the church. I’m so glad that I’m not like this poor slob."
The drunkard, on the other hand, doesn’t have such an eloquent prayer. All he is saying, over and over, with his face buried in his hands, is: "God, I’ve sinned against you and against my family. I’m not worthy even of life. I don’t deserve your love. Have mercy on me, a sinner."
The invitation song is over, both men pick themselves up and head off for dinner. As they leave the church, who do you think is closer to God?
Now, be careful before you answer. You know the Sunday School answer, but I don’t think that is the answer in your heart. Let’s be honest, if you were to pick the one who was most closely living the Christian life, you would pick the deacon 10 times out of 10. He has clearly given his life to God and made the changes that he needs to make to be a child of God. He follows the commandments, he is faithful to God, he does all of the right things. The drunkard, on the other hand, has been living in sin for a long time. He may have repented there at the altar, but he is going to have a long way to go before he really gets straightened out. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to look at these two men and see which one is living the life of righteousness.
However, according to Jesus, it was the drunkard who went away justified by God. The story I just told you is a modern paraphrase of the parable Jesus tells in Luke 18:9-14:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like all other men— robbers, evildoers, adulterers— or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
What are we to make of this? You may have known how this parable ended if you have read it before, but what sense does this make? After all, aren’t we called to live a life of righteousness? If you were to look at the life of the Pharisee in this parable you would see a person who would appear to be trying to please God. He kept the commandments: he did not rob, do evil, commit adultery, or cheat people out of money. He fasted twice a week and gave a tenth of all his pay to the temple. That’s what you’re supposed to do. The tax collector, on the other hand, was engaged in a job that was dishonest: stealing and bribery were common among tax collectors. We may know how this story ends, but it doesn’t make sense when you think about it.
The problem here is not the actions done by these men. There is nothing wrong with being righteous; in fact, Jesus commanded that we be as perfect as our Father in Heaven. Jesus made it clear that he did not come to earth to do away with the Law. Ironically, he even said that unless our righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees we would not see the Kingdom of Heaven, and here was a Pharisee that Jesus described in a parable. This story is upside down: the person who appears righteous is condemned while the sinner is lifted up as an example.
To understand this parable, we have to understand the point that Jesus was trying to make. More than that, we have to understand who Jesus was talking to. Verse 9 says that Jesus was talking to "some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else." The ones who Jesus was talking to were not just righteous in their deeds, they were righteous and they knew it. They were good church people. They minded their P’s and the Q’s, they dotted every ‘I’ and crossed every ‘T’. They followed the letter of the Law scrupulously. They had done everything that they needed to do to earn God’s favor. They had earned a place in heaven. They had worked hard to be righteous, and now God owed them a just reward. The key word in this passage is that they were confident of their own righteousness.
There’s just one problem here. It’s a rather big problem, though. The problem is that the righteousness of man, no matter how good, is not righteous enough. As human beings, no matter how hard we try, no matter how good we are, no matter what we do, we will still fall short of the glory of God, as Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." You might be pretty good. You might be super-righteous. You might be a better person than anyone in this room. But you still ain’t as righteous as God. You can’t earn up enough Green Stamps of righteousness to redeem them for eternal life. Therefore, if you are relying on your own righteousness to please God, you are always going to fall short. This Pharisee may not be a robber, an evildoer, an adulterer or a tax collector, but he was still not like God in righteousness and holiness.
Furthermore, it is pretty obvious that Mr. Righteous here has some pretty serious issues of sin going on. His sins are not the outwardly noticeable sins that you would notice in a robber or adulterer, but in the eyes of God, they are just as disgusting. What was his big sin? Pride. Not only was he relying on his own righteousness, but he looked down on others as well. He considered himself better than others, especially tax collectors, because he didn’t do the things they did. His pride caused him to think less of others, which is nothing more than a type of hatred.
But there’s a more serious sin here; can you see it? It’s not real noticeable to us, but it stands out like a pimple on the end of your nose to God. This Pharisee might be keeping the last nine commandments, but he’s stomping all over the first commandment, which says: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me."
Now, how can this be? This Pharisee would sooner die than worship a god of the Romans or the Greeks. He would never bow his knee before another altar than that of the Lord! Yet, that is exactly what he is doing. He thinks that he can save himself by his own righteousness, which means that he is the one writing the Law. And since he considers himself saved by his own righteousness, that means that he himself is the one who has saved him. He is his own savior! He has exalted himself to a place higher than God. And, as Jesus said, " For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled." On the day of judgement, when this Pharisee turns to God for salvation, God will say to him: "You relied on your own righteousness instead of mine, you exalted yourself above me, so now save yourself." Oh, he’ll surely be humbled on that day. I can assure you that this guy went away angry at Jesus that day: Jesus had exposed his god and destroyed the Pharisee’s sense of security. Is it any wonder that the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus?
But what about the tax collector? Surely he too would be afraid to stand before God, what with his sin and all. But here we see the difference. God certainly does not condone sin. God can’t stand sin; His holiness forbids it.And this is why He provided a means to overcome sin: His grace and forgiveness. The tax collector knew exactly where he stood. He knew that he did not deserve to come before God. He knew that any mercy he might receive from a holy God would be undeserved: it would be mercy. Thus, he prayed humbly, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Notice the difference in emphasis between these two men. The Pharisee could only see himself and his own righteousness. He says, I am glad that I am not like others. The tax collector, on the other hand, turns all of his attention to God and His eternal qualities. He says, "God, have mercy." Jesus was not saying that this tax collector lived a better life than the Pharisee. He was saying instead that the tax collector was justified before God; and that’s all that matters.
The tax collector had a better understanding than the wise Pharisee. The tax collector understood grace. He knew his sin and he knew that the only way he could stand before God would be if God extended a bunch of mercy. He knew God was holy, he was a sinner. He came not in pride or expectation, but with all humility and grief for his fallen state. This man, groveling on the ground, could certainly not be accused of worshiping himself. He humbled himself and now God will exalt him.
There’s a message of warning and hope for all of us here today. The warning is for those here who think that they deserve eternal life because they are such great church people. Those who look down on others because they have got everything in order. Those people who have lost sight of just how wonderful God’s grace is. Here’s a clue: if you think that you deserve eternal life, then you don’t have a good grasp on grace. If you were to stand before God on judgment day and He asked you why you deserve to live forever in Paradise, the only correct answer is that you have no grounds to be saved. You are only saved by His wonderful grace.
So, if you are self-righteous and look down on others who are not as "Christian" than you are, you are probably more lost than they are. I hear all the time about ministers who preach in prisons and to street gangs. Admittedly, they have a dangerous mission, but their preaching task is somewhat easier than the typical preacher speaking to a typical suburban church. The people in the prisons or on the streets know that they are sinners deserving of hell. They are eager to hear about how they can be saved because they know that they are lost. But the church is full of self-righteous people who think that they are doing alright because they are there in the church on Sundays; after all, they think that they are better than those who skip church. The thing is, God does not grade on a curve. It doesn’t matter that you are better than the person who is not in church. It doesn’t matter if you are better than anybody you know. In fact, even if you were more righteous than every other human alive today, you would still not be good enough to deserve eternal life. You can’t afford salvation, but the good news is that it’s free for the asking.
The self-righteous person is an idolater. (Not adulterer, but an idol worshiper). They worship their own self- righteousness and their own deeds and by so doing they feel as though they don’t need God. All of us, from the most righteous saint to the most heinous criminal needs to recite the prayer of the tax-collector: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." If you think that you don’t need to pray that prayer today, hear the words of 1 John 1:8, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
And this is the good news that I want to share with you. No matter how bad you’ve been, no matter how bad you are, no matter what you’ve done, this is a prayer that God will always answer if asked by a truly repentant person. God doesn’t care about your past, He only wants you to come to Him seeking forgiveness and mercy. The good news is that God will always forgive the person who comes to Him seeking mercy and grace. The next verse in 1 John says: 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
I read a story about a city-slicker who went to visit his cousin in the country. They went walking out in a wheat field. The city cousin noticed that some of the wheat stood up straight and tall while some of the wheat was bent over to the ground. He said, "I guess the tall wheat there is the better stock, isn’t it?" The country cousin only smiled and plucked the head off one of the tall-standing stalks of wheat and one off a stalk that was bent to the ground. He rubbed both between his fingers and the city slicker was astounded to see that the stalk close to the ground had many more seeds in it. It was bent over because it was full of the promise of a great harvest, while the tall stalk was nearly empty. The stalks standing the tallest and proudest were the emptiest. So it is with the Christian.
It all boils down to this: your justification before God does not depend on what you’ve done, but on where your heart is. If you exalt yourself and your own righteousness, God will humble you. But if you want to be exalted in the eyes of God, you must humble yourself before Him. There is not a person in here who is so good that they don’t need to humble themselves before God; and there is not a person in here who is so bad that God won’t hear their prayer for mercy.
So where are you today? Are you so good that you’ve been relying on your good deeds to save you? If so, you need to come humble yourself before God. Are you so bad that you don’t think God will save you? Then take heart at this scripture and come seeking forgiveness from God. Humble yourself, and God will exalt you.
Won’t you pray today: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." If you do, you will leave here today exalted by God and justified in His eyes.
