Tuesday, January 9, 2007

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Part 6 of 44

TEXT: "Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, "God, I thank You that I am not like other men - extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess." And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted' " (Luke 18:9-14).

IDEA: The Pharisee and the tax collector were both dealing with guilt but in different ways.

PURPOSE: To explore how we try to deal with guilt in our lives.

Have you ever read or seen Shakespeare’s Macbeth?

It is a brilliant portrayal of a villain-hero who is goaded by his wife into killing a king named Duncan. Macbeth loses all of his moral sensibility. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, is destroyed by what she has done and she commits suicide. She sees the image of blood clinging to her hands that she cannot remove: “Out! Out, damn spot!” she cries.

How do you think most people today would counsel Lady Macbeth? What would we think she should do to deal with her problem?

I. There is a story Jesus told that raises the same kind of problem. We find it in Luke 18:9-14.

If people on the talk-show circuit were giving advice to this tax collector, what do you think they might tell him his problem was?

Who do you think would be declared more emotionally healthy? Which of these two men felt better about himself?

II. There are two kinds of guilt: guilt as an emotional experience, and guilt as an objective fact.

There is irrational guilt.

It is made up of guilt feelings. It is guilt far out of proportion to any wrongs we have committed. Psychologists sometimes have to deal with this kind of guilt in their clients.

There is objective guilt.

We are guilty because we are guilty. It’s not merely a feeling; it’s a fact.

The two may have little to do with each other.

The tax collector may be regarded as a pathetic nut-case who desperately needs to see a psychiatrist.

The Pharisee may have been regarded as a splendid example of mental health. He possessed a good self-image.

Yet it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who went home right with God.

You may feel guilty and not be guilty.

You may be guilty and feel rather good about yourself.

You may feel guilty and be guilty.

Our relationship to God depends on how we regard guilt.