MISCONCEPTIONS REMOVED
‘I 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.’
Suffer me to disabuse your minds of some misconceptions which have grown up around this parable, and which prevent the real point of its teaching coming home to our hearts.
I. We generally fail to understand the respective positions of the two men in regard of character. The Pharisee was the better even of the two in every practical sense. Of course it is possible this Pharisee was a hypocrite, and that his account of himself was false; but there is no hint of that. Taking his own account of himself as substantially true, it cannot be denied that he had much cause to give thanks to God for what he was. If the Pharisee had thanked God with humility, remembering that his comparative innocence was due to God’s grace, and to the advantages of position and training, he would have done well. We must, then, allow that the Pharisee was a better Jew, a better neighbour and citizen, and, if it had not been for his pride, a better man than the publican.
II. Another misconception is that the publican was actually justified by his lowly demeanour and self-condemning words.—Our Lord does not say that. He says the publican was justified rather than the other. I imagine that neither was truly justified, but as far as the publican yet was from the Kingdom of Heaven, he was in the right way. In his humility he stood, as it were, on the threshold, and there was nothing to hinder his entering in if he was prepared for the necessary sacrifice; whereas the Pharisee had missed the entrance altogether, and was getting farther and farther from it. But never let us think that our Saviour meant this for an example of sufficient repentance. Our Lord means to impress upon us the fatal danger of spiritual pride, which made the Pharisee, with all his real cause for thanksgiving, to be farther off from the Kingdom than the publican.
III. The last misconception is that of imagining that the self-righteous spirit must always take the same form as here presented—that Pharisaism must always be the proud relying upon outward religious observances. In fact, it has as many different forms as there are fashions in religion. We are always apt to think like this Pharisee, that we can commend our faith by protesting against other people’s errors, and our practice, by condemning faults to which we are not tempted. And truly we must believe that this spirit of self-righteousness must be more offensive to God when united with the lax morality and careless life of the publican, than when connected with the strict morality of the Pharisee.
Rev. R. Winterbotham.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
A CHURCHMAN’S FAILURE
So the man—a thorough Churchman—was not justified! Here was a thorough Churchman who missed the mark. Notice how very tenderly the Lord puts it. ‘I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.’ Whenever you deal with a soul be very tender. Controversialists sometimes say, ‘Well, if you believe that, you will be damned.’ That is rough speaking; that is rough handling. It is not for us to speak like this. Why was it that this poor Pharisee failed altogether?
I. It was because he compared himself with other men.—He thanked God for having made such a pre-eminently respectable person as himself. Now this is altogether wrong; because we can never pass judgment upon anybody else. We do not know the secrets of their existence.
II. This man put his ecclesiastical duties in the place of his natural duties.—He did two beautiful penances; he fasted and gave alms, and that is what we ought to do. He kept the rules of his Church. He was what we should call a thorough Churchman. He fasted twice in the week, as he was bound to by the law of his Church. And not only did he do this, but he gave a tenth of everything. Now it was not really a requirement that he should give a tenth of everything. There were certain things he was exempt from; but he would not be exempt at all, he gave a tenth of all he possessed—every bit. And yet, good Churchman that he was, he was not good, he was not justified. Where was the wrong? He neglected the natural virtues—the virtues of grace. There was no broken heart, there was no contrite spirit, there was no cry for mercy, no tear ran down his cheek. That is where the Pharisee failed.
III. He thought he had done more than there was any need for him to do.—This is a very subtle and a very sweet temptation. It comes upon us all. We put ourselves into the family of the ‘goodenoughs,’ or possibly we go a little further, and say we belong to the family of the ‘too-goods,’ and the Holy Spirit will put us in the family of the ‘no-goods.’ The whole thing is spoilt The inward pride crops up and spoils the whole thing. There is something in religious pride and self-satisfaction which is execrable, but it is so true!
IV. He never prayed.—He went up to the Temple to pray, and he never said one word of prayer. Do you know that is something like us. Have you ever gone to the church to pray, and never really prayed? Gone through some prayers, but never really prayed? We may say prayers, and shout them, without praying a word; and we may be perfectly silent, but our attitude is so towards God that the very breath we breathe is a prayer. God does not hear you because you talk with your lips. He only hears the longing of the soul.
V. He did not cry for forgiveness.—He did not want it. Now, what I want to ask you is, ‘Do you want God to forgive you your sins, and make you better men and women? Do you really want it? Is there the desire down deep in your heart? Do you want to know the Saviour more; to trust Him more, to love Him more, and to see that He is all in all, and that you are nothing at all? Do you want it? If so, I hope you will creep into a quiet place, somewhere where you may meet God face to face, no man knowing, and pour out your heart to Him, and say, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’
—Rev. A. H. Stanton.
Illustration
‘You do not know how other people were brought up, or the environment round about them. Had you had their environment you might have been worse than they are. We know nothing of other people’s temperament. What is an easy sin to resist to you, may be no easy sin for others to resist. Until you know the secrets of their life within, as well as the secrets of their life without, you are utterly out of count in trying in any sense to frame a judgment on them, or they on you. Then there is heredity. What do you or I know about heredity? They tell us that there is the taint which passes down from father to son, and the biologist will tell you that many men are almost irresponsible for what they do, it has come into them by the taint of heredity. God help us never to say, “I thank thee that I am not as other men.” ’