(A sermon written in English but delivered in Russian. Note that "obscheniye" means something like communion, fellowship, interrelationship. This text is written in sparse style, designed for spontaneous elaboration in the act of preaching.)
GOD IS ON OUR SIDE
Luke 18:9-14 Parable of Pharisee and Tax Collector
Was the Pharisee right? I mean, right in his facts? Yes, he was right. He stated concrete facts.It was true that he... (list his boasts). It was even true that he was glad not to be a tax collector. I probably am also glad that I was not a tax collector of that time and that place. I am thankful to God for whom He has made me, to what He has called me, when, where and why. It's good to be grateful to God for who we are.
The Pharisee was right in his facts. But to be right is not the same as to be righteous.
"Right" is a term of comparison. "Right" means "not wrong." "Right" is a cold, dry position, it is not a quality of the soul.
But righteousness is a striving. It is the striving of love forward, it's the desire to heal, reconcile, restore, renew, show mercy, do good, become more and more expert in the manifestation of love. Righteousness is the heart's soglasiye with the priorities of God, and not only with His priorities but also with His motivations, it is joining up with His strivings.
Goal of the Pharisee consisted in being right. His prayer praised himself; his gratefulness consisted in what he did, and not in Who He belonged to or in that unfathomable mercy that God was always opening to him, as He always opens it up to you and me. In short, the prayer of the Pharisee was not a prayer that needed God. Really, think about it. In the prayer there was no request, no need, no resort for answers, understanding, help, guidance, wisdom, forgiveness, mercy. How can God answer a prayer that expects, needs no answer?
We know, in human interrelations, that the crucial element is obscheniye, and obscheniye is much more than the assertion of facts. The assertion of facts, this is a report and not live interrelations. The Pharisee gave a report, the conclusion of which was "I'm right." Well, good for you, but what do you want?
The tax collector was not reading a report. He came to the temple with trembling, hoping to find the mercy of God, hoping to find restoration, reconciliation with the love and purposes of God. In short, the tax collector desired CHANGE. That's the key moment.
2 Chronicles 16:9 The eyes of God roam the earth....
Not seeking those who will read Him a report, but....
The Epistle to the Hebrews expresses the only fitting attitude in which we must turn to God:
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:16
Yes, confidence, but confidence in God's mercy and grace, not confidence that we can impress Him with our report.
Certainly, yes, there is a place for confidence in the Christian life. Why, confidence is the essence of our faith, our upovaniye upon Jesus Christ. But this is not the kind of self-confidence that the Pharisee demonstrated in the temple. Such a kind of confidence is false, only prepares the soil to a fall.
The confidence which must abide in our hearts transcends self-confidence, it is rooted in the measureless mercy of God and his conquering love.
Because of the unfathomable mercy of God, we can say that God is on our side.
Story about Abraham Lincoln, journalist asking him, "Mr. President, is God on our side?", Lincoln responding, "I hope we are on God's side."
There is wisdom in the answer of Lincoln to the question. And in the light of that wisdom, many consider that it is incorrect, inappropriate to suggest that God is on our side.
On whose side? On the side of the Protestants against the Catholics? On the side of the Democrats against the Republicans? On the side of the Ukrainians against the Russians?
No, no, NO.
God is on the side of the human soul against sin and death. THAT'S what the mercy of God means.
God is even on the side of His enemies against everything that MAKES them His enemies. THAT is what the love of God means.
God is on our side, not because we're right, but because we're wrong. He is on our side because we need Him, and because He made us for love.
Romans 5:8-10
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
God is on our side, not with respect to any human conflicts or divisions or political or social questions. God is on the side of the descendants of Adam desperately needing reconciliation with the heavenly Father. And when we have come to know Him, He continues to be on our side, striving forward with us, and in us, to reach tovo sokrovennovo zamysla Yevo kasatel'no nas s vami [to reach that cherished design of His concerning you and me]. I am certain that such a vision inspired the apostle Paul to write these words:
Philippians 1:6
...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
That is why the tax collector went away justified, because he was a soul in which God was doing, and advancing a good work, striving toward the achievement of His holy design. The Pharisee nikuda dal'she ne khotel, po nemu on priyekhal, kuda dal'she? [Note to English-speakers: the Pharisee wasn't looking to go on; in his opinion he'd "arrived"--where else was there to go?]
The difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector:
When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
Proverbs 11:2
The humility of the tax collector drove him into the presence of God with trembling and sorrow. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. The tax collector, leaving the temple "justified" represents the living picture of this beatitude.
Romans 8:31-32
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Here, today, as we prepare to participate in the Lord's Supper, we come in spirit to the Throne of Mercy, where the blood of the Lamb has made propitiation for God's enemies. If God was, out of mercy, "for" His enemies, then how much more will He be for His beloved, reconciled children? God is for you, not against you. This table (trapeza), left to us by the Lord Himself in remembrance, testifies: "God is for us, not against." We have a Father, caring, understanding, condescending [NOTE TO ENGLISH-SPEAKERS: "condescending" has a good connotation in Russian, as in "coming down to your level to help you bear your burdens"], but also driving us forward to the fulfillment of His joy and ours.
