It's obvious that the Pharisee in this story was a "better person", but the tax collector was the one who was justified. Any idea what the difference was, what made God listen to the tax collector rather than the Pharisee? What did the tax collector do right?
1. The tax collector was humble.
- he knew that he wasn't so great, and God is
- he wouldn't even look up, he didn't feel worthy to look in God's direction
- he stood at a distance - this reflected how close he felt to God
2. The tax collector was sincere.
- he acknowledged his sin
- he spoke to God straight-up, no angles
- he asked for the mercy he knew he needed
What did the Pharisee do wrong?
1. The Pharisee was proud.
- he thought a lot of himself, forgot God's greatness
- he stood up close, not to be close to God, but to be the centre of attention
- he boasted about how much better he was than everyone else
*In the grand scheme of things, God doesn't measure us up against other people, but against perfection. None of us can stand up to that comparison, which is why we need His mercy and grace. Through Jesus, He makes us able to stand up to the measuring stick of perfection.
2. The Pharisee was insincere.
- he prayed so others would hear, he wasn't really interested in whether or not God heard
- he compared himself to the worst of humanity to make himself look better
- he didn't acknowledge his need for God's mercy, in fact, the only time he acknowledge God at all was as a name at the beginning of his prayer
*almost like putting "Once upon a time..." at the beginning of a fairy tale... it meant about as much to him
We need to be like the tax collector rather than the Pharisee in our dealings with God.
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