Scripture: Luke 18:10-14

¹⁰Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. ¹¹The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. ¹²I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.¹³And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:13

¹³Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

The Publican

Humbled at the mere thought of coming into the presence of God, the publican stood afar off. You can’t miss the anguish in this man. He pounds his chest, and wasn’t the least bit concerned with who was watching. A valuable lesson can learned here. Without God’s mercy, we are all lost and undone. Unlike the prideful Pharisee, the publican sought not to exalt himself, justify himself, or compare himself to anyone. People in the Pharisee’s position, thought that by their public displays of piety, they were demonstrating for people just how righteous they were, rather than pointing followers to the righteousness of God.

Measure Twice – Cut Once

The adage is true. We want to make certain our measurements are correct before we make unnecessary cuts. I’ve witnessed people who are “pros” who have found they incorrectly measured only to find they cut something unnecessarily too short. The Pharisees were that way. Foolishly measuring themselves by the status of others, they felt as long as they were doing more than anyone else, or behaved more righteously than anyone, this equated to being godly. They never measured correctly to begin with. The publican on the other hand, measure himself against the Holiness and Righteousness of God and realized, God’s mercy is always required for any of us to “make the cut!”

Paul told the Ephesians, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

If you want to measure yourself against anyone, do so against the Rule of God. He is always straight. He is always just. He is always true. He changes not…He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever.

In Closing

We see a stark contrast here between the prayers that are received and the ones that go ignored. Regardless of how long we’ve been serving God, it’s good to acquaint ourselves once in awhile with the message of the Pharisee and the publican. Both worshipped the same God, in the same church, and both were keenly aware of their responsibility to stay in touch with God. One got results, and the other did not. If you feel you’re prayer life has gone stagnant, maybe visit your prayer posture. Do your prayers measure up? Or, are you quick to point to your righteousness rather than God’s?

How Do I Feel?

Tired, but not overly hungry. Hunger pangs try to remind me that something is missing, but I use them as prompts to remind me to pray, rather than to eat. I have been drinking scads of water, but regardless I’m physically weak. Just one week left – so I have more behind me than I have in front of me…that’s almost true too even if you consider my belt line!

Scripture: Luke 18:10-14

   ¹⁰Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. ¹¹The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. ¹²I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.¹³And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The Pharisee

As we read this scripture we see a stark contrast between the Pharisee and the publican. It’s so important for us to visit this portion of Christ’s teaching as we are in the middle of a fast. I’ve observed in times past, with myself, and with others, that when going on fast, we can develop the tendency to come across self-righteous or “holier-than-thou.” As the Pharisee in this parable goes through the litany of things he feels makes him more righteous than everyone else, we find that he has set his standard for comparison quite low. You see, the Pharisee foolishly used others as a scale, or standard of measurement. In defense of his ministry Paul states to the Corinthians, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise (II Corinthians 10:12).”

So, much like a bully does in school, the Pharisee would play off of the weaknesses of others in order to make HIM look better. Isaiah had it right a long time ago when he said, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6).” It’s not our righteousness that justifies us; it’s the Grace of God! Simply saying, “well, at least I’m not as bad as some people,” doesn’t make you righteous. That’s why there is but ONE that is righteous, and ONE standard by which all righteousness will be measured – God’s Righteousness!

In Closing

We’ll get to the publican tomorrow, but I wanted those that are fasting to know, be aware of the potential of coming across as if you are better than someone else just because you are…”Doing more than anyone else.”  Or, worse yet, “At least I’m not as bad as so-and-so!” Hint, Hint, wink, wink!

How Do I Feel?

I slipped a bit this weekend. I know, I know, I may have let some of you down, but I’m not doing this fast for acclaim. The very reason I slipped, is the very reason I need to continue the fast. You want me to tell how I slipped? Not gonna happen – I wouldn’t want to put you in peril of being like the Pharisee, comparing your fast to mine and saying…”well at least I didn’t bomb, like Mangold!”

That being said, my body doesn’t feel that great. Praise the Lord who has been my companion through the fatigue. I seriously could not do this without Him.