The Good Work of Nothing

Trinity 11

August 19, 2012

The Good Work of Nothing

Luke 18:13-14

Dear baptized souls,

Unbelievers is a misleading label, because unbelievers actually believe, just not in the Christ and His suffering and death for their sin.

The Pharisee in Jesus' story was an unbeliever, but he certainly believed in someone.

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ (Luke 18:11-12)

He believed in himself. He believed that his kindness and compassion would force God to take order from him. Jesus' story brings out his over-the-top arrogance.

So you miss the point of this parable if you think you aren't in this story. You certainly aren't a bragging Pharisee. On the other hand, you don't scream in agony over your sin, either. You think you are holding this story in a snow globe, interested, but apart from the action.

You are both these men. Since your washing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you have struggled with your arrogance that you can be a lazy Christian and you have also cried out to Jesus for mercy in the liturgy on Sunday morning. This is the Christian life, swerving between our arrogance and God's mercy in Christ.

Arrogance doesn't always look like arrogance. Among church members and pastors, it often looks like apathy. Close to a hundred in our church family are arrogant because they don't come to receive God's gifts on Sunday morning. (I'm not talking about those who must work on Sundays or those who have moved away and regularly go to their nearest church to receive God's gifts.) These Pharisees refuse to be fed; they think they can feed themselves. And this is what I say to them when I can.

And here's where the other arrogance creeps—in false humility, patting yourself on the back for being here today. You're here because there's nowhere else to go. This is where Jesus is. This is where He offers His body and blood to you to eat and to drink, given and shed for the forgiveness of your sin. As Peter said to Jesus,

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God. (John 6:68-69)

Humility never thinks, “Look at how humble I am.” Humility says, “I'm nothing. All my good works are of no value before Your throne. Even my pathetic wretchedness will not make You love me. I'm nothing. My nothingness means nothing.”

This is the attitude of the pitiful tax collector: he was nothing and he knew it.

We don't always know or feel our nothingness. We sometimes feel pretty good. And it's okay to feel good. It's okay to have a good day—I hope Jesus blesses your future with them.

But our best days are the days when we understand that our greatest good work is nothing in us and everything Jesus has sacrificed and done for us.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.