Two Men Went Up into the Temple to Pray

In Nomine Iesu!

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Sermon Text: St. Luke 18:9-14

“‘Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.’”

Prayer in Pulpit before Sermon:

O God, Who resisteth the proud, and givest grace to the humble, grant unto us true humility, after the likeness in which Thine only Son hath revealed it in Himself, that we may never be lifted up and provoke Thy wrath, but in all lowliness be made partakers of the gifts of Thy grace; through + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior + Jesus Christ. Amen. 

My dear friends, in the Fifth Petition to the Lord’s Prayer we pray that our heavenly Father would “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We learn in the Small Catechism that this means that “We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins, nor on their account deny our prayer; for we are worthy of none of the things for which we pray, neither have we deserved them; but that He would grant them all to us by grace; for we daily sin much and indeed deserve nothing but punishment. So will we also heartily forgive and readily to good to those who sin against us.” The key point in this petition is that we are worthy of none of the things for which we pray. We are not better Christians than the other people who pray the Lord’s Prayer with us. This is why the second part of the Fifth petition talks about our neighbor. We are as miserable of a sinner as he is, and therefore his sins are not greater than our own. So then, we should forgive him even as we are asking for forgiveness.

This is not a bargain struck with the heavenly Father, to be clear. We who are sinless in every way, can never expect to make a bargain with a perfect God. We are not asking in this Petition that our Father would forgive our sins in the same measure that we forgive our neighbor. That He pull out the measuring scales and determine how much our sins should be forgiven by Him, by measuring how much we have forgiven our neighbor. If this was the case, no one would ever be forgiven their sins, for our sinful pride would always get in the way. Rather, we are stating to our heavenly Father that those sins against our neighbor have already been forgiven by us. “As Thou hast forgiven me, so I too, have already freely forgive them, My Lord.” For we are worthy of none of the things for which we pray on account of our manifold sins and trespasses.

We are not worthy of the forgiveness for which we ask. Neither is our neighbor, but we do not hold that against him. We do not hold our neighbor’s sins against us, when our sins against the Lord God deserve a greater punishment. The worst our neighbor’s sins can do to us is put us at enmity with our neighbor. The sins against our heavenly Father have eternal consequences. Our breaking of His Law and will makes us only worthy of His eternal wrath and displeasure. This is why we should avoid approaching our heavenly Father in prayer filled with pride in ourselves, like the Pharisee from today’s parable by our Lord + Jesus. 

This is the problem with people who place their trust in their own faith; who have confidence in their own ability to save themselves. The Lord + Jesus is the verse just prior to our pericope for today says, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” Many prideful people like to attribute to themselves this faith, as if it came from their own striving and working. They have made faith a work, and they have granted to their own abilities that their faith is on account of themselves. This obviously leads to pride. Just like this Pharisee in our Lord’s parable. They forget the Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. They forget that they are worthy of none of the things for which they pray; even faith. Faith is not something that they have drummed up in themselves by their great virtue and strength. Faith is a gift of the Lord God. It is granted to us through the working of the Holy Ghost through the means of grace, as we will hear more about in our study of the Book of Revelation in the Epistle to the Church at Philadelphia (when we get to it).

The problem the Pharisee has, and all those who justify themselves by comparing themselves to a set of scales they have made of their own virtues, is that they forget that they are worthy of none of the things for which they pray. They do not see how much of a poor, miserable sinner they are. They do not see their sin, and therefore, they do not need a Physician. Why go to the Lord God, heavenly Father at all, then? Do healthy people go to the doctor and brag about how healthy they are? I am sure there may be a few if one was to pose this question to a physician. But healthy people, other than routine checkups, do not need to go to see a doctor. Who needs a physician? the sick and wounded.

The sick man knows that something is not right with him, this is why he goes to the doctor to get is checked out. A man full of sin knows that his sin is killing him, and so he goes to the only One Who can heal him of his sin; he goes to the only One Who can take away the penalty of his sin. For he remembers his unworthiness to even to see the Physician of our souls. He remembers that forgiveness is granted to him on account of the grace alone of the Lord + Jesus. Like the Publican in the parable, we beat our breast, and humbly confess that we are poor sinners in need of his grace. We pray, as he did, “God, be Thou merciful to me a sinner.” Or to say it another way, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

We are worthy of none of the things for which we pray, especially for the gift of the forgiveness of our sins. But our Lord + Jesus is abundantly merciful and gracious. The Publican went down to his house justified, that is, made right with the Lord God, because his faith was directed in the right direction. The Pharisee directed his faith towards himself. He considered his own virtues and strengths. The Publican only placed his trust in the mercy of the Lord God, heavenly Father. He knew that his sins were too great for him to overcome by his own striving and working. No amount of good works to the contrary was going to replace the sins which he had committed. Nor was any amount of good works going to overwrite the penalty of the original sin that inhered to him from his birth. Only the mercy of the heavenly Father was going to right the wrongs he had done. Only the absolution given to him by the grace and mercy of the heavenly Father was going to make things right with the heavenly Father. 

For his sins were not against his fellowman, but were against the heavenly Father. The sins against his neighbor needed to be addressed with his neighbor. But the sins against the heavenly Father needed to be addressed with the heavenly Father. He, however, knew that the heavenly Father was a gracious and merciful Lord God. He knew that it was only the Lord God Who could deliver him from the pain and misery which his sins had given to him. Only the Physician of our souls could heal him of his transgressions.

This is why we have a great advantage over this Publican. We are told by the Lord + Jesus that he went down to his house justified. But how did he hear it? We have the benefit of the means of grace. We have Holy Baptism, which declares that the Lord God has placed His Name upon us, so that we are clothed in the white robes of His righteousness. Every time we make the sign of the holy cross, we are reminded that our Lord + Jesus suffered and died to atone for our sins. 

The Publican had the foreshadowing of that atoning work of the Lord + Jesus in the sacrifices offered in the temple. He went up into the temple to pray, but it is safe to assume that he also went up into the temple to offer up a sacrifice for the sins for which he prayed for forgiveness. That sacrifice pointed to the one, true sacrifice of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ, upon the tree of the holy cross. We remember that on the cross He has atoned for our sins, when we remember that we have been baptized into His suffering and death. So that even as He paid the penalty of our sins in His flesh, and He died, and was buried. We too, have died to sin. And as He was raised again from the dead on the third day, we too, arise each new day, whenever we remember our Holy Baptism. For we have been clothed with His righteousness.

This righteousness is declared to us in the words of the absolution spoken by the minister. He declares into our ears that we have been forgiven by the Lord God. We get to hear the words the Publican longed to hear, “Thy sins are forgiven. Depart in peace.” The Publican clung in faith to the mercy of the Lord God. We cling in faith to the words of the Absolution, for by them we are declared justified before the Lord God. 

Even more so, our Lord is abundant in His mercy and grace, in that He even offers us the very Body and Blood of our Lord + Jesus for the remission of all our sins. In the sacramental union of His true and substantial Body and Blood in, with, and under the bread and wine, we are granted the remission of all of our sins. This meal strengthens our faith. For we come hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and we receive that for which we seek and pray: the forgiveness of our sins. In this meal we remember our Lord’s mercy for us in that He offered up His life as a ransom for ours. He did this for us even though we are unworthy of this great gift. We are unworthy to receive the forgiveness which we desire. We are worthy of none of the gifts the Lord God heavenly Father bestows upon us. We are not worthy to be called by His Name in Holy Baptism. We are not worthy to be declared absolved in the Absolution. We are not worthy to receive the remission of our sins in bread and wine, and Body and Blood. But our merciful Lord gives these things all to us by grace.

This is why we cling to Him in faith like the Publican. This is why we avoid the prideful self-righteousness of the Pharisee. For his faith was directed at himself. The faith of the Publican was directed toward the heavenly Father. It is with this faith that we approach the throne of our heavenly Father, and beating our breasts, and hanging our eyes, we implore Him to forgive us our trespasses, even as we have forgiven those who have trespassed against us. We look for His forgiveness, and we offer forgiveness to our neighbor. For we understand that we are not worthy to receive His forgiveness except on account of His manifold grace and mercy.

Therefore, my dear friends, let us continue to humble ourselves knowing full well that we are poor, miserable sinners in need of the Lord God’s grace and mercy. Let us freely forgive each other, for our sins are no less destructive than the ones that they commit against us. We can heal the enmity caused by our transgressions against each other simply by acknowledging that we are all miserable sinners in need of the Lord’s grace. Our sins against each other do not lead to eternal death. Let us therefore remember our unworthiness to receive the forgiveness for which we pray. And our heavenly Father will grant this to us, not because we have deserved it, or done something to earn it, but solely because in His love He chooses to show mercy to us. May He continue to be merciful to us throughout our lives. In the Name of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

Prayer in Pulpit after Sermon:

Almighty God, be pleased to accompany Thy Word with Thy Holy Spirit and grant that Thy Word would increase faith in us; bring into the Way of Truth all such as have erred; turn the hearts of the unrepentant; and for sake of Thy Name grant succor to all heavy hearts and those who are heavy-laden, that they may through the mercy of the Lord + Jesus Christ be relieved and preserved so that they succumb not to the temptation of despair but rather that they gain the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; through the same + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with the Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

The Votum:

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!