Sermon Video: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." - Luke 18:9-14

If the actions of two individuals are outwardly identical, or at least nearly so, how would you or I differentiate between the two if we suspected that one was valid and the other was not?  We'd try to look deeper, we'd try to get behind the facade to see the thoughts, emotions, and attitudes that are prompting the actions.  When it comes to God, the same action may be acceptable and pleasing to him from one person and entirely unacceptable from another because God knows the heart of the matter and sees through all our masks.  In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Jesus uses an example of two men praying at the same time at the Temple to illustrate the principal that outward appearances are not what impresses God.  The Pharisee, with his spotless reputation and over powering self-confidence, prays thanking God for how awesome he is (not how awesome God is), and expounding upon how well he is keeping even the minutia of the Law.  The tax collector, by contrast, offers but one thought, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."  Because he is self-aware, knowing the depths of his own sin, the tax collector offers nothing in his own defense, nor does he attempt to speak of his good qualities, he simply acknowledges his woeful state before God and prays for atonement to be made on his behalf.
Two men, both praying at the Temple, one of whom is in the process of becoming right with God, the other of which is drifting further and further away.  Pride is the key factor in the downfall of the Pharisee, trust in himself has replaced dependence upon God, and along with that pride has come prejudice toward everyone else who seems beneath him.  Such dedication and effort to fulfill the Law, by the Pharisee, and all of it a waste, for the grace of God is far from him.  The tax collector, pitiful though he is, and with a history full of sin, has found the grace of God, for he sought it as a drowning man grasping for a life preserver.

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